The Parable of the Pumpkins

I had to share this family home evening with everyone tonight in the hopes that it will be as successful in your home as it was in ours! I got the idea for this fhe years ago as I was praying for a way to help my then 4-year old realize the importance of telling the truth. I revamped it this year, wrote this poem, and tonight it was a wonderful lesson on repentance, doing our best, and finally being made clean through the atonement of our Savior.

I give you....The Parable of the Pumpkins

by Tonii Johnson

(I have a link below so you can download this for yourself if you like it!)

Once in a pumpkin patch, not far from here,

There were two little pumpkins, both friends so dear.

They were so much alike, both orange and round,

They both had a stem, and they both grew on the ground.

But that is where the similarity ends,

You see, there is one big differene between these closest of friends.

Patty the pumkin is not always nice,

She often tells lies, hits, screams and fights.

She never says sorry, and she really is quite mean,

Though she looks fine on the outside, her insides are not clean!

Then you have Perry, our other pumpkin friend,

Perry is someone on whom you can always depend!

Perry can make mistakes like all of us do,

But Perry says he's sorry, and you know what he says is true.

He tries his very hardest to be the best he can,

It's not always easy, but he has a plan!

He knows how important it is to be truly clean,

Not just on outside, but also where it CAN'T be seen.

He knows of the importance to stay clean and pure,

By saying I'm sorry, repenting, telling the truth and more!

As we leave our two pumpkin friends, there are great lessons to learn,

Our actions WILL determine what kind of insides we earn.

We all make mistakes, that is for sure,

What makes our insides different is our DESIRE to be pure.

As we strive our hardest to be the best we can be,

There will be rough times, days we have to say "Sorry!"

But just like in the pumpkin patch not far from here,

The way I want my insides is SO very clear!

I'll choose Perry over Patty every day of the week,

Even though I may look okay on the outside, clean on the inside is what I truly seek!

You can click

http://www.4shared.com/folder/G4JOhpiW/The_Parable_of_the_Pumpkins.html to download your very own printable version of The Parable of the Pumpkins.

Once you have your printable all ready to go the next thing you need are the two stars of tonights family home evening....Patty and Perry!

Don't laugh too hard...I think I have mentioned before that free-hand painting is not my strong suit! :)

After you have decorated them you want to scoop out all the gunk from your Perry pumpkin so he is nice and clean.

Patty pumpkin...not so much! Leave it all in there and hope its a super slimy one! :)
After we read our story we talked about how we want OUR insides to be. Then I let the kids pull of the tops of the pumpkins and see the insides. Their faces were priceless! It actually made me tear up (no big surprise) because you could see that they just GOT IT. They understood what we were trying to teach them, and there was no way they wanted their insides to look ANYTHING like Patty's!

I think the most successful part of the night was when we talked about how even though Patty had some yucky insides right now, through a loving Heavenly Father and the atonement of our Savior she too (and all of us!) could be made clean once more. I feel so strongly about teaching my children this principle. The fact is, they will sin. They will make mistakes. And they HAVE to know there is a way back, that it is never too late.

Thank you so much for visiting Blue Skies Ahead! We have SO many people visiting from SugarDoodle and other sites, I hope it has been worth your time :) I am grateful for a place like this little blog where I can share and cultivate some of the things I am passionate about like teaching my children, enjoying this crazy journey and striving to follow my Savior.