A Special Visitor

I love God’s sense of humor! It seems that when life gets a little routine, God sends a little surprise or an adventure to “spice” things up for us! My friend, Debbie, had one of those exact kind of experiences! Her husband is an over-the-road truck driver, and their two sons are out of the home, so Debbie spends a lot of time on her own. She deals with these “alone times” very well, but every once in a while, she needs a helping hand.

Every morning, as is her routine, Debbie goes into her basement to let the dog out. Her basement is finished and quite beautiful and since the bathroom is not used very often, it is her habit to flush the toilet to keep it fresh. On this particular morning, Debbie went to do her morning chore of toilet flushing and saw something quite unusual waiting to greet her. A large frog had made himself at home in her toilet!

Now, everyone has something that gives them the creepy crawlies, and frogs of all sizes and colors do just that for Debbie! In the shock of the moment and with that first glance at her intruder, she slammed the toilet lid down and flushed vigorously… all in one very fast move! Then, with the determination of a drill sergeant, she hurried to the laundry room and grabbed a long mop handle. This, she carefully used to lift the toilet lid from a safe distance, in order to check and see if Mr. Froggy actually flushed! As she gingerly peeked into the bowl from afar, she breathed a sigh of relief, as the only thing she saw was gleaming white porcelain and sparkling, clear water. Content that she had handled this daunting task quite capably, Debbie went about the rest of her daily chores.

Just before she left for school, our thorough little Debbie couldn’t resist another quick peek into the basement potty to be sure Mr. Froggy was gone for good. Again, with the mop handle carefully in hand, Debbie once again lifted the lid. Imagine her shock and dismay as she spied TWO FROGGY LEGS sticking straight out of the exit hole in the bottom of the toilet!

Not wanting to overflow the toilet by flushing the frog already plugging the toilet, and thinking Mr. Froggy quite dead at this point, Debbie resigned herself to dealing with “the rest of the matter” later, so she went to her job as a Christian School teacher! All morning long her mind was heavy with the knowledge that Mr. Froggy wasn’t all the way gone! Part of him was STILL in her porcelain throne in the basement!

That evening at church, Cindy, one of her co-workers, asked her if Mr. Froggy was taken care of. “Sorta” was Debbie’s weak reply and she proceeded to tell her what she had found.

What to do now? Cindy suggested that her son, Erich, a tall, brave, strapping young man, come over and see if he could get rid of Mr. Froggy once and for all! Erich came to Debbie’s house and as he headed for the basement, this was the conversation that took place:

In apprehension Debbie asked her rescuer… “Erich, you’re not going to catch that frog barehanded, are you?”

With a questioning look Erich replied, “How else am I gonna get it?”

In disgust Debbie quipped, “Oh, yuck, yuck! Here! At least take this plastic bag to catch it in!”

So our big, brave Erich, armed with his plastic grocery bag, descended the basement stairs to take care of the frog problem! Debbie waited at the top of the steps, (keeping a safe distance you know) and listening intently for any sound (or a scream?)… but all was quiet.

Meanwhile, our brave Erich approached the potty, lifted the lid, and found no frog and no froggy legs. Wanting to be thorough, he lifted the seat. What to his wondering eyes should appear-- was Mr. Froggy! As big as life and smiling up at Erich as if to say, “Hey, where ya been?”

Big, brave Erich opened the bag in front of the frog, who then obligingly hopped right into the bag! Debbie’s hero, Erich, then let Mr. Froggy go free outside and as far away from Debbie’s house as he could get him.
(Thank you Erich for sparing his poor little life!)

Now Debbie is a little more watchful and careful, as she flushes her basement potty, for thoughts of Mr. Froggy are still fresh on her mind. She is also counting her blessings for how thankful she is that she was never a part of the plagues in Egypt when God sent all of those frogs!