A change in perspective

This past week, my daughter learned a quick lesson about life....and death. For her 8th birthday I had promised to buy her a goldfish, her first pet. So, when we got back from our holidays, we headed out to the store to buy a goldfish (the first strange find - is the store that sells goldfish doesn't sell food, a tank or anything to take care of a goldfish....so off to another store). Both Hannah and Sam were able to pick out their own goldfish. The excitement and anticipation of how they could take care of these little creatures was pricless :)

When we arrived home there was a steep learning curve, for all of us, about how to treat the water, how to feed the fish and how to keep the tank in pristine condition. Well, after 3 days, I noticed the tank was getting a bit dirty, so I decided it was time to exchange the water (as our tank was pretty small and had no filtration system). I transferred the fish into a mixing bowl and washed out the tank. Then I put the fish back into their clean new "home."
In the morning when Hannah got up, she looked at her fish and quietly announced, "I think my fish is dead." I came over and looked at the laboring little loved one, and said, "No I think he'll be okay (realizing the end was near)." I shifted the tank so the water would make him move and look like he was still swimming, but Hannah was not easily fooled. A tear formed in her eye, and mine too. Within a few minutes, after we returned from breakfast, her fish was resting on it's side on the bottom of the bowl. After some good discussion about the life expectancy of fish, and the disappointment in seeing a pet die, we decided to bury the fish after I came home from work.

When I arrived home, I asked Hannah to come inside as we would get the fish out of the bowl. I delicately extricated the fish out of the bowl and placed it on a plate. Hannah looked at it and said with a little smile, "Hmm, supper!"

I had to laugh, as so often in life we can get attached to certain things - our job, our hobby, our pet....and then something difficult happens.....so we grieve, we mourn, but then God brings us to a place where we can be thankful for the time we did have with that special something (or even someone). For sure, Hannah's "healing" happened quite quickly, and other areas of loss will take longer (months & years) to move past, but may the God of all creation, be the one who receives our tears and laughter - whether a fish is a pet or our next meal.

(PS - We did bury the fish. The other fish in the story is still alive).