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A little gumball lived on the kitchen counter in a glass candy dish.
The candies were all very bright and colorful, and they were also good
friends. There were candies of all sizes, and each one was delicious. Just
looking at these pretty candies would make your mouth water!
The candies all had one wish: to be enjoyed by a
little child. One gumball also wanted to be chewed by a special boy or girl.
Each night, these candies prayed for the day their turn would come.
They worked hard to be chosen. Whenever a child
came near, they would scream, "Pick me! Pick me!” Each one shouted
as loud as it could, and as it yelled, it became brighter and shinier. After
a while, the child would notice pretty candy and come over to choose one.
Sometimes, all of the candies looked so good that
the child who was standing over the bowl would have a hard time picking his
favorite. In the end, though, one would disappear into the child’s
round, soft cheeks. Then, all the other candies would shout excitedly,
"Goodbye!"
While all the candies in the dish talked on a
sunny day in April, a boy walked into the room. All of the candies saw
him and they began shouting, too! Each one got brighter, and brighter,
and brighter as he screamed.
The boy came quickly into the kitchen, pulling on
his jacket, and he headed towards the door. Just when they all thought he
would keep on walking by, the boy spotted the bright, shiny candies and he
stopped to choose one. He saw our little red gumball and said, "Ah,
that's just the one I want!" So, he stretched out his hand and popped it
into his mouth.
The gumball was so happy that for a moment, he
almost cried for joy. Laughing with excitement, he rolled around in the boy's
warm mouth.And when the boy’s mouth opened, he could see his friends
waving and shouting, “Goodbye!”
The gumball looked down at his friends and
realized that his moment had come... He had been chosen! And as the little
boy popped him into his open mouth, the gumball was very happy!
While he chewed, the boy enjoyed the sweet taste
of this gumball. It was just delicious. He felt like he could go on chewing
forever. The gumball was the perfect size for his mouth, it tasted great, and
it was very sweet--it was just right.
The boy’s mother came and helped him with
his scarf—he always got it crooked. While she told him to be careful
and to play safe, he just kept on chewing and chewing. He was having a dandy
old time! He ran out the door and headed down the steps with his baseball
glove on, but just then he stopped. Wait! Suddenly, the gumball tasted
weird. Still, the boy kept chewing, because he thought it would get
better again.
The boy hummed as he went outside and walked up
the street toward his favorite park. He was going to the park where he would
play with his buddies and have lots of fun laughing and running and jumping.
He couldn't wait to get there!
Inside the boy's mouth, the gumball had gotten
bored. Now that no one was watching, the chewing just felt ordinary, and the
gumball didn’t like it so much anymore. He felt let down--just like
after all the toys are opened on Christmas and the playing is over. Then, all
that's left is the mess to clean up.
Then, just like you or I would, the gumball began
to moan and complain about being in the boy’s mouth. "This is no
fun!" he said over and over, grumbling and whining. And as he
complained, God's voice spoke to him quietly, Be happy. Stop complaining.
But the gumball wouldn't stop.
Now, the boy was playing ball, and while the
gumball complained, the taste of the gum got worse and worse. It tasted
bitter to the boy. And the boy began to think of spitting it out...
God continued to speak to the gumball, warning
him to be careful and to learn to be happy where God had put him. But the
gumball was stubborn and wouldn't listen. "I am bored!" he shouted.
Soon, the gumball was so bitter and so tasteless
that the boy really did spit him onto the ground, just as he was
heading back home. He spit him onto the sidewalk just as he walked back down
the street.
The gumball hit the ground with a thwack,
and pretty soon, he was being stepped on. It was a busy sidewalk and many
people came by and stepped on him over and over again.
Now, as our gumball lay all alone in the hot, hot
sun as heavy feet pounded him flatter and flatter, he thought to himself, This
is awful! Now, instead of the gentle massage of a boy's teeth, the
gumball felt squashed as he was stomped over and over. No one noticed him as
they continued on their way to their happy homes.
Now what could he do? Well, don't laugh at
him...but the poor gumball began to cry. He just couldn't help it--he was so
sad... His crying got stronger and stronger as people kept walking over
him in the heat of the sun.
Finally, our little gumball did something even
worse than grumble and complain and cry like a baby. He began to get mad at
God! The gumball wished he could be back in a boy’s mouth again, but he
said it was God's fault that he was on the street. It's not fair!he
thought to himself. And sadly, he really believed that it was true.
