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After you’ve heard “A Thankstaking Story,” check out this devotional thought. (If you haven’t heard the episode, check out the Media Player. You can also find a station in your area.)

By Bethany Brown

Around this time of year we hear a lot about being thankful. At my house, we put kernels of corn or fall leaves in a basket and name a thing that we’re thankful for. My list usually includes my mom and dad, food to eat, a house to live in, toys to play with, Adventures in Odyssey to listen to…and the list goes on. I have a lot of things to be thankful for. But the more I read my Bible and listen to Odyssey, the more I realize that I have so many things to add to my list.

The gang in Odyssey learned this lesson in “A Thankstaking Story.” All of the things they usually would usually put on their “thankful” list was gone. All they had was a cold, dark Whit’s End, a blowtorch, and some soggy ice cream. But through the zany story they told, they realized that Thanksgiving isn’t just about being thankful for “stuff.” Thanksgiving is about the love of God.

If I were stuck inside on Thanksgiving Day, I bet that I could find a lot of things to be thankful for. I could be thankful for God, for the fact that He loves me and sent us His son Jesus for me. I could be thankful that I was able to pray and talk to God whenever I want. And I could thank God that I can live as His child.

Even though it’s easier to be thankful when we have lots of things, we can be thankful anytime. Even the evil Scrunch realized that. When the Magloos were praying, Thanksgiving was still happening! It was happening in their hearts.

What “stuff” are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? What has God done for you that no one can take away, even if all your stuff is gone? Tell us about it in the comments below!

After you’ve heard “Square One,” check out this devotional thought. (If you haven’t heard the episode, check out the Media Player. You can also find a station in your area.)

By Bethany Brown

When I was a baby, my dad used to like to toss me up in the air and then catch me. That sounds terrifying to me now, but my mom says that I loved it. I would scream and laugh and smile because I thought it was so much fun. I would beg him to throw me higher and higher. It was like a rubber band stretching farther and farther. How far could it go?

My dad was always gentle and sweet with me, and he took good care of me. So when he decided to try the crazy idea of tossing me up in the air, I guess I figured there was no reason not to trust him. On the other hand, if my dad had dropped me even once, it would have been like the rubber band snapped and I probably would never have wanted him to toss me again.

In “Square One,” it was easy for the club to trust Matthew right off the bat. He had never done anything to betray them and they thought he had good character. But after Matthew broke their trust, their trust in him was broken. His rubber band snapped. Not even gifts or acts of service would get him back in the club.

Friends often give you their trust very easily at first. If you prove unreliable and break that trust, it can be very hard to get it back. But the great thing is that trust is different than rubber bands in a very important way—trust can be mended. It can take time, but with God’s help, we can show our friends that we are sorry for our mistakes and that we will try harder to be trustworthy next time.

It may take time, as Matthew learned. But earning a friend’s trust is worth the effort.

Have you ever broken a promise? Has someone ever broken your trust? Share your stories on the blog.

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Adam Wylie

Adam Wylie tells about performing in Adventures in Odyssey and Last Chance Detectives. He also answers what it’s like working in Kidsboro, basketball, and the challenges of voice acting.

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After you’ve heard “The Owlnapping,” check out this devotional thought. (If you haven’t heard the episode, check out the Media Player. You can also find a station in your area.)

By Bethany Brown

It seems pretty silly to think that a stuffed owl can win a basketball game. The team in the “The Owlnapping” made mistakes in understanding what the owl symbol meant, but they’re not alone when it comes to misunderstanding.

In Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas were preaching in a city named Lystra when they saw a man who was crippled. God gave Paul the power to heal the man so that he could stand up and walk. This act should have pointed the people to God’s power, since He healed the man.

Unfortunately, the people of Lystra didn’t understand what they saw. Instead of worshiping God, they worshipped Paul and Barnabas! They called the two men gods and wanting to offer sacrifices to them. When Paul and Barnabas realized what was happening, they shouted, “Men, why are you doing this? We are only human like you!” Paul and Barnabus didn’t take the credit, but they tried to point the people back to God.

In the same way, Ryan tried to get his team to understand that the owl didn’t make them win. But like the people of Lystra, the players had a hard time listening. They thought that their talent and ability to play somehow came from a stuffed owl. They didn’t think about who really gave them their basketball skills.

When we think of our talents and abilities in sports, in school, or in creativity, we should remember who gave us those gifts. Our gifts come our wonderful Creator, who gives us more than we can ever deserve or imagine.

Have you ever been in a situation like the basketball team? Do you play on a team with a mascot? Let us know in the comments below.

After you’ve heard “Opposite Day,” check out this devotional thought. (If you haven’t heard the episode, check out the Media Player. You can also find a station in your area.)

Best of Friends

By Bethany Brown

In the third grade, I was really shy. We had just moved to a new town and I was a nervous around all the kids in my new school. I liked to read, write stories, and play with my stuffed animals, instead of talking to other kids. However, the girl who sat in front of me was completely different. She was funny, happy, one of the most popular girls in class, and she had no problem being loud and leading the whole group in doing something fun.

The two of us could not have been more different, but she was my best friend through elementary school. She stood up for me when bullies tried to tease me, and when she would get a big group of kids to play “Let’s Pretend,” I was often the one who helped come up with a story for us to imagine.

Proverbs 4:9-10 says “two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: if one falls down, his friend can help him up.” My friend and I needed each other’s help. I already knew how to be quiet, and she already knew how to be loud, but together we helped each other do the things at which we were weakest.

It would have been really easy, on my first day of school, for me to be like Olivia in “Opposite Day” and think only about the differences of the girl in front of me: “she’s too loud and popular, we’ll never get along” and she could have said the same about me. “She’s so quiet and shy, she doesn’t have anything to say.” We might have missed learning so much from each other because we weren’t willing to try something new.

Instead, I really like what Olivia and Amber decided. They could still be friends, even though they knew they had a lot of differences. They wouldn’t be best friends, but they could still spend time together.

Have you ever had a friend who was really different from you? Did you stay friends? What did you learn? Tell us all about it in the comments below.