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The Great Family
By Jerome W. Berryman, Lois Mitchell Church Publishing Incorporated
Copyright © 2014 Jerome W. Berryman
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-60674-197-9
CHAPTER 1
This is a story that takes place in the desert. The trouble is that a real desert is too big to squeeze into a small book. Sand would spill out everywhere, so we will use only a little sand in a beautiful glass box to tell the story. There are also too many people, so we will begin with just a few wooden figures.
In the desert the sand is always moving in the wind, so it is hard to know where you are. The blowing sand stings your face and hands. There is almost no water in the desert, so there is little to eat or drink. In the daytime the sun scorches your skin and at night it is cold. People do not go into the desert unless they have to.
After the great flood Noah led all the animals out of the ark. They spread out in all directions to fill the earth with life again. Some of the people gathered along the rivers. They lived in small villages and then cities. One of the greatest of these cities was Ur, a city near two rivers.
The people of Ur believed that there was a god in every tree, rock or flower. The world was alive with gods! This was a way to say the earth was holy, but isn't God bigger than that?
There was a family in Ur that thought there was one God who was everywhere! This God created everything, so all of God was in every place. Abram and Sarai were part of this family.
One day the family of Abram and Sarai decided they had to go to a new place. They wondered what it would be like. Would God really be there waiting for them? The whole family set out across the desert, even the animals. They slept in tents at night, and during the day the river showed them the way and gave them water to drink. Finally, they met people coming out from the new place, so they knew their journey was almost over.
The family settled in the small city of Haran. They were happy, but sometimes in the evenings Abram would go out into the desert. He looked out across the sand and up into the sky. One time God came so close to Abram, and Abram came so close to God, that he knew what God wanted him to do. God wanted Abram and Sarai to go to another new place. God blessed Abram to be a blessing.
Abram and Sarai went. They said good-by to their family and set out, like God said. This time there was no river to show them where to go or give them water to drink, but they found their way across the sand.
One day they came to a place called Shechem. Would God be in this place, too? Abram climbed a hill to pray. God was there, so they built an altar to mark the place and moved on.
Next they came to Bethel. Abram prayed again, and God was also there. Now they knew that all of God was everywhere! They built another altar and moved on once more. When they came to Hebron, they pitched their tent near the oaks of Mamre and made their home there.
Sometime later three strangers came out of the desert. Abraham was sitting by his tent. He invited them in and Sarah mixed three measures of flour—which is a lot— to make the bread to welcome them. They said Abraham and Sarah would have a son! Abraham laughed again, and this time Sarah, who was standing nearby, laughed too. The three strangers went on their way, but do you know what happened?
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Great Family by Jerome W. Berryman, Lois Mitchell. Copyright © 2014 Jerome W. Berryman. Excerpted by permission of Church Publishing Incorporated.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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