Frogs I – Endurance and Encouragement I

Now may the God who gives endurance and who supplies encouragement grant that you be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus   Romans 15:5Amplified Bible (AMP)

When I’m outdoors, I often see some rather interesting things. Not always spectacular, perhaps, but remarkable nonetheless. At least to me.

We had a lot of snow this winter, and water from the snowmelt above us was trying to make its way into our home. So I commenced to digging a ditch to divert the extra water. Not glamorous work, but it did get me outside.

There was still some snow on the ground, and our wet clay soil had the consistency of very thick glue. The temperature that day was hovering around the freezing mark. After several hours of digging, I noticed the kreeeking sound of a frog. He was somewhere behind me and off to my left. His kreeeking went on for several more minutes as I continued to dig.

I was now standing in the ditch about two feet below ground level. After heaving another shovel of sticky clay out of the trench and onto the pile, I noticed some movement under my shovel. At first I thought it was a little dirt rolling back to the ditch. I casually glanced down at it. To my surprise, the frog had come up from behind me and was now next to my right hand. We looked at each other for a long moment, then I began to laugh out loud. Then he commenced to pass me up!

I’ve dug a lot of ditches in my life, many back on the small farm where I grew up. And I know I’m not too fast at it, but to be passed by a slow frog in the freezing temperatures was a first for me.

The frog took another hop or two and ended up tumbling into the end of my ditch. He climbed out and I managed to get the above picture before he disappeared under some rocks. This species of frog is usually a bit sleeker looking when I see him in the wet spring. But the tacky clay stuck to him a bit when he tumbled into the ditch, so he didn’t make for the glossiest looking frog for my photo.

I am grateful I found that so amusing. It kept me going for many hours afterward, and I was pretty tired to begin with. That just has to be the Lord. To Him be all the glory.

(Next week I have a picture of another visitor who stopped to check out my ditch-digging effort. Hope to see you then).

Passed up by a slow-moving, very cold frog. How cool is that?

Have a great day.