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It was early and quiet, the sun was just beginning to rise. I took a long, deep breath and closed my eyes and was thankful to pray to start the new day. When I finished praying, I sat and gazed outside for a few moments. I allow the birds to entertain me when I’m not rushed for time, this wasn’t one of those days. I just happened to notice the dark colored duck with bright red markings around its eyes as I got off the couch to get ready for work. It’s not uncommon to see ducks in the canal ditches in the country, but never at home out my window! So I was intrigued by this stranger being in my yard, and watched in delight. The duck seemed content and for me to be able to observe it look, explore, and act like it was in a haven of its own made me smile – enjoying the lush yard as I do! I grabbed my phone and took a couple of photos of it indulging in the water in the small pond off my deck area. One never knows who or what will cross our paths now do we?! And then, when it gets our attention...well, life is never dull – read on. What’s your hurry?
I left the scene to get ready for work, but returned to the bay window before I departed to see if the duck was still in the pond. It was and suddenly I was excited! I opened the deck door slowly and walked out, being as quiet as I could to avoid scaring it. I snapped a couple more photos before it spotted me. Unfazed by my presence it waddled toward me and proceeded to jump up onto the deck to where I stood. I didn't touch it, but did say “hello” and wait for some kind of squawk or something. It remained silent, with its eyes fixed on me.
I went in to get some scraps of bread to see if it was hungry and started to hear the tapping from the kitchen. As I returned with the bread to the door, I was surprised that the duck had followed me up the steps - the tapping was it pecking against the glass. I stood for a moment and watched it look in from the outside. This duck was knocking. Did it think I should have invited him in? What a silly thought. No ducks in my house! He enjoyed the bread I gave him and I left for work.
I couldn’t quit thinking about the duck while I performed my office duties. It seemed nice and I couldn't ignore the possibility that it belonged to someone. Wild ducks fly away from people - this one didn't! I called Ruth, a neighbor friend, whom I knew had geese, to see what she might know. After we conversed and laughed over a brief phone conversation, she did offer to take the duck later that evening if it hung around - a backup plan in case. I love animals, but I was only set up for dogs and I didn’t want my dogs to mistake this stranger for " duck mignon"!
Well... guess what? The duck was in the yard when I returned for my lunch hour. It wasted no time waddling over to stand near me. Again, I greeted it with "hello" just like I do with all people or animals, but the duck remained silent. Perhaps he was speechless, but it appeared to enjoy being close to me –I had no clue on duck behavior?! I chatted with my husband over lunch about this duck whom seemed to have a liking for me. Of course he had to tease me a bit and check the duck out for himself. Oh yes, he came back in to report that the duck was relaxed by my car waiting for my return. He laughed and I joined him after his comment about this duck having an obsession with me. That's what we all want, right?!
Again, as I went to leave the duck stood up from its lounging position and fixed its eyes on me again – an intense, personal stare down. “See you later,” I said without thinking. Backing out of the driveway I couldn't get over those eyes that were so fixed on me. I assumed again that it would leave – but wait, I said “see you later” but I didn’t really want to see it later! When I arrived home late that afternoon and did a quick scan of the front area and didn’t see the duck I was relieved. To be honest, my tender heart did want it to be safe and cared for, but I didn't want to have to hassle with it.
Just listen though…the story isn’t finished! I had almost finished unloading my groceries and I was still giving thanks that it left when I caught a glimpse of it from the garage. It was back! The duck came around from the opposite side of the house toward the front. I hadn’t even closed the overhead garage door yet, but quickly did when I spotted it. I didn’t want it to see me or come into the garage. It had made itself a home while I was away, and what a mess it made....yes, duck poop all over the large concrete pad in front of the garage, lots of duck poop!
As the overhead door closed I was glad it did before the duck got into the garage. I didn’t want to look into those eyes again that seemed to pierce right through me. I put away the groceries and went into my front room to look out the window as I dialed my husband's phone to see if he would help me lure the duck into our dog carrier. We needed to take it to my friend Ruth's house. I was still on the phone when I looked out the window and couldn't believe the duck looked directly at me the moment I peeked out - almost like it knew I would be in the window. I'm not kidding! This duck’s eyes fixated on me and before I blinked I watched the duck flutter it wings, lift up, and fly toward me and the window I was looking from. I thought it was headed straight into the glass, but it stopped and hovered in mid-air for a few seconds with his eyes fixed on me like there wasn’t anything to stop it. It dropped back to the ground after a minute or so. My husband was still on the phone with me and heard my distress shriek. It startled me to be quite honest - this was persistence! Did it want me to notice him, or was I supposed to take notice of him?