The rain continued, and at first, the cool water
felt better, but it soon became cold, and the freezing water lifted him off
the steps and down to the sidewalk. There, he floated into the gutter by the
street and he began to travel with the water as it pulled him away from where
he was.
As he continued floating, the gumball felt colder
and colder until he shivered from the rainwater. Trying to find a way out, he
swam around, but he couldn't see through the muddy water.
He began to cry again. Why did I ever get
bored in that boy's mouth? It was nice in there, and here it's horrible!
Now, the gumball remembered how bratty he had been, and he began to see that
it was his own fault that he was out on the street.
The gumball was sorry for complaining and being
so bratty. He wondered if God would ever forgive him. Well, he said to
himself, I know that God forgives me, but what will happen next.
Whatever it was, that little gumball suddenly knew that he deserved to be
punished!
Finally, the rain stopped and the boy arrived
home and said hello to his mother. The boy had walked right past the gumball
on the way inside, and the gumball cried bitterly once again. But as he
thought his lonely thoughts, he began to pray, "God, I was selfish! I
was unhappy and bored when life was perfect. I don't deserve to every be in
another boy's mouth again! He ended his prayer with the words, "I'll do
whatever you want, even if you just want me to stay here and get stepped on
some more," and as a cold rain began to fall, he felt a little less
lonely and sad."
Even though the little gumball had felt scared
and alone all day, God had already begun to answer him. In fact, he had
prepared the answer even before the gumball had prayed. That cold, wet rain
that had made the gumball so miserable had slowly washed him clean and the
movement of the water had put him right where he needed to be for the next
step in his salvation.
Just then, Mom came out to feed the dog, and
plopped the bowl on top of the gumball. Finally quiet from all his crying,
the gumball thought, “Well, at least no one will be stepping on me,
now.” He was beginning to see the bright side of things. He was
keeping his promise to God by focusing on happy thoughts
Later, when she returned for the dog bowl, Mom
picked it up, but the gumball was stuck to the bottom. “At least
I’m going inside,” he thought happily. Then, Mom put the dog bowl
into the sink for washing and as Mom washed the bowl, the gumball felt clean,
too.
When the bowl was put on the counter to dry, the
gumball came out with it, stuck tight to the side of the bowl. Now he was
clean, dry, and safe inside the house, away from the pounding feet of the
steps and the cold, wet rain. He was so thankful; he didn't know what to say.
"Oh, Lord, you are good to even the
brattiest gumball," he said, "Oh, thank you!" Then he closed
his eyes and said, "I will do my best to be good and thankful from now
on. I promise!"
While he prayed, he found that Mom was lifting
the bowl. The gumball got knocked off and fell into a sugar dish.
"Huh?" he said. "What's going on?"
As he looked around, the gumball realized that he
was in a very nice sugar bowl full of soft, sandy sugar. So, he decided to
begin doing what he had promised--to enjoy every blessing of his life and to
be thankful.
Slowly, gently, the gumball began to roll around
in the soft sugar and to sing songs as he played. "I'm so glad Jesus set
me free! I'm so glad, Lord, that you love me!" Then, he leaned back and
relaxed, enjoying the wonderful softness of this sugar that felt like beach
sand. It was so nice that he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, happy
and peaceful.
A few minutes after the gumball fell asleep, the
boy came back to the kitchen. He looked into the candy dish and asked,
"Mom, may I have another piece of candy?" His mother answered,
"Yes, Honey. Since it's your birthday, you may have another one."
The boy jumped up and down and said, " I’m going to pick the best
one this time!"
As he looked att he candy dish, all the pieces
began to call out to him, and they got brighter and yummy-looking. Still, the
boy couldn't choose one, until he spotted the sugar bowl, with a round,
snow-colored candy inside.
This candy looked like a gumball that had been
rolled in sugar until it was completely white. Hmm, that looked good...so he
chose it, saying, "That's the one!"
The boy lifted the sleeping candy and put it in
his mouth. It was delicious! and began to chew it. Yum, yum!
Just then, the gumball awoke, and he knew that
even though he had been dreaming about this, it was real this time! He felt
so happy! It was good to be doing what you were supposed to do.
After that day, the gumball always kept its
sweetness and flavor forever, because he learned to see the good in every
situation. He was always happy now, even in the bad times. Bobby kept his
gumball and put it away in the refrigerator every night, and even though Mom
bought more candy, the gumball was Bobby’s favorite--even after the boy
grew up!
It was a perfect way for a happy candy to live,
and the gumball was very happy--ever after! And you can be, too--just look
at the good side of every problem!
THE END
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