Give me a word, Lord: THERE IS A KANGAROO IN MY BED

Genesis 2:18-19 The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’ Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.

Colossians 1:15-17 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Good morning, friends! I’ve been sharing some pretty serious stuff lately, so today, I thought I would share something a little more light hearted. If you don’t have an animal in your life, you really ought to consider acquiring one…as soon as possible! God has gifted us with so many wonderful animals through the years, and we see His majesty of creation in every unique detail and quality. Animals are so much fun, and they freely give friendship when you are alone and always have an ear ready to listen at the end of a trying day. Today, I am sharing an excerpt from my book Inspirations from the Funny Farm about one of our favorite pets, Roo. I hope you enjoy. Have a blessed day!

Several years ago, we happened upon an exotic animal auction, and at that particular auction on that glorious day, they had a baby kangaroo for sale. He was beautiful, and we had to have him. We scooped him up and brought him home to Hodge Critter Lodge. We named our baby kangaroo, Roo. He was ten and a half months old and absolutely the most adorable creature I had ever laid my eyes on. His fur was as soft as fleece and light gray in color. He had big old kangaroo ears, bright brown eyes, a thick, muscular tail, and long hind legs. He was on the bottle, and still went into a pouch at night to sleep. He was definitely the most unusual pet we had owned to date. We fell head over heels in love with him immediately.

We got home with him late on a Saturday night, and brought him to meet my mother and father-in-law after church on Sunday. They loved him as much as we did. We had owned Roo for less than 24 hours, and as we were leaving my in-laws, my husband stopped on their drive and said, “let’s put Roo on the rye grass and let him eat some grass.” I was hesitant because even though he was a baby, I knew that kangaroos could hop fast. I also knew that he didn’t really know us as his mom and dad yet because we hadn’t even had him in our possession for 24 hours, but as usual, I didn’t say no. I soon had major regret for not saying no. Jeff stopped the truck in the middle of the drive. Now you need to know that Nanny and Paw Paw live on a 320 acre farm. Their drive is ¾ a mile long. There are cow fields on each side of the drive. There is an area that they cut for hay that is not fenced. Well, that is the area my husband decided to let Roo get some fresh, green rye grass. I bet you can figure out what happened next. Yep, Roo took off like lightning. My heart sank to my toes! Dollar signs in flames flashed before my eyes, and I saw us on the headline of the local newspaper “couple loses kangaroo the day after purchase.” I almost cried. Instead of crying, I got down on the ground and sweet talked Roo. We would get almost close enough to pick him up, and he would hop away again. I literally had to snake crawl on the ground, beg and plead, whisper and coo, and try every tactic in the book. It took nearly an hour and a half to catch him. Needless to say, we didn’t let Roo out to eat grass again unless he was in a fenced area!

At the time we brought Roo home, I was working in town, and this allowed me to come home on my lunch break and bottle feed and diaper him. Oh yes, he wore Pampers diapers! Here I was a forty something year old lady ordering diapers through the mail for a kangaroo. I learned to strategically cut a hole for the tail. He was fairly easy to diaper at first, but as he grew older, putting a diaper on Roo was about as easy as holding on to a greased pig. I’m pretty sure I could put a diaper on just about anybody or anything after diapering Roo.

While I worked, we kenneled him at first, and we allowed him to roam the house when we were home. He made friends quickly with the dog and the kids. Before I knew it, he was sleeping in my bed…under the covers…with his head on a pillow…in between my husband and me! I don’t know if I have ever met anyone else who has claimed to sleep with a kangaroo. Roo had little short arms, a huge muscular tail, and very long legs. Thankfully we have a king-sized bed because Roo thought he was a king. He stretched out over about half of the bed and left six inches on either side of him for my husband and me.

Roo didn’t seem comfortable in the kennel, and he got along great with our Yorkie, Diego, so we made the decision to leave him out of the kennel while we were away from the house. He would hop up onto the bed in a single leap. We put things out of his reach that could have been harmful. He never really caused any trouble. He laid around and watched TV just like a human. He bounced balls, hopped all over the house, and snuggled up and loved on us more than any other exotic pet we have owned in the past. He stayed in the house until he started kicking us out of the bed. We eventually moved him out to the barn with our axis deer fawn, Bucky. Roo and Bucky were the best of friends, and the transition from house to barn went smoothly. I think that Roo adjusted to living outside better that I adjusted to him leaving my bed.

I stay in awe of the majesty of God and His creations. A kangaroo is definitely a creature to make you realize how awesome our God can be. He created this creature to be beautiful, soft, cuddly, and yet he can hop as fast as the wind, and he has a tail and hind feet which protects him from harm. God covers every single detail in every single creation, and He created humans to oversee His creatures. I will never understand why God allows me to play an active role in caring for His creatures, but I know from His Word that He created animals so that humans would not be alone. There is something so peaceful and comforting about having quiet time with animals and with the Lord. I cannot count the many times that I have talked to my critters and talked to God whenever dealing with a sticky situation, and every single time, I feel encouraged and at peace after having that little talk. It does a body good to unload the troubles of the day with a trusted furry friend and the good Lord.