Rufus does not look like he is long for this world. The color has gone out of his fins, his head seems slightly deformed and there is a gray spot on top of it that was never there before. Rufus is a betta fish we have had for so long that no one in the household can remember when we got him.Right now, Rufus is hiding behind a couple sea shells. Every few minutes, with great effort, he wriggles up to the surface, grabs a flake of food and then slowly slides back down to the bottom of his bowl.
I read that these fish can live up to 7 years if properly cared for. Well, we must be doing something right because it seems like we’ve had him forever.
Ever wonder why God gave us these creatures if not to learn something about ourselves in what we project upon them, even a little fish. So what has Rufus taught us, if indeed he is on his last fin?
Be content with what you have.
Make the most of a little.
Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.
Show off your color.
Strut a little.
John Fischer The Catch 
Beautiful fish! We had a betta fish that lived for about 3 years. My daughter was not quite 3 when we got it, and she named it “fishie” of course. Fishie was all blue. The other day my daughter said she wished she could go to heaven right now, and I asked her why. She said she wanted to see fishie (She is now 7.5 by the way…). I guess she misses him, nearly 3 years after his passing. So even now fishie is teaching me a lot about the love and faith of a child.
Bring Joy to those around you – just by being you!
This reminded me of when our children were small . Our beta fish for all intents and purposes looked dead as a doornail.
As my youngest who is an animal lover extrodinare looked intently at the fish lying there in the bowl without the least motion she looked up with tears in her eyes and commented ” Didn’t Jesus raise the dead?”
I certainly did not want to pass up an opportunity to demonstrate faith …so I prayed…in Jesus name….the fish not only ‘resurrected’ , he lived another several years, even traveling the length of the state of CA with us when we moved ..in a tupperware juice jug!
I don’t know how many other of my lessons I preached to my homeschooled kids stuck fast but I know at least ONE of them will never forget the famous family ‘fish’ tale!