Little Angie the Booger Stomper

5/14/2019   A Bedtime Story by Wesley Stout

 A child learns to handle fear with Spiritual Warfare.

>>>>>>>One dark night when the wind was whistling through the old window sill and the cats were prowling outside Little Angie Love awoke from a deep sleep. ” Did something go bump in my bedroom?” she thought to herself. Trying not to move except for her eyes she scanned the room. Those shadows. The places where the light did not go. What could be hiding there? The closet door was a little bit open. She always closed the closet door. Did she forget to close it? Did Mommy or Daddy? Or did someone or something else come in and open it. Perhaps something scary came in and ran in there when she woke up?

“Should I cry for Daddy,” she thought. “No it will hear me and rush out.” She waited and waited without taking her eyes off the crack in the closet door. Feelings like little electric pains began to crawl all over the back of her neck until she could take it no longer. She was going to cry and that thing might hear her. She was thinking, “I can’t stay in here but I am too afraid to move.” She eventually decided to get out of bed as quietly as possible and sneak out of her room and down the hall to Mommy and Daddy’s room. So like a little mouse she slipped out from under the covers and tiptoed sideways toward the door and once out the door she ran down the hall.

Daddy felt something looking at him in the dark. Daddy and Mommy didn’t use a nightlight so he couldn’t  see her but he could hear her breathing. He rolled over and opened his eyes wider. “Angie? Is that you.?”

“Yes Daddy.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m scared.”

“Of what?”

“There is a booger in my closet?”

“O-o-o K Angie. Let’s go take care of that booger.” Daddy got out of bed, picked up the little girl and carried her back down the hallway and into room. He threw open the closet door.  Angie hid her eyes against his neck. “Look!” he said, “No more booger. He has gone away. There is nothing here now. Do you think you can sleep in your bed tonight.”

“No! I’m still scared.”

“Okay.” said Daddy. “You can sleep with Mommy and Me one more time but tomorrow is Saturday and I am going to teach you how to chase boogers away by yourself.”

“NO!” she cried, “I don’t want to chase boogers.”

“But you have to grow up a little more because you are not a baby anymore.”

“Yes I am. I am a baby. I am your baby.”

“You will always be my baby Angie but you also have to grow up a little to handle something scary.”

As they crawled into the big bed he said softly. “Don’t wake Mommy. She’s had a hard week and needs her rest.”

“Okay Daddy.” she whispered.

Without moving a muscle except for the unseen smile on her face Mommy whispered, “Thank you Lord for a sweet little girl and a big strong booger chaser.”

Angie rested her head on Daddy’s massive arm, snuggled up against his big chest and slept.

Mommy woke up to an earthquake! No. It was Angie shaking her. “Mommy! Mommy! It is Saturday! Make pancakes!”  About that time the dog hit Daddy as he pounced onto the bed and across his chest.

Mommy said half asleep, “So help me! I think that dog would ask for pancakes too if he could talk.”

As Mommy made pancakes Angie stood on a bar stool and leaned in to watch the batter swirling in the bowl. Daddy made coffee and stood in the middle of the kitchen stretching his arms like a great bear and yawned like a hippopotamus.  He said, “Angie, go to your room and pick out some pretty clothes. We are going to the zoo today.”

She almost flew from the stool to her room. “Wow! The zoo!”  She hadn’t been to the zoo in, well, who-knows-how long. “The zoo!”  She kept saying to herself remembering the animals one by one. “The gorilla! The giraffe! The monkeys! The birds! The fish pond! The cotton candy!”  The more she remembered the more excited she became. By the time the pancakes were on the table she was sitting in her chair with a fork in her hand.

Daddy looked at her mismatched socks, then at Mommy and said with a smile, “Let’s pray. Dear Daddy God. Thank you for pancakes, for all the good things you give us today and for the animals at the zoo. Please bless them all and keep us safe as we go to visit them. Amen”

Angie said loudly, “Amen” as her fork hit the stack of pancakes.

The zoo was alive with happy people everywhere and animals that seemed to be content in their big fenced in play yards. When they came to the elephants Daddy asked, “How big is an elephant?”

Angie said, “About a hundred zillion pounds?”

“Sounds about right,” said Daddy. “Now let’s go over there.” There among the leaves and grass by a park bench was a piece of hard candy that someone had dropped. There were ants on the candy. “How big is an ant?” he asked.

“About half of a itty-bitty-little, piece of an ounce.?”

“That is a pretty good guess,” said Daddy. “Did you know that you are as big as an elephant and as small as an ant?”

