Jesus Lost and Found: the Virtue Story of KINDNESS, Book 5 in the VIRTUE HEROES Series

A Note to Advanced Readers: Thank you for playing for our team and for helping to spread VIRTUE LITERACY! This is a PROOF COPY. Please send all comments and suggestions to jeanie.egolf@gmail.com.

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By Cathy Gilmore

Tiny Virtue Heroes™ Book 5: Team JOY

Copyright © 2021 Virtue Incarnate. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the author and/or publisher.

First Edition: June 2021 ISBNis 978-1-7356643-5-4

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Jerusalem is an amazing and busy city. You could get lost in such a place! Big groups come and go there a lot.

One day, I was caught up in the middle of it all!

A beautiful woman picked me up. Well, actually she picked up the fennel I was munching on, and I came along for the ride.

She put me and my fennel in her basket.

I discovered her name was Mary. She was traveling with her 12 year-old son Jesus and her husband Joseph. My adventure in a basket is really all about them. Joseph is my HERO. You’ll see why.

Who am I? I’m Eli. I’m an Old-World Swallowtail caterpillar.

I can’t wait to tell you my story!

The little family was with a huge group of travelers headed home to Nazareth after visiting Jerusalem. 91 miles!

Walking on foot! A little guy like me couldn’t walk that far in two lifetimes.

Many of the fathers, uncles, grandpas, and brothers walked along together.

The mothers, aunts, sisters and grandmas seemed to like walking together, too.

Young JESUS came up to His mother and said, “I’ll see you later.” He walked off toward a group of the men.

Mary quietly said to a friend, “Jesus is not my little boy anymore. It looks like He is traveling with the men now.”

I could see Jesus.

He walked past the ladies, walked past the men, and ran back toward the gates of Jerusalem!

Later, Mary found Joseph when it was time to rest and eat a meal.

“Where is Jesus?” she asked him.

“Isn’t the boy with you?”

Joseph smiled in reply.

“Not with me,” she said. “I thought He was traveling with you and the men now.”

Joseph sighed. “You thought He was with me and I thought He was with you! Where could He be?”

He remained calm and spoke with kindness to Mary. “He isn’t here, but I bet He’s near.”

They searched long into the night, but Jesus was not among the travelers.

In the morning, trying not to worry, they hurried back to Jerusalem. I was still in Mary’s basket, so I went with them. I wished I could comfort them, but what could a little caterpillar do?

Joseph wondered sadly, “How did we let this happen? How did we lose the Son of God?” He took a deep breath. “God’s providence will guide us. We simply must keep looking.”

Then he prayed.

“Abba, God, my Father, forgive us.

“Help us find Jesus. Show us the way.”

I prayed with them.

In Jerusalem, we went to places where Jesus might go.

We came to an alley where some poor children were gathered. A little girl tugged on Joseph’s cloak.“Excuse me, sir. Do you have a little bread to share?”

I tried not to fall off my fennel as Joseph reached into Mary’s basket. Smiling, he offered the girl some bread.

That’s when we noticed the girl’s feet.

“This child is wearing Jesus’ sandals! He was here!” Mary said.

Joseph stooped down and gently asked the girl about the shoes.

She replied, “A boy gave me His shoes. He was kind to all of us. Then He went that way.”

She pointed to a place with cots and beds where sick people were lying.

Joyfully, Mary thanked the girl and then looked at Joseph.

“Of course Jesus would go there!” she said.

This seemed to be a familiar place. They knew some of the sick people by name. Joseph stopped by a man on a mat.

“Peace, Eleazar! Have you seen Jesus?”

The old man said, “Yes! The boy spent time with me. Told me a good story. Made me laugh. I feel better when He’s around. That boy’s a special one, you know?”

Not showing his worry, Joseph’s voice was steady and kind.

“Yes, we know,” Joseph said. “Do you know where He went?”

“Well, hmmm,” Eleazar scrunched his bushy eyebrows together and grinned. “He was just here.

So He must be near!”

Joseph and Mary hugged and thanked Eleazar and moved on. I kept thinking about how the kindness of both Jesus and Joseph made those people smile.

I wondered if I could make someone smile. I wriggled and waved at old Eleazar. He laughed and elbowed the person next to him, saying, “Hey, that caterpillar waved at me! Heh. Heh. Heh.” It worked! I made someone smile!

I wished I could make Mary smile. We searched long into the night, and Mary started to cry. “Where do we go now?”

Joseph gently put his arm around her and prayed.

“God our Father, show us the way.”

Would they ever find Jesus?

In the early morning of the third day of searching, we saw some young friends of Jesus.

Joseph called to one.

“Akim, have you seen Jesus?”

The boy said, “Yes! He is amazing! He was just in a debate with our teacher about the coming of the Messiah. Jesus is so smart, He could be our teacher!”

Joseph asked, “Where is He now?”

“He must be near. He was just here.” The boy looked around. “Maybe the rabbi took Him to the temple to speak with the scholars there. I bet you’ll find Him in the temple.”

Mary and Joseph thanked the boy. Joseph said, “The Messiah is nearer than everyone realizes.” Then he whispered to Mary, “If we can just find Him!”

Refreshed with hope, we headed to the temple.

We found Him!

He was among a crowd of rabbis and teachers. Some looked impressed by Him. Others scowled, muttering, “A respectful boy, but His words are too old for His age.”

