The record setting rain had pushed the pond waters way outside of its banks.
The great state of Georgia, got some serious rain over the Christmas holiday. There were records broken. It was warm and very soggy. Miraculously, the skies cleared on Christmas Day and the weather was absolutely gorgeous for a couple of days.
Kids and adults alike, were all a little stir crazy and we just had to get outdoors for some sun and fresh air. My parents have a pond on their property and we went to see how far it had spilled outside of its banks. I don’t ever remember seeing it so high. On our walk back to the house, I came across this patch of baby bass who had been caught up in a current that took them outside of the safety of the banks of the pond.
At first glance, all seemed lost.
When the rain stopped, and it always does, the water receded and left them stranded. It saddened me to see these tiny fish, dead in the mud. I called my hubby and daughter over to show them. As my daughter examined them more closely, she realized that a few of them were still alive and she rescued them by putting them back safely into the pond.
She lost more than she saved, yet she was able to save some. Maybe those few would grow to adults and parent many more.
I shared our story with our other family members, so later, when my brother-in-law took my three-year-old niece on a walk, they were on the look out for more displaced fish. Apparently, little Lois had no trouble spotting some and went about returning them to the pond as quickly as possible. She got so excited in her quest that she ran and ended up tripping and falling in the mud.
Do you think she cried and gave up? Nope, she got up and apologized to the tiny misguided fish and carried it to safety.
I thought about those fish for days after I returned home. I thought about how easy it is for us to get lost when the floods of life come. We can sometimes find ourselves outside of the safety of God’s will.
I also thought about how easy it is for Christians to get discouraged when there are so many people who need help. We can began to feel that if we can’t help save everyone then it’s not worth the effort. We can get weary and overwhelmed. But, every single person matters to God.
Loving others and sharing our faith is not a numbers game. All we are called to do is the best we can with what we have. God will do the rest.
The Bible tells us: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9
A three-year-old reminded me of that verse. In her quest to help, she fell, but she got up and kept helping. As a new year begins, it’s a good verse to remember and carry close. Maybe you needed a reminder too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