A Four-Legged Clover

This is Clover.


He lived in a tank on top of our pink toilet.


(Don't worry. He assured me that he always closed his eyes at the appropriate times.)

He lived with us for over two years. Shortly after we bought him, someone informed us that our ownership of him was probably illegal because he was such a little guy.

"No way!" I said. "We bought him in Chinatown. He was right there next to the ninja stars and the fireworks and the butterfly knives and the...oh...uh...um...nevermind..."

Since then, he has grown into quite a lovely specimen of God's design. However, he was outgrowing his tank, as you can see in the second picture.

A couple of months ago, Delaney was becoming very concerned about him. Just getting a larger tank wasn't an option because his water needs to be changed every day and it would simply be too heavy to lift.

She worried about his physical needs being met and his general happiness as a turtle...

...living in a small tank...

...on the back of a toilet.

We thought through multiple options of what to do with him, but all of them were either implausible or unacceptable.

"Dumping" pets in the wilderness can cause ecological disasters by upsetting the delicate balance of the present eco-system. None of our friends wanted to take on a half grown turtle and all the responsibility that came with it. (In fact, during that time, one of our friends called and asked if we wanted their turtle!) Jeff suggested that we fill up our backyard's broken jacuzzi and just let him live back there. Delaney was determined to keep him from that fate.

She kept talking about the dilemma of Clover and fretting so I could tell that she was really bothered by it.

Normally, when I face a puzzling situation, I pray and ask God to provide a solution and I've taught my kids to do that, as well.

Well, I was hesitant to pray with Delaney about the turtle issue because...

(Okay, this is the part where I have to be transparent with you all and give you a peek at what a lame-o I truly am.)

...I was hesitant because I couldn't see any way for God to answer that prayer and I didn't want Delaney to be sad/mad/confused with God if He didn't provide an answer.

(Ick, I don't like the way that looks now that I've typed it, but that's my faithless little heart for all of you to see.)

For a couple of days, I struggled with this.

We always pray about problems we have...

But how can He possibly fix this?

Well...He's God.

My little mustard seed of faith won out and I finally prayed with my daughter something like this, "Father, please provide a good, safe, legal place for Clover to live where Delaney will feel good about leaving him."

Shortly after this hard-pressed little prayer, we had lunch with our friends, Scott and Carolyn. They are always great about engaging our kids in conversation and somehow Clover and his dismal situation came up.

I don't recall exactly how it all went down, but by the end of lunch, it was determined that Scott's workplace had a turtle pond where Clover would be allowed to live out his days as the turtle that God intended him to be.

Yesterday, we took Clover for what would be his final ride in the car:


We met up with Scott and Carolyn at their house and drove over to the pond so Delaney could check it out. Well, any reluctance she may have felt at rehousing Clover at this particular pond vanished the moment she saw it.

It was a veritable pond-dwellers Shangri-La.


The pond is well tended and there are plenty of other creatures to keep him company.


All the turtles were hiding, we think because it was an overcast day, but do you see the little tan frog in the pic below?


(If I swam all day and ate bugs, I'd want to live there.)

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

The final lifting from the tank:


It was a good thing that I had my camera ready, because a second after Delaney put Clover down on the rock, he ran and jumped into the water. (Okay, maybe he didn't actually jump, but he did run. I have witnesses.)


Upon entering the water, he promptly disappeared, probably determined that no human hands would ever seize upon him again. (He never did seem to like us very much, not that I blame him due to the fact that we housed him in a tiny tank on the back of our toilet. Such treatment is bound to result in ill-will.)

We left Scott's workplace with thankful hearts and exceedingly happy for Clover.

(My only anxiety is wondering how the other turtles will accept him. He may lack proper turtle social skills due to his former lifestyle.

Have you seen the new guy?

Yeah...what a weirdo...)

In case you missed it, the moral to this turtle parable is: Don't hesitate to pray about things you don't automatically see an answer for. (Yeah, yeah, that's kind of the whole point of prayer.)

Have patience with me; I'm still learning.

"(He) is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think..." Ephesians 3:20a.