Kidzone 9 - September 07.
Story - Jimmy and the six weird witches.
(If you missed the earlier parts of this serial, go to www.kidzonearchives.blogspot.com ).
Part 5 - Freda Fib.
With the help of the Friendly Porter, Jimmy had managed to defeat the fourth Weird Witch, Library Lizzy. He was now on his own, reading his "Visitors Guide to Seaville", which he found really interesting and, in places, quite exciting. After a while, Jimmy realised that he was hungry. He hadn't eaten since early that morning, and now it was early afternoon. He wondered if there was a cafeteria on the train, so went to have a look.
Jimmy soon found the cafeteria, and ordered himself a sandwich and a milk shake. He looked around for somewhere to sit down to have his snack, but the cafeteria was nearly full. In fact the only vacant seat was right next to a young girl, about his own age. Jimmy didn't normally like sitting next to girls, much preferring boy's company. But this girl looked quite nice with her long blond hair and sweet smile, so Jimmy went and sat next to her. After a few minutes, the girl struck up a conversation.
"My name is Freda, what's yours?"
"Jimmy, and I'm on my way to Seaville"
"So am I. My dad's got lots of money, has yours?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Well my dad has millions of dollars, and we live in an enormous house with over 100 rooms, and a Television in every one. We have 10 cars, and my mother has big diamond rings on all her fingers. She wears them all the time - even when she is doing the washing up."
"It's funny to wear diamond rings when you are doing the washing up."
"Well my mum does. How much pocket money do you get?"
"I get $2 a week."
"$2 a week! $2 a week!! I get $500 a week."
"Oh come on Freda, nobody gets that much pocket money."
"Well I do. In fact, some weeks I get $1,000. But it is too much for me. So I end up throwing most of it away."
"Tickets please" came a voice from nearby. Jimmy looked up to see that it was the real ticket collector, so he offered up his ticket for examination. The ticket collector clipped it, then handed it back to Jimmy. Then he turned to Freda. "Ticket please."
"My mummy has got my ticket, and she is in the carriage." said Freda. The collector seemed satisfied with that explanation, and walked away.
"Silly old fool" said Freda. "I always fool them. I haven't really got a ticket."
"You'll get in trouble" said Jimmy.
"No I won't. Because we are going to hide in the Guard's van."
"But, I don't need to hide" protested Jimmy.
Suddenly Freda grabbed hold of Jimmy's arm. Jimmy tried to pull away, but for someone so small, Jimmy found that Freda was very strong. There was nothing he could do but let Freda pull him all the way to the Guard's van.
"No one will find us here" said Freda.
"But I keep telling you, I don't need to hide. I have a ticket" said Jimmy, as he held up his ticket.
"Oh no you don't" replied Freda as she snatched Jimmy's ticket out of his hand and threw it out of the open window.
Jimmy stared at Freda in amazement. "You've thrown my ticket out of the window. I will tell the man."
"He'll never believe you" said Freda gleefully. "You will have to buy another one."
"You're mad" said Jimmy. "You're making it all up. All that stuff about having $500 a week pocket money, your dad being very rich and your mum doing the washing up wearing her diamond rings. You are just a liar."
"Yes. I like telling lies. It's fun and it gets people in trouble. I've made a lot of trouble for you!"
Suddenly Freda's appearance began to change. Her hair became brown and straggly. Her nose became long and pointed, and her face became red and crinkled. Too late, Jimmy realised that Freda was one of the weird witches that he had been warned about (Actually, she was Freda Fib, the well known lying witch). Freda started to move towards Jimmy. Panicking, Jimmy spotted the red emergency button which stops the train. He pushed it, and immediately heard the sound of the train's brakes as it began to slow down.
"I hoped you'd do that. I hoped you'd do that" shouted Freda as she jumped up and down for joy.
"No one will believe you if you say there is a witch on the train. You will be fined $1,000 for stopping the train. You might even be sent to prison." With that, Freda quickly opened the door and ran off, leaving Jimmy on his own.
After a few seconds Jimmy heard footsteps coming towards the Guard's van. "I'll get in trouble for stopping the train" he thought. In panic Jimmy opened the outside door to the now stationary train, jumped out, and ran back along the track until he was out of sight of the train. After a few minutes, Jimmy heard the sound of his train starting up and pulling away into the distance, leaving him all on his own right in the middle of the deserted countryside.
Oh dear. Jimmy is really in trouble now. What will happen next? Will he make it to the end of his journey, or will the weird witches beat him? Come back in October for the final instalment of this serial.
Conclusion.
Like Freda Fib, people lie for a number of different reasons. Here are the main four ones.
1, To show off. Freda Fib told lies about her mum and dad, and the amount of pocket money she got just to boast and show off.
2. To get out of trouble. Freda Fib lied to the ticket collector so she wouldn't get in trouble for not having a ticket. (Jimmy might have been tempted to tell a lie like this if someone had asked him if he had pressed the emergency button to stop the train).
3. Out of pure spite or nastiness to get other people into trouble. If asked, Freda would have probably lied to the ticket collector, saying that Jimmy didn't have a ticket.
4. To get something you are not due, or don't deserve. For example, imagine someone is passing round a box of chocolates. You have already had yours, but you are asked if you have had one - and you say no!