At first Mary rushed to Jesus and asked, “Why have You done this to us? We have searched for You everywhere!”

Jesus replied lovingly to His mother. “Didn’t you know I’d be in my Father’s house?”

“We knew You were near.” She sighed, and her worry melted into JOY. “Of course You would be here!”

“Don’t worry, Mother.” Jesus assured her. “I’ll make sure you know whenever I must leave you again.”

Joseph smiled and embraced his son, saying, “Perhaps I should have looked for You first in the Heavenly Father’s house.”

See why Joseph is my hero?

He chose to be kind to others in every situation, no matter what! That’s a BIG virtue strength that all of us little guys can appreciate.

Hi Readers!

I’m ELI, a Tiny Virtue Hero, a storyteller, a sidekick, and your pretend friend. You can imagine me as your play-time or pray-time partner. I tell everyone the virtue story of my hero Joseph, foster father of Jesus the Messiah.

My friend Joseph isn’t just any hero. He is a virtue hero of KINDNESS. Joseph is my hero because he shows me the strength of being kind to others in any situation, no matter how upset or worried we might be.

VIRTUES are

the power of God’s goodness alive in us. Prayer makes us VIRTUE STRONG. Pray a prayer with me: “Dear God, our Father, Your Son became a tiny little one to save us all.

Help me to be a Virtue Hero, like kindly JOSEPH, even though I am small.”

You can be a VIRTUE HERO! When we ask God to guide what we think and pray, do and say, we enable holy habits like KINDNESS to grow virtuestrong in us.

Joseph shows us that God places the power of heroic kindness inside each of us. Seeking Jesus and His goodness gives us virtue strength, and enables us to be Virtue Heroes™!

Eli

CHARACTER CARD Name means: My God is lifted up.

Virtue Power: KINDNESS: choosing consideration that puts others first Virtue Color: GREEN Tiny Virtue Hero Team: TEAM JOY Favorite Spiritual History Story: The Finding in the Temple: When Jesus was lost for three days as a boy and Mary and Joseph found Him in the Temple.

Favorite BIBLE VIRTUE HERO: JOSEPH, the foster father of Jesus Favorite MISSION VIRTUE HERO: Josephine Bakhita Eli invites us to pray in a special way for the MISSION VIRTUE Region of: AFRICA

MISSION VIRTUE HERO: Josephine Bakhita Josephine Bakhita is one of the real-life Mission Virtue Heroes. She lived with her family in a village in Sudan, Africa.

Kidnapped by Arab slave traders at seven years old, she had to walk barefoot 600 miles to the market. She was a slave for twelve years. As a slave, she suffered a lot, but she did not become mean or bitter. She still found ways to show love to others.

Nuns known as the Canossian Daughters of Charity helped Josephine find freedom. She became a Canossian Sister herself.

Josephine Bakhita began her life in the Mission Virtue Region of AFRICA. She endured much suffering, but her faith in God’s grace enabled her to be heroically kind, even to those who hurt her.

Josephine Bakhita was known for her gentle voice and smile.

Because of her heroic virtue, many people consider her a saint.

Josephine Bakhita, please pray for all of us to grow strong in the virtue of KINDNESS.

MISSION VIRTUE Prayer Power-UP Mission Region: AFRICA We can be Mission Virtue Heroes in two ways. First, we can pray for people who live far away from us. Second, we can pray for people whose souls are far away from Jesus. Let’s pray a BIG prayer today for the people who live in the land of Bakhita’s birth, in the green jungles and grasslands of the Mission Virtue Region of AFRICA. We can pray like this: God, please bless everyone in AFRICA: especially the poor people, the sick people, the sad people, and all of the missionaries who bring Jesus to them. Help all of us to grow in the virtue of KINDNESS.

AFRICA

Meet the creator of Tiny Virtue Heroes™: Cathy Gilmore

Autho

An award-winning children’s author, Cathy is an advocate for virtue. Known as “Mrs. Virtue Lady,” Cathy is passionate about assisting parents, grandparents, and teachers to infuse every family with fervent faith and vibrant virtue. Her Tiny Virtue Heroes™ are a menagerie of animal and insect characters who gently model faith and morality.

They invite readers of all ages to admire real-life virtue heroes from Christian history.

By energizing the imaginations of children via stories, Cathy is on a quest to place virtue at the heart of how kids think of super heroes and super powers. Find out about all the Virtue Heroes™, as well as Cathy’s broader efforts to promote virtue, at her website www.VirtueHeroes.com.

Ministry Founder

Cathy is also the founder of Virtue Works Media, the 501c3 non-profit ministry that promotes virtue literacy: expanding the knowledge and practice of virtue in children, teens, and families through the experience of reading and media. Find out more about choosing morally “nutritious” content in books, films, and music by visiting www.VirtueWorks.Media.

Meet the Tiny Virtue Heroes™ illustrator: Jeanie Egolf Jeanie is the talented artist working to bring Cathy's Virtue Heroes™ characters and storybooks to life. Jeanie has a personal passion to create images that are emotionally engaging for children. Jeanie's style integrates a broad spectrum of skills in graphic design, fine art, and children's illustration, enriching her ability to create unique and timeless characters. Discover more of Jeanie's work at: www.PerpetualLightPublishing.com.

The Tiny Virtue Heroes

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To learn about all these Virtue Heroes™ visit www.VirtueHeroes.com.