Monday, October 31, 2022

Gold Fish


 

In 1985, my youngest son was four years old and excited to go to our school “Spring Fling”.  It was a fund-raiser for the school, but great fun for all ages.  Food, crafts, silent auction, and games.  Many of the games were cheesy, but the kids loved them.  The one my son liked was the duck pond.  Pay 50¢ and you could pick out one of a hundred floating rubber duckies in the kiddie pond.  One in twenty had a star on the bottom, and you won a goldfish, the cherished prize.  My four-year-old was bent on winning a goldfish.  After he had spent his money, he leaned on the older students to help him win, and several did!  He came home that evening with five goldfish!  We didn’t have an aquarium, or even a fishbowl, so they temporarily lived in a five-gallon bucket in the basement of the house.  They “temporarily” lived there for a year!  Goldfish aren’t very exciting pets, especially if they live in a five-gallon bucket.  One of the goldfish was named Jeff … you guessed it, in honor of Jeff C. who had helped my son win the fish.  I changed the water in the bucket every week or two, and all went well until cold weather set in.  Our basement was cold with a drafty garage door opening to the outside.  One morning, my son came upstairs and announced that the goldfish bucket had frozen over, but that Jeff was fine.  As winter progressed, the ice thickened, but the fish survived.  Oh, they slowed down quite a bit, but they were still moving.  Four of the five gallons became ice with just enough room for Jeff and his friends to keep circling.  Hey, have you ever felt like that?  Stuck in life with just barely enough room to make it around?  Have you felt like the sides were closing in around you?  Take some advice from Jeff.  Just keep circling around, because a better day is coming.  Jeff and his friends made it until the spring thaw, and you can make it too!  Psalm 9:10, “And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.”  God will not forsake you!  Trust in Him!

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