Kris and Kell were walking from the beach back to their hotel in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina when suddenly a paper airplane flew right into Kris’ nose! Kris jumped back in fright and yelped, “Ouch! That hurt my nose!” Kell tried very hard not to laugh, but she could not help herself, she started to laugh so hard that she fell and was rolling around on the ground! She rolled right onto the paper airplane, and it stuck to the back of her shirt.
Kris’ feelings were hurt, so they walked to the hotel in silence. Kris saw the paper airplane stuck to the back of Kell’s shirt, but he did not say anything about it because she had hurt his feelings. People were laughing and pointing at Kell. When they got to their hotel room Kell said, “I think I will change and go down to the swimming pool to relax for a while. While Kell was changing, she found the airplane stuck to the back of her shirt. Now she understood why all those people were pointing and laughing at her. Instantly she was mad at Kris, but her anger quickly disappeared when she saw that there was writing on the paper airplane!
The writing on the paper airplane said, “Tomorrow morning, rent a car and drive to Windham, Connecticut. It will take between 10 and 11 hours to get there, so leave early.’ The note also told them where they had a hotel reservation in Windham.
The next day they rented a car and spent most of the day driving. They arrived at their hotel in Windham with no problems and no adventures.
The next morning there was a note under their door that said, “Go to the Willimantic Bridge. Kris went to the hotel desk and got directions to the bridge. Kris and Kell drove to the bridge and parked their car. They were expecting to see someone from Misadventures….Plus who would give them some more instructions, but there was no one around except a homeless person sitting by the bridge.
Kris and Kell walked across the bridge and back, looking for a clue about the adventure they were supposed to have, but they did not find anything! They sat down on the ground a short way from the homeless man and waited. While they waited, they talked about this unusual bridge, it was decorated with four large identical sculptures. The sculptures were of a giant spool of thread with a giant frog sitting on top of the spool.
They waited and waited, and nothing happened. After several hours Kris was beginning to get hungry and his stomach growled loudly. The homeless man heard the stomach growling and said, “I have a spare bag of potato chips, I could give to you. Do you want them?” Kris gladly accepted the potato chips and as he was eating them, they began talking to the homeless man. They talked about many things, and then Kell finally got the courage to ask the man how he had become homeless. The man said, “Oh, I am not really homeless. I work for Misadventures….Plus and I am here pretending to be homeless so that I can talk to a young couple who are on a great adventure and tell them a story!” Kris and Kell quickly told the man that they were the ones on the great adventure, and they eagerly wanted to hear the story that the man was going to tell them.
The man said, “I am going to tell you the story of the sculptures on the bridge. All four sculptures are alike; each of them is a frog sitting on top of a spool of thread. The spool of thread is there because this city is sometimes called ‘Thread City’. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s this city had the largest factories in the country that made thread and cloth. The spools of thread in the sculptures represent the good contributions that this city has made to our country. The frogs also represent part of the city’s history, but it is a very unusual part of the city’s history.
This legend goes all the way back to the year 1754. In that year the people of this village lived in fear. The French & Indian War had just begun, and the people were afraid of attacks from the French and from hostile tribes of Native Americans. Also, people were afraid of bad people living on the frontier of this country. Some people were also convinced that there were demons living in the forests. Besides these fears, there had not been any rain for a long time, and the only source of water they still had was a small pond outside of the village.
On a June night, the people of the village were awakened by a terrible noise! The people did not know what was making the noise. Some thought that it was the war cries of attacking savages. Some thought that they could hear something yelling their names. Some thought that it was the sounding of the trumpets of the Lord when He comes back to judge the world! Some thought that the noise was demons screaming!
The people were terrified! Some of the men got up enough courage to step outside their houses and fire their guns in the direction of the noises, but not one had enough courage to go any closer! The people cowered in fear in their houses all night while the noises continued. When morning came the noises died down and then stopped!
When the sun came up, the people’s courage returned, and they came out of their houses to see if they could figure out what had caused all the noises. They went out of the village and down the hill toward that last pond of water because it seemed like the noises had come from that direction. When they got to the pond, they could hardly believe their eyes! There were hundreds of dead frogs lying on the ground!
Because there had been no rain, all the frogs in the whole area had been trying to get to the last pond of water. There were too many frogs and too little water, so the frogs began to fight each other. The people of the village had been terrified all night by the sound of frogs fighting! They named that night ‘Frog Fight’ or sometimes they called it ‘Frog Fright’ because the people were so frightened by the sounds of the frogs fighting. The story of this strange night has become a legend in this area. It is an embarrassing legend because the people were so frightened by the sound of frogs, but it is also a unique legend because these people were the only ones in the whole world who were so frightened by something so unusual as frogs fighting! That is why there are frog sculptures on the bridge.”
The man looked at his watch, jumped to his feet and said, “Look at the time! I have got to get going! I must change back into my normal clothes and get to the airport, a private jet is waiting to take me home!” The man snatched up his belongings and ran away and left Kris and Kell sitting there by the bridge.
