Bobbie Jo was one of the scarecrows on the Nicely farm.  This was her second year on the farm, and so far, she had managed to keep her secret from all the human people.  You see, Bobbie Jo... was afraid of crows!  What?!?  Afraid of crows?!?  How is a scarecrow scared of crows?  But Bobbie Jo was.  What if they peck at my hat?  What if they swarm over me, swoop down and knock me over!  What if they pull out all of my beautiful straw hair or peck holes in my shirt, or try to claw my button nose off or... And then she’d start to cry.  So every morning after breakfast, when the human people would come out from the farmhouse and start their day, Bobby Jo would run out from her hiding place, hop up on her wooden pole and stand up straight and tall.  But as soon as she saw them go out of sight, hop, hop, hop, off she went, down from her pole to hide.   Sometimes she would hide behind a bale of hay, and sometimes she would hide in the barn.  Some days she would hide in the horse stalls, and some days she would hide in the tractor. 

Only her best friend Maggie knew.   Maggie lived in the North part of the cornfield, and Bobbie Jo lived right near the farmhouse.  This meant she knew what times the human people would go out for the day and what time they would come back for the night.  Plus, it made it easier for her to have good places to hide.  Maggie had been a very good friend and had not told the human people about Bobbie Jo’s fears.  At least not yet. 

One day Maggie called out from where she stood on her pole.  “Bobbie Jo!  Come on out, we can’t protect all this corn from these crows without you!  We really need your help!”  But Bobbie Jo just couldn’t do it.  Her little straw feet just wouldn’t budge from behind the tractor.  Almost like someone had glued them to the ground!  She was so scared of those mean little birds!  And worse yet, Bobbie Jo felt terrible.  She couldn’t help it!  It wasn’t her fault she was scared.  And now, she had let her friend down, too. 

One day, while Bobbie Jo was hiding and the noon sun was high in the sky, she heard something funny.  It sounded like the human people were coming back already.  Could the human people be back to the farmhouse already?  Yipes!  Bobbie Jo scrambled to run to her pole before anyone saw her.   From the corner of her eye, she saw something odd.  A younger couple was getting out of the Nicely’s pickup ruck.  And they had a little girl with them.  Later that night, the scarecrows had a secret meeting.  Everybody wanted to know what Bobbie Jo had seen, since she lived closest to the farm house.

“Who are they?” asked Maggie. 

“What do they want?” asked Pedro.

“Are they going to take us down and make us move away?” asked Buddy, his eyebrows wrinkled with worry.

Even the older scarecrows were curious.  They had seen the younger couple before, but not the little girl.    They had heard stories about children on other farms that were mean to scarecrows, or newer farms that were using other things like mirrors to keep birds away.

“They’re all Mr. and Mrs. Nicely’s family.  The littlest one - I think her name is Katie” said Bobbie Jo.  “She’s their granddaughter, and she seems very nice.  Her mommy and daddy are here to help for a little while.” 

A big sigh went through the scarecrows.  As the scarecrows all went to their poles for the night, Maggie stopped to talk to Bobbie Jo.  “How are you going to keep your secret from all those humans?”

“I don’t know.  I’ll think of something!” said Bobbie Jo. 

The next morning, Bobbie Jo waited around until the sign was clear, and then she hop hop hopped off her pole and scooted over to the barn.  Just when she was rounding the corner of the barn - Oof! - it was Katie Nicely! 

Katie looked at Bobbie Jo, blinked, and then cocked her head.  “Who are you?” asked Katie.

Gasp! We’ve never talked to them before, what do I do, WHAT DO I DO??? Think think think... Bobbie Jo gulped.  Okay, pretend you didn’t hear her.

“Hello, I’m Katie, who are you?”  asked the little girl, touching Bobbie Jo’s curly straw hair.

“My name is Bobbie Jo” she said slowly.

“Why are you down from your pole?” asked Katie, as she pointed to the empty stick coming out of the ground.

Bobbie Jo looked into Katie’s soft, honest face and couldn’t help but tell her the truth.  “I’m very afraid of birds” she said.  “Please don’t tell Mr. Nicely, he might get rid of me!”  

“Oh” said Katie.  “Do you know what I do when I’m afraid?”

Uh?  Bobbie Jo’s little straw head bobbed up.  “What!  Tell me!”

“Mama tells me that God doesn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of love and a strong mind” she said.  “So when I get scared of something, I just think back to a Bible verse that I know that says “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.  And then he gives me the strength to do whatever it is I am afraid of.”

“A strong mind?  Do ALL things?  Do you think God cares about little old me, in the corn field?  I think that only works for people.  God doesn’t care about scarecrows, does He?  Can he help me be strong and not be afraid of the crows and what they will do to me?” asked Bobbie Jo, her eyes wide with hope and excitement. 

“Yes” said Katie.  “I think God cares about everybody, EVEN scarecrows!  He helps me all the time.  I know He can help you too.  Just remember that verse!” 

“Oh thank you!” said Bobbie Jo.  “I’ll try right now.”  And she ran back to the field, stopping to look back at Katie, who was smiling and waving her little arm like mad!

And later that day, when a group of crows flew by, Bobbie Jo, the scaredy-crow, repeated that verse, “I can do ALL things - even keep away mean old birds - through Christ who strengthens me!” over and over and over again.  She forgot about her hair, or her shirt, or her little button nose.  She just stood straight and tall - as tall as she had ever stood before on her pole and held her head high.  And from that day on, thanks to what Katie had shared with her, Bobbie Jo wasn’t a scaredy-crow any more!     

THE END