Adventures in Odyssey Home Page

After you’ve heard “For the Birds,” 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 Catherine Wilson

Camilla’s adventures with pets reminded me a lot of my own family’s pet experiences. Just like Camilla, my parents told me that our family was a “no-pet family.” And just like Camilla I really, really wanted a pet. Then, one day in the summer, in the empty lots behind our house I saw a creamy-white and orange tabby cat. “Hi there kitty, do you belong to somebody?” I asked. I knew it wasn’t safe to pet a strange animal and the cat wouldn’t let us get within ten feet of her. Still, I was excited. Maybe God sent this cat to our family!

Some of my neighbors and I looked for its owner, but no one came to claim her. We took turns with the neighbors leaving food for the cat, and named it Tammy. Tammy got to be more and more friendly, eventually letting us pet her. The leaves began to change color and I asked my mom again if we could keep Tammy. She finally said, “Catherine, if winter comes and that cat still doesn’t have a home, then we can talk about keeping her.” I was so close! I practically had a pet!

One day I got off the school bus and Tammy wasn’t there! One of my neighbors had taken Tammy to the vet for a check up. I thought that was nice. If Tammy was healthy, maybe that would be all my mom needed to let me adopt her! Then, after dinner, my neighbors came over to tell me more news: “Catherine! Catherine! The vet’s assistant adopted Tammy!”

How disappointing! I was so close! Like Camilla, I was sad that things didn’t go my way. I was even angry for a while. That was going to be my cat! But I had to learn that even though it wasn’t my plan, God had taken care of Tammy and now she was in a good home.

In Matthew 6, Jesus said, “look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” Jesus is telling us that He will take care of our needs. I guess that I didn’t really need to have a cat.

Sometimes things don’t turn out the way that we hope, but we have to learn that God’s plans are bigger and better than ours, even when we don’t understand what’s happening. That vet’s assistant was probably better at taking care of cats than I would have been. I’m sure that Tammy and her owner are very happy together.

Have you ever had any adventures with pets in your family? Tell us in the comments below!

After you’ve heard “Target of the Week,” 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 Catherine Wilson

Matthew had a tough time with bullies in today’s show and decided that his only way out was revenge. Later, he did the right thing by apologizing to Vance, but even then, Vance didn’t give up his bullying ways.

Matthew’s dilemma reminds me of two kids I know named Thomas and Michael. One day at school, Michael was waiting in line for the drinking fountain when Thomas pushed him out of the way. Michael was upset, but when he went home that day, his mother suggested that maybe Thomas just needed a friend. The next day Michael talked with Thomas, and found out that both of them liked spaceships and water balloon fights. Today, the two are best friends. They build enormous Lego spaceships together and they’re always on the same side in water balloon fights.

In the Bible, Jesus says to “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.” Sometimes, a bully just needs a friend. And sometimes, a bully is just a bully and being their friend won’t make them treat you any better. But, however a bully acts, we know that revenge isn’t the answer.

When you treat a bully with love, you might gain a friend, like Michael did with Thomas, or gain respect, like Matthew did with Vance. But even if you don’t get either of those things, you will please God because you treated others as Jesus did. And if nothing else works, you can always pray for a bully.

Did you ever have an enemy that God helped to change into a friend? I’d love to hear about it on the blog!

After you’ve heard “Game for a Mystery,” 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 Catherine Wilson

Ah, what a beautiful day outside! The sun is shining. The birds are singing. I think I’ll go take a bike ride right now.


Oh, wait, I said that I would write a devotional thought first. Oh, but that sun feels so nice through the window…


Sorry, everybody. Back to Adventures in Odyssey. In today’s episode, Barrett didn’t do the chores his father gave him and, instead, he played his video game. I would never do something like that…oh wait! I think I almost did that just now, when I wanted to go outside. It’s easy to put off the tasks that we’re assigned. Chores can seem so unimportant. But what if we looked at chores and tasks a different way?


