Yesterday Barabas was feeling really sad anyway.  And then, he heard a true story about a mother cat and her babies who climbed aboard a ship in Singapore and made a home inside a coil of steel cable.  Unfortunately, their new home was inside a big shipping crate and on February 4th the doors to the crate were closed and sealed and the container was shipped across the Pacific Ocean to California and then from California to Cleveland, Ohio.  When the container was opened on Friday, 5 weeks had passed.  The men who unloaded the steel cable found the mother cat.  She was dead.  There was no food or water in that big shipping crate.  They also found dead baby kittens.

Barabas stopped listening to the story.  He just felt so SAD that the mother cat died and so did her children. 

Sometimes Barabas thinks about his own mommy who died in that car crash when he was just a baby.  That is how Barabas got this scar on his face. 

Now, Uncle Floyd is great.    “But it would be good to have a mommy who would give me hugs.” thought Barabas.  And Barabas fell into a blue funk.  A blue funk is when you feel sad and slow and kind of lifeless.  It is when you feel sorry for yourself.  And Barabas was definitely feeling sorry for himself. 

He stood with his head down and thought about those little kittens and their mommy who died.  As you know, sometimes children can feel really sad and lifeless and they really need a good hug.

Jesus comes to bring new life to those who feel lifeless.

“Hello!” a cheery voice said.  Mrs. Potato Head came in.  Barabas forgot that Uncle Floyd had invited her over for dinner. 

“Oh, hi . . .” said Barabas, with no joy in his voice.

“Did you hear that story about the cat?” Mrs. Potato Head said in a bright voice.  “I saw it on Yahoo when I was checking my mail.” 

“Yeah, it was sad.” mumbled Barabas.

“I printed a picture of the kitten who survived.  Look!  Isn’t it amazing!?”

“A kitten survived!?  One of the kittens is still alive!” Barabas said with some confusion and some hope.

“Oh yes!  Look at this photo.”

Barabas looked at the photo and then closed his eyes to keep the tears inside.  His mind was a jumble of thoughts.   “It is like the mother cat gave her life so that at least one kitten could have new life.  That mommy cat must have loved her babies.  I wonder if my mother gave her life for me.  I guess I stopped listening to the story too soon.”

Mrs. Potato Head didn’t know exactly what Barabas was thinking but she did see what he needed.  She did what any good mother would know to do.  She hugged Barabas.  (Hug gesture) She gave him a good long quiet hug. 

And Barabas’s blue funk started to fade. 

Jesus comes to bring new life.  This time he sent Mrs. Potato Head to bring the hugs.    

THE END

Printer friendly copy of this story