Short Story: The Duck that Was a Kitten

On a very special April morning, at a farm in Springfield, Illinois, there were twelve ducklings born. Next to the pond, in the barn, there was also a kitten born. The kitten's mother moved to another farm soon after its birth, leaving the mother duck to take care of the young kitten. Soon the cute, little kitten did everything the ducks did.

One day she tried to eat some corn. It was very strange to the kitten, and it was too hard to crack. Instead of hard corn she drank warm milk the kind farmer offered her. The funny, little thing tried to share it with the ducks, but they did not care for milk, much to the kitten's disappointment. So she pushed her share of the corn to the hungry ducklings, who appreciated this very much.


When the ducks had finished eating, they followed their proud mother into the pond. Seeing the ducklings splash into the pond, the curious kitten thought that looked like fun. So she pattered away on her dainty four paws to the pond. When she put her little paw in the mucky water, she quickly drew it out again. The water was freezing cold! After dipping her paw in time and time again, thinking it might get a little bit warmer, she saw the ducks getting out on the other side. She leaped up to follow them. They all went into the barn to play. They played tag, and enjoyed it very much.

Soon the kitten got very tired and fell into a deep sleep. She woke up with a start and felt herself being carried! Then she saw it was only the kind farmer who had been looking for her for quite some time. He carried her to her bed and gave her some warm milk. Then she crawled over to where the ducks were sleeping and slept next to them.

In the morning she woke before the ducks, and saw something run across the barn. She followed it out the door and she saw that it was a mouse. She crept up to it very quietly. Then she pounced, but it squealed and got away. This woke the ducks. They ran after it, but got very frightened and ran back to their scolding mother.

The kitten caught the mouse and laid it at the mother duck's feet. They all looked at it for a long time. Then the mother put it in a faraway corner. The kitten lived with the ducks for a long time before she realized she was not a duck. Some of the ducks were sold, but most of them stayed at the farm. The farmer kept the kitten, that was now a full grown cat, in the house with him. Sometimes she had kittens, and whenever ducklings were born she was the first to see them.

Thanks to the editor's (former) kitten Chessie, who was the model for the picture :)

In Watching the Storm

~Journal entry from April 25, 2008~

I stayed up and watched a storm roll in this evening. When I stepped outside, I immediately was caught up in the expectant thrill that trembled in the sweltering air. Lightning lit up the sky to the North, illuminating the night with its flash. Thunder rumbled in the distance; far away it seemed, yet every moment it grew nearer. Like a symphony, the thunderstorm was gathering power, approaching the climax. Wind whipped through the trees, tangling their branches and wrenching them apart once more. The first few drops of rain were hurled upon the earth at the mercy of the ruthless wind. Soon they grew in size and number, and the lightning flashed forebodingly nearer, while the thunder was increased to a drumroll. Loath to go inside, I stayed until the wind threatened to pound the rain mercilessly into my face, though I stood under the eaves. Indoors, the volume was less, but still exciting. As the storm broke in its full force, releasing the storehouses of the clouds and filling the sky with brightness, I thought of the word 'awesome'. Awesome surely best describes this wonder of God's nature, yet how we abuse this word in our culture! Watching this storm gave me a sense of the true meaning, and I was filled with awe at the omnipotence of its Creator.

Turning back to the storm, I fixed my eyes on the heavens and anticipated the delightful shiver brought by each lightning flash. It illuminated a blue, mystical world, hazy and shadowed, with the rain falling in sheets and obscuring familiar landmarks. Hail was mingled with the rain, and added further to the magnificent volume. The thunder continued to rumble, seldom releasing its full potential, but threatening all the same. When it did crack, everything else, wind, rain, and hail, seemed to hush for a moment, intimidated, and then resume louder than before.

Now there is a quiet lull, yet it is just as beautiful. It is as if it was a movement in a symphony, written for effect. Don't we wish our human composers could dream up something even close to being as wonderful! But nothing can equal God as a Master Musician, God as an artist, God as an author. We try and we fail. But, ever gracious, He is always there, revealing His glorious works of art just when we need to see them. And in seeing them, we see Him. For He is ever present in creation, in history, in our lives.

This made me think of some amazing verses from Job. I love that book, it is so encouraging and it makes me feel very small and insignificant. (Which I need sometimes!)

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"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?
What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?"

"Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain and a way for the thunder bolt, to bring rain on the land where no man is, on the desert in which there is no man, to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground sprout with grass?"

"Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew? From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the frost of heaven?
The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen."

"Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood may cover you?
Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go, and say to you, 'Here we are'?

Who has put wisdom in the inward parts or given understanding to the mind?
Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens, when the dust runs into a mass and the clods stick together?"

"Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it."

Excerpts from Job 38.

Amazing, isn't it? That the God who is the Lord of the storm, of the heavens, of the earth, of all creation, all that is seen and all that is invisible; that He should stoop to raise me up with His right hand! That He should consent, should invite me to serve Him, to be His forever! I will never understand. It is altogether beyond my power to comprehend. I can only worship Him with my whole heart, and offer up to Him the only thing which I have to give: myself.

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Check out Grace's blog...

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Celebrate Spring!

Spring is nearly here! In celebration, we decided to post some pictures of spring flowers in bloom.

A Poem: Animals are God Given

Animals Are God-Given

by Jennifer, age 10

Animals are God-Given, they provide us with company, pleasure, and love. Animals are quite a blessing, so when you see an animal, know that you are blessed.

Animal pictures from InternetClipArt.com