Mrs. Coffee (partII)

If you haven't read part I of this story then scroll down and read it first.

So, after Josh fell asleep, Greg went out to see if any of his resuscitative efforts had worked. No....it hadn't. He was dead and that was the reality. Accepting this, Greg started to get curious and poked around, examining Mr. Coffee. Then he looked at his hand and noticed that the piece of dirt on his finger started moving. He looked closer at it and realized.... it was a baby snail! We both looked at each other and caught our breath.

You have to know that, as wonderful as all creation is to Josh, anything BABY, is just purely thrilling -- whether it's a puppy, duckling, human, or - in this case, we hoped - a snail. I went to bed relieved of the awful feeling (sort of) and wondered if this was going to be how God answered our prayers.

The next morning, I snuggled with my son and told him that I had bad news and good news. First, I told him that Mr. Coffee was truly dead. God did not bring him back to life. Josh's face fell and he began to cry again. I didn't stop him. I let it sink in and I just held him. After a minute or two, he asked me what the good news was. I looked at him and I said, "I think we were confused about Mr. Coffee. I think he was really Mrs. Coffee."

He looked at me funny and said, "What?".

"Yes," I began. "You'll never guess what your snail had hidden up in her shell -- a baby!"

Oh what joy I felt when his face lit up the way it did! We went over and I showed him where I had kept the little guy for him to see. He couldn't believe it. Mrs. Coffee had left us her baby! Josh cried for a second again with sadness and told me he would always miss Mrs. Coffee and never forget her. But he was so glad we got to have her baby! It was kind of like Charlotte's Web (which he read this year) -- sad, but miraculous at the same time. Then he got excited and said, "Let's name it Miracle!"

"That's fine," I said. "But can we please put Miracle OUTSIDE right now?" I didn't want to go through all this again!

I don't know how to explain it really. Was that Mr./Mrs. Coffee's baby? Only God knows. But I know with absolute certainty that it happened the way it did because God knows. He knows our sorrows, he knows our doubts, and - when we come to Him - he shows up. He gives faith. He comforts. Even over a snail.

As we were leaving for school, Joshua told me that he got something I'd been trying to tell him. That sadness and loss are a part of life and it's ok to feel it. God understands. But, eventually, He brings joy again and makes things better. I was blown away by him reciting this back to me. Thank you, Jesus.

And the final thing he said to me was, "Mom, I do want to keep Mrs. Coffee's shell so I can remember her forever, ok?"

And that leads me to the next disastrous curve in the snail trilogy.....stay tuned!