miracle...

It wasn't exactly the loaves and fishes or the seagulls, but we had our own little miracle yesterday. We'll call it the miracle of the runaway hamster.

Andrew came upstairs after eating breakfast and announced that one of the little lids to the cage was open and Nibbles was gone. He then went on to hypothesize that surely Mama had eaten him. He kept on with his conjecture, and Bev ended up in tears. I gave him the look and he stopped. Bev was set on staying home from school to help in the search. I told her that I would do my best, and that she needed to go to school. We said a prayer and asked that he would be found.

After dropping them off, I came back and looked through the pantry, under the couches and behind bookcases and the tv cabinet. Nothing. I seriously had anxiety for the little guy. I pictured him either partially digested by one of the cats or stuck somewhere without food and water. I kept my eye out all day, but there was no sign of him.

At dinner, it was my turn to pray. At this point, my faith was wavering. I think I said something like, "if you want to, it would be really nice if we could find him, but if not, we get it." Mike said it was a weird prayer. I didn't want to build it up that if we prayed for him, he would be found, because maybe he wouldn't be. As the hours passed, our chances got slimmer.

I tucked the kids in bed and they all asked about him. I gave them my standard, "I'll keep my eye out for him." Mike was upstairs watching the final college basketball game. I snuggled Jessi for a few minutes and then fell asleep. I decided that I didn't want to go to bed with a sink full of dishes, so I went downstairs and did the dishes and then headed to the craft room to check my email and maybe Pinterest.

I turned on the tv to listen to the game. After just a few minutes I heard a scratching noise coming from somewhere in the craft room. I turned the tv off and looked behind the desk and saw Mama Cat. She left and I turned the tv back on. A few minutes later I heard the scratching again. I turned the tv off again and crawled around the room, following the sound. I got to the bookcase and pulled out some paper bins and found Nibbles.

He had obviously been back there a while because he had made it his toilet. He had also tried to "nibble" his way out, but the space was too narrow to escape. He had obviously climbed on top of the paper bins and fallen behind them, getting trapped.

I grabbed him and ran up to Bev's room. She and I were both bawling. Drew came in and we went in to tell Mike. He isn't quite as enthusiastic about this being a "miracle" as I am. But it is. Whether I was "prompted" to get on Pinterest, or that I am just addicted isn't really the point. I found him and the kids know it is because we prayed. When I tucked her in again, Bev said, "I knew you would find him Mom...I knew Heavenly Father would help you." I guess she had enough faith for all of us.