After leaving Ku-Ku Burgers, the leaders and the kids traveled along Route 66 through Oklahoma. The next day the kids were getting hungry again and they told the Leader that they hoped he had planned a great lunch for them. They were hoping to stop at another restaurant that was as good as the Ku-Ku. The Leader just smiled and told the kids that he was planning a picnic for them, and they would get to the picnic spot before they got to the city of Tulsa.
The kids were excited and could hardly wait for the picnic, they began watching the mileage signs along the highway and soon they were getting close to Tulsa. They came to a small city named Catoosa (pronounced K2C) and the Leader stopped the bus at a picnic area by the road. The kids could not believe their eyes! Beside the road was a nice picnic area and a beautiful pond, and a giant blue whale!
That’s right there was a giant blue whale sitting beside the pond! The Leader told the kids that they could play on the whale and climb all over it while the other leaders were fixing lunch, but swimming was not allowed in the pond anymore, so they had to stay out of the water.
The kids had a great time exploring the whale and some of them discovered an old wooden building that kind of looked like a giant boat. It was falling apart and there were signs on it saying that they could not go into it or climb on it.
The kids had a lot of questions about the giant blue whale and the old wooden building, but the Leader said that he would not answer any questions until after everyone had finished eating.
Finally, everyone had finished eating and the Leader told the kids the story about the giant blue whale. There was once a man named Hugh Davis who had been a zookeeper in Tulsa. His wife, Zelta, collected small whale figurines and Hugh decided that he wanted to give his wife a special gift for their anniversary, do he decided to build her a giant whale! He got his friend Harold to help him and the two of them welded together a steel frame, then Hugh by himself mixed cement in a 5-gallon bucket and began covering the steel frame with cement. He worked on the whale from 1970 to 1972. It took him those two years to finish the whale and somehow, he kept it a secret from his wife! He built it at the edge of the pond and made a slide coming out of the side of the whale into the pond and made a diving board on the tail of the whale.
Originally it was supposed to just be a playground for their family, but it became so popular with travelers on Route 66 that Hugh enlarged the pond and made a picnic area for the public, he even hired lifeguards for the swimming area. Hugh wanted his roadside park to be more than just a swimming and picnic area, so he built a wooden building shaped like Noah’s ark and called it the A.R.K., which stood for the Animal Reptile Kingdom. Hugh called his park ‘Natures Acres’ and ran it until 1988. After Hugh and his wife died, no one took care of the park, and it began to fall apart. In 1997 the city of Catoosa, with the help of others, began to fix up the giant blue whale and the picnic area. Maybe someday they will be able to fix up the A.R.K. too!
The Leader told the kids, that Hugh must have loved his wife very much and one of the ways he showed his love was by giving his wife such a special gift. One of the ways that God shows His great love for us is also by giving us special gifts. The Bible teaches that God gives special gifts to all Christians. These gifts are to be used to help and serve other Christians.
In the Bible in I Peter 4:10 it says:
God has given each of you a gift from His great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.
The kids were kind of confused, they did not understand; what was a spiritual gift? The Leader was pleased with their questions, and he opened his Bible to the book of Romans and read Romans 12:6-8
In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
In the Bible in I Peter 4:11 it says:
Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God Himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to Him forever and ever! Amen.
The Leader explained that as the kids continued to grow as Christians, that each of them would start to see at least one of the spiritual gifts develop in them. Some of them might become preachers (prophesying) or teachers, leaders, or givers. They could all start out by being servers and begin to serve others in their group and at their Church. Once we begin to serve others, God will add more gifts when we are ready for them. The Leader told the kids to always remember that they are really serving God, not just the people around them.
In the Bible in Colossians 3:23 it says:
Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.