The Kingdom Of Marvin - Retelling The Prodigal SonSample

Returning to the Father

I envisioned the scene where Marvin returns to his father as  the only scene that would have no dialogue.

I ended up putting some commentary in to help children better understand what was happening.

But the picture here captures everything I would want to talk to my children about God.

Marvin is still carrying all of his "stuff": burden, regret, worry.

The father is running towards his child with abandon.

Here's what part of the verse says:

....his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

We tend to miss that part of the story.

Or we "get it" but don't really "feel" it.

God, despite our sinful rebellion, searches for you and me, finds us, and runs to us, bringing us back to the Kingdom.

But it comes at a cost.

Marvin's father, King Axnod, does the same.  He rushes towards Marvin.

Now, unlike God, the King confesses that he has made a mistake wrongfully punishing Marvin.

I wanted to create a space where the parent could also confess and seek forgiveness for errors we make.

Unlike God, we are imperfect parents who do and will sin against our children.

We will yell, ignore, and mistreat them -- even with best intentions.

So I put into the scene a point where the parent acknowledges a mistake and also seeks forgiveness.

If we can't begin to show this ability to repent of our own sin when teaching our own children, how can we expect them to grow up and do the same with their own Heavenly Father?

This is the end to the devotional.

But I hope it is also the beginning of your journey to share this retelling of the Prodigal Son.  

The heart of The Kingdom of Marvin  children's books is to not just entertain, but to really shape young minds for the Gospel.

I want to hear from you and what you think of this devotional and the stories I am writing.

Thanks for going through this with me and hope to hear from you soon.