Dear Children,
Hello again from Grampa. I’m going to share a story with all of you about a mother cat, her kittens and a hen.
“Boy, Grampa, that’s a funny group!”
Yes, it sure is, but let me tell you how they all got along together. Oh . . . by the way . . . Gramma and I hope that all you children get along happily together. Tell the truth now. No fighting? No arguing? No telling lies? You know, God our Father expects us to obey Him and not do those things which He has told us not to do. In Joshua 24:24 it says, “The people said unto Joshua, the Lord our God will we serve, and His voice will we obey.” Those are very serious words, aren’t they, children?
“Yes, Grampa, they are, and sometimes it’s hard to do.”
Well, children, it is hard to do, but ask the Lord Jesus to help you. With His help, you can do it.
Now then, this story takes place away up north where it is very cold with lots of snow, and the temperature can go as low as 40 degrees below zero! Now that is really, really cold!
There were five kittens born to this mother cat in the big barn where she lived along with other animals, including some chickens. When this mother cat had these kittens, there was still lots of snow outside and it was very cold. The mother cat had to leave these kittens at times to get something to eat . . . maybe catch a mouse or two. So the kittens were left alone in the barn.
Now it just so happened that a mother hen saw these kittens and heard them mewing. They were cold with their mother gone. So the hen came over, spread her wings over the kittens, and kept them nice and warm. When the mother cat came back, the hen lifted her wings and let the baby kittens out so they could crawl back to their mother to keep warm and be fed.
Each time the mother cat left, the hen would come over and cover the kittens with her wings. This went on until the weather warmed up outside. Then the mother hen knew that the kittens did not need her anymore.
Wasn’t that kind of the hen to help the mother cat? She protected those kittens from the cold and kept them from freezing to death.
“Yes, Grampa, it sure was. God can make animals do anything He wants.”
Yes, children, our God can do anything. God used a huge fish to swallow Jonah. God used a dove to bring a leaf to Noah, to let him know that it was safe to leave the ark. God used a donkey to speak to Balaam. And God also used two bears to punish some children who were making fun of Elisha.
We hope that you children never make fun of anyone. That hurts people. When the Lord Jesus saw Peter sinking in the water, He didn’t laugh at him. When Peter shouted out, “Lord, save me!” the Lord stretched out His hand and saved Peter.
Have you ever asked the Lord Jesus to save you from your sins? A man in the Bible shouted out, “What must I do to be saved?” The answer was, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). And then it says he “rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.”
And so, dear children, these barnyard animals and birds sure give us a good example in caring for each other in time of need. Here are two Bible verses I want you to remember. “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32). “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us” (Ephesians 5:12).
Lots of love to all you children,
Gramma and Grampa
ML-01/15/2006