THE WORLD ACCORDING TO DUKE

Treasures

2009-07-29T18:48:00.000-07:00

I have this habit. When I find something I consider to be a treasure, I have to take it and stash it in one of my many hiding spots. My most favorite hiding spot for stashing treasure is under the last step of the basement stairs. I am attaching pictures of myself stashing some of my most prized possessions which are a turtle and two squishy-type balls. I run up and down the stairs stashing each treasure under the stairs.

After I have finished working really hard and stashing all of my treasure under the stairs, I like to step back and admire my extravagant collection. For some reason, though, every day when I wake up all of my treasure are no longer under the stairs where I left them; they are back upstairs in my toy box. I have yet to figure out how that happens.

After all of that running up and down those stairs, you can imagine how tired I am. A ferret's work is never done; it is exhausting. I just can't resist laying down and chillin by my stash.

My caretaker says this reminds her of some scripture from her Bible that says:

Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV)

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust cannot destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.

I am not sure I understand this. Does this mean that since my treasures are under the stairs my heart is also under the stairs? If my heart is under the stairs how can it continue to beat inside my chest? Why would I stash my heart under the stairs when I need it to live? I am so thankful that my caretaker is able to explain what this scripture means.

My caretaker explains it like this. If your desire is to be with the popular crowd in your school or place of work then you will allow the opinions of others to mold and shape how you behave. At some point you will begin behaving in ways that are contrary to your character just in order to fit in. Somewhere along the way you are going to end up hurting people on your path to popularity or your quest to maintain it. You may even end up sacrificing a true frienship in order to be with the "in" crowd. You may end up laughing with the "in" crowd as they mock someone or you may be the one mocking someone; each time losing a piece of your true identity. Your desire would be popularity which would mean that is where your treasure is.

Or let's say your desire is to make a lot of money, become rich and be able to buy anything your heart desires. In order to obtain that goal you will begin to sacrifice your time with family and friends. Your relationships will suffer and, in the end, if you do reach your goal, you will have money but you won't have any true friends or relationships left to enjoy it with. Sure you will have friends but are they truly your friends or are they there just because of what you can do for them. Your desire is for money and therefore it becomes your treasure.

Both scenarios will only lead to an empty feeling inside your heart. You may be happy for a season but it won't lead to any true lasting happiness. We are all born with this empty spot inside our hearts and we all go through life trying to figure out what to fill it with in order to feel whole. The truth is, God made us all that way because we have been created from the very beginning to have a close relationship with Him. If we don't have that we begin to fill that hole in our hearts with anything else we think will work.

If you would like to have this close friendship with God that my caretaker has, all you have to do is begin spending time with Him. It is no different than any other friendship. Notice how the more time you spend with a friend, the closer you become and the more you enjoy eachother's company? It is no different with God. His desire is to become your best friend and if you begin hanging out with Him I guarantee your relationship will grow.

You might be wondering how do you hang out with God? There are many ways. One way you can hang out with Him is by just talking to Him about anything and everything that is going on in your heart or life. He wants you to share every part of your life with Him. Another way you can hang out with Him is by reading His Word which my caretaker says is His love letter to you. The two easiest-to-understand bibles she recommends would be either the New Living Translation or The Message.

If you are going to start reading the Bible she recommends starting in the New Testament which begins with Matthew. They even have a New Testament Bible now called "Becoming" that is a magazine and is filled with additional information that you will find very interesting. Scott's Parable is a good store for buying them. If you can't afford to go out and buy yourself a Bible then most churches give free bibles to those who ask. The New Living Translation would be the easiest one to understand.

And finally, if your treasure is a relationship with God then you will not be disappointed and no one can take that away from you like the other treasures.

This is Duke signing off.

Wandering off the Path

2009-07-11T18:08:00.000-07:00

When it is nice outside my caretaker takes me outside for walks. She takes me down a well-laid path and we walk around and enjoy the songs of birds, the scent of flowers in the air and the smell of grass. Sometimes I wander off the path into the tall green grass. Since I have scent glands in my shoulders, I like to rub my shoulders up against the stalks of the tall grass to mark my territory. There are the odd gopher holes here and there too and those are a lot of fun to stick my nose in and sniff around. I tried to climb into one once but my caretaker pulled me back out. Now I just have a sniff and then I make sure I rub my shoulders on the top part of the entrance of each gopher hole I encounter along my path. I can imagine that really ticks off the gophers, smelling my scent every time they leave and come home again....ha ha.

Sometimes though, I get myself in a real situation in the tall grass. I get so busy wandering around, rubbing my shoulders on everything and sniffing gopher holes that I forget where the well-laid path was. Then I just stand there holding my head as high as my neck will allow to try and see the path but I just can't see it. I try to find my own way back to the path but I just seem to end up farther away. Sometimes I run into these prickly plants that really hurt. They only seem to be in the tall grass and not on the path. I have also noticed that when I wander into the tall grass I get attacked by those blood-sucking insects I think you humans calls mosquitoes. For some reason they don't bug me when I am on the path.

It is a good thing my caretaker is always by my side, otherwise I would get lost forsure. She said our path we walk on is a lot like the path she now walks on in her life. She said she used to follow her own path in life and always got lost. She said when she followed her own path it always led to trouble, kind of like when I would hit those prickly plants and mosquitoes. She said when she found her Heavenly Father He showed her a new path to follow, one that is narrow but leads to a much better life. She said that sometimes she would still wander off the new path and get lost just like I do, but if she called her Heavenly Father for help He would always gently and lovingly guide her back to the new path, just like how she always guides me out of the tall grass and back onto our well-laid path.

