Coincidences, schmoi-incidences

Have you ever had something happen to you and you trace back through the chain of events only t think "Wow, if I had never done that, then this would have never happened."

Yup, I've been there.

Baylie and the rat poisoning is my latest.

It all started with the fact that I noticed rat droppings in my shed months ago. Creeped me out, but the idea of laying traps and having to scoop up dead bodies creeped me out even more. Killing the little suckers wasn't a priority so I didn't think much of it again.

Then last Saturday was the big planting day in the backyard. We're digging away in the backyard, planting our little hearts out and all of a sudden water starts bubbling up from the ground - right where I used the pick axe to help break up the dirt. GREAT! This girl was not a happy camper. 

Fast forward to Wednesday and I am running errands at lunch. I stop by Home Depot to get the fitting to fix the sprinkler line and go to the garden section to look at temporary fencing to keep Baylie out of the flower beds and some wooden stakes to help prop up some trellis for my jasmine. 

Just as I am passing through the doors from the inside to the garden center I notice a display for rat poison. I almost kept going as I was on my lunch, but then I thought "hey, I am here," so I stopped and went back. I looked over the different things that had to kill rats and settled on a kind that they would eat and would kill them a few days later - hopefully once they had left my shed so I wouldn't have to find dead bodies. 

Later that day, I get home, grab my sprinkler fitting out of the bag and set the bag with the rest of the contents on the ground just outside the side garage door - to eventually be put in the shed. I go out back,  notice that Baylie went to town on all my vegetable plants and I put her on what ends up being a 3-hour time-out which absolutely breaks her heart, I am sure. (Yes, looking back I regret it).

I then kill my little hands getting the sprinkler line fixed and feel accomplished for the day. I had planned on testing the line the next day and then finishing putting in the rest of the drip system that went on that line.

The next day started out like any other Thursday: I put Baylie out back, give her a Greenies and she happily runs away with it.

Later at work I realize I could use a break from Thursday night bible study that night as I wanted to get the drip system in before being gone on my mini-vacation and I really didn't want to come home to dead plants and see all my hard work go down the drain. An email was sent and study was cancelled.

After work, I go out back, turn on the water to the line I had fixed to make sure my patch worked and just about had another nervous breakdown when I notice water bubbling up from under one of my hydrangeas on the other side of the yard. Seriously? What else could go wrong?!

I was over it - the drip system could wait. I was hungry and I just was NOT going to mess with the backyard until another day. Craig asked a few times about us going to Home Depot to get the parts and  fixing it that night and I said no, we could do it some other time.

After dinner I felt better so I figured I'd give it a shot. I go out back, start digging and for some reason I went to look in the shed for something.

Walking down my side yard - there it was: a chewed up container of rat poison. My eyes darted all over the place looking for the little green bricks that use to be in the package and my heart sank knowing exactly where they were - in Baylie's stomach.

My first thoughts were: Why did that first sprinkler have to break? Why did I have to go to Home Depot to get the fitting to fix it? Why did that trip turn into me needing other stuff and WHY did I walk by the rat poison!? I was so mad at the sequence of events that led to me even buying it that day.

However, I have nothing but praise to God for the other sequence of events that saved my pup's life.

• Probably right around the time Baylie was eating the poison, I got this idea to just cancel study at my house so I could get other stuff done. Had I not, there would never been any reason for me to go on my side yard and see the empty package. 
• Because I cancelled bible study, I could work in the backyard and eventually see the package. 
• HOWEVER, it's possible that if the sprinkler line hadn't been broken in a second spot, I still would not have ventured to my side yard. 

If none of the above had happened, I wouldn't have known anything had happened until Baylie started having symptoms - and by that time it could have been too late.

Praise the Lord is all I say. I think it's all too easy to ask "Why God. WHY?!" when something goes wrong, but if we open our eyes we can easily see Him at work in seemingly small ways that have HUGE impacts. 

Amen!