I'm So Unhappy All the Time - a Children's Story
by Peter Stone

Ginger the cat was trotting soundlessly through the backyard's long grass when she heard a faint crying. Pointing her ears down, she searched around until she spotted a small Harvester ant sitting on a small rock. The ant was sobbing hopelessly.

"What's the matter, little ant, why are you crying?" asked Ginger.

The little black ant with a red head looked up at the cat towering above her, and moaned, "I can't do anything right, my whole life is a mess!"

Ginger squatted down on her haunches. "Oh, really? Then you really must tell me all about it, and perhaps I can help you."

"Well," began the ant, "the other day I tried to spin a beautiful web, but nothing happened!"

"That's because you are not a spider," answered the cat. "Only spiders can spin webs. What else is your life is a mess?"

"After that, I jumped off a tall flower because I wanted to fly through the air like a butterfly."

"And how did that work?" queried Ginger.

The little ant dragged a hooked claw across the rock. "Well, the wind blew me halfway across the yard, but I could not fly. Finally I crashed head first into that tree over there."

"I think, little ant, that to fly, you really need to have wings. And I'm sorry to tell you, but that's something you just don't have. Is there any more?"

"Yes, there is. After that I decided that to be happy in life, I wanted to paint pretty snail trails all over this rock," answered the ant after a moment.

The cat looked at the rock. "I can't see any snail trails."

The ant looked down sheepishly, "Well, um, that's because instead of laying a pretty snail trail, all I laid was a scent trail. It took me the rest of the day to tell my sisters that there was nothing exciting to see and to get off the rock."

That cat crossed her front paws and lay her head on them. "I know what your problem is little ant."

"You do? Great! Quickly, tell me!" demanded the Harvester ant.

"You are trying to be something you are not," said the cat, "and when you do that, your life does not work. You will always be frustrated and unhappy. There is a secret to being happy, do you want to know what it is?"

"Quick, tell me! I'm so unhappy all the time."

"To be happy, you have to be what God made you to be. And He made you an ant." declared Ginger. "So, stop trying to be a spider, a butterfly, or a snail. And to be even happier, you have to do the things that God has given you to do. Since He made you an ant, you should only do ant things. And when you do, you will be able to do them better than a spider, butterfly, or snail."

"And then I'll be happy?" asked the ant.

"Yes," nodded Ginger, "no spider can dig underground tunnels like ants. That must make you very satisfied. No butterfly can make a scent trail for its sisters to follow. That means ants have a great family that can work together. And no snail can carry something ten times heavier than itself. Wow, what a wonderful life you ants can have when you live your lives God's way!"

The ant looked up, no longer crying, "I never thought of it like that! I'm not going to live my life my own way any more; I'm going to live it God's way. I'm going to run home back to my nest and my sisters, and I'm going to do ant things better than all the spiders, butterflies and snails!"

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Romans 12:1-2 (NIV) Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to Godthis is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.

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http://cornerstonethefoundation.blogspot.com/

Peter Stone, a Bible College Graduate, has an international marriage and two children. Suffers from epilepsy and otosclerosis. He teaches Sunday school and plays the piano in church.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com







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