I keep a large bag of sunflower seeds on a desk in my pantry. Next to the seeds sits a turkey roaster which takes up too much room in my kitchen cupboards. I bought the seeds back in August or September and its December now. Its getting quite cold so I decided to start feeding the birds. I went to get my sunflower seeds and as I lifted the bag, the seeds began to pour out of a hole in the bottom of the bag. I examined the hole and found tiny little bite marks.
Oh oh! We have a mouse! Considering that our house was built in 1848 I'm surprised this is the first 'mouse activity' we've found. I found every piece of Tupperware storage containers I could and started putting everything I could in them. Then I started cleaning, wiping off shelves and checking for 'evidence' that a mouse had been there. I found my 'evidence' when I came to the turkey roaster. The whole bottom of it had been covered with open sunflower seed shells but only a few pieces of what the mouse, itself, had left behind. So I was sure we only had one mouse and that a very small one.
I didn't want to tell Brad, my husband, because being a city born boy he's not too fond of sharing his dwelling with wildlife. But he had to be told. So I calmly told him what I had found and to my surprise he was okay with it. All he said to me was 'well, he has to eat too. As long as he stays on his side of the house I'm fine.' What!?! Was this my husband of almost 28 yrs speaking? What happened to the man who was ready to move when we found mice in one of the parsonages we lived in years ago? Where was the man who screamed like a girl when a mole crossed his path while mowing the lawn? Who was this man?
He was the same wonderful man I married but he has mellowed with age. He has learned to accept things he can't change and is content. He's happy so he wants everything around him to be happy too. He loves our house and doesn't mind sharing it even with a tiny mouse. He knows how blessed we are and is willing to share that blessing.
Both of us hate to kill anything, even a mouse, so we don't want to set a trap unless we find our guest has crossed over into our side of the house, but we've found no evidence of that so he's pretty safe for now. I've still taken every precaution to make our pantry undesirable to him by putting absolutely everything in Tupperware, except canned goods. So hopefully he won't be back.
But this little episode reminded me of the woman of Canaan who came to Jesus in Matthew 15:21-28. She came asking Jesus to heal her daughter, but Jesus didn't answer her. Still the woman persisted because she knew that Jesus could heal her daughter. The disciples asked Jesus to send her away."But he answered and said, I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshiped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." This woman was content to even have the crumbs Jesus had to offer. Jesus saw her heart and her great faith. "Then Jesus answered and said to her, O woman, great is your faith: be it to you even as you will. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour."
Our little mouse was content with just a few crumbs. As long as he could be somewhere warm and had a food supply, his needs were met. This woman knew that only Jesus could meet her needs. She knew the disciples couldn't. She had probably tried doctors and home remedies but she knew that the answer to her problem would be found in Jesus. Only Jesus can supply our every need. Only He knows not only what we need but what we should have. Do you have the faith that this woman had? Do you know and believe in your heart that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life? Trust Him today as this woman trusted Him.
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