The crowd cheered over the healing and release of this one sea turtle.
While my family was vacationing recently, a shop owner asked us if we were going to attend the sea turtle release. We hadn’t heard anything about it. She told us that a sea turtle had been injured by a boat propeller five years earlier and that she had been in rehab at the Pittsburgh Zoo. They were releasing her back into the ocean where she had been found.
We were intrigued. Five years is a long time for a turtle to be out of its habitat and all the way in Pittsburgh too. We were in Florida. A little more research showed us that at one point she was considered unreleasable. Her injuries were simply too severe. But, someone must have fought for her.
On Thursday around noon, we headed to the spot. We were surprised to see a fairly wide area taped off and a crowd stood on both sides of the tape. There were policemen walking through the crowd. There were very young children and elderly people there. People had cell phones, cameras and camcorders. As the minutes ticked, the excitement grew.
At last, a van pulled up. A group of volunteers climbed out and brought out three juvenile turtles to be released. They walked around the taped off area and let people see them and take pictures and then they walked out into the surf and let them go. When they gave the thumbs up, the crowd went wild cheering and clapping.
The entire process gave me goosebumps and brought tears to my eyes, so much fanfare for these small and seemingly insignificant creatures. My heart was touched.
Then they brought out, Sunburst, the large turtle who had endured so much. For five years she had to go through rehab and although some wanted to give up on her, she survived and was going home. This time the crowd really went wild. We all held our breath has they placed her into the ocean. There was complete silence and then, she too got the thumbs up as she swam away. The cheering and clapping was even louder than before.
I immediately thought of a Bible verse from Luke. “In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” Luke 15:10 NLT
It comes from one of Jesus’ parables where a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. She doesn’t rest until she finds the missing one.
I think God looks at us like that sea turtle that some considered releasable. He never gives up hope. He never stops working with us to bring us home and when we find our way, I think the angels in heaven cheer for us just like the crowd on the beach.
Every single one of us matter to Him. There is no one who is insignificant and there are no exceptions. We are all redeemable. That fact my friends, makes me smile. What about you?
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