He Was a Good Lizard…

My son conducted a funeral today. It was for a lizard from his reptile daycare that he started at school. With an entrepreneurial spirit, he had offered to care for his friends’ lizards during recess for a small fee. Business was booming as he had about twenty lizards in his care.  (For those of you not from Florida, lizards run everywhere here so they are quite easy to find.)

According to the coroner’s report, the deceased was the best lizard in the group and a little girl who didn’t like nature stepped on him not once, but five times. Cause of death was listed as aggravated lizard slaughter.

To comfort the grieving students, my son organized a memorial service. His said the funeral was nice and even had a “flower girl”, aka another lizard sitting on a pile of leaves and flowers. Since “she” was the deceased lizard’s best friend, he felt she should have the chance to say a few words. And apparently she did. I dared not ask how he knew what she said or when she was done. Maybe she just scooted off under the bushes to mourn privately, I thought. Then my son spoke on behalf of the deceased and his impact on life at the school. Thanking all those in attendance, he closed his daycare for the day in honor of his lizard friend’s passing.

Life takes interesting turns. Whether it’s the loss of a pet lizard, the loss of a loved one or the loss of a job, nothing takes God by surprise. Such reassurance comes from that knowledge!  The comfort of knowing that God knows not just the facets of your personality and the desires of your heart but he also knows exactly what is going on in your life this very minute. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will tell you which path to take, which way to turn and what to do next.

Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.  Proverbs 3:6 (NLT)

You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely.  Psalm 139: 1-4 (NIV)