The Value of a Good Reputation Illustrated (Goodly Woods Book 1) Read online

  “Where is your mother?” Honest asked.

  “She’s in the other room setting the table for dinner,” answered Patience.

  Honest walked into the dining room just in time to see his wife setting the glasses on the table. When Forever Thinking looked up, she smiled sweetly, but he could see the worry on her face. The love they felt for each other had not dimmed over the years but had grown brighter and brighter as time passed. He had learned her well, and he could tell when something was wrong.

  “Patience just told me that the Widow Gotta Gossip was here this afternoon,” said Honest, “and she says Darkly attacked her with a slingshot. Patience also tells me that it wasn’t Darkly, but Goodly who went out this afternoon with his slingshot.”

  “Yes, Goodly went to visit Fulla, and I saw him pick up his slingshot as he left. Darkly was home all afternoon. Oh, Honest! I just can’t imagine Goodly doing something like that!” said Mrs. Thinking.

  “What does Goodly have to say for himself?” asked Honest Thinking.

  “He isn’t home yet, but he should be at any moment,” said Mrs. Thinking. “He promised me he’d be home in time for dinner.”

  Just then, the front door opened wide and in stepped Goodly. “Hi, Mom! I’m home! Umm, umm! Something sure smells good! What’s for dinner?”

  “Goodly!” they all said in unison, “We have been waiting for you!”

  Honest felt it was best to ask Goodly to step outside with him on the front porch. The two of them went outside, and as they sat down, Honest said, “Son, we’ve gotten a bad report from the Widow Gotta Gossip. She said Darkly attacked her with a slingshot. We know that Darkly couldn’t have done it because he has been home all afternoon.”

  “I'm innocent! I didn’t do a thing!” cried Darkly peering out the front door onto the porch.

  “Darkly,” said Honest, “get back inside and finish your homework.”

  Honest waited a moment, and then said, “I also hear that you went out this afternoon to visit Fulla Courage…and that you took your slingshot,” he said firmly.

  “Why yes, Pa. I did take my slingshot, but I never hit anyone. I’m always very careful when I use it,” said Goodly.

  Honest had confidence in Goodly, but he needed to figure out and understand how this could have happened. He asked, “Son, try to remember what you shot at today.”

  “Well,” Goodly said. “I hit a bunch of trees, scared a bunch of squirrels, and aimed at an ol’ burnt tree stump that seemed to be in range. Funny thing was; I shot at it three times and still kept missing.”

  “Why do you say that?” asked his father.

  “Well,” he replied, “mostly because I never heard the wood thump. It was very strange. I don’t see how I could have missed because the black stump was a good size target. I finally decided that it had to be rotten and full of bugs, so I just went on my way.”

  Just then, Honest remembered that the old widow always wore black, so he asked Goodly, “Is it possible you mistook the Widow for an ol’ tree stump?”

  Darkly began laughing loudly from the front room, and his mother asked him to quiet down.

  Goodly's countenance fell as the realization hit him. If she were bending over close to the ground, he very well could have shot the Widow thinking she was an ol’ burnt up tree stump.

  “I think we have solved the mystery, son. This evening, we will visit the Widow Gotta Gossip to straighten things out and make our apologies,” said Mr. Thinking. “Let’s go eat dinner, and afterward we will all kneel in prayer asking God to help her understand and forgive your mistake.”

  Chapter Seven

  Meanwhile, on her way home from the Goodly Farm, the Widow Gotta Gossip stopped to invite her friends over for tea that evening.

  As the women all gathered in her living room, the Widow poured a cup of hot tea for each one of them. Then she began to tell them about her terrible ordeal that day.

  “Here I was, just walking through the woods minding my own business. All I wanted was to get some of those sweet wild strawberries that I heard were growing in the meadow.”

  The widow could see that she had their full attention. “Then, would you believe it? There I was! Just walking along enjoying all the beauty and quietness around me when suddenly I see that dastardly Darkly boy! You know who I mean? That boy from the Thinking family!”

