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 I went to bed last night with the TV on. It was the first night in over a week that I had been able to sleep with the window open. (I love the fresh air.) And it was great to finally have a chance to relax after a long, busy day.
Suddenly, a bat flew in from the living room and started swirling in circles over my head. I freaked out!!! And I hid under the covers. The air was still a bit humid, so it didn’t take long for me to get hot under those heavy covers. I felt safe under there, but I realized that I couldn’t hide there very long without suffocating. I could hear the bat flying overhead, and I realized that he wasn’t going to leave anytime soon if I didn’t get up and do something about it.
I got up my courage and ran to the bathroom. I thought about closing off the bathroom doors and sleeping in the bathtub, but that didn’t sound very comfortable. I also thought about grabbing my purse and my car keys and driving over to my parents’ house so I could get a peaceful night’s sleep. But then I’d just have to deal with the bat in the morning, and who knows where he would be hiding by then.
Finding my weapon of choice – a broom - I devised a plan and made my way back to the scene of the crime. I turned on the lamp in my bedroom as bright as it would go; then I ran to the den and opened my sliding glass door very wide. Now I just had to get the bat from my bedroom to the den so he could fly back out the same way he came in.
I took my position behind the bedroom door. As the bat flew in laps around the room, I tried to encourage him with my broom to fly out the bedroom door. He obviously wanted no part of that plan. Somehow I managed to hold in my screams so as not to waken my neighbors. I prayed, “Lord, help me! Please get this bat out of my bedroom!” But nothing seemed to help.
Finally, after hiding behind the bedroom door and swinging my broom at the bat for about 45 minutes, I realized that he had no intention of ever leaving my bedroom, flying to the den, and back outside through the sliding glass door. And I desperately pleaded, “Lord, why aren’t you helping me? You could make the bat fly back outside. I can’t do this on my own.” Then I realized if this bat is ever going to get out of my condo, the only way that will happen is through my bedroom window.
The bat finally settled down quietly on a pillow, a few feet from the window. I tiptoed over, hoping not to stir the bat. I held my broom in one hand and unhooked the screen in my bedroom window with the other. I pulled the screen out of the window, turned off the lights, and took my position back behind the door. A few minutes later, after a few more circles of flight around my bedroom, the bat flew out the window! I quickly ran over and slid the window shut. What a relief! I just hoped the bat didn't have any friends with him, hiding in my living room somewhere!!!
After it sunk in that the bat was really out of my condo, the first thoughts that crossed my mind were, “Lord, where were you? Why didn’t you help me? Why did I have to deal with this all alone?” But I KNEW that I couldn’t let my mind dwell on thoughts like that! And then I felt a nudge from the Holy Spirit, “Who do you think gave you the plan to get the bat out of your house?”
Wow! Lord, you were there all along — helping me deal with that silly bat. It’s an incredible reminder to me that even if I don’t feel it, I’m never alone. God really does care about me... even the smallest areas of my life.
piece by Cindy Sandsness
e-mail her at csandsness@yahoo.com
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