I have noticed something. Over the past summer, I have been periodically asking God to place someone in my path that He can bless through me. This has been very effective. God has been answering those prayers rather quickly and revealing to me people in need and how I can help. There is a sense of joy and accomplishment when I allow God to use me as His vessel. Just knowing God can use me and show me how to bless others in such a variety of ways gives me such a feeling of peace.
When I ask God to place someone in my path, no more than two or three days pass before I find someone that has a need that I can meet and then I joyfully meet it. What an awesome, rewarding experience to be used by God. I highly recommend it. I think I am hooked for life. A word of caution though, if you are going to ask God to place someone in your path that He can bless through you, make sure you mean it with all of your heart because He will take you up on your offer. Sometimes it can happen when you least expect it or when it seems least convenient. God will require something from you. It may be your time, your money, your patience, your forgiveness, or some skill or talent you may have. Whatever is required of you, make sure you are ready and willing to meet that need when God reveals it to you.
Let me tell you a story about my most recent experience with blessing others. I was walking my dogs and talking to God as I like to do. I was asking God to place someone in my path again that He could bless through me. It was either that same evening or the next when my neighbor was knocking at my door. She said, “I hear you know who owns a ferret in the neighborhood.” I told her I do. She went on to tell me that she had a ferret visitor. She and her husband were watching television downstairs. Her Husky was in the basement with them cooling off as it was a very hot evening. She saw an animal peering in and scratching at her basement window. She asked her husband if it was a weasel. She mentioned how lucky this ferret was because if her dog had been outside, which he usually is, he would have killed it as he kills any small animal that enters the yard. She showed me the ferret which she had captured and placed in her large dog kennel. I took the ferret off her hands and brought him home with me.
I knew who owned this ferret. I had returned this ferret to the owners twice previously and I told myself if I found him loose a third time I would not be returning him as they are clearly not taking good care of him. I also knew from previous reports from various neighbors that had spotted him scratching at their basement windows wanting to come inside, that he had been neglected. I have a real heart for animals and I cannot stand to see an animal being abused, mistreated, neglected or abandoned.
When I brought him home with me, I had every intention of keeping him only for the weekend until the SPCA was open. I knew his chances of being adopted would be good since he is an exotic pet and very friendly. Once I brought him into my home, I found out he was not litter trained. I guess if he was roaming around outside all of the time he wouldn’t be. Since this ferret did not come with a cage, I had no way of containing the area in which he roamed in my home. I would be cleaning up one puddle only to turn around and find another. I had to keep my eyes on him at all times. This was not easy and this was time consuming.
Now I had to figure out what ferrets eat. I joined a ferret forum online, found out what he eats and bought him some food. He would not eat it. It seems that he has never been fed ferret food and does not recognize it as food. I did, however, find him scrounging around inside my cupboards looking for scraps of food to eat. Surprise, surprise, he can open and close cupboard doors with ease....lol. Sadly, I have a feeling this is how he survived in his previous home when he wasn’t hunting for his own food outside.
He was malnourished and needed some nutritious food as quickly as possible. Luckily, the ferret forum coached me through this process and told me I had to make him “Duke Soup.” No, it is not made with ducks, it is actually a chicken soup with ferret kibble mixed in and liquified in a blender. Then I had to roll him up tightly in a towel, fill a syringe with duck soup, pry his mouth open and force it down his throat. Lucky for me, after he tasted the duck soup, he decided it was good and he started to lick it off the syringe as I squeezed it. He now eats it off of a plate. Now I have to gradually wean him off the duck soup until he will eat his regular dry kibble. The SPCA would not have had the time to do any of this. During this feeding process we bonded, I fell in love with the little guy and could not give him up.
You may be asking yourself what all of this has to do with being a blessing to someone. I do believe that when I asked God to send me someone He could bless through me, he sent me “Duke.” My son has since named him Duke. He gets this name because he makes a ferret sound called “dooking.” Yes, I believe that God wanted me to care for this ferret. He did, after all, create him and he knew that I would have the patience, time and ability to meet his needs and nurse him back to health. I must say, this is the first time God has ever placed a furry critter in my path when I have asked him to show me someone I could bless.
A couple of weeks later, Duke was trying to play with one of my cats. My cat slapped him and poked him in the eye. After a visit with the vet, I found out his eye had been punctured and he was now blind in this eye. Poor Duke. He survives the elements outside: rain, wind, cats, dogs, trains, traffic and who knows what else only to come into my home and lose his eye. The vet informed me that he needed his eye removed as soon as possible and in the meantime I had to administer two different types of eye drops, one to prevent infection and one for pain relief. She also informed me that the surgery for this, which would be done at the University Small Animal Clinic, would cost anywhere between $600-1000. Money I don’t have. I felt so bad for poor Duke. I began to question myself and wonder if I did the right thing by keeping him, maybe God had wanted me to return him. I started to feel guilty and sad.
At this point I ran to God with my problem. I gave it all over to him. I told him I was feeling guilty, sad, bad and overwhelmed with the impending surgery and the costs involved. I told Him I was questioning whether I did the right thing by keeping him. I told Him that the devil was telling me it was all my fault and that I was supposed to return him, etc. As quickly as I ran to God with my problem, He answered. He said, “Remember in my Word how I said, “It is better to lose an eye than for your whole body to be thrown into hell?” Well, in this case, it is better that Duke loses his eye than his entire life. He would have suffered a worse fate than this had you not taken him under your wing.” Immediately I was filled with peace and I knew I had heard from God.
I picked up the phone and called the University to do some price research of my own. I left a message for one of the doctors to call me. When he returned my call, I asked him how much it would cost to have an eye removed for a ferret. He told me between $150-200. I was in absolute shock. This price was much lower than the price the vet had given me earlier. I asked him if he was sure. He put me on hold, went to double check and returned, assuring me that was the correct price. I could not believe it. I was in awe. I knew God had taken care of the situation. As quickly as I gave it to Him, He took care of it. How awesome is that? Duke has since gone to the University to have his eye examined for surgery. The vet there didn’t see any need at that time to remove his eye, but wanted to see him in a week or so. She said 99% of the time their eye has to be removed, but Duke could be in that rare 1%. Through this process, God was also teaching me how to cast my cares onto Him.
The very next day I was reading my “Daily Bread” devotions for the day. The title was perfectly suited for what I was going through. Nevermind the title, the whole devotion was relevant to my situation. God often uses the “Daily Bread” devotions to send me confirmation about something that is going on in my life. It was titled, “Finders Keepers,” isn’t that funny? It talked about how sometimes when you see injustice or abuse going on around you and you look for someone to do something about it and then you realize God is looking at you to do something about it. Just as Moses was God’s answer for the slavery of His people in Egypt, I was the answer for the neglect and abuse that was going on with Duke. Of course, my situation is on a much smaller scale but you get the idea. It went on to talk about how God places us in unique circumstances where our abilities match the problem that He wants to fix. I received the message loud and clear, this “Daily Bread” was my confirmation that I did the right thing by Duke.
Here are a couple of pictures of Duke.
