UPDATE: Augustine the Hippo

Last year, I posted a children's story called "Augustine the Hippo." It was just a silly idea that popped into my head. Well, the one thing I heard more than any other is that I needed to expand it a little bit, especially when talking about how Augustine and his friend Ambrose had fun together as they learned about Jesus. Well, I finally got around to that with all my free time during Lent. Here it is. Enjoy. And if anyone wants to illustrate it, that would be cool. I can do a lot of things, but I'm no artist.

Augustine the Hippo

There was once a hippo. His name was Augustine. Everybody called him “Gus.”

Gus was a smart hippo. He knew his letters. He knew his numbers. He listened to his mom.

Then his mom said, “Gus, you’re a smart hippo. You know your letters. You know your numbers. You listen to you mom.”

“Now I want to teach you the best thing of all. I want to teach you about God’s Word. I want to teach you about Jesus.”

But Gus said, “Mom, I AM a smart hippo. I know my letters. I know my numbers. I don’t need to know about Jesus. I need to have fun.”

And Gus went to play with his friends.

One day, Gus met Ambrose. Ambrose was a smart hippo too. He knew his letters. He knew his numbers. He listened to his mom.

Gus and Ambrose became friends. They played together all the time.

Then Gus saw Ambrose reading his Bible. Gus said, “Put that away! I want to have fun!”

Ambrose said, “I have fun reading God’s Word. I have fun learning about Jesus.”

Gus was surprised. He said, “You can have fun learning about Jesus?” And Ambrose showed Gus how he had fun reading God’s Word.

And Gus and Ambrose had fun together learning about Jesus.

They read the Bible together.

They went to Sunday School together.

They sat together in church and listened to the pastor.

They sang hymns together.

Gus went home and said to his mom, “Mom, Ambrose and I had fun learning about Jesus.”

His mom hugged him and said, “Gus, that makes me very happy. Jesus is the best thing of all. You are a very smart hippo!”

The End

© 2017, 2018, Alan Kornacki, Jr.