Life at the Pond: Recent Episodes
Charlie Richards
Try holding back the giggles as your friends at the Pond take you on adventures and everyday challenges with a smile. Each episode applies solid, biblically-based truths to life lessons that build character in your kids and provide more than a splash of humor along the way from a crew building lifelong friendships at The Pond.
During a day of work, Bill the Duck starts complaining about everything. And suddenly he starts to shrink with every complaint.
Floyd gets a chunk of cash and wants to make a purchase, but realizes if he buys it, he won’t have enough to tithe. So he tries to find a job. When he fails to get a job, he decides to tithe anyway.
A news crew arrives at The Pond and declares the location radioactive. At first, the Pond creatures panic. But then they realize it’s complete hogwash designed to drum up ratings.
In trying to help figure out why Floyd’s mom is sad, the Pond creatures try to cheer her up, each in their own way. But when trying to order her a new mop, Floyd inadvertently calls MOPS, Mothers of Pre Schoolers. Turns out, they were able to help her.
It’s part two of the ants who were at the manger, with the job to keep the hostile insects away. But when Jesus arrives, they are surprised to see Him arrive in such a peaceful manner.
The Christmas story is told through army ants who were there to prepare the area for the King of Kings. Their job: Keep hostile insects away. Even they had no idea what was to come.
Tony the Frog gets injured playing basketball, his favorite sport. He tries to find something he can do and still beat other creatures. But that simply doesn’t happen. He learns it’s not good to seek attention for himself.
The Pond creatures decide to earn money to help out some non-com radio stations. Floyd has some trouble getting a job, though, as he doesn’t have any experience and only wants to work for a few weeks.
The Pond creatures notice the army ants are gone. And because they left, locusts target the Pond for attack. The pond creatures have to help stop the locusts and get the ants back to work.
An Owl with a hitting problem visits the Pond. Eventually the hitting gets him in trouble with the Federal Bureau of Intimidation, who turn his arms into cheese puffs. He ends up in jail, before the Pond creatures tell him about redemption and help him recover.
Tony the frog becomes very impatient, which leads to a disrespectful outburst to some elders. And suddenly all the Pond creatures we know and love become elderly and learn some difficult lessons.
Floyd loses a very special family heirloom. The other creatures also help. Floyd prays for a miracle. The heirloom isn’t found until Floyd helps someone else.
For some reason, all the healthy food at the pond becomes bland. Turns out, it occurred due to Floyd’s bad attitude toward healthy food or any new food.
A group of hyper sensitive rule makers come to the pond and put up signs telling creatures to not disrupt nature in any way. The pond gets help from creatures from all around to protest the nonsense.
Methuselah tells the story of how his great-great (and so on) grandfather entered Noah’s Ark.
A housecat arrives at the pond and she thinks quite highly of herself because she’s “domesticated.” But when she gets locked out of the house, she comes to the pond creatures for help.
Floyd the Turtle gets into the habit of saying “no” to every question. His friends are part of the cause and they also come up with the cure.
Tony the Frog doesn’t feel quite right. Then he gets a diagnosis he doesn’t like: he’s experiencing guilt and learns he must deal with it. And a big part of the cure is admitting what he did and making it right.
A bad lawyer shows up to the Pond and convinces some of the creatures to sue for just about everything. They wake up to his scheme when he tries to get them to sue God.
On one strange day at the Pond, Tony the Frog finds that nobody at the Pond will tell the truth. He discovers what a nightmare life becomes when he can’t trust anyone.
Caroline, the little girl who visits the pond, doesn’t like being the new kid at school. She then hears the story of Bill the Duck, when he was the new creature at the Pond. At first, he didn’t feel like he fit in at all.
Tony the Frog doesn’t like cleaning up after himself. So he stops doing so. And the other pond creatures join in. Suddenly, the world around them becomes an awful mess.
A trouble-making Bobcat shows up at the pond and bullies the Pond creatures. But when a list of bullies comes out, Tony the Frog is also on the list. He realizes he was a bully to one creature and needs to apologize.
A cat and dog bring their long running feud to The Pond. Our friends try to get the two of them to work out their differences.
Floyd the Turtle ignores Methuselah’s advice and starts hanging out with mosquitos, who are troublemakers. And, sure enough, they get him into trouble.
A loud goose visits the pond and Bill the duck finds him particularly annoying. While he avoids him, he eventually discovers he really likes the guy. He just needed to look past his loudness.
Tony agrees to watch Bill’s fish, and he doesn’t fulfillhis responsibility. And, in classic Pondfashion, the end result is a big mess that Tony must clean up.
The Pond Creatures prepare for the annual Bible Knowledgeathon. The creatures do well and eventually compete against each other. And that’s when things get out of hand, particularly the highly- competitive Tony. He and a few others apologized.
Zoo animals escape and move into the pond. But then they realize they had it good at the zoo. Free food and medical. Hard to compete with that in the wild.
Floyd becomes very careless as he uses his hard shell to protect himself. But then he hurts someone else and realizes his carelessness doesn’t just affect him.
Some old acquaintances of Bill’s show up at the pond, and he’s not happy as they picked on him years before. Bill learns he needs to love even those who seem very unlovable.
Tony the Frog discovers he can sing. And he really enjoys the attention (and compliments) he gets when he sings. Eventually, he drives his friends away.
