A Joy Given, A Life Taken

Today has been a rough day for our team, especially for Jessie and me. When Jessie got Churchill out of his basket to feed him this morning, he was completely limp. Coming to me in the kitchen, she set him in my hands as she prepared his breakfast. At first we thought it had just been too long since he had eaten (we didn't wake up in the night to feed him), but it quickly became obvious that something was very wrong: his whole body shook as he gasped for breath. With tears in our eyes, we watched him fight for his life. Although it was only 6:30 in the morning, we decided to take our dear bunny to Fito's (one of the Mexican students here) house, to see if he would know what to do. Knocking on his screen door, we waited impatiently for him to come to us. Finally he came outside, took the sweet bunny in his hands, and began to massage him. Hours seem to pass as he rubbed Churchill's body, and attempted to resucitate him by squirting air into his mouth through the eye dropper. But it was to no avail. Eventually we left Fito and wandered forlornly back to the kitchen, holding our dying rabbit in our hands.

A long morning passed. Of course there was work to be done, and Jessie and I attempted to rouse ourselves from our sorrow in order to be as helpful as possible. Every time I ran from my work to check on my precious Churchill, I found that he grew progressively worse. Finally, at 10:15 this morning, I watched as Winston Aslan Churchill drew his last breath. Tears dripped down my cheeks and soaked his fur as I drew his lifeless form to my heart. Bursting into tears, Jessie came to me, taking Churchill into her own hands. The boys got a shovel, and we trudged to a circle of stones we had found in the brush a few days prior. As our dear little friend was lain in the ground, Jessie and I held each other, encircled by our comforting friends, sobbing and sobbing.

It may be silly, but I had come to love that little bundle of fur over the past eight days. He was at every meal, every meeting. I woke up in the middle of the night to feed him, I postponed my meals (though I was often extremely hungry) to give him his, I checked on him every chance I got, I played with him every evening. Somehow that little creature was a part of our team. And now he's gone. It still hasn't really settled into my heart. I keep thinking it's time to feed him. I keep wanting to go get him out and play with him. I keep hoping that it's all been a dream, and he's really still there, hopping about his basket.

But I know he is not. My sweet, adorable, lively bunny has been taken from me. And yet, God is good. I know that He has His hand in this situation. I know that it happened for a reason, a purpose. No matter the pain that still pulls at my heart, my God is a loving God, and I thank Him for at least giving us this rabbit, who gave us so very much joy.

Thank you for enduring my rambling, if you actually made it through this post, that is. Please continue to keep all of us in your prayers--we desperately need them!!

Sorrowfully,
Tali Rose