Phil and Emily’s family had been renting a house where they couldn’t have pets, but now they had moved into their own home. Both of the children liked cats. Previously, when they had them as pets, they usually had two at a time, because it was such fun to watch them play together.
One day two children rang the doorbell. They had a box with two shorthaired kittens inside. The kittens were five weeks old.
“We are giving away these kittens. Our cat had four, and these are the last two,” said the girl.
“Can we have them, Daddy?” asked Emily.
Their daddy was not as fond of cats as the children were, but he said, “Yes, you may have them.”
Phil’s kitten was black with a white front, and he named him Sylvester. Emily’s kitten was light gray with white feet, so she named him Boots.
Phil and Emily took good care of their kittens. The family lived in California where it is warm year-round, so the kittens stayed outside. Sylvester and Boots played together in the yard and slept in the sunshine when they were tired.
Phil was interested in insects, and one day he caught a huge grasshopper. He was probably planning to take it to school to show it to the other students. He wanted something to keep it in, so his mother gave him a short, round, empty jar. However, the lid was missing, so Phil set a piece of cardboard over the top after he put the grasshopper inside. He left it on the patio in the shade.
The next morning Emily heard an odd scraping noise outside. She looked out the door and saw Boots with his head caught in the grasshopper jar. He was backing up trying to pull free, but he couldn’t do it by himself. The sounds Emily had heard were the jar scraping along on the cement patio.
Do boys and girls ever get into trouble like Boots did? Older people certainly do. We often want to do things that aren’t good for us. And in trying to do them, we sometimes get ourselves into trouble that we can’t get out of. However, the Lord Jesus who loves each one of us can help us with any problem. A Bible verse in Psalm 46:1 tells us where to turn: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” You and I have someone who loves us to turn to for help, just as Boots had an owner who loved him and could help him.
When Emily saw Boots with his head caught, she hurried to catch him and was able to take the jar off his head easily.
The family guessed that Boots was fascinated by the grasshopper and maybe wanted to play with it or eat it. But while trying to catch the insect inside the jar, he got his head stuck instead. The family never knew whether Boots ate the grasshopper or whether it hopped away, but the grasshopper was gone. They did have a big laugh over the silly kitten’s difficulty.
Remember, children, first of all, talk to the Lord Jesus and tell Him you need to be saved from your sins, and then ask Him to guide you. He loves you and wants the best for you. He can make you happy. And if you get into trouble, turn to the Lord Jesus and ask Him to help you. He is always there listening for your call.
Boots grew up to be a big cat with a very big head, but he learned his lesson and never again put his head into anything he couldn’t get out of. You and I don’t always learn a lesson that easily, but we always have the Lord Jesus to call to for help.
“In the day of my trouble I will call upon Thee: for Thou wilt answer me” (Psalm 86:7).
ML-05/27/2007