SCRATCHY- IN MEMORY

Okay, right now in your mind play "Taps" with the trumpets. Shortly after posting yesterday, Scratchy began to act weird. He didn't want to eat and only wanted to cuddle. And we were getting ready to leave the house for nine hours. So we cuddled him until time to go, where we therefore put his box in the bathtub, no water of course, with his nuts and apples, and a saucer of water. I just knew it was his final hours.

About five o'clock, still two hours away from church time, I decided to run home and check on him- was he dead or alive? I felt he was dead and didn't want the kids to come home and find yet another dead animal they had cared for and got atttached to. I said "I will not cry over a squirrel. He would have died if we had done nothing, so we just extended his life a while and helped him to die in a loving environment."

So, I open the door. Silence. I knew if he was awake and feeling well he would be screeching. I go to the bathroom, and there he is, laying beside the water saucer. His mouth is open, his eyes are open, it is a for sure sign he is dead. I got my gardening gloves, cleaned out the things to be thrown away- the t-shirt nest he slept in, his food plate, the bottle nipple- and placed Scratchy in his box of leaves. I cannot do that ever again. Being around dead things gives me the creeps. Too many scary movies I guess. I just knew he was going to come back to life and claw my eyeballs out!

I carried Scratchy (inside his box) outside and left him buried under the leaves on the edge of our property where I knew the kids wouldn't go. I have a couple of theories why he died-
1. Before we took him in he was outside without food or water for 24 hours. He could have been sick then.

2. Until yesterday morning, I didn't know you were supposed to use a dropper, not a bottle, to feed them, because the milk can get up their nose and eventually cause pneumonia. We were using a bottle.

3. Maybe he wasn't using the bathroom properly. He did poop everywhere, but maybe he wasn't peeing.

I know I did the best I could, I know he is a wild animal, I know no one is pointing fingers at me that I failed and it's my fault he's dead- but I did cry. It's hard when you try your best at something and it's not good enough. It's hard to be results-driven and the results turn out bad.

So yes, I cry over a squirrel dying. I have a tender heart. I believe in life no matter if it's a human or an animal. What have I learned from all this?
1. Caring for the dying is not a lost cause, or a waste of time. You ease their pain and let them go feeling loved.

2. If I am so broken-hearted over a squirrel, I should be even more broken over the people who don't know Jesus as their personal Savior yet.

This world is full of pain which only makes me long even more to go Home to Heaven. Painful experiences seek to steal our joy, but if we trust in God, that joy is avaliable even in the pain. I like that song "Trading my Sorrows"- it says "I'm trading my sorrow, I'm trading my pain, I'm laying it down for the joy of the Lord."

Joyful tip for today is : I am joyful as I trade my pain for God's joy.

He wants to make the trade. Will you let Him?

TTFN,
Joyful Jenn