Oreo

Our pet rabbit, Oreo, died yesterday. We had her funeral in the rain under the fir trees in our yard on Halloween.

She hopped into our family about four years ago when she hopped first into our garden. We learned later that one of the neighbors had let her run loose. We let her stay in the garden for a while until a stranger man (turns out it was that neighbor) came uninvited and without permission into our yard and began chasing her. We decided we better do something to protect her.

We borrowed a live-animal trap from the Bruecherts. Oreo calmly stretched out beside the trap and fell asleep. She rested in the rows of beans and under the deck. One day she was sunning herself and I crept up to her and petted her. Soon she was eating out of my hands and I just picked her up. She has been part of the family ever since.

We named her ‘Oreo’ because she was black with a white stripe in the middle. After a couple months we got her a companion who was also a dutch rabbit, with similar black and white markings. She had a little more white so she became ‘Double-Stuff’.

Here are some of the ways me and my family benefited from having Oreo in our lives:

1. We recognized God’s grace in bringing her into our family. You know I would never go seeking a pet, so one came seeking me. Finding her in our garden is one of my favorite gardening experiences.


2. We learned daily discipline is essential to survival. She would have died long ago if “feed rabbits” was not on the chore list.


3. We saw anew that life is not forever. God has not intended even the good things in this world to last forever.


4. We can sympathize better with people who lose things they love.


5. We resolve again to love eternal things more and things that pass away less.


6. We learned to enjoy temporary things while there is still time. If you put off playing together, or going for walks too long, someday it will be too late.


7. I learned sometimes it is worth it to change your mind. I am generally anti-pet. In this case, changing was a good idea.


8. I learned that rabbits can be house-broken. (I read it on the internet, but we never tried).

Sometimes God's grace and His lessons hop into our lives in the most unexpected ways.