A Night of Firsts

Yesterday was a historic date, indeed. First, last night marked the first time my son's pet ball python, Gary, ate his first adult mouse. Just thinking about it is enough to bring a tear to my eye. Our little Gary is growing up. We got Gary as a baby about five months ago. Then his diet consisted of newborn mice called pinkies because they look like little erasers. Soon, he graduated to fuzzies, baby mice that have just begun to grow hair. But last night we made our way to the local pet shop and purchased a mature rodent. The rule of "thumb," so I've heard, is that when the snake's girth at its widest is approximately the circumference of your thumb, then it's ready to move on to adult food.

Once we got home with the little mouse (that a pet shop employee was kind enough to terminate in the store), we treated Gary to his fare. He wasted no time getting down to business as he was slightly off his regular feeding schedule. When I considered that the mouse was larger than Gary's head, I was worried. However, I didn't let my son see me sweat since I knew he, too, was anxious. I don't know who I was trying to persuade more, my son or myself, when I told him not to worry because mice are able to squeeze themselves into very tight quarters so Gary would have no trouble downing his dinner. Gary did not disappoint. "Fascinating" is the only word I can think of to describe the experience of watching him dine. Agur counted the movements of a snake on a rock as one of a number of befuddling natural phenomena (Proverbs 30: 18-19). I wonder if he ever watched one eat.

I found out about the other "first" just minutes after placing a sated Gary back in his tank. While checking out sites that referred folks here, I discovered that mine was among a number of blogs nominated for one of Evangelical Underground's 2006 Evangelical Blog Awards. I'm very grateful to Milton Stanley at Transforming Sermons for considering my efforts noteworthy. I really admire and appreciate his fine work and so, am honored.