When the ground was covered in snow and we were unsure about venturing out in case we slipped over and checked the freezer to establish how long we could leave it before a shopping trip I was reminded of a book we read to our children when they were little, it was called ‘Kipper’s snowy day’. When reading to children often we read the same book over, and over and over again and not only does the child remember the pictures and words that go with them so do we.
In the book Kipper has the most amazing day, sledging, building a snowman, having a snowball fight with friends, and then one of his friends says, ‘it will all be gone tomorrow’ but and we see a snowman gradually melting over about four pictures we are told ‘it stayed for three whole weeks’.
There are occasions when we as adults can learn from the books we read to our children, for me part of the message of ‘Kipper’s snowy day’ apart from the wonderful time he had playing in the snow, is that in life is sometimes unexpected.
One of my other favourites was ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ again the illustrations are beautiful, and the story is engaging. It may seem such a simple story of children who have decided that they will hunt for a bear, they will be brave and adventurous and work together as a team as they track down the bear. However, as in life there are many problems they come across such as mud and they say, ‘we can’t go over it, can’t go under it, can’t go round it – we’ll have to go through it’ and then they go ‘squelch, squelch’ through the mud.
The same happens with tall grass which goes ‘swish, swish’ and various other hurdles they encounter.
We give our children an important message about life, not everything goes smoothly, sometimes it will be hard work and the only way to deal with it is to go through the unpleasant and difficult moments; like taking a driving test, attending an interview, the pain of surgery, coping with lockdown.
We are reminded by Jesus as he prays for his disciples in John 17: 14 – 15 ‘I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one’.
Prayer
Lord God,
Without you we are weak, but we know that you will give us the strength to live each day in the power of your Holy Spirit granting us perseverance and courage even when the going is tough.
Amen