Children's Books Connections: Little Excavator

    Most of the books that I currently read are limited to less than 50 pages and are of the children’s book variety. Reading with my daughter and wife each evening is a great joy for me. I have recently been finding messages in these books that we read. I want to share a message that has stuck out to me recently. I have found variations of that message in some songs that I have been listening to as well.

One bedtime story that has been fun to read is Little Excavator by Anna Dewdney. I think it helps that my uncle has a big excavator that he has put to good use around his farm. Seeing the real life excavator has been fun for my daughter and contributes to her enjoyment with the excavator in the pages of this book. The book follows Little E, a mini excavator, around a job site. He tries to do what the other big machines are able to do, but is still too small to complete all the jobs. Fortunately, at the end of the story, there is a job that only Little E can do, which he completes and this phrase is used, “Good Job little excavator, time to take a bow. There is work to do just for you, here and now.”

This elicits thoughts of other phrases that share a similar message, such as the following from the song “Nobody” by Casting Crowns, “Well, the moral of the story is, everybody’s got a purpose.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yBzIt_z8oY

Or what about this from the song “Glorious” as sung by the One Voice Children's Choir: 

“Everyone plays a piece

In their own melodies

In each one of us

Oh it's glorious”

https://youtu.be/nomxXk6Q1rk?si=5isz6N4n3o9IAIAR

And lastly, this phrase from then Elder Holland in his April 2017 General Conference address: “To borrow a line quoted in the cheery correspondence of two remarkable Latter-day Saint women, “All God’s critters got a place in the choir.” (which is a reference to another song)

Sometimes, I do not feel I have a place. I feel out of place even when I feel like I should not feel that way. This can be terribly frustrating for me at times. And yet, I think the Lord wants to manifest Himself unto us. He does for, for me through these small and simple and yet impactful ways. I love what Nephi says in the end of the first chapter of the Book of Mormon: “But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance.”

Elder Bednar is the first person I remember who highlighted the phrase, “tender mercies of the Lord.” I love when I can see those tender mercies in my life. I know they are more present than I give the Lord credit for. These phrases in this book and these songs and General Conference messages have become tender mercies for me and I hope they can become the same for you.