Assembly 3 ∙ Being Thankful
The farmer went back to see the wise woman. ‘I did what you advised. I took the chicken into the house, but it’s even worse now. We have even less room than before. What shall I do?’ After a pause, the wise woman asked, ‘Do you have a goat?’ ‘Of course I have a goat,’ said the farmer. ‘I’m a farmer!’ ‘Then bring it into the house,’ she replied. The farmer could not understand at all how that would help, but he was willing to give it a go, as he had no better ideas himself. So he went home and led the goat into the house. The goat was very happy about this: it particularly enjoyed nibbling the bedspread and jumping up on the table, but the farmer and his children weren’t too pleased. The very next day, he raced back to see the wise woman. ‘Please help me,’ he begged. ‘My house is even more crowded now. What shall I do?’ ‘Aha!’ said the wise woman. ‘I suppose you have a cow?’ ‘Of course I have a cow,’ said the farmer. ‘I’m a farmer!’ ‘Then bring it into the house to live with you,’ she replied. Against his better judgement, the farmer did as the wise woman suggested. It came as no surprise to him that this did not help at all: the cow was massive, it knocked over all the chairs, and it was very smelly. The children loved the animals, but even they were fed up with the cramped conditions and the smell. It was so noisy they couldn’t sleep, so they begged their father to go back to the wise woman for some better advice, which he did. ‘I have followed your advice,’ said the farmer. ‘But our home is worse than ever. We can barely move, and I don’t know what to do.’ The wise woman was silent for a while, but finally she said, ‘Go home, and take the cow and the goat back to the barn and the chicken back to its coop.’ Confused and bewildered, the farmer ran straight home and did exactly as he had been told. As he took the animals back to where they belonged, his children cleaned up the feathers, the eggs and the mess. The hut now looked quite homely again. There was room to breathe and move, and it was clean. The family realised that the hut was big enough after all. From that day on, they lived very happily together in their huge little hut. 3 Reinforce the message that sometimes we don’t realise what we have until it is gone. The farmer didn’t appreciate that his house was perfectly big enough for him and his family: he wasn’t satisfied with what he had. It was only when the house became full of animals and was genuinely crowded that he realised how lucky he was. Explain that sometimes we don’t always realise how lucky we are, and we often take things for granted. Remind the children that we should all remember to be grateful for the good things and experiences we have in our lives. We should also remember to express our gratitude to those around us. A thank you goes a long way.
Assemblies for All © Paul Stanley, 2021
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