I knew my betta fish, Geppetto von Swimington, hadn't been looking so hot but until one of the teachers at my school made this pronouncement I had not realized the extent of his decline -- a case of seeing him every day and not noticing the slow changes. I had just figured he was slowing down and it wasn't long before I would be shopping for a new fish, not an uncommon occurrence.
When I examined him I realized his beautiful tail with the green dot was now a small, dotless nub, and his side fins were similarly affected. He wasn't able to swim well in this condition and spent a great deal of time flailing on the bottom of his small tank on my desk trying to make it to the surface to get some air. "Is your fish dead?" replaced "I need" as the most common greeting in my office.
After doing some research it appeared that Geppetto had a case of fin rot, which is as horrid as it sounds. I considered putting him out of his misery with a burial at sea, but just couldn't bring myself to do it. Plus when I talked to him, he would make a valiant effort to swim, as if to let me know he did not approve of any DNR plans.
So that evening I went to the pet store and stocked up on a variety of recommended products and started a regime of water changes with a cocktail of aquarium salt and an assortment of pricey magical fish potions. Over the next week or so he didn't seem to be getting better, but wasn't getting worse. He still seemed mostly dead but I kept plugging away.
Then on the way home from work one day I was praying about him (yes, I pray about even the smallest thing) and then asked God why I should go to so much time, trouble and expense for a five dollar fish and His response blew me away.
He said, "It's not about price. It's about value."
I am happy to say that Mr. Swimmington has returned to good health, and his fins have grown back in all their glory. But more importantly I was reminded that God is infinitely concerned about every detail.
