"There are two kinds of people in the world," said Uncle Bill to his nephew Nathan, "There's the takers and there's the givers. Or, you might say, there's the beavers, and there's the raccoons. Turning to Nathan, he asked, "Which are you?"
Puzzled, Nathan shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't think I know what you mean?"

His uncle continued, "A beaver is an interesting animal that spends most of its time underwater. They weigh about the same as a medium-sized dog. They've got heavy fur to protect them from the cold and short little legs, webbed feet and a big flat tail to aid them in swimming."

Nathan's uncle leaned toward him and said in a confidential voice, "Now, this is where it gets interesting. Beavers are givers. They're called a cornerstone species because they help so many other animals. What they do is find a stream they like and dam it up. Using only their teeth and strong jaws, they gnaw through the trunks of trees along the creek bank and then drag the fallen trees into the water. Weaving together sticks and limbs beavers will eventually stop the flow of the stream and make a pond. Then, in the middle of their pond they build a home (lodge) out of a huge pile of sticks and make a den in the center of it to raise their babies and live in safety."

"But that's not all. Thanks to the beavers, the frogs, birds, turtles, and fish have a home. There's more! As the stream flows into the beaver pond it carries mud that washes off of the surrounding fields. This settles to the bottom and gradually fills the pond which is something that can take years. Then, when the water gets shallow and no longer protects their home, the beavers move on and start a new pond down stream. Over time the old pond fills up completely with mud and dries out. What's left behind is something called a beaver meadow with a little stream running through the middle of it. It's a beautiful place where new plants and flowers grow in the deep soil left behind. And so, the beaver is a giver. It gives back more to the environment that it takes."

"So, what about the raccoons?" asked Nathan.

Uncle Billy pulled on his white beard and said, "Well, it's no match if you put a raccoon and a beaver side by side in a beauty contest. The good looking raccoon puts the dirty brown beaver to shame even though the raccoon's face does look like it is wearing a bandit's mask. Because of that mask, raccoons have a reputation for mischief, vandalism, and stealing things. The raccoon is highly intelligent and a really tough customer that really does live up to their bad reputation. Raccoons living in the city will steal pet food and eat out of garbage cans. In farming areas, they kill chickens and will attack pet cats and dogs. In addition raccoons are carriers of many diseases like rabies, fleas, ticks, and lice. In the wild they live in wooded areas near streams, ponds and marshes in wooded areas. They'll eat just about anything including insects, nuts, worms, fruit, berries, grains, eggs, baby birds, grubs, snakes, rats, dead animals and farmers crops."
"They may have good looks, but raccoons are takers that don't give much back. When a beaver pulls up stakes and goes off to build a new dam, he leaves the area better than he found it. He leaves a beautiful beaver meadow behind. On the other hand, the raccoon just leaves the area in worse shape than he found it.

Nathan's uncle took off his hat, ran his fingers through his curly white hair and asked, "Well, Nathan, what kind of a reputation do you want to have, one like a beaver or one like a raccoon?"

Discussion Points:

• What exactly is a good reputation? (an unselfish giver)
• How does one get a good reputation?
• What is a bad reputation? (a selfish taker)
• Who is the greatest giver of all? (Why?)
• Name the first person to be a taker. (Cain killed his brother and took his life.)
• Note: Beavers and raccoons are metaphors for how people may choose to lead their life. As we know, a metaphor taken to its ultimate conclusion makes no sense. This story is not an appeal to go out and build a dam and move into a lodge in the middle of a pond. Instead, one should be prepared to state that both animals have their place in God's Creation, but we can learn something useful for our personal behavior by looking at how they live.
  I've found that kids are quick to laugh and respond when I say something like, "Now the point of my story was that we should go out this afternoon and began building our own beaver dam." This type of unexpected statement never fails to catch them off guard and bring them into the story as they vigorously try to straighten out my reasoning.