The Lost is Found
Our current class hamster is named "April." Unfortunately, my preschool class doesn't have a very good track record with hamsters. April is the third or fourth hamster we've had this school year. Her immediate predecessor, Samster, met his demise after he suffered a bad fall. Samster was our favorite. He was friendly and cuddly, and he didn't bite.
April is a recent gift, donated by an eager parent who doesn't like pets that bite. We aren't able to hold April without wearing gloves, because her bites are wicked, drawing way too much blood. But she has been fun for the kids to watch as she crawls up and down the tube to her hideaway at the top of the cage. April's food and water are located on the bottom tier of the cage, so she has to squeeze her fat little arthritic body down the tube to reach her seeds and water bottle. Did I mention that she's a rather old hamster? We don't know exactly how old, because she has been re-gifted more than once. April's teeth were overgrown when we got her, and she's no longer able to curl comfortably into a ball to sleep, so I suspect that she has nearly reached her lifespan of 1 to 1 1/2 years. My hope has been that this hamster will live until school is out for the summer. That's only a few days now, so I keep hoping...
Just two weeks ago, we arrived at school to find that the climbing tube had popped off April's cage, and she was missing. Our preschoolers looked everywhere, without success. Our staff looked under furniture and inside of folded sleeping mats, but we couldn't find April anywhere. Victoria and Levi came with me one evening, after dark, to search for our nocturnal friend, but we weren't able to find her, either. We alerted the other teachers in our building, and we had numerous volunteers from among the elementary students who expressed their willingness to miss reading and math to help us search for April. Harold, our custodian, thought he heard some rustlings early one morning soon after he arrived at school, but he wasn't able to track down the source. After two weeks, we had about given up hope that April would ever be found alive.
Then on Friday, after all of the kids were gone, Ms. Becky (one of our para-professionals) was walking across the room in the semi-darkness when she saw something sitting in her path. Thinking it was a stray toy, she was ready to kick it out of her way when it scooted across the room. Becky yelled for reinforcements, and followed April through the room to her hiding place under the shelves behind my desk. I wasn't there at the time, but I was told that it took half an hour to track down the cage we had put away in the store room, and retrieve April from under the heavy shelves, which needed to be partially emptied before they could be moved enough to allow for the wayward hamster's capture.
April was in sad shape. Her face was blackened with dirt and her fur was a scruffy, tangled mess. I'm sure she had been able to find a few crumbs on the lunchroom floor, so she hadn't starved, but water may have been in short supply. Becky and the other aides put April back into her cage with fresh bedding and plenty of food and water, hoping that she would survive until Monday morning. Before they left, they reinforced the cage with purple duct tape in hopes that April wouldn't escape again.
When I arrived at school this morning, Harold greeted me at the door with a smile, saying that April had been found. There she was, sleeping peacefully in her cage, looking better than ever. She had cleaned herself up, and her overgrown teeth had apparently been worn down during her adventures away from her cage. She was even able to curl up into some semblance of a ball as she slept. It looks like April has a new lease on life! The kids couldn't stop watching April this morning, even as she slept, and once again, Levi can look forward to caring for April at home this summer.
This whole incident reminds me of Jesus' words in Luke 15: Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not...go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, "Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep." I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
I could go on and on about the obvious parallels between April's story and the story Jesus told about the lost sheep, but I'll just leave it at this: The lost is found, and there is great rejoicing!
April is a recent gift, donated by an eager parent who doesn't like pets that bite. We aren't able to hold April without wearing gloves, because her bites are wicked, drawing way too much blood. But she has been fun for the kids to watch as she crawls up and down the tube to her hideaway at the top of the cage. April's food and water are located on the bottom tier of the cage, so she has to squeeze her fat little arthritic body down the tube to reach her seeds and water bottle. Did I mention that she's a rather old hamster? We don't know exactly how old, because she has been re-gifted more than once. April's teeth were overgrown when we got her, and she's no longer able to curl comfortably into a ball to sleep, so I suspect that she has nearly reached her lifespan of 1 to 1 1/2 years. My hope has been that this hamster will live until school is out for the summer. That's only a few days now, so I keep hoping...
Just two weeks ago, we arrived at school to find that the climbing tube had popped off April's cage, and she was missing. Our preschoolers looked everywhere, without success. Our staff looked under furniture and inside of folded sleeping mats, but we couldn't find April anywhere. Victoria and Levi came with me one evening, after dark, to search for our nocturnal friend, but we weren't able to find her, either. We alerted the other teachers in our building, and we had numerous volunteers from among the elementary students who expressed their willingness to miss reading and math to help us search for April. Harold, our custodian, thought he heard some rustlings early one morning soon after he arrived at school, but he wasn't able to track down the source. After two weeks, we had about given up hope that April would ever be found alive.
Then on Friday, after all of the kids were gone, Ms. Becky (one of our para-professionals) was walking across the room in the semi-darkness when she saw something sitting in her path. Thinking it was a stray toy, she was ready to kick it out of her way when it scooted across the room. Becky yelled for reinforcements, and followed April through the room to her hiding place under the shelves behind my desk. I wasn't there at the time, but I was told that it took half an hour to track down the cage we had put away in the store room, and retrieve April from under the heavy shelves, which needed to be partially emptied before they could be moved enough to allow for the wayward hamster's capture.
April was in sad shape. Her face was blackened with dirt and her fur was a scruffy, tangled mess. I'm sure she had been able to find a few crumbs on the lunchroom floor, so she hadn't starved, but water may have been in short supply. Becky and the other aides put April back into her cage with fresh bedding and plenty of food and water, hoping that she would survive until Monday morning. Before they left, they reinforced the cage with purple duct tape in hopes that April wouldn't escape again.
When I arrived at school this morning, Harold greeted me at the door with a smile, saying that April had been found. There she was, sleeping peacefully in her cage, looking better than ever. She had cleaned herself up, and her overgrown teeth had apparently been worn down during her adventures away from her cage. She was even able to curl up into some semblance of a ball as she slept. It looks like April has a new lease on life! The kids couldn't stop watching April this morning, even as she slept, and once again, Levi can look forward to caring for April at home this summer.
This whole incident reminds me of Jesus' words in Luke 15: Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not...go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, "Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep." I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
I could go on and on about the obvious parallels between April's story and the story Jesus told about the lost sheep, but I'll just leave it at this: The lost is found, and there is great rejoicing!
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