A salamander in my garden looked like it could die. This is what happened.



In my garden, I had placed some cardboard as mulch to suppress weeds. But it's time to dig into the garden to prepare it for new plants. I picked up a piece of cardboard and uncovered hundreds of fire ants. And a piece of the packing tape fell off the cardboard with a living salamander stuck to the tape! And now with the fire ants stirred up, he was in danger of being stung. I picked up the tape with attached salamander and moved him away from the ants, putting him down on the ground away from the ants.

It was very sad to me and I did not know how to release the salamander without his flesh being torn or his legs broken. His face was stuck to the tape but he was breathing. He was wriggling back and forth, but could not break free. It seemed that only his tail could move off the tape, but all the rest of his body, including his little feet were stuck on the packing tape. He was breathing hard and looked afraid and I was very sorry. I immediately began praying, asking the Lord to help.

Some ideas came to me. First, I got some scissors and cut the excess tape off. The little creature was thrashing around and in danger of getting stuck even worse. I prayed fervently that the Lord would do a miracle....

So then I poured water over the salamander and tape. That seemed to have no effect.



Then the thought came to me to get some oil. I keep a bottle of old, edible oil in the workshop for use in making fires in the wood stove. I poured oil over the tape and over the salamander.

But he was still stuck. I covered him with leaves so he could be hidden, then I went inside, feeling very sad. I felt partly responsible for the misery of the creature, because I was the one who put the cardboard down with its very sticky tape attached to it. I asked the Lord, "Where are the miracles? Where is the power?"

I returned outside and saw the salamander was in a different location, but was still stuck on the tape, but he was in much better shape. His face was no longer stuck and his head was up above the tape. I began to apply a little more water, and he broke free, and walked away!

My jaw dropped open. I felt like I witnessed a miracle. And the tape is no longer sticky. I guess the oil helped dissolve the adhesive.



I saw a good answer to my prayer, and thank God for that! He was faithful to help me and the little creature! The salamander crawled away into a dark gap between some rocks. I couldn't see him any more. A little later, I thought it would have been good to have a picture of him alive. I returned outside and there he was, sitting on a rock, resting in the sunlight!









And then he moved to another rock, demonstrating that he was physically in good shape. I wonder if the Lord actually gave the little creature some healing.





What began as a very sad experience ended with relief, and renewed and strenghtened faith in a God who hears our every prayer.