The Little Sparrows Read Free

things at the general store.
    As Sam and Jody rode into Cheyenne and were moving past the railroad station, they saw a train with several coal cars. The coalwas being unloaded into wagons owned by Cheyenne residents, town merchants, the town’s blacksmith, and several ranchers and farmers.
    Jody glanced at her father. “I guess we don’t need coal this time, do we, Daddy?”
    “No. We’re set till the middle of next fall.”
    She ran her gaze over the coal cars. “Those Rocky Mountains must really be full of coal. They just keep digging more out all the time.”
    “Yes. When God created the earth, He knew that man would need the coal to heat his homes and business buildings; that the blacksmiths would need it to do their work, and the factories would need it for melting alloys of iron, carbon, and other elements to make steel.”
    “Well, I’m sure glad we have coal to heat our house in these cold Wyoming winters, Daddy. The Lord sure has been good to the people He put on this earth. I wish more of them would see how good the Father was to send His Son to provide them with salvation. But most of them seem to have no interest in Jesus. They want religion, but they don’t want Him. Or they want to mix what He did at Calvary with human works, which is to say that what Jesus did when He shed His blood on the cross, died, and rose again was not enough to save lost sinners.”
    “You’ve got that right, sweetheart. Anything added to His finished work at Calvary is human works, and as you well know, the Bible says salvation is by grace, not of works, lest any man should boast.”
    “That’s what my Sunday school teacher was saying last Sunday, Daddy. When human works are added to the gospel, it takes the glory from Jesus and puts it on those who do the works.”
    “Right. And because Jesus paid the full price for our sins on the cross, God the Father wants all the glory to go to His Son.”
    “And that’s the way it should be.”
    “Amen, sweetheart.”
    Soon Sam and Jody were in Cheyenne’s business section. As they drew near the general store, Jody said, “Daddy, I’ll be sitting on one of those benches in front of the store when you come back from the bank.”
    “All right, honey. See you later.”
    Jody veered Queenie toward the hitch rail in front of the store as her father headed for the next block where the Bank of Cheyenne was located.
    She dismounted, patted Queenie’s long neck, and entered the general store.
    Twenty minutes later, Jody came out of the store, packages in hand, talking to a teenage girl who was in her Sunday school class. The girl headed down the boardwalk, and Jody stepped into the street and drew up to her mare. She began placing the small packages into a canvas bag that was attached to the rear of her saddle. When she got to the last package, she reached inside and took out a long stick of licorice candy. Her favorite.
    Jody’s mother always gave her permission to purchase a nickel’s worth of candy whenever she went to the general store for her. She patted the mare’s neck again. “Daddy will be back in a little while, Queenie.”
    The mare bobbed her head and whinnied lightly as if she understood Jody’s words.
    Jody went to one of the benches and sat down to wait for her father.
    She relished every bite of her licorice stick. Since it was Saturday, farm and ranch families were in town for shopping, which made for a constant stream of people moving along the boardwalk. Jody sat in complete contentment, for people watching was one of her preferred pastimes. A few minutes had passedwhen Jody looked up and saw Pastor Dan Forbes, his wife Clara, and their two sons coming down the boardwalk. Peter Forbes was Jody’s age, and Paul was ten years old. Clara Forbes spotted Jody first, and pointed her out to the rest of the family. Jody put the licorice stick in her purse.
    “Your parents in the general store, Jody?” asked the pastor.
    “No, sir. Daddy’s over at the bank doing