The Fishers in La Paz, Bolivia

Okay, so we’re sitting on Nana/Papa’s kitchen floor in Charlotte, getting ready for the day, and I’m sharing with Aves that we’re exactly seven short days from leaving.  So, she asks me to tell her the story Mommy tells her about the sheep and the Shepherd.  Glad to comply, I launch into Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep, as told in Luke’s Gospel (3-year-old international version, of course).  But she says, “No, Daddy!  That’s not it!”  And then she sets me straight with the “real” version.

It goes something like this: “Well, there was a shepherd and he had 140 sheep, and one was lost,” to which I interrupted, asking if that left him with 139 sheep, which she acknowledged as being fairly accurate.  She continued, saying, “well, the sheep went to the woods, where there were sharks and whales that could bite you, and the sheep played hide and seek.”

That, my friends, is the authorized version.

And it made me think (and laugh).  We’re going off to the hills, where there are plenty of sheep, some safely in the fold, some lost.  Sometimes it will feel like familiar territory: a child might have questions, objections or views to which we can relate.  But sometimes, the challenges they and we face will be totally alien, like woods full of sharks and whales that can bite you.  I hope that makes sense.  Anyway, I am being constantly reminded of how familiar – and completely other – our new adventure will be.  Thankfully, we all have the same Good Shepherd.

Amen.

We would love to hear any unique retellings of parables or Bible stories you’ve heard from the mouths of young children!