The Praising Stone

Esther was a stone who liked to sing praises to God or so she thought; but she really couldn’t sing. In fact she sounded like a croaking frog or a screeching raven! It didn’t stop her though. She praised in the morning; she praised at lunchtime; she praised in the afternoon; she praised in the evening and she praised at bedtime. Her family did not like it.

“You need to give it a rest daughter” complained father.

“You’re giving me a headache,” scolded mother.

“You can’t even sing,” mumbled baby brother through his dummy.

Esther knew she wasn’t the greatest singer in the world but nothing could stop her. She had a friend who also liked to sing. His name was Joab and he was worse than her but together they screeched with all their hearts.

One day the family were by the walls of Jerusalem and there were lots of people running along the road. Everyone was cheering and clapping and singing ‘Blessed is the king that comes in the name of the Lord’ they said.

A man on a donkey came riding along towards the stones. Suddenly he stopped as some men began to shout at him.

"Tell your friends to stop praising you!"

The man looked at them and then pointed towards the stones.

"If my friends do not praise me then these stones will cry out!" he answered.

Esther's heart jumped for joy. She knew who the man was. He was Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. At once she began to praise him and then Joab joined in.

The rest of the family were amazed. 

"Stones CAN praise God!" said father with delight.

"My daughter praising the Messiah, I can't believe it!" sighed mother.

"Are you famous now?" asked baby brother as he finally shot his dummy out of his mouth.

"No I don't think so," laughed Esther, "but Joab and I will never stop praising God now!"

And they never did.

(Based on the story from Luke 19:29-40)

Ezra The Little Fish

Ezra was a little, little fish; tiny if truth be told. He was the smallest one in his family. He had hoped to grow bigger for many years but he never did. He pretended not to care but in his heart he was ashamed. He didn’t feel important and wondered why God had created him so very small. He compared himself all the time to every other fish he saw. 

“My how long and curved those fins are,” he said of a smart looking fish as it passed by. 
“I wish I could swim like that,” he thought as a long, slim fish darted above him. 
“How beautiful!” he sighed as a bright, colourful fish danced between the rocks next to him. 
“I wonder if I will ever do anything that matters?” Ezra said over and over to himself. 

Then one day something strange happened. Ezra met a little sardine. He was even smaller than Ezra but he didn’t think like Ezra. 
“You alright mate?” asked the Sardine confidently, who by the way was called Boaz. 
“Yes, how are you?” replied Ezra who was a bit surprised at the cockiness of the little chap.
“I couldn’t be better. I chased off a few fishermen. Tried to catch me in their nets they did, but I was too quick for them,” he answered cheekily.
“You’re very sure of yourself aren’t you?” spoke Ezra. 
“Yes why not? That’s the way God made me. Small but fast!” laughed Boaz.
“I wish I was fast,” answered Ezra sadly. 
“Well mate God made all of us for a purpose. You just haven’t found out what yours is yet!” said Boaz with a smile.

This really made Ezra think. God has a purpose for him. Unimportant little Ezra. All that week he couldn't get it out of his mind. What could God possibly have in store for him? It was actually because he was thinking so much and not looking where he was going that the accident happened. He was swimming between some rocks when something shiny and hard landed on his head. Ezra gulped in surprise and the next moment the shiny thing slid down his nose, into his mouth and plopped into his belly. He felt it rattling around inside of him. He really should have been quite upset at this but for some reason Ezra felt very excited. The feeling stayed with him all day and the next day. In fact it stayed with him all week.

Then one morning Ezra woke up from a deep, deep sleep. He had been dreaming. In his dream he had met a king. The king was thanking him but he didn’t know why. Ezra felt happy for the first time in his little life. “I think I’ll go for a swim,” he said. He never noticed the fishing line dangling in the water above, all he saw was the juicy bait in front of him. He opened his mouth wide and snap he was caught. Up, up through the water he sped like a torpedo. Then he felt his jaws being opened wide and a hand reaching in to take out the shiny thing. It was a silver coin.He looked into the eyes of the fisherman who was holding him and the next instant he was thrown back into the water.

Ezra swam around and around in circles for a very long time. He didn’t understand everything that had happened because he was only a little fish but he knew somehow he had helped someone. Maybe that someone was a king and after that he never did compare himself again with other fish. He felt special and no one could ever take that away from him. And we know how special he was don’t we?

(Based on the story from Matthew 17:24-27)