...a spiritual lesson in here somewhere.
Elizabeth has a new rat. Got her a couple of months ago when one of the orignal pair died.
At first all was well. The new rat and the old one got along right away and were happy to live together in the rat hotel. (It's a big fancy cage Elizabeth bought a year, or so, ago.)
But then Elizabeth discovered a problem. Thorgill (the new rat) is still very young, and pretty small, and discovered that she could squeeze through the bars on the hotel I mean, cage.
Therefore, she got demoted to the much smaller glass cage.
And was none too happy about it.
So after her sentence was up, Elizabeth put Thorgill back into the hotel er, you know what I mean.
Well, it didn't take long before Thorgill had escaped again. All the kids were looking for her throughout the basement, but she would not be found.
Stupid rat!
She had a nice home with a doting 13-year-old girl who fed her, and played with her, and made sure all her needs were met. But she felt the need to wander. To strike out on her own in an unknown world. And even though she was pursued, she would not be found.
The kids had called off the search, resigned to the fact they just couldn't find her.
And then, a few hours later, Elizabeth came upstairs with a great big smile.
Thorgill had come back. She was up on top of the hotel, wanting to get back in.
Seems the rat came to her senses!
Do you see the spiritual lesson?
Actually, I think there are a couple.
And, I'm thinking this out as I'm typing...Yeah, my book Finding Joy is full of God showing Himself in the midst of the ordinary. If you share the spiritual lesson you see in this incident with Thorgill, I'll put your name in a drawing to win a copy of Finding Joy. How 'bout that?
And, still thinking this trough as I'm typing...I'll do the drawing Thursday night at 10:00 EST. So look for the lesson and let me know about it by then!
14 comments:
Oh sweet sister...do I see a spiritual lesson? LOL! Oh my! as my fledglings stretch their wings and try to break free of old boundaries set for themselves as I try to expand their world and trust God to help them find their way home...oh my! LOL! I love it! I have three little rats over here who think their cage is too small! LOL!
I wrote a post once about this very lesson. All too often we have it made in God's care, but we want to try our wings out in the world. When it isn't all it's cracked up to be, we come back home and beg to be let back in. God is eager to let us in and happily does so.
Leah
Wow. Yep. Definitely a spiritual lesson here. I instantly thought about the prodigal son - totally thought that life was better "out there" and was just itching to leave the Father's home/care/safety. So he wanders off, only to return because even in his Father's house "the servants are treated better than this."
Just like us, eh? ;) There's something in us (ummm. . . pride I'm sure) that causes us to just have to try life "out there" instead of resting in teh knowledge that we are in the best place we can possibly be - the Fathers house, the Father's care, the Father's hands, the Father's heart.
Thanks for sharing! :)
We as God created in his own image and a child of God sometime do not see the provider as we should. We break free(so we think) to do as we choose, but God still graciously provides even if we are not looking for that. His creation shows this. But we long for God. We need our Creator. So times we try to find this in other things, running away, addictions, food, love, other list...could go on, but the point is we all need God to survive. He is our life. So we come back to the cross, (hotel) of His meaning of love. I love seeing a lesson of God's love in children. He uses such sweet aromas to call us.
Oh yes I see it loud and clear....But the part that got me the most was your description of your daughter having a BIG smile on her face. Now there may be consequences for his actions, but first comes the love! Always the Love!
Ahhhhh...it is always so good to come home.
Oh, I indeed see a lesson here. We should never take our safe confines for granted that we have in Jesus. When we leave that secure place in His arms, we will surely come running back to Him!
Although we may stray, we do know where we belong. Funny how the rat is smarter than many of us though.
My son came home with a dragon/lizard/desert thing a few weeks ago. After 2 days it had to go. UGH!!
The first lesson that jumps out at me (with my hair standing on end) is that if anyone in this house ever gets a rat for a pet and it leaves the hotel- the search WILL NOT be called off under any circumstances until that baby is FOUND!
The second lesson is: Remember the lost sheep? The shepherd searched everywhere, leaving the 99, to FIND the ONE that was LOST. He DID NOT call off the search. See?
Always FIND the lost rat. That's what I say.
Though I do believe you were looking for something more along the lines of the prodigal. :)
Heidi
Prodigal son lesson, indeed. The Lord's arms are open to take us back when we faulter. In Him we know we are "home", safe and secure again. We just need to make the decision that we are not complete without Him and the ol' world has nothing to fill the voids!
Tamrah T.
jttso2ATgmailDOTcom
We feel so trapped where God has put us sometimes! Then, when we "escape" we realize we just want to be back in His care WHEREVER that might be!
Oh, you just had to get that rat in the story, now didn't you?
The prodical daughter, of course. I've been astray for longer than I care to think. This resonates with me.
I think that sometimes we feel like we "need" to just put aside God and "go with the world" but then something "bad" happens and we run back "to the hotel" asking for help.
God's boundaries are set around us to take care of our needs and make us happy. but often enough we think there is something better out there, only to find that God's way is always best.
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