DAY 36: "Lessons from an Unusual Relationship" by Tim Williams

DAY THIRTY-SIX: "Lessons from an Unusual Relationship" by Tim Williams

I’m an early-riser and enjoy getting my exercise taking early morning walks. I not only get the physical benefits of walking, but I also enjoy what seems to be a more peaceful and serene part of the day…..Not so much noise, a more relaxed pace, and some pretty awesome morning scenery.

A few weeks ago while walking around a small lake located in the heart of our neighborhood, I noticed a white duck swimming with a Canadian gosling…..The white duck has been around for a while, but the young gosling was a new sight for me; especially in light of the fact I hadn’t seen any Canadian geese around our area for a long time. The young gosling was swimming in the wake of the larger white duck who was leading him around and quacking out instructions of some sort the whole time.

Over the next few weeks, I watched this strange and unlikely relationship unfold between the white duck and the young gosling. I also would often see residents in our neighborhood at the lake feeding them bread crumbs or crackers. On several occasions, I took our grandchildren down to the lake and would enjoy watching the interaction of the kids with the duck and gosling that had now become comfortable enough to come up on the lake’s bank and take bread right out of your hand; however, the white duck was the obvious protector of the gosling and would always take the lead in any human transactions, quacking all the while and placing himself in between his human visitors and what I now had come to understand was his adopted orphan gosling who had no other leadership other than his fluffy white feathered counterpart……It was really an interesting scenario that I enjoyed watching over the next few weeks.

Each morning as I would go walking, I would find myself on the lookout by the time I got to the lake to see how that “soap-opera” was playing itself out……..I watched the gosling as he grew even larger than his overseer, and becoming ever more bold as he would waddle up alone on the shore, and on some occasions, out into the street, flapping his wings in some sort of morning stretch and exercise……but the white duck was never far away quacking out his instructions and orders in an obvious desire to protect his young charge.

I never figured out how that gosling got to our community lake….Doesn’t really make any difference…..The Lord got him where he needed to be during the time he needed a friend……I was walking one morning and thinking about a funeral service that I would be leading for a 36 year old young mother who had been a member of the youth group in a church I had pastored for 12 years……Another circumstance where I couldn’t quite figure out God’s purpose…….As I was making my way around the streets and cul de sacs in our neighborhood, I heard in that early morning walk the distinct “honking” of a group of Canadian geese……I looked over some rooftops of homes on the lake and saw a flight of geese lifting up into the sky, and I thought, “Gosh, I haven’t seen any Canadian geese flying over this stretch of sky in a long, long time….What are they doing here?”……….And of course, it hit me like a rock: “Could they possibly have stopped and picked-up this lone goose and taken him with them to wherever it is they go?”

I jogged to the lake to see if I would find the strange duo that I had grown so accustomed to seeing over the last few weeks floating together through the water..………But there it was…………one lone white duck ………”Very sad” is what I thought and what I felt…..He’s all alone……..I watched him for a few minutes as he paddled around, seemingly undisturbed by the fact that his buddy was no longer around……….I walked around the lake that morning just to be sure that what I thought had happened had actually happened……….No Canadian goose was anywhere in sight…

That morning, I felt as though the Lord taught me several lessons and provided me with the thoughts I needed to get through the funeral service I would be preaching in a few hours:

First of all, we’re never alone……..God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us…….Wherever our travels in life may take us, the love of a heavenly Father can be experienced in our acts of love to others, and in receiving the acts of love that the Lord provides to us through others.

Secondly……God has a “place” for us in this world……..We are not here by accident or coincidence, but by divine appointment and providence……For those in Christ, we understand that we are on mission as ambassadors in His Kingdom to bring Him glory……..He gives us a “place” to accomplish that…….Glennis and I are thankful that one of the “places” the Lord has sent us is to Trace Crossing to join hands with other believers in the many facets of growing in His grace and knowledge and in serving in His community.

Thirdly……..While God indeed has a “place” for us while we are “in” this world……we should never forget that we are not “of” this world……..God has created us to be “lifted up” into His likeness and into eternal fellowship with Him and to those that belong to Him……..There is a day when everything in this life is over…….God has ordered our steps and numbered our days in this world; but a time will come for all of us when we hear our Master call us to come home. In the meantime, take your place at the table of fellowship and celebrate LIFE.

By the way……..my little buddy at the lake has a new friend……a white feathered fluffy duck just like him…………quacking, waddling, and swimming together…….I have no idea how that duck got there, but I know that the Lord has provided……He always does……because He cares for us.

My prayer for Trace Crossing:
Father, help us to see in the world around us the lessons You are teaching. Remind us of Your constant presence, help us see our mission in the environments in which you have placed us, and remind us of our heavenly identity. Also, help us to be unlikely friends to whosoever. Amen.