Category Archives: Fairy Tales

Who is Your Super Hero?

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We all love super heroes!

  • Superman

hero

  • Iron Man
  • Spider-Man
  • Batman

batman

  • Captain America
  • Green Arrow
  • Hulk
  • Aquaman
  • Ant-Man
  • Thor

thor

 

And the list could go on and on.

We have a love affair with super heroes.  We dress up like them.  Our children carry backpacks with their images.  We buy comic books, watch movies and TV shows where their daring adventures thrill and entertain us.

But why?

There are probably as many reasons to love super heroes as they are people who love them.  But I think some of the reasons might be:

  • They give us a feeling of safety.  In this world with all its dangers it’s nice to imagine there are heroes who can protect and save our world.
  • We see all about us the struggle of good against evil and we love the idea that good will always overcome evil.
  • They stand up for the little guy – and most of us are little guys who love the idea of someone fighting for us.
  • They give us a sense of hope.  In spite of evil around us, we have hope that good will ultimately triumph.

For me, growing up I loved Batman and Superman.  Something about the idea that these super guys lived ordinary lives only coming to the rescue when danger demanded it.  Yet, never revealing their super hero side to those they lived and worked with.  To me they made them seem somehow not only brave and strong, but humble.  A hero that does not need to be recognized for his good deeds.

In my reading today in Psalms 16:3 I read where the Psalmist mentioned his super heroes.

“The godly people in the land are my true heroes!  I take pleasure in them.”  – NLT

“The holy people in the land are the ones who are worthy of honor; all my pleasure is in them.” –   CJB

That scripture got me thinking.  How many of the “real” heroes do we know about?  How many of the stories of the “real” heroes have we shared with our children?  Who do we (and by example, our children) look to for inspiration and who do we admire?

After all, as much as I loved the stories of Superman and Batman, I knew they were only fantasies and not the real world.  In reality, no super hero is going to jump over the skyscrapers of New York or fly through the air over the Midwest and bring peace and safety to our land.

While we can enjoy these fairy tales, when real trouble comes who are we and our children going to have for an example of dealing with real life difficulties?

Had to ask myself, how many of the true stories of these “real” super heroes do I or my children know?

People like:

  • Amy Carmichael

AM

  • Dietrich Bonhoeffer
  • Frederick Douglass
  • Jim Elliott
  • Sojourner Truth

sojourner 3

  • William Tyndale
  • Harriet Tubman

Question:  How many of these real heroes do you know – and how many of the stories of  these real heroes have you shared with your children?

Who are your heroes?

 

 

Goldilock and the Three Homes

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The past few months I have felt like Goldilocks.  You remember her.

Image result for free clipart of goldilocks and the three bears

Once upon a time there were three bears who lived in a house in the forest. There was a great big father bear, a middle-sized mother bear and a tiny baby bear.

One morning, their breakfast porridge was too hot to eat, so they decided to go for a walk in the forest. While they were out, a little girl called Goldilocks came through the trees and found their house. She knocked on the door and, as there was no answer, she pushed it open and went inside. 

Goldilocks went upstairs, where she found three beds. There was a great big bed, a middle-sized bed and a tiny little bed. By now she was feeling rather tired. so she climbed into the big bed and lay down. The big bed was very hard and far too big. Then she tried the middle-sized bed, but that was far too soft. so she climbed into the tiny little bed. It was neither too hard nor too soft. In fact, it felt just right, all cosy and warm. and in no tine at all Goldilocks fell fast asleep.

It was too big

We were living in a nine-room house wth a beautiful sun room that looked out on a hosta garden

As time passed I realized this home was too big.  Getting older I found it harder to keep everything clean and did not want to spend my last years cleaning house.  There was too much adventure still waiting for me.

It was too small

So we downsized and our next home we picked was less than half the size of the home we had.  At first it was nice not having too much to clean.  However, we soon realized it was too small.

downsizing 2

Not enough storage space.  Even after major downsizing we had, like most Americans, too much stuff.  And it was impossible to do any real entertaining as there was just not enough space for more than three or four people.

It is just right

just right

Next week we move into our new condo.  Bigger than the current house we rent, it has lots of storage and a great room where we can entertain friends.  But it is only five rooms so it will be much more manageable to keep clean.

The story of Goldilocks does not have a happy ending.

Just then, Goldilocks woke up and saw the three bears.  She screamed, “Help!”  And she jumped up and ran out of the room.  Goldilocks ran down the stairs, opened the door, and ran away into the forest.  And she never returned to the home of the three bears.

But I’m thinking mine story will.

condo

Stay tuned to hear how Goldilocks (I mean me) finds her new home.