Lesson Learned about God
As Kris and Kell were sitting by the bridge, Kris said, “Is that all? Did we come all the way to Connecticut just to sit by a bridge and listen to a story from a homeless man who really was not a homeless man? What are we supposed to learn from all of this?”
Kell thought for a few minutes and then said, “This city gets a big part of their identity from a legend. The actual event happened over 250 years ago. There is probably a lot of truth in the legend, but no one knows for sure if all the details are actually true or not.
Just think how awful it would be if everything in life was based on legends! But God does not work like this, He gave us the Bible which does not contain legends but is completely true! Every prediction (prophecy) in the Bible about the past has come true, so we have confidence that the predictions for the future will also come true. There were hundreds of prophecies about the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus given in the Bible, and every one of them came true! Archeology has also confirmed the history that is given in the Bible.
The are several Bible verses from God Himself that also confirm that the Bible is true:
In the Bible in John 17:17 Jesus is praying to the Father in heaven about those who would believe in Him and He says:
“Make them holy by Your truth; teach them Your word, which is truth.”
In the Bible in II Timothy 3:16-17 it says:
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good work.
In the Bible in II Peter 1:20-21 it says:
Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.
God’s word is always true! We can trust what is taught in the Bible!
Report to the grandmother:
- At the travel agency – God has a good plan for us. Jeremiah 29:11
- Florida – God is watching over us, we do not need to be fearful. Psalms 23
- Wisconsin – Temptations. I Corinthians 10:13, Proverbs 14:12, I John 1:9
- Minnesota – Never take your eyes off Jesus. Matthew 14:22-33
- Kentucky – God’s Word (the Bible) is the truth! John 17:17
- Louisianna – Choose Heaven and the Tree of Life. Revelation 20:11-15, Revelation 21:27 thru 22:5
- Illinois – God is in control. Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28-30, Proverbs 16:9
- New Mexico – God is our place of safety. Psalms 46:1-3, Psalms 91:1-2, Psalms 18:1-2, John 14:1-3
- Alabama – Training for heaven. I Peter 1:18-21, I John 3:2-3, Ephesians 5:1-2, I Peter 2:21, II Timothy 4:6-8
- Georgia – Sin erodes a person’s life and brings death. Galatians 5:19-21, Romans 3:22-25a
- Texas – Jesus offers abundant life. John 10:10, Mark 12:29-31.
- Kansas – Humans are filled with hatred and evil. Genesis 8:21-22, Romans 3:21-25a.
- South Carolina – Reminder of the Crucifixion. Isaiah 53:3-9
- Arkansas – Jesus is Crowned with Glory and Honor. Hebrews 2:9-10, Revelation 19:16, John 11:25-26
- Idaho – Times of Refreshing. Acts 3:19-20a, Matthew 11:28-30, Isaiah 40:28-31
- Washington State – Obeying God is Important! James 1:22-25, James 4:17
- Oregon – Do not let your first love for Jesus erode. Revelation 2:4-5a, Psalms 51:10-12
- Ohio – We are secure in God’s hands. Isaiah 41:13, Psalms 139:9-10, Psalms 73:23-28.
- Iowa – God is in control: Past, Present, & Future. Hebrews 13:8, Revelation 4:8.
- South Dakota – Believers are the family of God. Ephesians 2:19-21, John 1:12-13, Ephesians 1:5, I Thessalonians 5:15-18.
- Indiana – Win the Race! I Corinthians 9:24-27, Matthew 25:21
- Michigan – Cost of following Jesus. Luke 14:27-33.
- Missouri – The Book of Life. Revelation 20:11-15.
- New Jersey – The Light of the World. Philippians 2:14-15, Matthew 5:14-16.
- New York – God will meet our needs. Philippians 4:19-20.
- Pennsylvania – A special place and rest in heaven. John 14:1-3, Hebrews 4:9-10
- Montana – Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. John 15:5
- Alaska – Jesus is the light of the world. John 1:4-5, John 8:12, Revelation 21:23-27, Revelation 22:5
- Maine – God’s Holy Spirit is like the wind: invisible, powerful and always working! John 3:8, Acts 1:8, John 14:26, Romans 8:26-27
- Massachusetts – God is preparing a special place for each believer. John 14:1-3.
- Maryland/Virginia – Perfect love overcomes fear. I John 4:17-19.
- Washington DC – Communion. I Corinthians 11:23-26.
- Virginia/West Virginia – Baptism. Romans 6:3-5, Colossians 2:12-15.
- Delaware – Jesus is returning. John 14:2-3, I Thessalonians 4:16-18, I Corinthians 15:51-53
- Rhode Island – Believers are like a lighthouse. Matthew 5:14-16, Philippians 2:14-15.
- North Dakota – Dealing with temptations. I Corinthians 10:13, James 1:13-15.
- Colorado – Faith and Trust. Hebrews 11:1-2, Proverbs 3:5-6, Ephesians 2:8-9.
- North Carolina – God guides and protects Believers. Psalms 23:3-4, Psalms 37:23-24, Isaiah 41:10.
- Connecticut – The Bible is true. John 17:17, II Timothy 3:16-17, I Peter 1:20-21.