Lost

Sometimes it may seem like no big deal to be disobedient, and maybe no one will know or find out. However, as you can see in this story, I soon learned the hard way what can happen when you disobey.

Anne and her brother, John were off to summer camp. Anne was excited to spend time with her friend Hanna who would also be there.

When the children arrived at the camp, Miss Else who was one of the workers went over the rules with them. Miss Else told the group they were welcome to play outside in their free-time. She then gave them specific instructions not to go into the wooded area that was nearby. Miss Else explained to them that it was very easy to get lost in the forest.

The next morning the sun was shining. Since it was such a nice day, Anne and her friend Hanna decided to go outside and play ball.

As the girls kicked the ball back and forth, they got closer and closer to the edge of the forbidden forest.

While Anne and Hanna were playing, they noticed an unusual bird. They had never seen a bird like it before, and decided to get a closer look.

The bird flew into the woods while the girls followed close behind. When they got inside the forest, Hanna and Anne soon lost sight of the bird. However, they quickly noticed that there were lots of other interesting things to look at.

The girls remembered they had been told not to go into the woods because they could easily get lost. Anne and Hanna didn't think it was a big deal to look around a little while they were in the forest. Besides, they could still see the building they were staying at, and no one would have to know they had disobeyed.

Both Anne and Hanna were excited to explore the forest. They were having so much fun! It was as if they were finding hidden treasures everywhere.

The two friends had not gone very far when they realized they could no longer see the building they were staying at. They thought they better find their way back before anyone noticed they had been gone.

However, no matter how much they tried, they could not see which way they had come in. Everything looked the same.

Anne and Hanna noticed a fox. They had never seen one so close before. They didn't know if the fox was going to hurt them and were relieved to see the fox keeping its distance. As they kept trying to find their way back, they got hungry. They knew they must have missed lunch, and wondered if anyone was going to come looking for them.

Anne and Hanna walked around for hours. No matter which way they went, it seemed there was no way out. It was getting dark, Anne and Hanna knew they had missed both lunch and dinner. By now, they were very tired, hungry, and thirsty. Since the sun had gone down, they were also very cold. They were afraid to sit down and rest for fear of bugs crawling on them. They were also afraid that the foxes in the woods were going to eat them.

They were beginning to think they would be forced to spend all night in the forest. Neither of the girls had ever been so scared in their life! Anne said a silent prayer. She asked Heavenly Father if he would send help so they could find their way back.

Just as Anne had ended her prayer, Hanna excitedly shouted, "Look Anne, there is a light coming from that way!" Anne turned to see what Hanna was pointing at.

Immediately, both girls started to run as fast as they could towards the light. As they ran, they could see the light was coming from the building where they were staying at.

Back at the campsite, Miss Else was making sure everyone had gone to bed. It wasn't until now, that she noticed Anne and Hanna were missing. Miss Else thought she had better alert the other workers so they could go looking for the missing girls.

At that very moment, Anne and Hanna came running in. Miss Else asked where they had been. The girls told her that they had gotten lost in the woods. Miss Else scolded them. She said, "This was the very reason why you were instructed never to wander off into the forest." She then made the girls promise that they would not go into the woods again without an adult with them. It was easy for both Anne and Hanna to promise because they had been lost for nearly 10 hours, and they were both sure they weren't about to wander off again. They had learned their lesson on why it was important to obey the rules.

When the girls went to bed, they were both hungry and tired from walking all day. But they were grateful to be in their nice warm beds and away from the dark scary forest.

Anne was even more grateful to the Lord for helping them to see the light. Without it, she knew they could not have found their way back.

Psalm 119:105

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

Me at summer camp in 1970

The building we stayed in while we were at summer camp.

 Written and Illustrated by: Anne-Mette Howland



Always Tell The Truth

It's not always easy to tell the truth... That is why I wrote this true story of what happend to me when I was little. It was written for my children and now it's used for my grandchilren.

 Every day Anne and her brother John walked to school together.

It was a very long walk.

One day Johny and Anne discovered a short cut. It was through a yard with an old abandoned house on it. They loved running through the house and across the uncut grass.

A few weeks later when John and Anne came running through the yard, they noticed some builders had come to fix up the old abandon place.

When John and Anne came home from school, they clouldn't wait to complain to their mother about not having a short cut once the old house was fixed up.

Their mother had no idea they been taking a short cut to school. Then she told them not to go into old buildings. She explained to them that they could get hurt.

The next day Anne was going to walk the long way. Her brother John said, "No, let's just go the short way, while we can still run through the old building.

Anne was scared and said, "No, we should go the right way." John replied, "Oh come on, don't be such a baby! Nothing bad will happen. No one will ever have to know we took the short cut. Besides, we are running late...Come on!"

As they were going through the building John ran ahead of Anne. Anne wasn't watching were she was stepping because she was too busy trying to catch up to John. Just then Anne accidentally stepped on a rusty old nail which was sticking out of a piece of wood.

John was way ahead of Anne. He turned around to see where Anne was, then he yelled, "Come on Anne! What is taking you so long?"

The nail was stuck in Anne's foot. She lifted up her foot to show John the problem.

John came running back to help Anne pull the nail out of her foot.

As John and Anne were walking the rest of the way to school, John said to Anne, "Don't you tell anyone about stepping on that nail! Besides, you are fine now. This will have to be our little secret."

As John and Anne walked on, Anne promised John that she would not tell anyone about their secret.

Anne's foot hurt all day while she was at school. Anne did not tell anyone about stepping on the nail. She did not want to get into trouble.

That evening Anne wanted to go strait to bed after she had eaten her dinner. She was hoping the pain would go away and that she would be all better in the morning.

As Anne and her family were eating dinner, Anne's dad said, "Let's go to the airport and watch the airplane fly by."

Everyone in the family except Anne was excited about going to the airport.

While Anne was walking around the airport, it became harder and harder for her to walk. Anne's mom said, "Anne why are you walking so strange?"

Anne was scared to tell the truth. At first she was trying to think of a lie to keep her and her brother out of trouble.

Anne then thought that it was better if she told the truth. Anne told the whole story about the rusty old nail and how it had stuck in her foot.

Anne's dad said, "Stepping on a rusty old nail can be very serious. We'd better get you to the hospital."

The doctor told Anne it was a good thing she had come in. Then he told her the nurse would have to give her a shot so she could get better.

That night when Anne went to bed her leg still hurt, but she felt good inside because she had told the truth. Since Anne had told the truth the doctor was able to help her get well again.

*This story can also be used for why it's important to be obedient and why sometimes it's okay not to keep secrets.

(By the time we got to the doctor my leg was stiff and had started to turn purple.  It was a good thing I had told the truth or I would not have made it.)

Written and Illustrated By: Anne-Mette Howland