Squirrelly Swirly In An Alaskan Toilet

THE DROWNING SQUIRREL
by Sheri Kongorski-Denny

Of all the many places our family has moved since I was a child, the place we loved the most was Alaska.
I will never forget the amazing house that we lived in while we were in Anchorage. It was backed up to a protected national forest where we could see a river that cascaded from the towering mountains on one side to the inlet of the ocean miles away in the distance.
Often we would have visitors in our yard. My bedroom was downstairs at ground level with huge windows and no curtains. Many a morning I opened my eyes and looked straight into the face of a moose that was lying on the ground beside my window no more than five feet away.
We had many other little critters that ran around our house, including squirrels. Our house had plumbing pipes that were open and vented up on the roof. One beautiful day a poor, misguided little squirrel fell into one of those pipes. My youngest sister, Kristi, was using the toilet when all of a sudden she heard splashing water. She looked down and saw what looked like a miniature ferret wildly trying to climb out. Her blood-curdling screams brought us running.
The poor little squirrel was half-drowned and his little legs were spinning and spinning on the slippery porcelain wall.
There was absolutely nothing that he could do to save himself.
My sisters and I were terrified because we didn't know what the creature thrashing around in the toilet was. But Mama got an old towel, picked him up and and carried him outside to the back porch. The air was cool, but sunshine beat down as we watched through the window as the little squirrel lay there quivering in shock. But as the light and the heat of the sun began to warm his body and dry his hair until it was fluffy again, he sat up and slowly staggered away.
Days later we believe we saw him restored to health chattering loudly and swinging from tree to tree -- at least we like to think it was him!
Do we sometimes feel like this hopeless little squirrel drowning in the depths of a toilet bowl experience in our lives? Are we spinning and spinning away with no hope of moving from where we are? Fortunately, we have a Savior who reaches down into the most ugly, vile places in which we find ourselves; He picks us up and lifts us into the light of the Son. And by beholding His warmth and His glory we are healed and restored to a completeness that we have never known.

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