The Pillow On The Porch

I was weeding all the mulch beds.
Some people may not like that job, but for some strange reason, I do.
I like the satisfaction of seeing the mulch beds the way they are intended.
I like to see the actual bushes and shrubs unobstructed by weeds.

I had gotten up early after a wonderful eight hours of sleep.
I had my early morning walk.
I came back inside and had a light breakfast.
I watered my plants and then proceeded to weed.

I got out the small, plastic bin I carry around with me as I pull the intruders from the ground.
I got out my garden gloves and put them on each hand like I always do.
By the time I got around to my side porch, my husband had come downstairs.
It was a day to work at home, so he slept in a bit.

He opened the porch door to say, Good morning.
It was then I noticed it.
I usually have three pillows on my porch swing.
The rectangular one I put behind my back for support was on the porch floor.

Look at that, I said pointing.
My husband came out on the porch and picked up the pillow.
It was dirty and misshapen.
What happened to it? I asked, wondering.

It looks like something slept on it, he said, which is what I had been thinking.
I thought I heard something last night, I recalled.
Since our bedroom is over the side porch, any noise there can be easily heard.
The noise didn’t frighten me, or else I would have woken up my husband.

I was trying to put pieces together.
The pillow is small, perfect for lumbar support.
Something definitely stepped on it or slept on it.
Our trash can was at the curb so I asked my husband to throw the pillow away.

I thought about the pillow off and on that day.
I remembered when my husband called me to see something on our lawn.
He called me to the window the day before the pillow incident.
He wanted me to see a mother deer and her little fawn.

Watching the tiny fawn prancing about our front lawn, gave me great joy.
The mother deer allowed the fawn to prance under her watchful eye.
A conversation with my friend, who lives up the street, gave me more clarity.
She had heard the sound of breathing and snorting in her woods.

She learned that a mother deer had given birth there.
Another neighbor saw the mother deer with two baby fawns.
The day my husband called to me, I only saw one little fawn with the doe.
I know that the fawn was a female.

I am reading The Yearling.
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings described the way you can tell a female fawn from a male fawn.
A male fawn has spots in a lined pattern along his back.
A female fawn has spots all over her back in no certain pattern.

This little fawn had spots all over her back, which I could easily see as she danced around.
Could the doe and little fawn have come up on my side porch?
Could the little fawn have slept on the pillow while her mother looked for food?
Did I hear the two of them on my porch in the night?

Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
Do you count the months till they bear?
Do you know the time they give birth?
They crouch down and bring forth their young;
their labor pains are ended.
Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
they leave and do not return. (Job 39:1-4)

I sleep.
God is awake.
I had no idea of what may have been laying on the pillow on my side porch.
God knows all things.

God knows when the mother deer gave birth in my friend’s woods.
God knows where the doe will find food.
God knows where the little fawn (or fawns) will sleep.
God knows, so I can rest and be at peace.

It is comforting to think of all the things that God is in control of at any given moment.
It is reassuring to know that it does not depend on us.
It is humbling to admit how very little we know about things.
That’s more than OK.

A sovereign God is in control.
A sovereign God who created us and knows everything about us.
A sovereign God who loves us deeply.
We are in good hands.

 

2 responses to “The Pillow On The Porch”

1. We are indeed…thanks Gina.

   Reply

   • Amen and Amen, Sherie!
     Gina

     Reply