  Widow Gotta Gossip weakly fell back on her sofa and continued, “Then, out of nowhere, a huge rock hits me on the arm! I glanced up just in time to see that dastardly Darkly is running towards me with his slingshot loaded for bear! I screamed and screamed! I begged him to stop! Do you think he would listen? Noooo!”

  Then Widow Gotta stood straight up and in a pitiful voice cried, “I finally realized I had to run for my life! Darkly kept hitting me with rocks! Large ones mind you! And I am quite sure he was aiming at my head. It was terrible! I ran, and I ran! I’m sure he would have killed me if I would have stayed there!”

  Well, you can imagine the look on all of the ladies’ faces. They were so alarmed! Widow Gotta began to convince them that they, too, could never again feel free to walk in the woods because they might be attacked. The ladies all agreed that something had to be done!

  Widow Gotta Gossip fell back on the sofa again and said, “I came within an inch of my life out there in the woods! I could have lain there alone, dying and bleeding to death! It might have been days later if at all, that they would have found my body! It is only by my good fortune that I escaped that cruel boy. You should see the deep cuts and bruises I bear on my body!” she sniveled. “Do any of you have a hanky I can borrow?”

  Chapter Eight

  Just then, the widow heard a knock at her front door. She recovered her composure and rose, politely excusing herself and opened the front door.

  “Yes?” she inquired.

  Standing there before her were all five members of the Thinking Family!

  The Widow let out a cry and thought she would faint! The ladies in the living room heard Widow Gotta cry out, and they all ran to see what was going on.

  Honest Thinking, realizing that the Widow was so frightened, quickly announced, “Fear not Widow Gotta. We are only here to clear matters up with you.”

  Of course, her lady friends were very interested. They all knew Honest Thinking and until now, they all thought he was a very nice person. Honest had always been fair in his dealings with the townsfolk and was never seen brawling or behaving unseemly.

  Mildly Curious, one of the Widow's oldest friends really wanted to hear Honest explain the afternoon’s incident. So she asked, “Please, Mr. Thinking, go on and tell us what happened.”

  It was chilly and dark outside, so Honest asked politely if he and his family might come in. Widow Gotta Gossip knew that her lady friends were watching, so she felt she had no choice but to do the proper thing and invite them in.

  After they all had sat down in the parlor, Honest began by saying, “Ma’am, we are here to explain what happened this afternoon in the woods. I understand that you got hit by some rocks thrown from a slingshot by one of my sons.”

  “You are absolutely correct, young man! I was minding my own business walking through the woods to the meadow to pick strawberries,” said the widow, “when Darkly attacked me!”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, “It’s my understanding that you believe it was my son Darkly who shot at you with his slingshot, but I want you to know that’s not true. You see, I have two sons. Goodly and Darkly are identical twins. It wasn’t Darkly, but Goodly who was walking through the woods this afternoon on his way to visit his friend Fulla Courage. Along the way, he told me he was shooting at squirrels and old dead tree stumps. Goodly had no idea that he had hit you, and it wasn’t until I began to question him that the whole matter became clear.”

  Honest looked straight into her eyes and said, “I am not sure why you were crouched down on the ground and hiding in the tall grass. But when Goodly saw you, he mistook you for a
n old tree stump.”

  Widow Gotta’s face contorted from shock, embarrassment and unbelief. She didn’t utter a word as Honest continued.

  “Goodly told me that he shot three times at the stump, and after not hearing the telling thump, he gave up and went on his way. I’m confident Goodly believed that he missed the stump.”

  The ladies began to look at the old widow, this time with shock in their eyes. That wasn’t the story that they had just heard. The way the Widow Gotta made it out was that she had begged and pleaded for mercy, only to be unmercifully chased down and hit over and over again with rocks! Well, well! This evening was turning out to be quite interesting, indeed. In rapt attention, they listened on.

  “Widow Gotta Gossip,” implored Goodly, “I am so sorry. I honestly didn’t know it was you out there in the woods crouched down on the ground. I would never shoot at anyone on purpose. Please, I hope you believe me.”

  The old Widow’s face began to redden. She knew she appeared the fool. Mixing up the boys wasn’t so bad, but she never expected that her grand embellishment would be exposed! All of her friends were glaring at her now. What were they thinking? What should she do?

