Slug: The Reluctant Butterfly

By Steve Copland

Slug wants to fly, but the idea of being 'born again' as a butterfly frightens him. Like many other caterpillers, he wants to live his way. He is deceived into going to the center of the tree where disobedient caterpillers indulge in worldly activities.

Grunt, a crow, is flying with a gang. He wants to be accepted and look cool. The gang hunt foolish caterpillers who leave the safety of their leaves and go to the center of the tree. Grunt meets Grace who teaches him the gospel and leads him to forgiveness.

Slug eventually learns to trust and obey and is born again as a butterfly.

This book teaches children to grasp and accept that God has a special purpose for every life, and true happiness is found in living His plan.

Children 5-10yrs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Copland
• Release date: Aug 5, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465877253

Steve Copland

Steve Copland is a self-supported missionary from New Zealand, serving The Lord in Ukraine since 2003. He is member of the pastoral team at New Life evangelical church in Kiev. He lectures on Systematic Theology and Church History at the Ukraine Evangelical Seminary, and also Biblical Studies, Apologetics and Church History at the International Christian University in Kiev.

Book preview

Slug

The Reluctant Butterfly

Slug: The Reluctant Butterfly

Published by Steve Copland at Smashwords

Copyright 2011 by Steve Copland

All rights reserved solely by the author. The author guarantees all contents are original and do not infringe upon the legal rights of any other person or work. This book may be copied in full and used for the gospel of Christ in any form without the author's permission.

Chapter One

It was a warm sunny day when Slug was born. His mother laid her eggs on the end of a long branch in a tree with lots of tasty leaves. She chose a large green leaf near the end of the branch because she knew that the branch would move in the breeze, and the birds don’t like sitting on branches that move. This story is about just one of those eggs, one that became the caterpillar, Slug.

Slug’s mother was very beautiful. She had big black eyes, a kind gentle face, and four wings covered in bright colors. She was not very old for a butterfly, and Slug was the first egg she had ever laid. When she had finished laying her eggs, she flew a short distance to a field and found her husband drinking from a large blue flower. He had been waiting for her to return. She glided down to the flower, took a drink, and looked at her husband.

Did you find a good place for our children? he asked her, his long fingers stroking her face.

The Creator led me to that big tree on the edge of the field, she said, pointing to the place.

He knows best, as long as we always listen to His voice we will make the right choices, he answered. Come, let’s stretch our wings and check on the eggs when the sun goes down.

High in the branches of a nearby tree were a flock of crows. Their black feathers shone in the sun as they sat chatting together about the day. Their leader, a rather nasty crow called Silk, was bragging about how he had stolen a golden necklace a little girl had left sitting on a seat, a necklace her mother had given her for her birthday.

The silly girl just left it there so I swooped down and took it before she remembered and came running back to find it, Silk said with an evil glint in his dark eyes.

Where is it now? one of the smaller crows asked.

Silk turned his head towards the speaker and stared at him.

It is in my nest, Grunt. Were you thinking to take it for yourself?

No, no, I would never do such a thing, Silk, replied Grunt, too afraid to look straight into those cruel eyes.

Silk turned away, and without saying goodbye to anyone, leaped from the branch and left for his nest to check on his prize. A crow called Faze hopped along the branch to where Grunt was sitting.

Why do you stay with this gang, Grunt? he asked. Maybe you should go and live with those other crows who eat fruit and berries, those good little birds that never do anything bad.

Grunt didn’t answer for a while, he was thinking. He often wondered why he stayed with this bunch of bad guys. It made him feel tough and strong, even though deep inside he knew that he should leave them. When Grunt was young, he was taught to listen to the Voice inside him, the voice of the Creator. But when he had seen Silk speeding through the air, his sharp beak holding a wriggling caterpillar, and all those crows following him, thinking he was so tough and cool, Grunt decided that being cool was more important than listening to the Voice.

The eggs will be hatching soon, Grunt. Just think, all those fat delicious caterpillars crawling onto the thick branches, just waiting to be eaten, Faze said, his small tongue sliding along his beak.

To tell the truth, Grunt didn’t really like caterpillars. They were furry, prickly, and hard to swallow. The first and only one he tried, he felt like he was doing something really wrong. It wasn’t just the strange taste; it was this bad feeling inside, like he was doing an evil thing. The Voice in his head had told him to stop, but all of the gang were watching him, daring him to do it. He didn’t want to look like a coward or an idiot, so he grabbed that fat caterpillar and gulped it down, and then, after coughing for a while, he tried to pretend he really liked it. He hoped that the gang would think he was cool like them, but he didn’t feel cool, he felt like he had done a very bad thing, he had stopped a caterpillar from ever becoming a butterfly.

Grunt! Faze shouted in his ear. "Did