Puppets: Thankfulness and Fanny Crosby

Thankfulness and Fanny Crosby

Mooster: (singing) I’m so happy and here’s the reason why - He took my burdens all away – Oh howdy kids! How are you tonight? Great! I’m doing wonderful too! Wasn’t it a beeeeeyoutiful day outside today? Hey Monkey Moe!!! Where are you?? It’s time for our Bible lesson! Moe! Come on out here!

 Monkey Moe: (from behind the curtains) I’m coming…..I’m coming…

 Mooster: Moe, come on! Time’s a-wasting! If you hurry you might see the beautiful sunset!!

 Monkey Moe: (from behind the curtains) Oh yippee. (pokes head through curtain) I’m here.

 Mooster: Look! Look!!! Moe, isn’t that a beautiful sunset? All those gorgeous colors! God really made a great one tonight, huh?

 Monkey Moe: yeah…beautiful. (hugh SIGH…..) not that I’m going to see many more….

 Mooster: Monkey Moe, what in the world is the matter with you? What are you talking about? Why wouldn’t you see anymore sunsets?

 Monkey Moe: Oh everything is wrong, Mooster! Everything!! I’m going blind! Blind I tell you!! Blind! 

Mooster: What? Are you sure? What did the doctor say at your eye appointment today?

 Monkey Moe: He said I’m a little farsighted so I might have to wear glasses. Glasses! Can you imagine? How terrible is this! Glasses on a monkey. Whoever heard of such a thing?

 Mooster: And what else?

 Moe: What do you mean “what else”? Isn’t that bad enough??

 Mooster: That’s it? You MIGHT have to wear glasses?

 Monkey Moe: Yeah, the doctor said he wanted to see me again in 3 months. Because I’m still a young monkey my eyes might change some more and I might not have to wear them after all. But what if they don’t change?? What if they get worse? What if I go blind??

 Mooster: Oh, for Pete’s sake, Moe, you are really exaggerating. Lots of people wear glasses and they aren’t blind. You should be thankful that you can see. Some people really ARE blind.

 Moe: Thankful? I’m to be thankful?? What good can I do if I’m blind? I’ll have to sit around the treehouse eating bananas all day and get fat. I’ll be useless.

 Mooster: First of all, the doctor did not say you were going to go blind, so quit saying that. Second of all, blind people do all kinds of things! Fannie Crosby was blind and she wrote hundreds of songs that we still sing in our church hymnal. Loads of people have very important jobs and they can’t see. You are completely overreacting. And besides all that, even if you were to go blind, you should still be thankful. The Bible says that we are to give thanks in everything.

 Moe: Easy for YOU to say! You aren’t the one going blind. And where in the Bible does it say I am supposed to be thankful for bad things?

 Mooster: Lots of places. Like Psalm 100 verses 4 and 5 “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. And it tells us why: For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” So you see, Moe, when you are not thankful, you are actually disobeying God. There’s no exception in there. God didn’t say be thankful unless this bad thing happens or this other bad thing happens.

 Moe: Oh.

 Mooster: Moe, when things happen and we don’t understand them, it’s a good time to remember all the blessings that we DO have. Here’s an idea: have you tried making a list of all the things you should be thankful for? Or singing when you are sad? How about a song that may help you remember to be thankful. Mr. Songleader? Can you help us sing “Thank you Lord for saving my soul?”

 Songleader: Sure! (Helps the kids sing the song)

 Moe: Thank you, Mr. Songleader. That was really good. I guess I’ve just been feeling sorry for myself. Didn’t Fanny Crosby every feel sorry for herself? Why was she blind? Did her parents do something wrong and God punished them by blinding Fanny? 

Mooster: Oh Moe – God did not punish Miss Crosby’s family. People have been saying things like that for a long time. In Jesus’s day, there was a man born blind. The Bible tells us in John chapter 9 that as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, “Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” And Jesus answered, “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”

 Moe: What does that mean?

 Mooster: It means that God allows some people to be born blind or deaf or handicapped for His glory. God can get glory through people that are born with different problems. In the case Jesus was talking about, He healed that man and gave him his sight! God got the glory for it. That was His purpose all along.

 Moe: Oh. So what about Fanny Crosby?

 Mooster: She wasn’t born blind, but she lost her eyesight when she was a baby. But God let her write all kinds of beautiful hymns to honor Him. Who knows if she would have had time to do that if God had allowed her to keep her eyesight? But by being blind, she was able to do great works for God.

 Moe: What are some of the hymns that she wrote?

 Mooster: Blessed Assurance, Redeemed!, To God Be the Glory, Rescue the Perishing, Saved by Grace and many, many more! She wrote over 8,000 hymns!

 Moe: Wow. She sure didn’t let her blindness stop her from serving God.

 Mooster: She sure didn’t.

 Moe: Well maybe I should be thinking about ways I could honor God with my life, instead of feeling sorry for myself, huh?

 Mooster: That’s a very good idea. Here’s another great idea – try thanking God for all the good things that He has allowed you to have. Let’s start over with tonight’s sunset. Were you able to see it?

 Moe: Yes, I was. And it was really pretty…even though I didn’t feel like thinking about it at the time. 

Mooster: Right. What else?

 Moe: Well, I’m really thankful for my friends and my church and my family. Oh and of course I’m really, really thankful that Jesus died on the Cross to save me. I guess I should have said that first, because really it’s the most important thing to be thankful for. What are you thankful for Mooster?

 Mooster: Wow – where to start? I’m really thankful that I live in America. And I’m thankful for the rights of freedom that I have. I’m thankful for a warm home and good food. I’m thankful that I have clothes to wear and a toothbrush to keep my teeth clean. I’m also thankful that I can go to the doctor when I’m sick.

 Moe: Oh I’m thankful for all that too! I think I should get a piece of paper and start writing all this stuff down. Then when I’m sad, I can get out my list and start adding to it.

 Mooster: That’s an excellent idea, Moe! I’ll make a list, too, and then when we get together again we can compare notes. God is honored when we are thankful!

 Moe: Hey kids – how about between now and next week you make a list at home and write down all the things you are thankful for! Maybe you can bring it with you next time and we can read your lists!!

 Mooster: Good idea, Moe! Ok kids – that’s it for tonight! Bye!

 Moe: Bye!