Lies are one of God's enemies favourite ways of stopping people being good Christians. They often spread like measles - you tell one, and then you have to tell a lot more to cover up the first one. And the more lies you tell, the easier it gets, until it becomes a habit. This is true for all sins (e.g. cheating, stealing, swearing, getting angry or jealous etc.), but especially for lies - because once they become a habit, they don't seem to matter any more.
The only way to deal with your lies (or any other sins) is to get rid of them straight away by asking God to forgive you. This is rather like weeding your garden. If I see one weed in my garden, I pull it up, and it is not a problem. But if I ignore the weed, the next time I look at my garden I will probably find that that weed has spread all over - causing real problems.
You should 'weed your garden' every day. When you pray, think back to see if there is anything that you have done, or said, or even thought, that you know was wrong. Then tell God you are sorry (and be sorry, of course), thank Him for forgiving you, and ask Him to help you do better the next day.
Illusion - Amazing memory feat.
Adam was created perfect with a wonderful mind and memory. He had to name all the many different animals that God brought before him, and then would have had to remember all their names. To illustrate this you can then amaze your family and friends by doing your own memory feat.
Have fifty cards, blank on one side and numbered from 1 to 50 on the other. On the same side write , apparently random, six-digit numbers across their centres. State that you are going to memorise all fifty of these six-digit numbers. Flick through the cards as you pretend to memorise them, give them a good shuffle, turn the blank sides upwards and offer the pack to up to about six volunteers who will each choose a card. One at a time, ask your volunteers to tell you the number of their card (i.e. between 1 and 50), and as they do so write on the board the six-digit number associated with that card! You will achieve a 100 percent success rate!
You will have probably realised by now that you don't really memorise the numbers, rather you calculate them from the card number you are given. This is how you do it :-
To the number you are given (i.e. between 1 and 50), add eleven. Reverse this two-digit number. This will be the first two numbers you write on the board. Add these two numbers together to give your third number. However, if this is a two-digit number, ignore the first digit (i.e. "1") and write down the second. Proceed in this way, adding your last two digits together, until you have written down all six digits. Ask your volunteer to confirm this is the number they have on their card. A few of examples will make this clear :-
Card No. 15. Six-digit No. will be 628088.
Card No. 16 Six-digit No. will be 729101.
Card No. 17 Six-digit No. will be 820224.
As can be seen, even card numbers that are close to each other will produce completely different six-digit numbers.
Laugh break - Dumb laws.
For some countries, many National, State, or City laws are simply "dumb." Others are obviously out of date, but are still officially operative, because they haven't been repealed. The web site www.dumblaws.com has published many of these "dumb laws" This list has been compiled mainly from this site.
Scotland.
On Sundays it is illegal to fish, or sell vegetables (except for carrots!).
It is illegal to be drunk in charge of a cow.
If a stranger knocks on your door and asks to use your toilet, you have to let him in.
York (England).
It is legal to shoot a Scotsman with a bow and arrow, provided you don't do it on a Sunday!
Britain.
It is illegal to stand within 100 yards of the Monarch, if you are not wearing socks.
Bangladesh.
Children can be jailed for cheating in their exams.
Iceland.
It is illegal to own a dog.
Switzerland.
It is illegal to hang out washing, wash your car, or mow your lawn on a Sunday.
Alaska.
It is quite legal to shoot a moose with your gun, but it is illegal to wake one up so you can take it's photograph!
Nebraska.
If you burp in church, your parents could be arrested.
Louisiana (and some other states).
It is illegal to drive your car blindfold.
It is illegal to keep an alligator in your bath.
Your Questions Answered - When did God create the Dinosaurs?
The Bible tells us that God created all the land animals, including dinosaurs, on the sixth day of the creation week. He also created the first people (Adam and Eve) on the same day.
Some people may try and tell you that dinosaurs lived and died millions of years before people were on the earth. But there is absolutely no evidence to support that claim. I choose rather to believe God who, unlike people, was here in the beginning, knows everything and cannot lie.
The word 'dinosaur' (meaning terrible lizard) cannot be found in the Bible, but that is because it was only first used about 165 years ago after bones from these reptiles began to be discovered. However, a dinosaur-like animal called Behemoth is described in Job 40. 15-19. This fits the description of what is called today a Brachiosaurus. And a sea-going monster called Leviathan is described in Job 41. Thus from the Bible, it is clear that man and dinosaurs once lived together.
Dinosaurs were reptiles. The major difference between them and other reptiles, like crocodiles, was the position of their limbs. These came out from under their bodies, rather than from their sides. This gave them a fully erect posture, similar to mammals. Some dinosaurs were small (about the size of a chicken) and some were very large, weighing an estimated 80 tons and standing over 10 metres high. Like many creatures which once inhabited the earth, dinosaurs are now (probably) extinct. Many would have been drowned at the time of Noah's flood. But the few that were saved on the ark may not have been able to survive the dramatic changes in climatic conditions after the flood.
Note. If you have a question that you would like answered, email it to me on mnmsweetsur@xtra.co.nz
Reminder. Come back to this site in October for the next completely new edition of Kidzone.
Grown ups. Check out my web site for Children's ministers at www.mauricesweetsur.blogspot.com
