On the Bravery of Ducks

 

Monday was a dark and stormy day here on the lake. Less than a week after the torrential downpour that signaled to us the delightful leak in our roof, rain fell heavily again, and angry clouds tumbled across the sky.

            I’m not a lover of storms on my best day, and I remain profoundly grateful to have two pets who don’t care about storms at all. They sleep right through them with barely a glance skyward.

            I, on the other hand, stalked the radar, watching for green to change to yellow and red. I carried the important things to safety in case we had an tornado. I kept the leash on Lexi in case we had to get to shelter quickly. I wondered how in the world I would push the cat and dog into the SAME space for any length of time if it came to that. Fortunately, it did not.

            But my bigger worry that day was the roof. Would the tarp hold? If it flew off, what would I do? If the ceiling started dripping again, what would I do? I peppered Ryan with these questions before he left for work, and he remained calm. If the tarp blew away, I wasn’t to chase it. Just let it go. We would get a new one. If the ceiling leaked, I should resume pot-and-pan duty and not worry about anything else.

            Not worry?? I don’t understand.

            All day, I worked on “not worrying” from my perch at the desk, listening for drips in the bedroom, listening to the wind whip through the tarp on the roof, peering out the window to see if I could see the tarp flapping as it fell.

            Mid-afternoon, I glanced out the window to see four ducks surfing in the lake. Their little bodies rose and fell with waves. Thunder rolled, rain fell, and yet those ducks just rode the waves. They almost seemed to be having a little contest out there. They weren’t worried or rushing for shelter.

            The Lord nudged me to remind me that if the ducks were okay, I would be too. If things were dire, they’d know and scoot to some sort of sheltered spot. But they were having a grand time riding the waves, not worried a bit about anything.

            God used four brave little ducks that afternoon to show me that I, too, can be brave. I was so grateful when Ryan returned home and could oversee things like the roof, but I was also grateful we had made it through the day – as bravely as we could.