Striped Chipmunk Provides a Great Family Lesson

Recently I wrote about my favorite children’s book author, Thornton W. Burgess. As I was reading a chapter in his book, Mother West Wind “Why” Stories, entitled Why Striped Chipmunk is Proud of His Stripes. I was reminded of a couple New Testament scriptures (I Peter 2:21-24 especially “… by whose stripes ye were healed” and Matt 6: 1-4 “… that thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.”) and thought what a great short lesson for a family with young kids.

You can read Striped Chipmunk’s story below and see if you feel the same way.

Peter Rabbit, Johnny Chuck, Grandfather Frog and other Animals Teach Important Values

Thornton W. Burgess’s books (see Books by Thornton W. Burgess), whose cast of characters are the forest and meadow creatures, delighted children in the early to mid nineteen hundreds. The author paints wonderful word pictures that both entertain and educate. His first book Old Mother West Wind begins as follows:

Old Mother West Wind came down from the Purple Hills in the golden light of the early morning. Over her shoulders was slung a bag—a great big bag—and in the bag were all of Old Mother West Wind's children, the Merry Little Breezes.

The Opportunity in Problems

During the course of our lives problems will arise; sometimes they are within our families, often at work or organizations to which we belong. Our first reaction is often to cringe, deny and wonder why me. Let me put forth the notion that, rather than cringe at them, we view problems as an opportunity to improve our relationship with our family, customers, co-workers, or fellow members.