My husband teased me again about the duck being obsessed with me when he returned to help me. Oh yes, he felt certain that if I just crawled into the dog carrier that the duck would just follow me right on in. No thank you- I didn't want to be that close! Without too much trouble we did get it loaded into the carrier and transported it down to Ruth’s house. Ruth and her husband greeted us and as Ruth got the friendly duck out she informed us that it looked like a Muscovy duck, which is a highly sociable duck. The moment Ruth set it down it lunged forward toward me and took a pretty hard peck at my legs. Darn duck, I thought, you like me…why are you biting me? It hurt and I quickly jumped back up into the seat of the Kubota while my husband continued to visit, but I watched that duck look intently for me. It wasn’t aware that I ran around the cart and jumped back up unto the seat. It wasn’t pecking at the others standing around – maybe that was its way of communicating, but it made me slightly fearful. The mark on my leg had turned purple at that point.
Another couple minutes passed and the duck spotted me; again, he lifted up and flew right toward me. I had no window barrier this time! I automatically ducked and put my arms over my head when I saw it coming. Ruth had just finished telling us that some ducks were aggressive and have been known to bite at ears. It landed directly in front of me near the steering wheel . It perched itself and fixed its eyes on me. At this point I was alarmed after it wasn't so nice and jumped down off the seat. I was done- ready to leave! My husband, Ruth, and her husband Jerry all laughed. They were unthreatened and not aware to the extent I was on edge as I hadn't verbalized it. They joked and thought we should make a video of this silly duck and his seeming affection for me and send it to “America’s Funniest Videos” - I laughed, but wasn’t as entertained as they were for I feared this duck now.
To wrap up this duck experience, the three of them encouraged me to walk toward the geese pens so the duck would follow since I seemed to be the only one he paid any attention to. He did follow me, but the moment I thought he would go into the pens he turned, darted toward me and again started pecking at my legs....four times! Duck biting?! I shouted, "No”! I had no idea what to do as I was unfamiliar with his kind – thank heavens Ruth did! She ran up, grabbed him, and placed him in the cage and shut the gate. The fenced area was not closed in up top, so I knew that the duck had freedom to escape. My hope was that he would like his new, safe place and be cared for. We laughed a bit more, but I was still uneasy and wanted to leave as my legs now had several raised, purple spots and ached where the duck left his mark on them.
The next morning my friend Ruth had left a message on my office answering machine to inform me that around dusk that evening, the duck had flown away. Her phone message stated that she waited until morning to call as she wanted me to be able to sleep - not fretting about the duck coming back! Oddly enough, I did get up early that next morning and look out toward my garden pond where I had first spotted the duck. Hmmm. Devotional times usually bring many thoughts and this duck whom I observed to be incredibly persistent and a little obsessed was still fresh in my mind. Of course, I mulled over the behavior of the duck, which then led to thoughts on some of my own at times. But more so than thoughts of behavior, I couldn’t escape the thought of how persistent God is on lavishing His love on us. In fact, we can’t even fathom the full depths of His love for each of us, but yet when we look into the scriptures they tell us from the very beginning until the end, that God was jealous for the love of His people. He still is today! I'm asking myself and I'm asking you -Are you believing this at this moment? Yes, I know He hates sin, and that's why Jesus had to die. However, because He loves the sinner, Jesus did die. Do you realize that God thinks about you all the time? That's mind blowing! Perhaps another good question that would be good to ask ourselves is this – Whom or what are we obsessed with? What keeps our attention? Does the Holy Spirit have your attention today - in other words are the eyes of your heart set on Jesus? We are nothing without Him. In and through Him we learn His way of loving. He is the way, the truth, and the life! Our relationship with Him requires nurturing just like any other relationship we value. Let's be persistent and intentional about fixing our eyes on our savior and keeping them fixed.
2 Corinthians 4:18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, it's YOU that loves others through us. Help us to cooperate with YOU. YOU meet us individually where we are. As we walk with YOU and fix our eyes on YOU and YOUR ways and learn to trust YOU more and more, we will continually grow into the people you've called us to be. Thank YOU for YOURSELF. YOU are a gift!
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