Young Padders was thoroughly enjoying himself in the garden one afternoon. He had just been rewarded for hepling with the housework and had been given a present which he ardently admired.

I wonder, can you guess what it ws? It was invented about three hundred years ago. Before that time there were many things in the world that people did not know about because they could not see them. About helf the plants in the world cannot be seen by the human eye and without the aid of this mystery object. So we can take a really close look at things with this instrument. Yes, it's a magnifying glass.

Padders loved this present and held it up to the underside of his paw and was astounded by all the creaters and indentations he saw. Then he put it up close to a pretty flower and waoo! Such beauty, which he had never seen before. He placed it in front of a blade of grass and then before a daisy, an insect, a feather, then Duchess's nose.Amazing altogether. Padders felt like he was in wonderland. Then Puff came out to play too. She had been bored inside and Mama had sent her out for dome good fresh air.

'Give me that thing!' announced Puff ina non-negotiating manner.

'Come and see this!' shouted Padders as he held it close to the stem of a nettle, and invited Puff to join in the fun. But that was not enough got our Puff. She wanted sole possession! It had to be in her paw! Well, you can imagine the argument. Papa Paws was inside the hall with his tool box doing a bit of DIY when he heard this deperate din and saw the dust flying as he peered out of the window,.

He stamped outside with sure steps and poor Padders was lying face down in the bunch of nettles with his heels in the air, while Puff looked on innocently as if to say what has happened to him, but everyone knew!

Soon Padders found himself perched on the kitchen table and Mama Paws produced the red First Aid Box. She always kept it out of the bears' reach and so Padders was fascinated when he saw it appear and was eager to discover its contents. She gently dabbed the stings with a rather strange smelling solution which eased the pain almost immediately.

Oadders peeped into the box. 'Do I need one of these, Mama?'

'No. No you don;t need a plaster. They are only for cuts and grazes like when you fell off your bicycle and skinned youe elbow last year.'

'Oh I remember that!' said Padders. 'What about one of these nice cream things, Mama? Do I need one?'

'No, you don't need a bandage either. They are only for when one of us sprains an ankle or pulls a muscle like old Papa last month.'

Through time Padders had emptied the contents of the entire box and found that Mama had practically everything needed for any accident or emergency. But then Padders wondered, 'But Mama, what have you got if I hurt on the inside? What if i feel sad and injured on the inside? Puff said some horrible things to me today.'

'Then God's Word can help you,' assured Mama, and she gave hima special verse from the Word. 'In psalm 46 it says, " God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble," and she flicked through a few more pages and quoted another piece. 'God heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.@

Meanwhile Puff had been really sorry for what had happened and she was sobbing relentlessly into her pillow when Mama Paws found her.

'Mama, Mama,' she gulped and snifled. 'No-one likes me. Padders is your favourite. He is Papa's favourite. He is teacher's favourite. he gets rewarded with presents, he gets good reports. I'm just hopeless.'

'Never, never say that Puff! You should know that we love you just as much. And God loves you too.' Mama spent some time counselling her cub with the Word of God. Eventually they came downstairs and Puff apoligised to Padders and took her seat at the table.

Papa Paws stood up beside his toolbox and spoke. He told them the gist of a story which he had heard as a cub.

He said, 'There was a lot of fuss in the carpenter's workshop one day and it ws clear that the tools were having a disagreement. One of them said, "It's the hammer's fault. He is much too noisy. His constant pounding drives me crazy."

"Nonsense," the hammer protested in its defence. "I beleive the trouble lies with the saw. He keeps going backwards and forwards all the time and that's so annoying to watch."

'The saw spoke out -"I'm not to blame. I am certain that it is the plane's fault. His work is so shallow and he does nothing but just skim the surface."

'The plane was astounded and objected loudly. "I am sure the real blame lies with the screwdriver, always going round and round in circles."

'"That is absolutely ridiculous," said the screwdriver. "It is plain that the whole trouble began with the ruler, because he was always measuring people by his own standards."

'The ruler was furious. "Then what about the sandpaper? Surely he is always rubbing people up the wrong way?"

"Oh why pick on me," said the sandpaper. "I am convinced that you ought to blame the drill for being so boring!"

'Just as the drill was about to protest,the carpenter walked into his workshop and began to work. Using everyone of those tools mentioned, he eventually produced a beautiful pulpit from which a message of peace was preached to thousands of people.'

Puff and Padders had giggled through the story and realised the stupidity of fighting and quarrelling and they called a truce. Puff realised too that while she maybe was not as clever at school as Padders, she was gifted in her own special way and both of them had an important place in their family.

Then Papa Paws said, 'Where's that magnifying glass?'

Puff produced the fragments of the broken object.

'Well don't worry,' said Papa, ' because I have an even better magnifying glass.'

'Better than mine, Papa? uttered Padders.

'Yes, better than yours.' He held up his Bible. 'This will help us see God and ourselves up close. Do you want to have look?

'Yes!' shouted Padders and Puff in unison.

'Well if you open your Bibles and read them, it will bring God up close and you will see things about Him that will amaze you and thrill you. You will see His incredible beauty which is incomparable with anything else.'

Within seconds, they had their noses stuck in their Bibles and were nudging each other and saying, 'Look at thism Puff.' 'Look at this, Padders.''Look what it says about God.'