Lacey, Stacey and Pop's little deer

It should have been no surprise a few years ago when Pop came to my door with a spindly brown and white bundle in his arms. I'd heard the story many times of the little deer that my dad, as a boy, had found abandoned on the family farm. He'd carried her home across the saddle of his horse and nursed it to health with an old green coke bottle fitted with a nipple for the little orphan.

I'd heard with a chuckle how they took the fawn to town between the seats and how the baby had been my rough and tumble Dad's constant tag along companion. Then, with tears, how the local park ranger discovered the little brown secret of the freckled faced fun loving Hunter boy. He told my Dad, like one of those old tear jerker Old Yeller type movies, that he'd have to take the fawn back to the wild because it was against the law to keep a "wild" animal. My Dad, the little boy, took the baby he'd nurtured back to the woods where he'd first found her, and with tears in his eyes, he said good bye to the fawn..... knowing in his young heart that this would be the last time he'd see the deer. Sooooooo, it should have been no surprise to me this day when he brought another little orphan to our suburban home.
"you can keep her here in your courtyard Kate.... she'll take a bottle no trouble.... you've always been so good with animals".... I think he remembered the litter of 3 little day old kittens (left on Jimmy Cargile's car after youth group) that I raised with a bottle, a heating pad and a bonnet hair dryer. But he was right... I always did manage to take in orphans of one kind or another (somehow still happens around here).... so "Kate" did keep her in the courtyard till she out grew the place and started eating all my flowers... so into the backyard went Lacey the deer (she liked our shoe laces). It just so happened that the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree, and both my girls had affinity for the orphans as well. Lacey was the neighborhood oddity, and there were no park rangers here.
But still we had the problem of my flowers!
When Lacey became a full grown doe, our fences in the city were not the kind to hold her, and so we prayed for a GOOD solution. Voila.... Troy found just the place.... a man with whom he did business had a herd of whitetails on his property that were PETS... he could use another doe, and Lacey was just right.... a new bloodline to strengthen his herd... his PETS!!! I saw Lacey from time to time (she had twins her first time to be a mom!) and I knew this was a good thing.
Yesterday, I got a letter from Hannah.... Pop had given her an orphan too... Stacey, an axis deer. Stacey is probably the oldest axis anyone would know. Hannah raise her from a fawn and the deer's best friends are a boxer and a black lab. The story that follows is one, not so much about Hannah as her daughter and the persistence and faith of a child. I just thought as I read it that I had to put these other two with it because... as I said.... the fruit often will fall very close to the tree, and although my Dad never saw HIS little fawn again.... we've seen evidence over and over of his love for the animals as they come and go at our own houses from his or our own hearts. Thanks Pop.... we're glad God made you just like He did!

Hannah's story

Hey everyone, I thought I would share what Aliyah taught me today. Well she and I went over to mom's and dad's to check on the animals. Aliyah was sleepy, hungry, and we are trying to ween the binkie: so you can guess her mood and mine. Well, we got over there and first found Taffy, Houston's cat, and then went to check on the outside dogs and Stacey, our 13 year old deer that lives with the two big dogs. Well, the dogs were happy and excited to see us, but I couldn't find Stacey anywhere. Aliyah kept calling for her but she was not to be found. It was in the heat of the afternoon, so I knew she was probably bedded down close to the house in the bushes, but bc the Dogs jumping on a 8 month pregnant lady didn't seem to inviting I was going to have to wait for Clay to search for her. After about 30 min of searching where I could, my negative thoughts began to swirl and I had come up with all sorts of bad things that could have happened to her. Meanwhile, Aliyah is continuing to call "Stacey, Stacey, Stacey..." I thought how am I going to explain to her that she is gone. Then Aliyah looked at me and said, "I will find Stacey!" She repeated the phrase in her 22 month old language over and over. I just kept thinking she is going to be so upset when we have to leave without finding her. Anyway, I got on the phone and called Clay and he was going to come over after work and search for her. He could hear Aliyah in the background.."Stacey, Stacey, Stacey,..." as she beat on every outside window in the house calling for her. I hung up with with Clay and was getting our stuff together to leave when Aliyah started jumping up and down "Stacey, Stacey, Stacey!!" I looked up and saw Stacey walking through the yard. Praise God for the persistence of a 2 year old!!!! It was a lesson to me of how fast we give up on things in the both the spiritual and the natural when God just wants us to press in and pursue Him even when things seem hopeless!! I thank God for these moments and pray that I can take and learn from each one of them!!!

Love you all, Hannah