Job 12:7-8 “Just ask the animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you. Speak to the earth, and it will instruct you. Let the fish in the sea speak to you.”
“Grandma, look!” My nine-year-old grandson said it quietly, trying to get my attention. As I glanced out into the forest, I saw movement. It was hard to adjust my eyes as they blended in so well with the trees. Right in front of us was a mama deer with her newborn fawn. The baby was so new she could barely walk on her wobbly little legs. My grandson looked at me with the biggest smile. What a beautiful sight. We continued to stay quiet and watch these two interact. As the mom walked closer to a cabin that was right behind, the baby ever so slowly followed. The mama deer, through animal communication, instructed her young baby to lay down behind a sheet of wood placed on the cabin and then she left. My grandson and I continued to watch as the mama left her new baby.
My grandson became quite concerned as did I. The mama just left this little guy behind. Was the fawn ill? Did she leave him there to die? As my grandson and I became more and more concerned, I did what any city slicker grandma who doesn’t have a clue does. I asked google. “Google, how does a mama deer care for her fawn?” What I found out put our hearts and minds to rest. Until they are strong enough to keep up with their mom, deer fawns are left alone while their mother goes to feed. They stay away from the fawn to avoid leading predators to their young. They often will stay away for twelve hours. They will return at dusk or dawn to move their fawn.
We can learn God’s ways by listening to His creation. My Abide devotion today said God’s power and wisdom can be seen by every living creature on earth. There is so much I saw watching this mama and her fawn. This mama did all she could do to protect her baby even trusting her baby was safer in her absence. Do I believe my daughter Katie, is safer in my absence and in the arms of the Lord? Yes, that is a conclusion that I know to be true. It was through grief work and tears that I came to know that.
I thought of us, as mothers who have lost a child. We are so fragile and frail and are an infant in this new world called grief. We are trying to get sure footing with those wobbly legs. Trying to learn the ins and outs of living in an environment that is surrounded by predators (those who have no understanding of the immense pain of this loss} So what do we do? We take a lesson from that baby fawn. This baby knows he is loved. He knows his mother is watching over him even if he can’t see or feel her. He knows she will give him the nutrition he needs to grow up and be strong and live. What we know is our God does not ever leave us, not even for twelve hours. Nothing can ever separate us from His love.
Lord, who needs Dr. Doolittle to talk to the animals? We have You. You have given us the power to learn through your beautiful creation.
– Michele
