The highlight of this past summer for me was several very close encounters with some of God’s delightful creatures.

The first notable encounter took place in late May. One Sabbath afternoon I saw a weasel carrying a small animal across the road, some distance ahead of me. It had to keep stopping, put down the animal, rest, then continue. Finally, as I was getting close, it dropped the animal near the side of the road and ran into the tall grass beside the road. The animal was moving, so I went over to see what it was. It was a baby weasel. Apparently his mother was moving him to another nest. He was half her size, yet unable to walk. I stood there about a foot or so from him, wondering when the mother would be back and whether he would be safe there until she did, as he was right in the direct path of any car that might come, though there is very little traffic there. But in only a minute or so, the mother ran out and grabbed him by the skin on the back of his head and dragged him off into the grass. I had never seen a live weasel before, since they don't come out during the day, so it was quite exciting.

A couple of weeks later, I saw a young rabbit in the road, on the opposite side from me. He was licking the dirt for the road salt left from the winter, something we see them doing often. When I came near, he raised his head to look at me, but didn't run away. So I kept a steady pace, straight forward, and avoided looking at him directly. He stayed where he was and allowed me to pass within 6 feet of him.

Late in September, as I was coming out of the woods, I saw a deer crossing the road about 1/4 mile ahead of me, through the trees and brush at the side of the road, into a field. As I passed openings in the trees lining the road, I looked for it in the field, but I couldn't see it anywhere. Finally, as I came near to where it had gone across, I saw it. She had stopped only about 20 or 30 feet from the road and was just standing there looking into the field. When I got close enough for her to hear me, she turned her head and watched me. I kept going at the same speed, watching her, and she just stood there and watched me go by, and never ran away.

Then in mid-October I saw a tiny, dark gray animal run into the grass at the side of road. I tried to see what it was, but it got away. But since I was still looking down at the road, I hadn't gone more than one or two steps further when I came to a tiny, young field mouse, sitting motionless at my feet - most likely a brother or sister to the one that had run away. I stood with my feet nearly touching him and watched him for awhile. I would have liked to pick him up, but that would have only frightened him. Finally, I nudged him with my foot, and he jumped, then stopped near my other foot until I nudged him again. Even then, he only ran a few inches into the grass before he stopped again.

It is such a thrill to me to be able to win such trust from animals that would normally keep a distance from any human. I love these experiences, and look forward to the time when all of the animals will be tame, after our precious Friend Jesus returns to take us home to live with Him and His wonderful Father.

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The Lord is the strength of my life and my portion forever.