Another favorite was The Runaway Bunny written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Ward. The little bunny tells his mother that he will runaway, and she answers that if he runs away she will run after him because he is her little bunny. The little bunny then says if his mother runs after him he will become a fish and swim away. Mother bunny becomes a fisherman to catch him. The little bunny becomes a rock on a mountain, but mother climbs to where he is. Then she becomes a gardener to find him in a secret garden.
A bird? Mother becomes the tree that he will come home to.
A sailboat? Mother becomes the wind to blow him where she wills.
The little bunny joins the circus, but mother walks across a tightrope to join him. He then becomes a little boy and runs into a house. Mother says she will catch him in her arms and hug him.
What a reassuring story for little ones to hear. They hear that they are loved. The beautiful artwork reinforces that they can never outrun that love. (To my college junior and high school senior I would add that they can't outgrow that love either).
I think that this childhood classic gives a small glimpse of how God feels about us. He loves us, his children, and despite our efforts to run away from Him he pursues us out of love. We recently celebrated the culmination of that love: the birth of Jesus. God pursued us to the point of dying for our waywardness despite our avoidance and running away from Him.
The little bunny recognizes that he can never escape his mother's loves and says, "Shucks, I might just as well stay where I am and be your little bunny!" The wise little bunny has a wonderful lesson for us. Don't run away from your heavenly father. Accept his love and be His little bunny.
