Mark had gone with his parents on a picnic by the river. After they had eaten Mark’s mother put everything left back in the picnic basket. She shook the crumbs off the tablecloth and put it in the basket. Then they decided to go for a ride in the boat. It was pleasant on the river and they were gone over an hour. They got out near where they had eaten and Mark saw a long line of ants busily carrying the crumbs away. He followed them to their nest and saw them carrying in the crumbs. He said, "Mama, they are putting all the crumbs inside their nest. I followed them and saw them doing it."

Mother replied, "Yes, I am sure they were storing up food because they do that. Solomon lived nearly 3,000 years ago and he wrote about the ant.. He said, Go to the ant, you sluggard, consider his ways and be wise!"

"What is a sluggard, Mama?" Mark asked.

"It is a slow, lazy person and ants are not sluggards as they are busy all the time.. We need to be busy doing good things," Mother replied.

"I want to know more that Solomon said. Will you read more to me about ants after supper," Mark asked. Mother replied that she would be glad to because Solomon was very wise and wrote Proverbs. Then Mark asked what proverbs were.

Mother answered, "Proverbs are wise sayings. Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament.  It was written a long time ago but it gave wise advice to people. These wise sayings are advice to people today just as much as to people of Solomon’s day. Much of the trouble in the world today is because people have never read his advice or have not heeded it.

After they returned from the picnic and had eaten supper, Mother said she would read in Proverbs to Mark before bedtime. She started reading from Proverbs 6:6, "Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider his ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest."

"Mama, What does the ant do with the food it saves? Mark asked.

Mother replied that the ant used it for food in the wintertime when there were not seeds or grain to save. She said that the reason she and Mark’s father saved money was so they would have money when they needed it. Not everyone does that and when need comes they cannot meet their needs.

Mark said, "This scripture reminds me of something that happened at school that I haven’t told you about. You know Billy is my friend that had the big house and his father drives a Cadillac and I wondered why we couldn’t have that too as my father has a better job than his. I also wished we could go on a Caribbean cruise last summer. I asked Daddy about it but he said we couldn’t afford it. I wondered if he was stingy and didn’t want us to have a good time. But yesterday I knew Billy didn’t act like he usually does and I knew he’d been crying even though I acted like I didn’t notice that. We played on the swings a while and then he told me he might have to go to another school before too long. Then he told me that the company his father worked for went bankrupt last year. He got another job that didn’t pay as well but they soon cut back on employees. Since he hadn’t worked too long, he had to go. Then his father had appendicitis and couldn’t work. Since he wasn’t working, he had no insurance so he had to use his credit card to pay for it. This was really bad because he had charged the cost of the cruise to his credit card last summer. Now he has another job that doesn’t pay as well and he has credit card payments to make. He couldn’t make payments on the Cadillac so had to let it go and he fixed up an old Ford they had that had quit running and they are using it. But later Billy’s mother told him they would have to move out of their house and into an apartment that did not allow pets. Billy’s Uncle Joe said he could take Trixie but that meant that Billy could only see her when he went to see Uncle Joe. I love my dog, Rover so very much. I knew then why Billy had been crying. It was because his uncle had come by for Trixie before he left for school He said the apartment was in another part of town and he would likely have to go to a different school. When he got through telling me all about it, he said he felt better that he had told me about his troubles and asked me not to tell anyone else at school. I told him that I wouldn’t think of it."

Mother said, "That makes me very sad too. I like the Johnson family very much. I must go by and visit Mrs. Johnson and maybe I can cheer her up some. I won’t say a word about what you said. But the Bible tells us to bear one another’s burdens and she has plenty of burdens now."

Mark replied, "I know she’d be glad to see you. Billy said she was thinking of getting a job now but she hasn’t worked as an office supervisor since before Billy was born so she was afraid she couldn’t find one."

"I know that Mr. Jeffreys is trying to find a replacement for an executive secretary for a few days. He mentioned that he was looking for someone but didn’t want to advertise for a replacement He said that he had two or three weeks to find someone. I will manage to mention to her that he is hunting someone.  I’ll tell her that if she has friends that qualify to tell them to call him."

Mark hugged his mother and told her she was wonderful to think of that.. "Mr. Jeffreys knows Mrs. Johnson too. He knows what a good woman she is. Oh I just know he'll hire her. Maybe they can get another house soon and Billy can get Trixie back.  And now, I’m glad Daddy saves some money instead of spending it all.

"Don’t you say anything about this to Billy, " warned Mother, "because we don’t know how things will turn out for them. But I hope things will get better for them. Let’s both pray for them tonight before we go to bed."

"Oh, I will," said Mark cheerfully, "And is it all right for me to pray that Billy can get Trixie back?"

"I’m sure it will be," said Mother with a smile. "God knows that little boys need their pets."

1. In Proverbs 6:6 Solomon tells us to consider the ways of the_______________ and learn from it.

2. We need to ______________while we can as we may need things or money later.

3. A proverb is a ______________ saying.

4. Mother said that the Bible says we should ____________one another’s ________________.

5. Solomon says the ant has (a commander, no commander)

6. The ant (has, has not) an overseer.

7. The ant gathers its food in the (summer, winter)

8. The Proverb about the ______________teaches us to save.

9.  A sluggard is a (lazy, busy) person.