May 11, 2014

Do We Ask Big Enough?

My daughter has unusual pets. She loves rats! 

One day, she was riding her bike home from her university class, when she was hit in the crosswalk by a careless driver. The careless driver turned out to be a jerk as well because they didn't stop to give aide. Thankfully, my daughter was only bruised and shocked. She told me, "Another inch and I would have been in the hospital."




But something far worse happened. Her companion rat was riding on her shoulder. She is a young thing, only about 6 weeks old, and she freaked out when they were both thrown to the ground when hit by the truck. The rat scurried away and past a bridge barrier and down into a river canyon under the bridge. My poor shocked daughter could not follow and could not find the rat.

My daughter was devastated. She didn't sleep. And she didn't want to return to school or class. I talked with her on the phone the morning after all this and asked if she was afraid to ride. "No. I can do it." I talked some more and asked if she wanted to go to class. "I think I will sleep now, skipping my first class, but I'll go to the second class and my yoga. That will help me." So that was the plan.

When I hung up, my heart was so heavy. She has had such a rough time and lost her previous companion rat to a death. It was a sweet and wonderful little thing. This was due to a  freak accident only weeks before. I feared the new loss would send her into depression or worse. 



I hurt so much for her. And I prayed all sorts of things all day long. Prayers for protection for her. Prayers that the little rat hadn't suffered too long, since it had frozen that night. Prayers that my daughter would find inner strength. Prayers that someone would reach out to my daughter in just the right way to help. It went on and on.

That night, I got an amazing text. Things were better. And I called her to get the whole amazing story.

My daughter did sleep after emailing her professor to let her know she would be skipping class because she had been in an accident. Then she pulled herself together and began to ride to school. She would have to pass the place where she had almost been seriously hurt the day before. And where her little rat had frozen to death. 


She steeled herself for the strip. About 2.5 blocks from the place, she stopped. There, off to the side of the road was her rat. ALIVE! She was still totally freaked out and my daughter couldn't catch her. But she bought a piece of fruit from a nearby convenience store, and the rat was so hungry that she ran to the smell of a freshly opened orange. (Did I mention that my daughter is smart!) 

The little rat was cold, dehydrated and noticeably smaller than 24 hours before. My daughter turned around and biked home. She watered the little rat, fed the little rat, and fixed her up a little nest to warm in. Then, daughter and rat were upstairs napping together.

Never in my prayers, did I even imagine asking God to save her rat and allow them to reunite. I had not hope or even though of such a thing. Now I see that I didn't ask big enough.

I frequently ask my client, "What do you want God to do in your life?" And it's a hard question to ask. And I will be telling this little story of the miracle rat for a long time. I hope it stands as a reminder that we need to imagine bigger things. We need to ask for bigger things. 


And we need to have faith
 that our Father wants wonderful things for us, 
things more wonderful
 than we expect.

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