“What?” she questioned. “I ain’t no little ant and I ain’t no big elephant!”

“Am not,” he corrected her. “There ain’t no such word as ain’t.  Ain’t that right Mommy?”

Mommy answered, “True, there isn’t any such word. Mr. Grammar teacher.”

Daddy sat her on his knee as he sat on the bench and continued talking about the ant and the elephant. “Inside you there are three people that are all you.”

“I am three people? That is stupid!” she complained.

“No!” said Daddy, “Hear me out here. One person is a cute little girl about your height and weight that is called Angie. Then there is a mind called a soul. The mind is the girl who feels happy or sad or afraid. And there is a spirit in there also. The spirit can be as big as an elephant or as small as an ant. You are three people just like Daddy God is three people.”

“Daddy god is three people too?”

“Yes. He is Daddy God. He is the spirit who made us and the Earth and the planets and the stars.”

“And the elephants?” interrupted Angie.

“And the ants.” said Daddy. “And He has a mind called Holy Spirit and a body called Jesus, but He is still one person. Like you are one person with three different dimensions.”

“What is a dimension?”

“Oh,” said Daddy, ” that is like when you sing a song and ride your bike at the same time. You are still one person but you can do two things at the same time. Only a mind can sing a song and have the emotions to enjoy it while only your legs can peddle a bike and your arms can steer the handlebars. Those are two dimensions”

“So I can be two things at the same time. What can the spirit do?”

“That,” said Daddy, “is the fun part. Your spirit can be small enough to live inside your heart and big enough to chase boogers away.”

“How do I make my spirit big like an elephant?” asked Angie.

“Your mind tells your spirit how big it can be. It is called faith. What happened last night is that a little booger of fear spoke to your mind and your mind believed it. What was in your closet was warm sweaters, colorful shirts and other nice things but the fear booger lied to you.”

“But, Daddy? There had to be a booger in the room so he could lie to me. Yes there was a booger?”

Daddy said, “there are boogers everywhere. What if a booger jumped up on this bench and screamed that the lions can jump out of their play yard and might come over here and eat you?”

“I would be very afraid and run all the way home.” she said then paused. “But the zoo people made a good fence, didn’t they?”

“Yes Dear,” said Daddy, “they certainly did, but if you were afraid the little lying fear booger would have won his game against you and made you sick with fear anyway.”

“How do I stop the fear booger?” she asked.

“Good question,” said Daddy. “Daddy God wouldn’t let them live on the Earth with us if they really were big enough to harm you, but you have to become bigger than they are. Your mind had to tell your spirit to be as big as an elephant and that booger to be as small as an ant.”

“How?” she asked again.

“Why do you think we call Daddy God, Daddy God?”

“Because He is our Daddy? Does that make Him my Grandpa?”

“He is the Daddy of your spirit. Jesus used to call the boogers Satan. Do you know what Satan means?”

“NO.”

“It is not really the name of any one booger but the name of any booger that controls your mind. Satan means administrator or boss. When he tells you a lie like there is something to be afraid of, you must ask who is the ant and who is the elephant. A spirit can be as big as your faith makes it and that booger can only be as big as you allow him to be.

“I can tell  boogers to be little as an ant?”

“Angie. In the spirit you can be bigger and better and stronger than any booger.”

“Big like you?”

“Your mind works faith and tells your spirit how big to be.”

“How do I know how big to tell my spirit to get?”

“Daddy smiled and said, “Remember when you got into bed with me last night when you were afraid?”

“Yes.”

“When your mind is resting in Daddy God, it is like that. You snuggle up close to Him with your mind and your spirit begins to grow up and look like Him. You and I have a lot to learn about being spirits but we are one. The best way to learn is to stay close to Daddy God and keep telling Him to keep filling us up with His mind and His spirit. That way He can help us think when we need Him and our faith will be strong and big enough for anything.”

“Wow! Daddy. Life just got three times more confused.”

“But!” said Daddy, “It means that you don’t have to be afraid any more. You just have to grow up a little bit.”

“Ok Daddy. I am as big as an elephant!”

“Only in spirit, Angie. You are still my little girl and I can try to make you do what is right. You can only be big in spirit when you want to do the right things. Obeying me and Daddy God is called respect and that is very important.”

“You’ve-got-it Daddy. I am a great big booger stomper and my big mind is telling me that this big girl wants a really big ice-cream.”

The day at the zoo continued until the sun got hot and people began to look like they had been working in a big car wash so they went home and sat in the shade in the back yard sipping cold water.

