Nothing shall be impossible to you. ~Matthew 17:20b KJV

“We should name him Nemo,” I teased as we lowered our tiny goldfish into the pond.

But then, there were those two cute dots at the base of his tail and two bigger dots on his tail fins.

“How about Duce?” my husband suggested.

“Perhaps Dos?” I countered.

And so, it was decided; his name would be Ducy-Dos. We were happy and so was our goldfish, but that changed the day of the accident. While we were cleaning the pond, Ducy-Dos tumbled into the pump housing.

For weeks, I kept the pump lid off, waiting to catch a glimpse of our beloved fish. I placed a net pondside so that I could take decisive action. I tempted our goldfish to surface by enticing him with tasty snacks. After three months of frequenting the pump housing, hoping to save Ducy-Dos, I replaced the pump lid.

“Honey, don’t give up so fast,” my husband said.

“He’s not coming out of there,” I said.

Unable to retrieve Ducy-Dos, I concluded our prized fish was dead.

“But we prayed,” my husband said. 

My husband’s words echoed within me like a soft hammer. Sure. We had prayed three months ago, when the accident first happened. So why hadn’t I seen our beloved fish on the first day we prayed? I was convinced our prayer was too trivial for God’s ears. Besides, why should He retrieve my fish when I should have been more careful positioning the pump lid?

But then, a lightning storm and subsequent power failure occurred. When the pumps switched off, I rushed to the edge of the pond to ensure they would start correctly when electricity was restored. Sitting in the rain and listening to the thunder, I thought again about Ducy-Dos. If only he’d come back. That’s impossible. No sense in bothering God about that one.

“But we prayed.”

My husband’s words echoed in my heart once again, along with the scripture that nothing—absolutely nothing—is impossible for my holy God.

I Peter 2:9 echoes the same sentiment. Because I am the Lord’s, I am “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people,” and I should show the praises of Him who has called me out of darkness into His marvellous light.

Ducy-Dos, if alive, was very much in the dark. But, wasn’t I as well? I wasn’t putting faith in the words I’d spoken to God. I needed to believe He could raise Ducy-Dos out of that pump housing. So, I asked God to help me.

Wanting to tap into the realm of God and be different—yes, peculiar because of my belief that God could do all things–I surrendered my little fish to the Lord and trusted Him to give or take Ducy-Dos at His will. I was at peace, even while the rain pelted me, drenching my clothing through to my skin.

To my utter amazement, when the power came on and the pumps restarted, a big gulp of water, air, and algae came spouting into the air, and with it our beloved fish. Ducy-Dos landed splat into my open hands, which, by reflex, I grasped tightly.

“Ducy-Dos!” I cried, examining him as if he were a newborn babe. His color was faded, but other than that, he was unharmed. We renamed our goldfish Nemo and thanked God for His answer to our unusual prayer.

When prayer seems impossible to you, trust God anyway.

Thank You, God, that with You, all things are possible through prayer. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Genre: Non-fiction

Copyright 2019: Where’s Nemo?: VineWords: Diane Virginia: All Rights Reserved