THE BOOGIE WOMAN
PREFACE: I do not advocate telling the boys 'ghost stories'. I don't think
this is appropriate for the Royal Ranger setting. This story is totally
different from any that I normally would tell. Admittedly, I had some
concerns about telling this story to my boys last Wednesday night. These
concerns were consumed by the message that God gave me when I first saw the
story. Judge for yourselves whether this story is suitable for your boys.
The story itself is an adaptation of an Indian legend.
*****
Everybody has heard of the Boogie Man � right? I want to tell you about
the Boogie Woman. She lives in the mountains�. her house is high above all
the others�.
In a small village in the mountains of Colorado, there was a family of six
� mother, father, and 4 boys. There was nothing special about these boys -
they liked to play � and argue with each other.
One evening, the boys were out playing in the yard when the mother called
out to them: "BOYS, COME INSIDE AND GET A BATH! --- YOU STINK!"
"Oh mom," they whined "do we have to?"
"Yes you do. The boogie woman is going to get you if you don't get clean.
She waits for the wind to blow up the mountain � then she follows the smell
of dirty little kids�. she takes them back up to her house on the top of
the mountain and cooks them! If you don't take a bath, she's going to get
you!"
The boys whined again except for the youngest boy. He very quickly ran
inside and took a bath while the others stayed outside to play.
A few days later, the boys were out playing again when the mother called
out to them "You boys need to clean your ears! Get those big balls of wax
out of them!"
Once again, the boys complained and said that they didn't want to.
The mother yelled again, " If you boys don't get those ears clean, you'll
never hear the boogie woman coming! Just wait till the wind starts blowing
up the mountain� She likes kids with dirty ears�. It makes it so much
easier for her to sneak up on them when they can't hear her!"
The boys whined again except for that same boy� He ran inside and cleans
his ears better than ever before. He didn't want to take a chance at the
boogie woman getting him.
A few days passed and just like before, the mother called out to her
children, "You boys need to wipe your noses! That snot hanging down to
your knees is disgusting!"
Know what the boys did --- they whined and didn't do what she told them to.
So, the mother yelled again, "If you don't come in here and wipe your
noses, the boogie woman is going to get you. She likes little kids covered
with snot. They can't run from her as fast as the ones with clean noses!
And once she catches them, � they're hers!"
The same little boy ran inside the house and wiped himself clean!
As the weeks passed, the mother kept telling the kids the same thing and
only one of the boys would listen to her and do as she said.
Then one day as the boys were out playing, the wind changed directions and
started blowing from the top of the mountain. The boogie woman noticed the
wind change and started out in search of little children to take.
As she was traveling around she caught the smell of these children. She
started following the smell just like the mother had told them she would.
Soon, she was close enough to see the children in the yard. She tried to
walk quietly, but the boy that had cleaned out his ears heard her coming.
He yelled at his brothers to run, but they couldn't hear because of the big
balls of wax in their ears.
The boogie woman got closer and the boy started running. When his brothers
saw him running, they turned and saw the boogie woman coming! They started
to run, but the snot from their noses was hanging around their knees and
kept them from running fast enough to get away.
The boogie woman got them and carried them off as their little brother
watched.
The little brother ran off to tell his parents what had happened. He was
so afraid� what could he do?
When he got to the house, it was empty! He rushed all around the house
looking for someone to help him. As he fell into a chair to rest, he saw a
note taped to the fireplace. He looked at it carefully� it was written by
his father� it simply said� "If you have any trouble with the boogie woman,
don't worry. Just tell her that I sent you and have given you the power to
beat her."
The little boy grabbed the note and ran out the house. He ran down the
street and started up the mountain. Finally, he reached the home of the
boogie woman. He could hear his brothers crying inside.
With the words of his father in his hand he knocked the door down and
shouted, "Let go of my brothers! My father said you had to!"
The boogie woman was so startled at the sight of this little boy and the
power he had that she fell backward into the fireplace. The little boy
grabbed his brothers and ran out of the house. He and his brothers were
safe!
Now we all know there is really no boogie woman �. Right? But there is a
character almost just like that boogie woman in the story�. Satan.
He doesn't just wait for the wind to blow, the Bible tells us in I Peter
5:8 that "your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour".
What does he do? He looks for people that STINK � I'm not talking about a
body odor, I'm talking about the smell of sin. Unconfessed and unforgiven
sin. We need to make sure we have been washed in the blood.
Satan is looking for those that can't hear him coming. He is looking for
people that have closed their ears and blocked out the gospel.
Finally, he is looking for the ones that can't run from him because they
are tied up in sin. Their sin has them where they can't move and flee from
Him.
So, what do we need to do? Keep ourselves clean, listen to God's word, and
don't get tied up in sin.
But what do I do if I, or a friend, gets in trouble with the devil? Just
like the little boy in the story, you can beat the devil just by using your
father's (God's) name. In the name of Jesus, you can defeat the devil.
Let's pray today that God will make us and keep us clean from sin. That God
will open our ears so we can hear His word and recognize the temptations of
the devil. And that God will remove any bondage of sin that is holding us
back from fellowshipping with Him.
Let's pray�
In His Service,
Allen R. Cook - Cookie
Royal Rangers
Senior Commander
Belton A/G -- Belton, Missouri
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
web page: http:\\www.sound.net\~pabonim
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