The apostle Paul tells us that, “whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” (Colossians 3:23). If we look at all our work as God’s work, maybe we would all change how we go about our tasks and chores. If Barrett had thought of trimming the hedge as something he was doing for God, he probably would have started his chores a lot sooner! God wants us to honor our parents. So doing the chores that our parents assign us is working for God.


You know, I actually did enjoy writing this devotional thought, and I still have time to go for a bike ride. But do you know what’s even better? By writing this devotion I honored God, and, by going on a bike ride I can honor God again, by appreciating his creation. I think it’s pretty great how you can honor God in “whatever you do.”


By doing our everyday tasks to the best of our ability we are working for God. Can you think of some of the jobs that you do everyday? How do you do your best at those tasks? You can tell us about it right here!

After you’ve heard “Clutter,” 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 Catherine Wilson

A few years ago my Grandma moved into the house with my family. To make room, I had to move into a smaller bedroom with no closet. I put all my stuff into cardboard boxes and moved them into our basement. My boxes of books, clothes, old toys, and who-knows-what-else, were stacked on top of each other like Jenga blocks halfway through the game—fairly stable, but you wouldn’t want to try to take anything out of the bottom. I remember being annoyed that I had to pack up all my things, but I did it anyway.

Months after I moved to the smaller room, I tried to find an old journal in the basement. It turned into an expedition because I first had to wade through all of my other stuff. As I dug through a garbage bag full of stuffed animals, I started to wonder, “why am I keeping all this junk anyway?” And why did I need a bigger room just to keep so much stuff?

I could certainly relate to the Parker family in the episode “Clutter.” They had so much in their garage that the stacks of old junk toppled over! Like the Parker family, I decided it was time to de-clutter my things. I gave some of my books to a school in Haiti and I gave a lot of the toys and clothes to a local thrift store. And in the process, I finally found my journal.

It made me think about the importance – or maybe the “un-importance” – of my stuff. Having a bigger room to keep my things wasn’t as important as a place for my grandma to stay. By getting rid of some of my possessions, I was able to help people in need. And by letting someone else use my room, I could help my Grandma. What a blessing to give away things I didn’t need!

What are some things that you could give up to help some one in need? Let us know in the comments below!

After you’ve heard “The Inspiration Station, Part 2,” check out this devotional thought. (If you haven’t heard the episode, check out the Media Player starting March 13. You can also find a station in your area.)

Listen to Part 2 online!

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The Swim Team

By Catherine Wilson

“Come on!” “You can make it!” “Let’s go!” The shouts of the crowd were jumbled underwater, but I knew that many of the cheers were for me. I flip turned into the final lap of the race. I thrust my arms through the water, with as much precision and strength as I knew how and took a gulp of air to last me the final stretch. I could feel my muscles burning. I put all my mental energies into keeping my arms and legs going for those last few strokes. My lungs were crying for air as I stretched my arms through the water, toward the finish, until…my hand hit the wall at last! My head broke through the surface. I took a deep breath and looked up at the scoreboard. My time had improved! And…I was the last one to finish the race. My friends came around me to congratulate me for finishing. Their encouragement was my favorite part of being on the team.

I was one of the worst swimmers that season and in the next season, my skills didn’t improve much. I worked just as hard during practice, thinking I would eventually get better, but it never seemed to happen. I also got to know some of the new swimmers who were just learning. Because my friends had encouraged me in my first year, I knew that I should do the same thing for the new swimmers. I helped them learn how to the basics, and soon I got to encourage them when they swam better than me! At the end of that second season, when I was still coming in last place, I realized something. The reason I was there wasn’t to win the races; the reason I was there was to inspire others to do their best.

Like Connie in “The Inspiration Station,” I started some days feeling discouraged about the things I didn’t do well. But, like Connie, I was blessed to have friends who encouraged me along the way. My friends taught me to think about what I can really do well, which is being a friend and encouraging others.

The apostle Paul wrote that we should “encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). We usually think of inspiration as something we get. But what if inspiration was something that we gave to others? We can inspire others through our encouragement.

In the next week, find one person and give them encouragement. You could do this by cheering them at sports or helping them at school. You could tell a family member that you love them and believe in them. Then us know how it went in the comments below!