(Previously Published on Mrs Words Blog)

Yesterday morning, I saw something that completely shook me.

Let me preface this little story with a bit of a disclaimer. For those of you that know me, you know that I am not necessarily an animal lover. I eat meat (lots of it) and I wouldn’t call myself an advocate for animals rights by any stretch of the imagination. I also have participated and enjoyed a bit of hunting in my time too. All that to say that this story is about ducks (again, I know!) – I have grown particularly fond of the duck communities that frequent the wilderness near my home.

So, yesterday, I was driving home from my morning drop offs (Husband to work and Kids to school), when I came around a bend in the road to see a little white sedan on my side of the road heading towards me. I immediately jammed on my brakes and slowed to a stop. In that split moment, the following scene played out in what seemed like slow motion. I first noticed that the car in my lane was overtaking two stationary vehicles in his lane (the on-coming traffic lane to my right). Then I noticed that in front of said stationary vehicles, there were some ducks trying to cross the road.

Now, this is not an unusual sight in these parts. It’s almost a regular occurrence (every couple of weeks or so) where we have to stop to let wildlife cross the road and there are even signs telling us to give way to wildlife (with pictures of little duckies on it too!).

Moving on with my story… I then saw the car that was heading for me, in my lane, proceed to drive forward and sadly, drive over the ducks. This happened right in front of my eyes. There was no more than 10 clear metres between me and the wreckage happening before me. I watched as the ducks were caught underneath the car and then saw two little duck bodies emerge off to the side. I think they were alive and standing, while one little duck body went underneath the rear wheel of the car and landed in a crumpled mess of feathers right next to my drivers side window on the ground. I saw the body shake and I saw the duck take it’s last breath as the car that drove over it pulled to the side of the road and stopped.

I was struck frozen. I couldn’t believe what my eyes had just witnessed. Then, looking down at the road and the now dead duck, I noticed the two continuous white lines telling me that there should never have been any overtaking happening at all, in the first place. And then, I started to get angry! As I sat there in my car in the middle of the road, the following thoughts came flying through my head:

• Why?
• Why did this have to happen?
• Why was that driver so impatient?
• What if it had been a child?
• Was it really worth it – the rushing, the overtaking, the breaking the rules/law to achieve nothing other than to kill a duck?

I didn’t know what to do. I was shocked and angry. Not wanting to cause a scene or add more to the helpless situation, I slowly proceeded forward and headed home. As I was pulling away, in my rear-vision window, I saw the two remaining ducks – an adult and a little duckling – continue their journey across the road to the other side and head off on their way.

I couldn’t help but cry for the little ducks as I drove the rest of the way home. The whole episode struck me as odd. It was unjust and unfair but it was only a duck. And yet, I was a sobbing mess. I couldn’t help but ask God:

• Why did I have to see this?
• Why has it affected me so much?

As I was sitting down in the quiet later on that morning, I felt God remind me of two things: Firstly, when I have asked God over the course of my life to “break my heart with what breaks yours”, I’m sure that He has gone very easy on me and given me a tiny minuscule glimpse of what He really sees and how He really feels. Enough to call me to action, but not enough that it really breaks me. Well, this time, He reminded me that He loves His animals too. All the wilderness and nature that I have fallen in love with over the past few years whilst living here is a glorious reflection of God, our Creator. He reminded me that the littlest animals matter to Him. He created them and breathed life into them and they exist at and for His pleasure. How much more so do we?!?

Also, impatience doesn’t get you anywhere. I have been journeying through this year learning to “Be Still” and to “Take a Moment” and to enjoy every moment that I find myself in. And, I think that I am getting better at it – at not feeling guilty when I’m running a little bit late or not being too hard on myself when I don’t get everything on my ‘to-do’ list done. But, patience is still a regularly occurring challenge.

After witnessing what I did yesterday, I would have to say that anytime I feel the ‘impatience’ coming on, the picture of the duck being run over will immediately stick in my mind and I will be forced to slow down and use my patience. I don’t think I could handle seeing another one of those beautiful creatures die like that again. I can’t help but think of the driver in the other car – his impatience cost him. He broke road rules and etiquette and he really didn’t get anywhere any faster than he would have if he had just waited for the little duckies to make their way across the road unhindered. Impatience really doesn’t pay!

So, next time you feel rushed or impatient, please remember to stop, take a moment, take a breath and think about the ducks. Hopefully, you will be reminded that if the ducks matter to God (and they do!), how much more do you and I matter to Him?!? Is it really worth it to push in the queue or overtake the slow car, or break the rules or rush and hurry? Is your impatience going to pay off or cost you? Please, dear friend, take a moment, take a breath and think about the ducks.