That night it happened again. The booger returned. He seemed to be mocking her with whispers of, “I’m back.”  She started to go to Mommy and Daddy’s room but didn’t. She struggled to remember the conversation. What had Daddy said about her mind making faith? She looked at the closet. There was no booger to be seen. But it seemed as if she could hear it breathing. She began to think about the ant and the elephant. She sat up and said, “Mr. Booger? Daddy says that I can be big as an elephant and you have to be little as an ant. I am the boss here. Not you. Mommy told me that I can do anything through Jesus who makes me strong. Mr. Booger you are a little ant and I am a big elephant sized spirit and I am about to stomp your head.”

Angie stood up and started walking step-by-step toward the closet. “You Booger! I am going to stomp you! Daddy God is my helper and you are about to get yours!” Her hand touched the door handle. She paused, took a deep breath and shoved the door wide open. There something moved. It was a pea sized dust bunny on the sleeve of a sweater that seemed to leap into the air and float to the floor. Angie raised her foot high as possible into the air and came down with a crushing blow that ground the dust booger into the carpet. “There!” she said boastfully, “Who is the elephant in the room?”

It looked like a dust bunny but in the spirit bigger things were happening. This booger is the one that had destroyed lives, enslaved many people with insecurity, depression and mental issues. This little monster had broken homes and convinced hundreds of poor people that their lives were worthless and hopeless but now a champion had arisen. One who could stand up to its lies and bring him down to a proper size and stomp him. This little girl was to be taken seriously. She was not alone.

What the fear booger saw was a totally different thing because he was a spirit and spirits without bodies can see spirit things better than we can. The fear booger saw a little girl grow to the size of an elephant, look down on him and fill him with terror. This valiant warrior was wearing a helmet of salvation on her head made of pure gold. She carried a golden shield of faith and a belt of truth was around her waist. Her feet were covered by war boots and in her hand was a light saber. As she stood, two mighty angels so tall that their heads touched the ceiling, stepped in through the walls and joined her. And the bugger could see thousands more outside stacking up through the clouds into to the heavens.

After Angie had stomped the bugger she felt so good that she went back to bed and slept better than she could remember ever sleeping before. One of the mighty angels watched over her as she fell asleep, took out a golden dust pan and broom and knelt down where the fear bugger was. He scratched at the bugger until it was freed from the carpet fibers, swept it into his dust pan and left the room.

Somewhere, out there, where buggers go when they are cast out, lies a little ant sized, crumpled piece of fear bugger. He not only had the disgrace of being cast out of someone’s house but it was done by what he had mistaken as a harmless little girl.

Now the word is out in the spirit realm. Angie is not one to be taken lightly. Her mind makes faith and she will arise to any occasion and speak with Daddy God’s authority. She can pray for the sick, ask for miracles and face even the most fearful situations. The spirits call her Angie of Daddy God.

Sometimes Daddy God will sit down by her Daddy, put his big arm on his shoulder, look Daddy in the eye and say, “That’s our girl!”

GRANNY DRAGON SLAYER

Granny Dragon Slayer (Dream 1/26/23)                               for familyhopenow.com by Wesley Stout

Granny Dragon Slayer knelt by her recliner, in the prayer room/guest bedroom as is her custom most mornings between four and five o-clock. Earnestly she prayed, “Oh, Great God, save my grandson who must be in trouble. Otherwise, why would he be on my heart so heavy?”

She prays for each family member religiously but today Joey is the theme of her passion. She continues, “Is he back with those people he calls friends? Is he doing drugs, or something even more dangerous? Please speak to his heart. Call him back to you Lord. Save him from his troubles and save his soul.”

After a half hour of praying she heard the wind pick up outside. The wind chimes went crazy, the sound of a chair sliding across the back porch, and a whistle at the door demanded her attention. She went to the front door and walked onto the walkway. Up above the trees hovered a massive dragon. She just stared at it while the dragon beat his wings against the air twisting treetops and breaking smaller branches. Granny did not move. He snorted a great flame up into the atmosphere leaving a black cloud of smoke drifting away. She cocked her head and said, “is that all you’ve got?”

The dragon shoved his big, spiked head through the branches and stopped near Granny. His low gruff voice murmured, “Leave Joey to me. He will never change. He is only a heartbreak to you anyway.”

Granny took a couple steps toward the dragon. The dragon lowered his head a bit more. They were only a couple feet apart now. Granny moved in closer, inches away, and leaned in. Her head was less than the distance between the dragons’ eyes, so she focused on his right eye only, getting directly in front of his big red and yellow iris and staring into his dark, hollow pupil. “Dragon? Go away. You bother me.”

