Mr. Frog could comfortably sit on that quarter with room to spare.
One evening not too long ago as I sat in my recliner, laptop in hand and working, I decided that I needed a short break to stretch my legs. I headed towards the kitchen for a glass of water and a snack but didn’t make it too far in the doorway before I stopped short.
There on the floor, just out from the fridge, sat something very curious looking. Because of its small size and grayish color my first assumption was that it was a ball of fuzz (a dust bunny) that just happened to be in the shape of a tiny frog. The only puzzling aspect of my conclusion was that I had been in the kitchen not two hours before and had since been alone in the house. Since dust bunnies normally originate from underneath the refrigerator, I was confused as to how one had gotten to it’s present location which was several feet away.
Thinking that I should definitely tidy up before my wife made it home I took a few steps closer and was amazed to discover that the “dust bunny” was actually the smallest frog that I had ever seen. Noticing his dusty feet, I guessed that he must have been hiding underneath the fridge until very recently. And he was now sitting in my kitchen floor!
Not wanting to miss the chance to record the little guy for posterity, (mostly to show my wife later) I ran and got my digital camera. After a couple of pictures in which the tiny frog posed obediently and without protest, I realized that without some sort of familiar object the sense of scale was lost. There was really no way to tell just how small the frog was from the picture. That was when I had the bright idea to introduce some spare change to the situation.
You can see from the picture that accompanies this post that the tiny frog would have comfortably fit on top of a quarter with room to spare.
Not wanting to endanger the frog’s life when we let the cat back in later in the evening, I decided to embark on a rescue mission. I grabbed the smallest cup that I could find and gently placed my hand behind the frog with the cup in front of him. Thinking the frog would jump into the cup I was very surprised when he suddenly jumped up onto the lip of the cup and seemed to be very contented to say there.
For the short trip through the kitchen and across the porch to the edge of the sidewalk the tiny frog sat very regally on his perch until I lowered the cup to the ground. With a quick series of motions he hopped off of the cup and disappeared into the dewy dampness of the lawn. Feeling quite pleased with myself, I turned to head back inside the house when I got the strangest impression in my mind.
I was just like that tiny little frog.
Like my little friend, in the trials of life I often loose my way and end up in places that I have no business being in. How often had I been completely and hopelessly out of sorts, stuck somewhere unfamiliar after coming through dark times and dirty places? How many times had I looked up and realized that I was so tiny and the situation that I was in was so big and so much beyond me that I couldn’t even hope to see the end? And how many times has my Heavenly Father stepped in to pick me up and bring me back to where I needed to be, gently and with loving care?
Every single time. That’s how many.