True Tales

There's a soul-stirring book full of spine-tingling tales
of villains and heroes and man-eating whales;
of princes and pharaohs, of masters and slaves,
of kings hunting outlaws that hide out in caves;

of prophets and preachers, of scholars and teachers,
of merchants and shepherds, and all kinds of creatures,
like talkative donkeys and bloodthirsty cats,
kindhearted ravens and huge clouds of gnats;

of tall man-made towers and creature-filled boats,
of tyrants and giants and colorful coats;
of soldiers and cowards, of slippery spies,
of wise men and fools, and snakes that tell lies;

of trillions of frogs that take over the town,
of mighty stone walls that came tumbling down;
of fantastic visions and fanciful dreams,
of lousy decisions and devilish schemes;

of heartwarming stories and words of advice,
with serious lessons on how to live life.
These tales are not fables from out of the blue;
these tales in the Bible are totally true!

by Marty Nystrom

Grand Imagination

God has a grand imagination,
his ideas are enough to blow your mind.

Just look at all the critters in creation
that are absolutely one of a kind.

There's a pachyderm with a hose for a nose
and a shark with a hammer for his head;
there's a bright little fly that glows in the dark
and a rodent that pretends he is dead.There's a lizard that changes his color
and a catfish that can actually walk;
there's an animal that wears plated armor
and an eel that delivers quite a shock.There are thousands of strange-looking beetles
and a feline as fast as a car;
there's a creature that's covered with needles
and a fish that is shaped like a star. There's a snake that can shake a rattle
and a thing that can cling to a wall;
there's a bird dressed up in a tuxedo
and a beast at least three stories tall.Now in case I haven't quite convinced you
of our God's awesome creativity,
just go and look in the mirror,
then tell me what kind of creature you see! by Marty Nystrom

Grandpa is not a Gorilla

I've been reading this book of poems to the kids while up here in Denver and have come across some really good ones. Too good not to share.

Grandpa is Not a Gorilla by Marty Nystrom

My grandpa is not a gorilla,
my sis doesn't swing from the trees,
my mom doesn't mimic a monkey,
and dad doesn't forage for fleas.

My grandma is hardly a gibbon,
my aunt doesn't scratch her armpits,
my brother will not eat bananas,
unless they're in sundaes or splits.

My nephew can't walk on his knuckles,
my niece has no hair on her knees,
and none of my cousins or uncles
smell anything like chimpanzees.

So you can imagine the look on my face-
I sat with my mouth all agape-
while Teacher tried hard to convince me
I'm related to some kind of ape.

I know that my kinfolk aren't perfect-
we have chumps on our family tree-
but none of the gang's an orangutan,
so you can't make a monkey out of me!