of froglets and hope

...found a froglet today... while summering up the back patio: uncovering deck furniture.. setting out cushions, putting up umbrellas, plumping up pillows...

suddenly... there he was! wedged between the clear plastic table cover I had so carefully folded in half and left on top of the round table for safekeeping that blustery autumn day so many months ago...  he looked dead.. lying there with soft, white, little belly up, with narry a movement visible. 

how long had he been there? how had he gotten there? such mysteries remain veiled to our wondering minds... but at least he was intact...he had not decomposed... yet.

carefully unfolding the plastic, i pick him up to toss him into the bushes... but... what was that? movement! The little bug-eyed insect lover was still alive! how could he still be breathing.. after being tucked away for who know how long between two layers of plastic?  carrying him over to a moist pot of freesias, i watch him merrily hop away! free!!!

i wonder... did he purposefully pick that spot to overwinter, braving steep inclines, rain, hail, or high winds to get to his secret hiding spot.. or was he an accidental visitor, out on a joyride... suddenly finding himself entrapped in a dark tomb... perhaps lured here by the sound of insects, and then unable to find his way out?... and how was he able to survive, deprived as he was of fresh air and sweet, munchy bugs?

maybe he's a lot like us... thinking we've got the perfect plans for our future... where to go, what to do...  then, k-powie, life hits us broadside, and we are stuck... going nowhere fast! we are suffocating, starving, lost.....and oohhhh... it's so dark in here!  :O  just maybe we need Someone to find us... Someone who cares...

"But God is so rich in mercy; he loved us so much that even though we were spiritually dead and doomed by our sins, he gave us back our lives again when he raised Christ from the dead (only by his undeserved favor have we ever been saved), and lifted us up from the grave into glory along with Christ, where we sit with him in the heavenly realms~ all because of what Christ Jesus did. Ephesians 2:4-7 Living Bible

thank You for finding us....and freeing us from our dark grave of despair... thank You for giving us hope, and... a future...