Deep Waters

The other morning my hubby came in from taking the dog out and said, “There a dead rat in our pool.”  “How big is it?” I asked.  He held out his hands to a pretty good size, and I said to him, “Without the tail?!?!”  If that was the case this is a good size rat and I had to see for myself.  It was still dark out there so I turned on the patio light and looked at the mass floating in our pool.  I looked and looked, and didn’t see a tail.  Then I saw a little foot do a dog paddle motion!  I looked a little closer and saw that it was a bunny!  I hollered at my hubby, “It’s not a rat!  It’s a bunny, and I think it’s still alive!”  Having worked at a Vet for a couple of years I am pretty sympathetic when it comes to stuff like this.  I walk over to where the bunny was facing me and bent down.  As I bent down this little guy paddled over to me like he knew that I was there to help him.  We got a deflated raft and slipped it under him to pull him out.  He was very cold, but had kept his head out of the water.  We have no idea how long he was in there.  I grabbed a towel and wrapped him up in it.  At first I thought to leave him under the big bushes by our pool cage where we’ve seen bunnies like him rest, but then thought better of it.  He was not moving at all and that would leave him open to attacks from snakes or something.  I carried him inside and took him to work with me.  I figured that since he was still breathing that if I could give him a safe warm environment to rest and warm up in he would be okay.  I got an empty box and put some shredded paper in it with his towel, and some veggies in case he did recover fully he could have something to eat.  By the time I got to work his little body had started to shiver so I knew he was warming up.  I settled him into his box, cut some holes in the lid and made a flap that I could lift to check on him.  Around 11am he was still wrapped up in his towel, but when I lifted the lid he gave me a look that said, “Dude…I’m sleeping here!”  His little nose was going a mile a minute and he looked at me with big alert eyes so I knew he was feeling much better and was probably going to be just fine.  Come 2pm I heard him scrape at the box and bump around so I put a weight on the lid so he didn’t get out!  My hubby and I wanted to release him back at home since that was the environment that he had come from.  Plus Gem had seen him that morning and it would be really nice to let her see that he was good and to let her see him run off all hopping and happy to be free again.  Getting home we saw another bunny in our back yard by our big bushes so we decided to walk around the side of the house to release him.  This way we didn’t scare the other bunny and if that was his mate or sibling or whatever they could meet up pretty quickly.  Hubby was holding Gem while I attempted to release the bunny and film it at the same time.  Easier said than done, lol.  Finally getting the lid off I tipped the box so the little guy could see the grass and step out.  After a moment he did just that.  He jumped out and hopped away…right towards the busy road!  But don’t worry, he stopped.  Could you imagine if he wouldn’t have?!?!?  I would have not been a happy person.  He sat where he stopped for a bit, then my hubby walked over to him to guide him back towards the safety of the bushes.  He took the hint and under the big bushes he went. 

 

I was so thankful that my hubby said something and that I actually wanted to see.  I normally wouldn’t have gone out to look.  I’m also thankful that the little guy was still alive and that he made a full recovery.  That little one had struggled all night to keep his head above water so he could breath and survive.  I’m sure he paddled all around the pool.  He must have swam to the edge and tried to claw his way up using all his strength to get out of the cold water only to fail again and again with his little head sinking under the water every time he fell.  Losing his strength he decided to just float.  He coasted all night long getting colder and colder.  His little body starting to fail from not being warm.  His little breaths coming slower and slower.  His mind starting to shut down and accept that maybe he was not going to get out.  Finally, seeing someone walk to the edge of the pool, he paddled over to see if this someone would help him.  To see if this someone would see that he needed help or would they just walk away seeing that he was floating fine on his own.  To see if this someone would extend a hand and a heart towards him so he could get out of the struggle he had fought before he slipped forever under the water.

 

Do we do that as Christians?  Do we walk to the edge of the pool and see someone floating and think, “They’re fine.”  Or do we walk to the edge of the pool and extend our hands and a hearts to someone that seems fine, but is not.  Are we sensitive to the fact that people may look as though they are doing well, but if they don’t know Jesus as their Lord and Savior they are not well?  It’s scary to approach the deep waters.  What if I fall in?  What if they just splash water at me and tell me to go away.  Or what if they take my hand?  I believe that people just want to be loved.  1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain:  faith, hope, and love.  But the greatest of these is love.  Yes we will get splashed with all kinds of things, but even if that happens if we extend love I believe they will feel that and remember us, and maybe when they have given up and are just floating waiting till they slip forever under the water the Lord might use us at the edge of the pool and maybe this time they will take our hands. 

Peace, Love, and God Bless.