‘Chippy’s test of faith!’

Now this is a test of faith – would you still sing after going through this ordeal??

‘Chippy the parakeet never saw it coming. One second he was peacefully perched in his cage singing, the next he was sucked in, washed up, and blown over. His problem began when his owner decided to clean his cage with a vacuum. She stuck the nozzle in to suck up the seeds and feathers at the bottom of the cage. Then the phone rang. Instinctively she turned to pick it up. She’d barely said ‘hello’ when-sswwwwPPPPP! Chippy got sucked in. She gasped, let the phone drop, and snapped off the vacuum. With her heart in her mouth, she unzipped the bag. There was Chippy-alive, but stunned-covered with heavy black dust. She grabbed him and rushed to the bathtub, turned on the faucet full blast and held Chippy under a torrent of ice-cold water, power-washing him clean. Then she did what any compassionate pet owner would do: she snatched up the hairdryer and blasted the wet, shivering little bird with hot air.’ Swindoll closes his story with these words: ‘Chippy doesn’t sing much any-more.’ Life will test you, but don’t let it steal your song!

UCB Reading, 19 December 2010