Chapter Three: The Wise Man

The Creative Creation is part of a series of free Christian stories for kids brought to you by The Kid’s Book Group.  The series brings Bible stories for kids into real life situations in a fun and entertaining way.

The Wise Man Built His Birdhouse Upon a Rock.

Tommy spent most of his Friday looking out the window at the park. There were green trees, red, yellow and blue birds and brown squirrels. A little girl was flying a big red, blue and purple kite with a long yellow tail. An older man with a cane walked his little white fluffy dog around the trail, then they played fetch together. Kids slid down the slide, swung in the swings and went round and round on the merry-go-round. Oh how Tommy wanted to go, but Mommy was still resting, doctors orders again, so he would have to wait. Daddy was finally finished painting the nursery and had promised to take him on Saturday. “One more day,” he thought.

That night, while Tommy, Mommy and Daddy were sleeping, the rain began to fall and the wind began to blow. Lightning struck and thunder boomed, once, before Tommy found his way quickly to Mommy’s side of the bed. He stared at her for a minute, hoping she would wake up. She did.

“Ahhhhhh,” she screamed. “Ahhhhhhhh,” Tommy screamed right back. “Tommy, you scared me,” she said, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

“It’s storming,” Tommy replied. “Can I sleep with you and Daddy?” Soon, the little family of three, almost four, were snuggled together, sleeping only lightly, waiting for the storm to pass. The next morning, they all awoke, still a little tired, but ready to face the day…and see what the storm had left behind.

After they had their breakfast, brushed their teeth and dressed, Tommy and his dad got ready for their day at the park. Tommy grabbed a frisbee and a jar to collect insects. Tommy’s dad grabbed his digital camera. “Can we take some sandwiches?” Tommy asked.

“It’s just across the street, Tommy,” Dad chuckled. Soon they were in the park with a frisbee, a jar, a camera and a picnic basket with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, two shiny red apples and some lemonade. The storm hadn’t done too much damage, but there were a few limbs and leaves and even some newspapers that had blown in from somewhere.

“Let’s help clean up,” Daddy said. They gathered papers and sticks and twigs and crammed them into a trash container in the park. Then they went to the playground so Tommy could ride the merry-go-round. Some kids were starting to come to the park with their moms and dads and Tommy would find somebody to play with there.

On the way over, Tommy and his dad heard what sounded like a flock of birds chattering away. Obviously, they were very excited! As they got closer to the playground they found where all the noise was coming from. It was one little female Bluebird, flying and fluttering all around one little Bluebird house that had fallen over in the storm. She chirp, chirp, chirped a stern warning at everyone who got too close. Boy, was she upset! Tommy and his dad got close enough to the little house to see why she was so upset. There were five little baby birds, all peeking up from their nest in the broken house, all screaming for something to eat. Momma bird was watching over each of them making sure everyone was fed and no one got hurt.

“She has five babies,” Tommy said with excitement, “and she loves all of them the same!” He was watching how the momma bird fed each baby, one by one. No one was left out. “I wonder why their house blew over,” Tommy said to his dad. “You said the storm wasn’t that bad, and nothing else fell over!”

Daddy took a look around the playground and soon, he found the problem. “Someone was very kind to build them a house, but look Tommy, here is their mistake.” Daddy pointed to a square wooden pole, leaning over next to the broken little house. “This is the pole they used to hold the little house up. It is nice and sturdy, but it was buried too close to the playground.”

“So,” said Tommy. That didn’t make any sense to him. “Why does it matter where the pole was buried?”

“Well,” began his dad, “the dirt is too sandy here, close to the playground. It isn’t thick enough or solid enough to hold up the pole and this little bird house.” He scooped up some of the soil to show Tommy. Even though it had rained, the sandy soil was already dry enough to sift to the ground as Daddy explained what he meant to Tommy.

“I think I understand,” Tommy said. “The wise man built his house upon a rock,” he began to sing.

“That’s right,” his daddy said. “The wise man built his house upon a rock!” He felt really happy that his son had remembered the little song! More importantly, that he had remembered Jesus!

By the end of the day, they had the little bird house repaired and standing strong and tall in a different corner of the park. Daddy had dug a deep hole, poured some white powdery stuff and water into it, then set the pole deeply into the mix. “It will dry quickly, and make a solid foundation for the birdhouse. Then, it will stand there for a long, long, time,” he said as they gathered their tools and headed home.

They had been able to get the little nest into the house and although the momma bird was upset with them for most of the day, she finally calmed down, returned to her nest  and tended to her babies again, one by one by one.

Matthew 7:24-25
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:  25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

Copyright by Denise Davidson Mistich. Photo by Kevin Cole on flickr.com.