The dragon reared his body high above the trees again, took a deep breath as if to blow fire again and granny stopped him. She raised her finger and said softly, “In Jesus’ name.”

The dragon choked on the fire building up in his neck. He could not release it. His neck swelled, turned red and started smoking like an overheated pan of bacon. He shot off toward the lake but judging by the sound of thunder and the cloud of smoke in the distance he never made it.

Granny returned to her prayer room and prayed. “Thank you, Father. I would never have had the courage to face that thing without you by my side.” She began thanking God for His courage and His might. She remembered other times when she had faced demons and won the battle, and there had been many such battles. Always, demons, when faced with a put-up or shut-up moment, always folded their hands, and left the table when faced with the blood of Jesus.

After a few more minutes of thanking God for power against big dragons the doorbell rang. It rang again and again. She got to her feet and went to answer it. It was a delivery man with a big package in his hands. “Howdy Ma’am,” he said politely.

“I did not order anything,” said Granny.

The delivery man shook the box, “sounds like something special.”

“No,” said Granny, “I do not remember ordering anything, I’m quite sure.”

“But it can be returned,” still smiling.

Granny squinted her eyebrows and listened, “Holy Spirit? Are you telling me something? Yes, I thought so. Yes, I will.”

The delivery man looked at Granny like she was crazy, “Who are you talking to?”

Granny smiled, “Holy Spirit. He says that you are an imposter, a deceiver, a wolf in delivery man’s clothing. Your package has something that will distract me from my prayer life. Am I right?”

“Oh, no!” exclaimed the delivery man, “it is nothing like that. It is something beautiful and fun. A special gift from a dear friend.”

“And how would you know that?” asked Granny.

“Ah, ah, ah, I just noticed the label, er, I think I had better go.” Granny noticed a little smoke starting to emerge from the man’s collar. He turned and started running. He ignored the delivery truck and hit the driveway in full gate. Boom! He bounced back and into the grass. Granny watched the faint hint of an angel, a big one with a sword on his side, pick up the delivery men and slam him into the ground. Not onto the ground but into it. Then as the ground closed over the crater where the man delivery demon had crashed and burned, Granny saw the angel look at her and smile. Then the delivery truck kind-of melted into thin air and vanished.

Granny went back into her prayer room and continued with laughter and thanksgiving. “Thank you, Father, for your undying love. You have spoken to me again. Satan has tried to distract me, and you have given me discernment of spirits and revelation of events. How wonderful it is to be doing battle with you. And it is a little fun also.”

“Now, back to my grandson,” she continued praying, “by faith, that boy is not only delivered from demonic oppression but saved through grace and impowered through Holy Spirit. Thank you for what you are doing with him.”

Then Granny saw something else. “Will evil never cease,” she sighed. A little brown recluse spider was crawling toward her. She never moved from her knees but quietly reached for her house slipper. Speaking authoritatively she said, “You came as a great dragon of fear and intimidation and couldn’t handle the name of Jesus, you panicked. Then you came as a friend bearing gifts and Holy Spirit told me that your gifts were distractions. Now you come as a silent killer wanting to take my health and even my life, but I have another surprise for you. She raised the shoe slowly, in the name of Jesus Christ and by the guidance and courage of Holy Spirit I destroy Satan’s Kingdom and bind his agents.” Whop! The shoe fell on the little danger.

Granny picked up her note pad and used the pen to load the crumpled spider onto it. Carefully she carried the arachnid out of the house and dropped it into the waset can by the driveway. Then pausing, looking down into the trash can, she said, “Guess I could give you a funeral, couldn’t I?”

Granny placed one hand over her heart and said, “he was a mighty dragon, a friendly delivery man and a dangerous spider. And now, alas, he is a burned-out lizard, a rejected distraction, and a dead threat. It is for you to be bound under the earth, properly in the landfill with the other trash. I have enjoyed doing battle with you. When you see your comrades in Hell tell them to be aware of humble little grannies on their knees. She dropped the trash can lid with a clang, turned, and started back toward the house. A neighbor noticed her through her kitchen window as she paused, raised her hands into the air, did a little victory dance and shouted, “Hallelujah! Mighty God has done it again. My Joey is free and soon I will rejoice with him.”

Today, somewhere under the soil that covers the south-west corner of the county landfill, lies a disgruntled demon. He complains to a passing earth worm and says, “go away, you bother me.”  The worm just ignores him and continues munching on a rotten piece of lettuce. The great dragon is spent, bound, and cast down by Granny the Great Dragon Slayer.