Winnie the Pooh-Poo

Oh gee! I had this fish! Ok, I had more than one fish. I have about four. Nothing big, mind you. Just four little Danio's in a little 2 1/2 gallon tank located in my downstairs bathroom. That all started when my granddaughter won a goldfish at an Easter thing at church, and what do you do with one goldfish. By the way, I am reminded to tell you, that first goldfish had a name. It was "LaFisha."

So I bought this little teeny aquarium and then a couple more fish, Danio's they are, and you know how it goes. What are Danio's. Danio's are a little itty bitty coldwater fish. The ones I have are kind of zebra-striped. They don't require much care, not like a tropical fish where the water has to be a just-so temperature and maybe even needs to be saltwater...oh, no way, none a'dat. When I asked the fellow at the "fish place" about caring for the little Danio's he said they were so hardy they could probably survive in chocolate milk!

So.....about this one little Danio.

When I got him, I noticed he was a little pig. Every time I put food in the tank, that one little Danio would go up and eat everything in sight! I could always tell him from the other fish, too. He was wierd looking. He had pointee snout that looked downright evil. Not like the other fish, who looked normal. So he was an evil, deformed, pig of a fish and he ate so much his belly was really big all the time. I got so irritated with his bad behavior that one day I even fished him out of the tank and put him in some water in a paper cup and told him I was taking him back to the store. But....I relented, and compassion took over, and I put him back finally to live in my home another day.

Inside the tank there is some gravel, a small air filter, a little aquatic frog, a snail, a bit of greenery, and a pretend-rock cave with some nice big holes in it. You know the kind. And the fishies like to swim in and out of it, the frog hides in there sometimes, and once in a while the snail travels in and out of it as well.

Uhhhhh....I have now discovered the rock cave has some "little holes".

I was in the bathroom two days ago, and I looked at the tank, and for pete's sake, what do I see,,,,,but that little evil, deformed, pig of a fish,,,,,,stuck in one of the little holes in the rock-cave, wiggling for all he was worth to get free!!! He's stuck half way thru the thing and he couldn't get out !!!!! Gooooooood grief! What do I do? What do I do? I thought, "Good Lord, if I put my finger against his 'nose', I am liable to crush him!" Well, I began to panic, and finally, I thought, "I will just reach in there and shake him loose, I guess!" And I did. I reached in and took the rock cave in my hand and began to create a rock cave earthquake, tapping it against the gravel bed backwards so as to free that little fish. Suddenly he broke free. I looked at that little fish, and sure enough I thought an evil thought. I thought, "Goood grief, little fish, you ate so much all the time that your belly was too big for you to get all the way thru that little hole in the rock cave!"

I thought to myself, "Fish, you now have a name. You remind me of Winnie the Pooh, when he ate so much honey at Rabbit's house, that he got stuck in the rabbit hole when he tried to leave and he couldn't get out! Your new name is Winnie...Winnie the Pooh." When I told Sis Bee the story she said his name should be Winnie the Pooh-Poo." Don't tell I said.

End of story: Winnie the Pooh-Poo did not survive the ordeal. He was buried today, not without a bit of sadness, where all little passed away fishies go. Well, he will be remembered. Of all the fishies I've had,,,,I guess I can say that for him at least.

The Bracelet

I go to a great church! I started going there in the late '70's (does that make me old or what!) when my kids were still kids. Ok,,,I went to some other churches from time to time, moving around and all, but this church, well this church is home. And there are still so many folks from whenever I started going there that are still there, it's downright heartwarming. One of those people that I treasure, always have, is my special friend, the pastor's wife. Most everyone calls her Sister Bee. I call her Mom. She's been like a Mom to me for as long as I can remember. And I love her with all my heart.

You need to know this. Sis Bee loves jewelry.

This Mother's Day her beautiful daughter gave her something really special---the loveliest, shiniest, flashiest bracelet and necklace to match. The bracelet was similar to a tennis bracelet, but the cubic Z's were "O's" and the links were all silver "M's"...so it spelled "M-O-M-O-M-O-M" all around her wrist when she wore it. The necklace was a circle on a silver chain, and it, too, spelled "M-O-M-O-M" as the letters formed the circle in silver links and cubic Z's. Just plain stunning!
And as sweet a lady as Sis Bee is, I told her, the "M-O-M's" turned upside down spelled "W-O-W-O-W", too!


Now the story.....

This last Sunday evening at church service a number of the young people were going up for prayer. The Holy Spirit was moving in a mighty and precious way, and believers all over the auditorium were worshipping the Lord, lost in the Spirit. Some of the young people began to return to their seats, and I noticed one little girl was dangling a flashy-looking piece of jewelry from her fingers. My first thought was, "That looks like Sister Bee's bracelet." But my rational mind took over and I didn't act on the thought. My second thought was, "That's quite a flashy-looking bracelet for such a little girl to have." Again, my rational mind took over and I didn't act on the thought. A third thought flitted through my mind, "Put the nab on that little girl and ask to see that bracelet." Gee, you think by now, my rational mind would have gotten a clue, but no, I did not act on that thought either.

But, God was not finished yet.

A few moments later, several of these little girls who had gone up for prayer, were now back over by where I was sitting, and they began to raise a bit of a ruckus. They were running back and forth, just being a little wild and silly. By now, I had forgotten all about the flashy piece of jewelry the one little girl was dangling around. What I did notice was that all the adults who normally keep an eye on these little kids were pretty much all lost in the Spirit of the Lord and the little ones were getting a bit out of hand. My friend next to me commented that someone ought to do something. Well, I just got up, and went up to the group of little girls who were acting up and said in as nice a way as I could, "Girls, please go sit down." All the girls began to settle except for two. They took off and headed for the foyer of the church. I was a little concerned - what if they went outside, I thought. So I followed them. Hopefully they were just headed for the bathroom. They saw me, and they did head for the bathroom. I followed the girls into the bathroom, and spoke to them. "Hi girls, how are you doing?" "Fine," giggle, giggle. "My name is Marilyn. What are your names?" I asked them. "Miciah," one said. "Samantha," said the other. "It's nice to meet you," said I. "See you back inside, okay?" said I, and I left the bathroom, and waited til they came out and headed back inside the sanctuary.

After service, I started to leave. I had even gotten into my car and started it, when I remembered I had not said "goodnight" to Sister Bee. I reparked my car and entered the church again, and found Sister Bee on the platform. The first words out of her mouth were, "I lost my bracelet," she said very downheartedly. I instantly had a revelation, "Oh my word!" I said, "I know who has it."

And I told her the story. It was Miciah who had the bracelet. And God had made sure, that if I didn't listen to any of His other prompts, that at the very least, I would find out her name. And I did. Sister Bee immediately called the gentleman who transported those children to and from the church for that evening's service. He ended up going directly to the home of that little girl in a matter of minutes, and he brought "Mom's" bracelet to her that night.

I talked to Mom about 11: 15 pm that night. We were both headed for bed. And I couldn't help but marvel at how our God is soooooo in the details. I also thought, "If He is so careful about these little things, why is it we can't trust Him with the big ones."

Jesus said, in Mark 11:22 "Have faith in God."

In fact, the organizers of the Bible, where the chapters and the verses begin and end and all, must have considered that verse so important, they gave it a verse all it's own!