All the pretty ducklings were so excited about the big beauty pageant that was going to be held down by the lake. Oh, how they preened their feathers and tried on different flowers and new ways to waddle that they thought would give them the edge to win the contest. They quacked nonstop each evening before the competition about which one was the prettiest duckling of them all and often times they fought and got their feelings hurt and had to go pout because each thought he was the prettiest and each one worried that he or she wasn’t.
It seemed like every duck in the colony could only think of the pageant and getting ready. Every duck except for Chucky. Chucky didn’t care about being beautiful or being admired. His favorite thing to do was have friends over and getting to know them and sharing Jesus with them. The other ducks just didn’t understand Chucky at all. He associated with the most unacceptable types. Chucky enjoyed having the frogs, the turtles, even the field mice to his home. To the other dignified ducks, it was out of the question to associate with such unworthy beasts who were clearly not as advanced and sophisticated much less as pretty as the ducks.
“Chucky, why don’t you pretty yourself up? I bet with some preening and some pretty flowers, you could be able to compete in the beauty pageant on Saturday.” His friend Gracie Gander said to him.
“That’s not important Gracie.” He answered her. But Friday night I am having a small dinner party. Why don’t you come? Roger Rodent will be here with his family as well as Terry Turtle and his girlfriend Teresa. We are going to play twister. It will be fun.”
“Oh Chucky, there is no way I could socialize with THOSE species.” Gracie said proudly and she strutted out of Chucky’s home proudly.
The day of the pageant was so exciting. Ducks scurried about in nervous excitement about the chance to win the big prize, although there really was no prize. Finally the time came. Chucky and his guests watched form a distant hill as they sipped their tea and ate their cookies. The Ducks mixed and mingled in a group waiting for the pageant to start, sometimes pushing and biting each other in frustration and jealousy.
“FLY!” came the sudden command. Suddenly, catastrophe struck. From the tall grass, the human hunters stood up and began to shoot their guns. The duck colony was caught totally by surprise. An alert duckling spotted the hunters just before they struck and sounded the alarm. Instinct set in and the colony lifted into the air flying every direction so as not be good targets and flew in a panic away from the lake. The rifles rang their shots out in a riot of explosions that sounded like the world was ending. But no duck was killed. The hunters were mad and took their equipment and moved on to another site to shoot ducks.
Chucky excused himself from his guests who understood his concern. Quickly he waddled to the standard retreat spot where his fellow ducks would gather after such an attack. He got there before most of the frightened colony but when he did, he found something very upsetting. Gracie was hurt badly. Chucky went to her and comforted her. “Why me Chucky?” She cried and he plucked his own feathers to pad the places where she was hurt for warmth. Soon the whole colony arrived and they were all worried and upset but they would not come near Gracie.
“Come help me.” Chucky pleaded with them. “She is hurt. She needs all of our help.”
“Oh no.” the other ducks said proudly. “We could never soil ourselves with her now. What if some of the dirt and blood got on our feathers? No, no, Chucky. Just leave her. We cannot afford to be soiled like that.” And slowly the colony slipped away. But Chucky didn’t care about being dirty or getting her blood on him. He just knew he had to save his dear friend.
“I have to get her to my house where I can help her heal.” She quacked to himself.
“We will help.” Came the squeaky voice from the edge of the clearing. There stood his many friends that the other ducks would not associate with. The frogs, the turtles, the field mice, the rodents, the snakes all showed up. Chucky was always there for them, now they were here for him. They gathered around Gracie and helped transport her to Chucky’s home where she began to heal.
“Chucky, I feel so ashamed I was bad to your friends.” Gracie said a few days later as she was getting better. “Why do you think they helped you save me?” She wondered.
“Because that is what Jesus would do.” Chucky responded bringing her some more soup. “We are made in God’s image and God sent his son to save us and nothing would stop him from doing that. So the least we can do is reach out to friend to show her the same love.” he said. Gracie was so grateful and wanted to learn more about Jesus and Chucky’s good friends. Never again did she worry about being beautiful or proud as she was before the pageant. Now she just wanted to be more like Jesus, just like you and I want to be.
