08/24/2011

Once upon a time a tiny creature was born. Now, he was not born as you and I were. He was hatched from and egg. He was a turtle. His name was Tim. He was very tiny. Tiny turtle Tim had two parents, Tommy and Tammi, and his parents loved him very much.

His mother, Tammi, fixed the best meals. She brought home wonderful fresh fish. She loved him so much she always let him have the best parts; the guts, the scales, and the fins. Isn’t that just like your mother? Well, turtles like fish guts, and big juicy worms, and fresh crunchy bugs with lots of green guts oozing out.

His father, Tommy, took him out sunning most mornings. Like all good fathers his Dad always let him having the sunniest spot on the log. The would just lie there and stretch out their legs to let all the sun warm them and dry their shells nice and hard. Sometimes he would look over at his Dad who would be just staring at him. Tommy often told Tim that he would do anything, anything for him. He always said "anything" twice, just like that. It made Tim feel so good, as warm deep inside as his shell was warm outside.

One night a terrible thing happened to Tim, and his parents Tommy and Tammi. Terrible. A twister hit their home. A terrible twister, a tornado took their home! Before he even knew what had happened the wind took Tommy and Tammi away from Tim.
Now, if that happened to you, w

hat would you do? Right, you would have to go live with relatives. So that is what they did…..wait, did I say, "they"? I forgot to tell you. Tim had a sister. They were born at the same time. Do you know what they call it when two children are born on the same day? Right, so tiny turtle Tim and tiny turtle twin Tina had to go live with relatives. The only relative they had was an uncle. His name was…..right….his name was Ronald. Now, Ronald worked with children all day long and he really didn’t like them to begin with. So, when he got home he really didn’t like having tiny turtle Tim and tiny turtle twin Tina there. He also didn’t know how to feed or care for them. Why they never had fish guts,scales, or fins. All uncle Ronald did was bring them hamburgers, french fries, and milk shakes from work. Oh, once in a while he would bring them a toy, but he always got two girl toys or two boy toys, instead of one for each of them. They got sick on that nasty food. Since uncle Ronald didn’t really want them there anyway, they were sent to an orphanage.
At the orphanage the food was even worse! No one ever took them out to sun on the logs in the pond. No one cared. No one cared at all…….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But, one night soon after they got there tiny turtle Tim remembered what Tommy and Tammi had taught him. He remembered a Bible verse "A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, Is God in his holy habitation." from Psalms 68. Surely God would take care of them, he thought. Tina agreed. Didn’t the Bible say in Psalms 37:4, "Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart."? They decided to pray right then and there. They prayed that God would take care of them in the orphanage and they prayed that God would bring their parents back to them. Of course this was impossible. They were told their parents were gone forever. But, they fell asleep praying anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That night there was an earthquake out in the Mediterranean Sea. Yes, tiny turtle Tim and tiny turtle twin Tina were in an orphanage on the coast of the Mediterranean; in Tunis, Tunisia. Now, the earthquake caused a giant wave to rush onto land. Do you know what a giant wave like that is called? Right, after losing their parents to a terrible twister tornado they were struck by a Tsunami! Destroying the orphanage, the huge Tsunami took tiny turtle Tim and tiny turtle twin Tina out the window. Fortunately, they were excellent swimmers. Most turtles are. They swam and swam and swam until gasping for breath they reached the surface. Then they swam through half the night in pitch darkness.They prayed, "Oh God, SAVE US!" Finally, tiny turtle Tim’s front toes hit something! It was a log. He climbed up and helped tiny turtle twin Tina onto the log. They both collapsed. Exhausted from the strain, they fell asleep thanking God for His protection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That night the water receded and the log landed on a sandy beach. Tiny turtle Tim had a wonderful peaceful dream. He dreamed that he was sunning on a log, which is exactly what he was doing as the sun came up. Tim felt so warm and rested. He stretched out and his left foot hit something. He opened his sleepy eyes and there was Tommy, his father! Tina woke up. She stretched her foot out and there to her right was Tammi, her mother! And she had a fresh juicy fish in her mouth for breakfast!