Story telling is an important tradition for American Indians. Stories and legends taught morals, and through them, children learned important lessons for life. Dependence upon the Creator God was woven throughout. Our children are proud of their American Indian heritage and it may be in part because we kept the tradition.

Our daughter Josie learned from stories of White Cloud and her family. The stories and lessons were taken from Josie's world of experiences and contextualized to the world of the Plains Indians. It didn't take long for Josie to notice with excitement, "White Cloud is me, isn't she Daddy?" Later, when the boys arrived, we added Running Deer and Little Bear.

Our children looked forward to each new adventure and the lessons of life that would be taught through the Indian family's relationship with the Great Creator. The stories were fun, interesting and relevant, and you'd think that they would be Josie's favorite. But when it came time to tuck her into bed, Josie would always plea, "Daddy, tell me a story."

I went through the formality of asking, "What story would you like to hear?" knowing full well what her answer would be.

"Tell me about Jesus and the cross," she would say with a sense of awe and reverence. So, I'd tell her the story of Jesus all over again and answer her questions as to how anyone could be so mean to such a kind and wonderful man, and why Jesus didn't kill them or just run away. "It's because Jesus loved them, too," I'd explain. "You can never do something so bad that Jesus won't love you. And I'll always love you, too."

And this story will be told to all the children in the world.

Gary Burns is the director of communication for the Lake Union Conference.