Of Mice and Men

Once or twice a month I meet with a woman who has become my mentor/life-coach.  She’s my mother’s age and is a wonderful, encouraging, correcting, loving woman of God.  She’s been walking along side me for the better half of 5 years.  In the most difficult time of my almost 40 years, this woman helped me sort it all through and has made a difference in my life that is indescribable.  Today, she’s along for the enjoyable ride of seeing God’s restoration power in my life.  So, as we were sitting in her home yesterday, chatting about the great and wonderful things God has blessed me with…I saw a shadow out of the corner of my eye.

No big deal, right, every so often our eyes deceive us and we think things are moving when they aren’t.  I was gently petting the cuddly cat that had joined me on my side of the couch and again….down by my foot, a shadow.  I stopped my chit chatting to look down.  She says “Oh…that’s just a little mouse”.  As if, it was just another house pet.  I, of course, lift my feet to the ceiling…..WHAT?  A MOUSE.   “Yeah, just a little one, I don’t know how he’s surviving, but the cats don’t seem to mind so we are just hoping he finds his way out”.   WHAT!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!  YOU ARE CRAZY.     “No really, he’s awfully cute, and we prefer to catch and release.  I only really like to kill flies…other then that all of God’s creatures should be set free”   WHAT!!!  NO WAY”   (cat then sees the little precious cute house mouse and goes on a hunt, praise the Lord)

When I was 21 years old I lived at an outdoor ministry camp in a farm house.  One winter a mouse mamma decided to make her nest in my ‘short drawer’.  In the coastal foothills of Oregon you only wear shorts from June 30th to maybe September 1st, so the short drawer was not disturbed all winter.  One night, in the late spring, I was awoken to a little scratching in the walls, which was totally normal.  We lived in a farm house and the mice lived in the walls.  The naivety of a 21 year old, truly believed they were just in the walls.  AND THEN I SAW IT.  Mamma mouse jumping from drawer to drawer to drawer…..WHAT!!!!!   BRE GET DOWN HERE…..A MOUSE.   We proceeded, drawer by drawn, to find in the bottom drawer, a mouse mamma standing on her back legs, ready to tear my head of for disturbing her sweet little baby mouse nest.   AHHHHHHH, WHAT!!!!!!   That was the one and only time I did a catch and release.   Well, I didn’t… but I solicited a young man on staff to come get the mouse family and find a new home.  He took that drawer of babies and their mamma out to the field, where Mamma mouse gathered her young, one by one, to a new hiding place in the bushes.

Why do I tell you this?  Because it was on my mind and if you ever have a pet house mouse running around your house, I’d appreciate a little notice before we sit down and chat  Thanks.