Sometimes you start off by making one wrong move or bad decision which then leads to another wrong move or bad decision and before you know it you are in trouble way over your head just like the tall grass I get lost in. If you have ever done something that you knew was wrong or bad but you did it anyway then you might be able to understand what I am talking about. My caretaker has two pieces of scripture from the bible that relate to my story and she has asked me to share them with you.

Matthew 7:13,14 (NIV)

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Proverbs 4:11 (New Century Version)
I am guiding you in the way of wisdom, and I am leading you on the right path.

If some of this stuff sounds new to you and you would like to know more, feel free to contact me using my email contact link and ask me anything you like. I promise I will do my best to answer your questions. I would love to hear from you too. Also, if you like my blog and want to read more of my adventures make sure you click the "follow" button to follow my blog. This is Duke signing off.

Followed by a Train

2009-07-10T17:44:00.000-07:00

Today I was walking along my usual path outside with my caregiver, minding my own business when suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, this train pulls up right beside me and stops. I don't know where it came from but it just kind of snuck up on me, you know how trains are. It was a short train, about six cars long. Then two engineer guys hang their head out the window and ask if I am a ferret. How totally insulting is that? Of course I am a ferret, what did they think I was, a horse?

Those two engineers seemed to get their kicks out of watching me "waddle" down my path. I have to say waddle because, I have to admit, I have put on a few extra pounds since I came to live with my caregiver. Now that I have food at my beckon call, it just tastes so darn good I can't help myself. When I first came to live with my caregiver I was really, really skinny and I could move pretty fast but now that I have put on some extra weight I can't move as quickly as I used to and I have a slight waddle that people seem to get their kicks from when they watch me walking.

Anyway, I was waddling down my usual path and the train guys are laughing at me right? All of a sudden I hear this loud hissing noise coming from the train and it made my hair stand on end. I don't know what that sound was, maybe the train farted or something but I wasn't sticking around to find out. I felt that surge of adrenaline and I ran for the hills, actually for the house. The engineer guys thought that was really funny too and they began to follow me as I ran full speed ahead with terror-filled eyes. I have never been followed by a train before and I can honestly say I never want to be again.

I know I shouldn't get scared anymore because my caregiver is always by my side but I still do. She told me not to feel bad about being scared sometimes. She said sometimes she still feels scared even though she knows her Heavenly Father is always with her. The reason she knows this is because He told her in His Word. Sometimes doing the right thing can be scarey, and if you have to, do it afraid because doing the right thing always has its rewards. I have never met this Heavenly Father that she speaks of but He sounds like a really nice guy. I will leave you with one piece of scripture from my caregiver's Bible.

Matthew 28:20 (NLT)

And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

This is Duke signing off. I hope you have a better day than I did and watch out for trains, those sneaky little buggers.

How it all began

2009-07-07T16:08:00.000-07:00

I should begin by telling you how everything started. It all began when I was abandoned and homeless. I had to find shelter wherever I could. When it rained I could never find shelter that was dry enough and when it got cold at night I could never find a place that was warm enough. I lived all alone on the streets of the city. My stomach ached with hunger all the time. I searched for food by digging through trash. I would sometimes find food in the trash but most of the time I just went hungry.

People would walk by and I would stick my head out from under the bushes and look up at them, hoping they would help me. Some of them would scream and run, not knowing what I was. Others would say I was cute and then go on their way. Something inside my heart told me not to give up. Every day I kept hoping to find someone who would help me; someone who would feed me, take care of me and love me.

One particularly hot and humid summer night, I was feeling extremely hungry. I decided to see if I could find anyone who would help me. I climbed under a fence and walked up to a house. I was too short to reach the doorbell but I wasn't too short to reach the basement window. I walked up to the window and started to scratch it, hoping to capture someone's attention. It worked, a lady came out and stuck me inside a large dog kennel in her garage and left me there. When she returned she had another lady with her. I could tell this other lady was not afraid of me. She picked me up in her arms and carried me home which became my new, loving home.

This lady, whom I will call my caregiver, took me off the streets and lovingly accepted me into her home. I have to admit, I am a ferret and I do get into a lot of mischief and that didn't change when I entered her home. I got into all sorts of trouble at first. I wasn't litter trained like other ferrets. I was a street ferret and I just went wherever I felt like it. I had no idea what ferret food was since I had never eaten it before and so I was hard to feed. I found many other ways to get myself into trouble as well but my caregiver loved me anyway. She was patient and loving and kind.

I found out later that I was real lucky that evening I came to live with my caregiver. Apparently the back yard I had climbed into normally has a very large dog in it but on this particular evening it was so hot out that they let the dog cool off in the basement of their home. This dog would have had me for lunch or maybe just an appetizer since I was so skinny at the time.

My caregiver tells me she understands how I felt when I was homeless. She said that although she had a home to live in, there was a time in her life where she felt abandoned, lonely and without hope. She also wanted someone to love her and take care of her. She said that in the same way she takes care of me, by providing me shelter, food and love, Jesus does the same for her. She said before she found Him she felt hopeless and abandoned but now that she has found Him she feels loved, secure and at peace just like I do now. She asked me to share with you a scripture from her bible:

Luke 19:10 (New Living Translation)
For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.
Footnotes: “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.

I will finish this story with some of the words from a song I enjoy. "I was once lost but now I am found."

I have also attached pictures of myself. Please note: These pictures are reenactments for your viewing pleasure.