Celebrate Everyday pt. 5

Happy National Story Telling Day!

Everyone loves a good story!

Especially the ones that are funny or exciting or sad or mysteryous.

Too often we think that stories are for little kids.

But they aren't! Most adults love a good story too!

Why not think of a story to tell someone today?

Think of a personal story thatcould encourage someone today!

We all have testimonies of God's grace in our lives, that can be told to others!

(Here is my story. It is not a personal testimony, but an illustration of a truth that I have been thinking about for a while. (no, not the frogs!) :)

Once upon a time, there was a village of frogs that lived by a pond. This was a naturally heated pond. All of the frogs loved to soak for hours in the warm water. There was one frog in particaluar that especially loved it. His name was Henry.

Henry would stay in the pond long after everyone else had gone home. He would lay on his back and look at the trees and daydream about the future. But because of the warmth of the water, the frog village officials made a rule so that the frogs would only stay in the pond for a few hours and not all day. They knew that the water would continue to get warmer and warmer. As the water got increasing warmer, it could have really bad longterm effects on the frogs.

Of course, Henry ignored the guidlines. He stayed in the pond all day anyway. As time went on, the naturally heated pond's temperature went up a little more everyday, just like the frog officials had said. It got so bad that the other frogs could only stay for a few minutes in the pond rather than hours. And once again, Henry didn't listen to the other frogs. He liked the hot water. It felt so good on his body.

Well one day, the water was particularly hot. So hot that no one else but Henry wanted in the water. All of the other frogs watched as Henry got in the water. He sighed long and stretched out. It felt so good. As he layed there, he began to notice that he couldn't feel his legs anymore. It didn't bother him too much, so he just kicked them harder to keep the circulation. He began to get very tired from kicking so long and he began to notice that he couldn't feel his arms either! Most frogs would have been a little nervous at this point, but once again Henry just pushed it aside.

After quite some time, the water was so hot on Henry that he couldn't move at all. Now, he was scared. The thing that had been such a joy and comfort to him was killing him slowly. He had become so tolerant to the hot water, that he didn't realize what it was doing to his body. Instead of giving him comfort, it was destroying him. He didn't know what to do. Then out of nowhere, his friend came hopping beside the pond. Henry tried to call out, but he didn't have much more volume than a whisper. His hoarse voice cried and cried. Then his friend stopped and looked around, as if he had heard something. Then Charlie looked at Henry. His eyes were immediately filled with compassion. He grabbed a rope and threw it to Henry.

Once on the shore, Henry lay still on the ground. It would take a long time for him to be able to move again. The hot water had began to cook him! He didn't even know!

Charlie sat panting beside him. "Why did you stay in the water? Didn't you know what it was doing to you?"

"No," Henry replied, "The water felt so good. It was always just warm, but then as it got warmer it felt even better. But I wasn't being careful, I only wanted to make myself feel good! My body got used to the temperature, and I didn't even think about what it might be doing to my insides!"

"I see," Charlie smiled, "You became so tolerant to the thing that could have killed you that you didn't even realized when it was! It is so easy to get comfortable and not realize what it might do to you in the long run!"