When our daughters were little, I would make up stories to tell them at bedtime, and they still remember them. One was about “The Little Bird That Was Afraid to Fly.” it feathered out and it was time, but he just couldn’t make the leap. Then one day when Daddy Bird was away, something happened to Mother Bird and she needed him. Baby bird had no choice…he flew for help. You do that for those you love, just as Christ did it for us.

Another made-up story they liked, I called “The Little Red Lollypop.” About a lollypop among lots of others in a big jar on the counter at the candy store. It wanted so much for a child to choose it, but it was at the bottom of the jar, and just when it had a good chance to be chosen, the store clerk would come and pour lots more lollipops in on top of it, so it was never picked. Then one day, just as the clerk came to re-fill the jar, a little girl said, “Wait! Don’t pour more in…I want that red one!” And finally, it went home with the little girl. Just like Christ sees one of us, even when we’re at the bottom of the jar with no hope.

Another favorite was one I called “The Brook That Nobody Saw.”  It came to me in Yellowstone Park as we were on a path to see a huge waterfall. I happened to look to one side of the path and over, almost out of sight and unseen by folks going to see the rushing falls, was a small brook, clear and bubbly, running its way toward the big stream and the falls. Doing its part, even though no one ever knew or cared.

And that’s our third lesson…that whatever you do in Christ’s name, no matter how small, it counts as much with Him as a Billy Graham Crusade.

Think of that, next time you’re feeling blue or unworthy.