Our furry friends wiggle into our hearts, providing comfort, even help and protection. Every so often they save our lives.
You know the phrase, “A man’s best friend,” referring to his trusty lab, beagle, spaniel, poodle, or mutt.
We women have animals as friends, too, and enough stories to fill a Kindle. I’d like to tell you one of mine. I hope you’ll tell me one of yours.
The day a hamster saved my life
Meet Hammy. A totally unoriginal name, I know. This teddy bear hamster — long, beige fur and requisite black, beady eyes — lived in a fancy hamster house (the type with secret passageways and penthouses) next to my desk on the lowest floor of our family’s tri-level. Her mommy was Laura, my only child at the time. I was just a friend.
Way back in the summer before Laura marched into Mrs. Nelson’s Kindergarten, Hammy became more than a friend. He became our palm-sized hero. Here’s how.
One warm evening, as I wiped the kitchen counters and lost myself in thought, my spirit heard an inaudible voice say, “Check on the hamster.”
“Huh? Is this you, God?”
or am I going looney?
Then again, “Check on the hamster.”
Whoa, now I’m losing it.
I thought, “If this is God, what a weird way to get my attention!”
Seriously? God wants me to check on Hammy?
Nothing against God. Or hamsters. But I had watered the little guy and hand-fed him sunflower seeds that afternoon. I was certain he was napping.
What more did they want?
Fearing that this voice might chatter through the night unless I checked on Hammy, I tossed the rag in the sink and made my way down the seven steps to the lower level and stopped dead.
I smelled something funny: burning wire. No flames, no smoke, only the smell.
Olfactory hallucinations too? God help me.
So I called to my husband. No sense freaking out my daughter. My husband? He enjoys a good laugh. . .and a chance to be my knight in shining armor.
“Hey, Steve, come here and tell me if you smell what I smell.”
I watched his eyes as he came down the stairs. The furrowed brow told me all I needed to know. He smelled it too.
We felt heat behind the wall, the one nearest Hammy. You can guess happened next: a 911 call, a reassuring conversation with our daughter before the fire trucks arrived, and a party on the streets. Nothing brings out good neighbors on a warm summer’s eve like three shiny, red fire trucks.
The fire chief told me we would have had a full-blown fire within days if not sooner had we not called.
I believe in my heart that our house would have gone up in flames that very night while we slept if I had discounted God’s voice and failed to check on the hamster. Thank you, God. Thank you, Hammy.
By the way, Hammy was fine and the recipient of many extra sunflowers seeds of thanks. Why God used Hammy to get my attention, I don’t know. . .other than the obvious: I love my furry friends.
“Where can I go from your Spirit
Where can I flee from you presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
If I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”
Psalm 139:7,8
A Friendly Question: Has a furry (or feathered or scaled) friend comforted or helped you in some way? Please share a little bit of your story and encourage your sisters in Christ. 🙂
You Are Blessed?
