The Tale of Honey-Water Farm || meet Rowdy Russell the Raccoon

 

Hello, dear reader,

I'm excited to introduce you to one more Honey-Water Farm friend! This raccoon is adorable, and you could seriously grab him up in a great, big hug.

I grew up in the middle of nowhere on a farm, and we learned that farm animals included more than ducks, horses, sheep, and goats. We had possums and snakes... and raccoons, which happened to be one of my favorites. ;)

And maybe I'm partial because Ms. Debbie illustrated Russell adorably. ;) I hope you enjoy this little introduction to our character friend, Russell.

"Russell had the biggest raccoon smile in the whole wide world. He looked at the Helper who let out a deep laugh.

'Is this for real?' Russell asked."

Meet Russell.

He has a special place on the farm. He's not the funniest or bravest, and you'll find him constantly bumping his nose into a tree or tripping over roots. But arriving in the middle of the story, Russell has a deep love and loyalty to the Helper who invited him to live in Honey-Water Farm.

Russell gets to go on adventures, from a pond tea-party with a lollipop cake to collecting sap in the dark of night to make maple syrup and running into treacherous animals. 

But he also has secret treasures from his life before the farm, and he's not sure if he can give them up, even for the Helper.

When his old life and new life collide, he has to pick what's most important. He must decide if he'll be faithful to the Helper and if that sacrifice is worth it.

I think that's something we all have to decide:

Is Jesus worth it?

The Bible talks about there being a treasure in a field and a pearl of great price (Matthew 13:33-36), and the discoverers were willing to sacrifice everything to gain them. And in my own life, I've had to decide if Jesus was that treasure or if I wanted my life to pursue something else.

And I've watched my friends and siblings make that same decision. I saw my brother give up his most valued possession to follow Jesus faithfully because He asked that of him, but a friend decided that something else was more important and pursued that.

What's crazy is that Jesus loves both those people so, so much and died to offer them complete forgiveness and a future hope!! He lets the rain fall and the sun rise on both the evil and the good out of His great love, mercy, and kindness (Matthew 5:45). He desires us to belong to Him, like the Helper wants Russell's friendship and quality time and to be family.

I'm inspired when I read Russell's story. He's not only an adorable, fuzzy creature (*all the heart eyes*), but his decision to choose faithfulness or not inspires me to declare,

...But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Joshua 24:15

And to sing,

I have decided to follow Jesus

No turning back. 

I Have Decided

Jesus is worthy of it all, and following Him is the greatest joy in life!

At the end of Russell's story, he gets to experience something more wonderful than he ever imagined! So enjoy his tale, and may it challenge you to decide if Jesus is worthy of it all.

(psst) The Tale of Honey-Water Farm giveaway is still open! Click here to enter!

Or hop over to this link to preorder your own Kindle copy of the book!

So, would you consider raccoons a farm animal or no? And are they fuzzy and cute or rascally and wild? *wink* 

And if you're a Christ-follower, when did you first start following Jesus? Let's chat below!

For it brought me great joy when some brothers came and told me about your faithfulness to the truth, how you are in accordance with the truth living your life. 

3 John 1:3

~♥~