Sure enough, it was a box turtle, or tortoise.
Where did it come from? They certainly are not native to this part of Oregon. I didn't want to just leave it out there, even though at this time of year it should be fine; once winter comes it might not stand a chance.
So, I picked it up and took it home, calling the Turtle Ridge Wildlife Center in Salem for information on what to do. In the meantime, my friend is calling around to her neighbors to see if this little guy belongs to them, and somehow escaped.
I wonder how it got to be in that exact spot, at that exact time in just the right moment for me to see him. I wonder if he would have made it through the winter.
I like to think he needed me.
So it is with adoption. Some of the kiddos we can submit on come from very different lifestyles than we have had. Many of us would be shocked at what they have seen and gone through in their young lives. They have to keep going, even if it is at a tortoise's pace, through life.
To be at that intersection, where our lives cross their paths, in that exact right moment seems like an incredible 'odds against it' chance. But it happens. Families get chosen for those special kiddos and some have to travel quite a distance from their homes to find a new home. Little transplants.
We are here, traveling the dusty, winding road towards our adoption goal. Hoping that somewhere along the way we will finally intersect our path with our future childs. Odds seem insurmountably stacked against us at times. I myself get discouraged often.
Think of the old story about the hare and the tortoise. Who wins the race after all?
Of course, the tortoise does! In his slow methodical steps, he keeps plodding along with his eye on the finish line, not swaying from his course, not stopping anywhere along the way.
A tortoise pace.
No comments:
Post a Comment