  Then her neighbor, Mildly Curious, spoke up and said, “Widow Gotta Gossip, why don’t we go in the other room so you can show us ladies your injuries. Then without a doubt, we will know the truth of the matter.”

  Now the Widow knew that just would not do because she didn’t have any marks left at all from the pelting. The few red spots that she did have had faded quickly away, so in all truth, she had no evidence to give.

  Knowing that somehow she must quickly recover her dignity, the widow replied, “There is no need. I will take Honest’s word and write this incident down as an unfortunate accident. I trust I’ll be fine in a few days.”

  Honest thanked her for her hospitality and understanding and then he and his family left for home.

  After Widow Gotta Gossip had shut her front door, she politely turned, faced her lady friends as though nothing had happened and suggested that they finish their tea.

  Her friends were very quiet, so to break the silence she exclaimed, “Well! I sure hope that teaches those awful children a lesson to never again try to do harm to another person! It’s only because of my kind nature that I let them off lightly. I’m positive that no one else would be as nice as I have been! Dominoes anyone?”

  Chapter Nine

  As the Thinking family rode home in their wagon, Honest glanced back at his children sitting in the back of the wagon and said, “We have learned an important lesson tonight. There is great value in having a good reputation. Darkly, if your reputation would have been better than it is, I don’t think the Widow would have even thought of hiding from you.”

  Darkly just scowled.

  Forever said, “Goodly, I appreciate your honesty and how you handled yourself. I know you have learned those qualities from your father’s example. I’m also quite sure that his good reputation among the townsfolk helped us tonight.”

  Patience asked, “Ma, do you think we have loving favor? In Proverbs 22:1 it says, ‘A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold’.”

  Forever thought about this for a long moment and answered, “Yes Patience, I believe we do have loving favor. When a person lives honestly and Godly before his fellow man he will have a good name. And that good name will bring him loving favor among the people. A good name is considered great riches in the eyes of God.”

  Patience just smiled. She was happy that it all worked out and was especially happy that they had God’s loving favor.

  As the wagon gently rolled down the dirt road toward home, Honest and Forever gazed up at the beautiful moon. Together, they thanked God for once again answering their prayers.

  Next in the Goodly Woods Series:

  Book 2 - Sudden Fear

  When a wild cougar disturbs the peace in Goodly Woods,

  everyone must learn to conquer their fear!

  Did You Know?

  It takes years to build a reputation, and only moments to destroy it.

  When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost, when character is lost, all is lost. – A German proverb.

  Evildoers usually will not approach a person that has a good reputation and ask him or her to join in their foul plans, because they know a good person will reject them. But if a person’s reputation is such that they think they may have a chance, then the asking is the telling.

  A gossip will not tug on the ear of a person with a good reputation for fear that they will be rebuked. If a gossip feels comfortable in your company, then you’d better take the rebuke…give a rebuke…and find new company!

  Most of all, strive to have a good reputation with God. Not only will you will be rewarded with abundant blessings in this life, but when your life here on earth is finished, you will be rewarded with eternal life.

  Credits

  All of the artwork in this Ebook is provided through my subscription to IClipart located at https://www.iclipart.com/.

  The logo "The End" was designed by Stephanie Schlim, and is used with her permission.

  The cover art and the bulletin entitled, "Welcome to Goodly Woods" was designed by Cheri Hill.

  All scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible which is in the public domain.

  Contact Me

  Please feel free to send your comments, questions or suggestions to:

  mailto:[email protected]

  If you would like more information on how you can find where the Truth of God's Word is taught and lived, please visit our website at:

  https://www.manassaschurchofgod.org

  I also encourage you to check out the United States map on the following page to see if your state has a local congregation.

  If you live in a state highlighted in blue, email me just the name of your city and I will send you the address of the church that is closest to you.

  If your state does not have a local congregation, email me with your contact information and we will do our best to work with you.

  Please accept my personal invitation to join us for services. I hope you can come!

  The Manassas Church of God

  8823 Rixlew Lane

  Manassas, VA 20109

  540-752-7151

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  States that have one or more local congregations are highlighted in blue.

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