By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

Yes, I sent you a picture of a skunk last week.  Well, here is another picture of two of the fuzzy little creatures.  Don’t they look cute?

Let me tell you, looks can be deceiving.  These critters stink, and it doesn’t seem to bother them at all.  For over a week now, my neighbor and I have chased these animals around our properties.  They roam around, looking cute and cuddly.  Then, just about the time we all head to bed, it’s almost as if NASA has dropped a massive stink bomb on our little hill.

Why do I tell all this?  Well, even with their odor, I’ve gotten some really neat pictures.  And one day last week, I stepped out into the gravel driveway and picked up a handful of rocks to begin tossing underneath our car to try and run off the one little black-and-white creature that seemed to be enjoying that shady spot.  As I bent over the pick up the gravel, I glanced to my left, and around the corner of the house walked a large beautiful red fox!

If but for just a moment, it and I stopped and stared at each other.  Then, before I had time to react, the fox trotted off and out of sight.  I forgot about the skunk and dropped my rocks to go tell my wife what I had just seen.

The stinking creature was still there, but for now, it was no longer my focus.  The “stinks” that the week ahead may bring your way do not have to be your focus.  Think on that.  And thank God that just about the time the stink could very well become more than you can stand, He sends a beautiful distraction your way to remind you that life has much more beauty than stink.

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

We were quite entertained the other afternoon while watching this little fellow and his three siblings scampering about.  They were all equally as fuzzy, cute, and adorable.  Oblivious to our noses pressed against the windows, they went about their snooping around, bug eating, and chewing on the bottom of my grill cover!  We enjoyed watching them, partly because we have never seen one near our house.

But, we were safe inside.  That’s what made it enjoyable.  They were skunks after all.  Their furry little bodies have the potential to make the biggest of men and animal moan and wretch in disgust from their foul odor.

Isn’t life just like that?  We press our noses to the glass at the first sign of something new.  It may look cute and furry, and there may be more just like it out there.  However, therein is the great potential to make us miserable.

I’m not telling us to be wary of everything cute.  We would miss quite a few blessings that way.  But be careful.  While one end of that experience (skunk) has the little bright eyes and pointy nose, the other end can cause quite a stink — which will linger for days!

Be aware of the possible stinks, but enjoy the fuzzies this week.  Life isn’t always cut and dry.  It’s not always just black and white.  Oh, wait.  Maybe it is!

Just a thought.