Most people who know Joe know that he has a Betta fish named Littlefin Betta ____ (last name, the same as ours). They also know lots of other things about Littlefin because as soon as Joe feels comfortable with a person, he launches into what Matt calls his "Littlefin Soliloquy". Joe's very fond of the soliloquy, in general, a trait which he gets honestly, I'm afraid. (My nicknames as a child were "Jabberjaw" and "Motor Mouth".) Joe loves to tell how he got Littlefin for his birthday because the Betta fish Aunt Martha gave us died after five days. He goes into some detail about this tragic event and does a pretty good impression of how the fish looked when it was floating belly up. He then goes on to describe in great detail, how much Littlefin has eaten recently, if he's been "active" (one of his favorite words) or not, what particular shade his fins are, how dark his spots look, etc.!! Anyway, I was so encouraged today because Joe gave his soliloquy twice. Normally this isn't unusual but today it was special. We were visiting Matt who was working on setting up his classroom, so we took a little walk around the school. Now I had this in the back of my mind all along because Joe has some serious jitters that need to be eased. On our little tour we bumped into two of Joe's future teachers who struck up conversations with him and, before we knew it, the soliloquy began! It was hillarious to hear him ease into it. He'd say, "You've probably never met my fish, Littlefin..." And the connection was made! So he's feeling much better this evening, and we are already thankful for those wonderful teachers! Since birth we have been praying for the people who would come into our children's lives in various ways. I'm seeing, again, that God gives so wisely and so abundantly what we need, when we need it.
The Lord is gracious and merciful;
Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.
The Lord is good to all,
And His mercies are over all His works.
Psalm 145: 8-9
5 comments:
Today at work I tried to take a mental break by going to your blog spot. Tom Jess had beaten me there. The entire site is blocked. What a bummer! I was looking forward to rereading your blogs and enjoying pics of my grandkids. I guess I will just savor it all the more at home.
Glad to hear Joe had a chance to get comfortable at school. What a blessing it is to have patient teachers who are willing to listen to the ramblings of children! Joe has many words stored up to share. I will pray for his teacher that she will continue to be patient and to enjoy this wonderful kid.
Love
Mom
We had a betta fish named Nemo for about a year and a half. He was awesome. Now we just have the jar with a plant in it :(
Can you imagine me laughing so hard that I am crying?! This story did it. I can just picture Joe's face as he asked his teachers if they knew Littlefin. Priceless! I needed this.
Love,
Mart
It's good to know that your's lasted a year and a half. Ever since our five-day-fish, Joe thinks that all fish are that way. He wakes up every morning thinking the fish is going to be dead.
I hate to add another sad fish story, but we had a calamity in our animal sitting for Larry & Judith (who are visiting Alaska). They have only one goldfish...and it chose our watch to expire. I've never heard it called anything but goldfish, so we used that name in the goodbye ceremony. I'm hoping that the cats, steers & plants will fare better.
AB
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