Jake the Mailman is excited to discover he is the center of a Pond story. We hear the first time he delivered mail at the Pond. Turns out, Jake was not the most pleasant creature back then.
Methuselah is out of town and the Pond creatures experience fear. They hear a noise and it scares them all. Turns out, it was just a butterfly and she tells them how she uses Psalm 91 to calm her fears.
The pond creatures look back on the day when Floyd the turtle started hanging out with mosquitos, who were a very bad influence.
Tony the frog finds a talking checker board and loves it. But his friends point out it is really not his and he should find the rightful owner.
Bill the duck gets the buying bug. He eventually discovers owning stuff means maintaining stuff. And, the bigger lesson: things never satisfy.
Tony is late helping out his friends at The Pond on workday and isn’t very concerned. Meanwhile, his selfishness is causing problems for those who are relying on him.
A mysterious creature enters the pond, but his business has one issue where the refuse to cave: He’s making a movie with “a little” bad language.
A local young cricket makes some awful noise. The Pond creatures want none of it. But they eventually learn to deal with the practicing cricket, who eventually learns to make beautiful music.
The creatures at The Pond help Tony do some chores. But Tony is a bit pushy. And as he became more demanding, he became invisible to them. For real. He learns a lesson on taking advantage of your friends.
Bill feels awful he wasn’t invited to something, so he becomes determined to be invited to everything. And he discovers there’s a reason you really don’t want to be invited to everything.
The pond dam is not up to code and the inspector decides it must be destroyed. The creatures of the pond get together and fix it up just in time to save it.
Caroline’s mom is having a baby and she’s not happy about it. Tony the Frog tells her about how many babies frogs have and how special little ones are.
Our friends at the Pond get conned! A new guy tells them what they want to hear to get them doing what he wants. They learn you can’t believe everything you hear.
The Pond creatures keep making up excuses as to why they can’t get to Bible Study on time. Methuselah brings in a drill sergeant to set them straight.
Turkeys drive of the chickens, who tend to fear most everything. But they learn there is nothing to fear.
A rumor spreads among the Pond creatures that Dr. Holstein isn’t a real doctor. The gossip leads the good doctor to leave the area. Then they need a doctor and discover how awful spreading rumors can be.
The nearby human friend, Caroline, complains that her mother has too many rules. But she learns from the creatures at The Pond that her mom is doing what is best for her.
Floyd the Turtle gets his way, just ONCE, by whining. And that’s all it takes to set him off on a whining spree. And, because this is The Pond and we can do things like this, it lands Floyd in jail.
A very bossy mouse arrives at The Pond and takes control of the play. Eventually, she finds nobody wants to play with her.
A new and mysterious creature arrives at The Pond and everyone wants to know him. It’s a lesson on not mistreating your friends to get to know someone viewed as popular.
Floyd the Turtle, not known for eating the most healthy food, eats a dozen donuts all by himself. And he pays the price. He gets sick and misses out on some great fun.
Our friends at the Pond agree to visit a friend’s church until they realize others might do things differently than they do at their own church. It’s a different style of worship and they aren’t so sure they want to go. But they eventually do and learn to appreciate the differences.
The Pond friends come to watch the annual salmon run, but one salmon decides to stay at The Pond. Turns out, he’s avoiding someone he needs to forgive.
The creatures at The Pond meet young Caroline, a girl whose family moves into the area. Caroline kisses Tony the Frog, hoping he’ll turn into a prince charming. She learns she is special without a prince charming. This is also happens to be the very first Pond episode.
Tony the Frog gets a new toy he loves and doesn’t want to share. He eventually learns it’s no fun to drive away your friends and play alone.
Our friends at The Pond think they had it rough. Even Caroline, the little girl who lives near The Pond, comes by complaining that other kids have more stuff than she does.
But they learn to be grateful for what they have, which is far more than some.
A virus has infected the Pond! And Methuselah is the first to get it. Dr. Holstein (who’s actually a chicken) warns the other creatures at the Pond. But they don’t heed his advice and everyone gets it.
Tony the Frog is unhappy that he needs to look after his little sister. But in a twist of fate, he is able to see how his sister would turn out if he didn’t care to be a good influence.
Even the Pond narrator had to start somewhere. Turns out, he had a speaking insecurity. And he overcame it to become the Narrator, of all things. God often uses our weaknesses in grand ways.
Bill the Duck is a lousy cook. But while cooking lessons help him become a good cook, the results cause the rest of the crew to gain weight. Are you expecting a lesson on gluttony? Not today. Bill learns celebrity chefs are just regular folks deep down.
Tony the Frog expresses his wish that he could be strong like Methuselah. It’s the classic scenario of the grass is always greener on the other side. For a day, Tony DOES become Methuselah, and he finds it is no easy job. He discovers God made him the way he is for a reason.
The Pond creatures decide they want to be cool. But trying to be cool, they discover, requires not being themselves. And that’s no fun at all.
Bill introduces a new character to the pond who is an exchange student. And they all assume he’s not very bright because they can’t understand his language. When an interpreter comes to town, they realize they misjudged their new friend.
Winner of the annual scavenger hunt wins a lifetime supply of Chocolate. And the creatures at the Pond make good progress at first, when they worked as one. But when they stop working together, they cost themselves a chance to win.