The following beautiful rescue story comes from Sharon Sigethy Coughlin.  Sharon's hope is that sharing her story will encourage others to share their own, and encourage all of us who may wonder from time to time if God really does look out for His creatures.  I'm grateful for her courage and compassion in doing so ...

I was driving home from work, second shift, on a late summer night.  It was 11:30 at night, and there wasn't much traffic on my drive home.  I was pretty tired, and turned onto the main road leading into town.  Everything was quiet.  My husband and I live in a fairly rural area so at night you don't see many cars, even on the main road through town.

I drove past the hospital and the town municipal building.  No one was around, and I kept heading home.  It was pretty dark outside, and the road was fairly narrow and twisting, so I turned on my brights and slowed down over a blind drop in the road.  I came to a point in town where the road bends slightly right.

I usually keep my eyes peeled for animals on the road.  In this area, it's fairly common to see deer and raccoons crossing the road.  Bear also live nearby, and once in a while I might even see a red fox.  As I followed the turn, my eyes caught sight of something.  It looked like a small white lump in the gravel off to the right. 

My first thought was, it looks like a rabbit.  Then it occurred to me, that can't be a rabbit.  If it is, it must be a domestic rabbit, and what would a domestic rabbit be doing out of its cage at 11:30 pm at night? And what would he be doing on the side of the main road through town? 

Maybe it's someone's cat, I thought.  Maybe it was hit by a car, and is lying in the dirt.  But I didn't see any legs or a tail.  No, maybe it's just a toy that fell out of a passing car.  Whatever it was, it didn't move as I drove past.

Something really tugged at me.  Should I stop and see what the white lump is?  What if it's a hurt animal and I can't do anything?  I would feel so bad.  Maybe I don't want to know.  But what if it is a rabbit?  What is he doing out here, all alone?  How could I just drive past and leave him lying there?

There are foxes, feral cats, hawks, and owls out at night.  He's not even hiding in the brush just beyond the road.  Something will find him.  And he's just inches from any cars driving by at 40 MPH.  What if he runs into the road when the next car passes by?  He's not safe.

I found the next driveway and turned the car around.  My heart was pounding.  I had to take the risk and find out.  Is it an animal that needs help, or a toy or an animal that I can't help? 

The white lump was still there.  I pulled the car off the road, my bright headlights beaming on the object.  It didn't move, and I got out of the car.  It was a rabbit, and he didn't appear to be injured.  He was a small lop-eared bunny, white and tan.  And he had to be someone's pet, with little sense of what danger he was in, or what to do to protect himself.  I had to get him to safety.

I moved towards him slowly, and thought to myself how I know nothing about rabbits.  How am I going to pick him up?  I slowly bent down and put my hands around his middle.  He started to hop, and moved away from the brush.  I caught his back legs, but he was too soft and slippery. 

He hopped into the road.  I looked both ways and saw no headlights coming towards us.  I had to catch him!  I said a silent prayer, "Please, God, we're in the middle of the road.  This rabbit is domesticated, and can't live in the wild.  I need to catch this little bunny!" 

The next time I bent down and tried to catch him, I finally got him!  He struggled a little bit, and I figured he might even bite me.  But I had to get him out of the road.  I held onto him fairly tightly as I walked back to the car and quickly opened the door. 

... How was I going to explain this to my husband?

We kept the little rabbit in the bathtub that night.  My husband fed him a carrot, and I got him some water in a bowl and some hay (we have two guinea pigs).  We both felt very attached to the bunny.  He looked so cute as he sat nibbling the carrot.  I felt certain that God had put me in the right place at the right time to find this little rabbit.

My husband insisted that I try to find the owner.  He was sure the rabbit must be a child's pet.  Maybe he or she forgot to lock the cage, and the rabbit got out. 

So the next day I put up signs.  I called the newspaper.  And I went to the house closest to where I found him.  A woman came to the door when I knocked.  Yes, her daughter had told her about a rabbit on the side of the road last night; but no, it wasn't their rabbit.

About a week later, I got a phone call.  It was the rabbit's owner.  Her family was having difficulties, and she didn't think they could take care of him anymore.  Would I know of anyone who would like to adopt him?

My husband and I kept the rabbit.

I feel certain that God was looking out for the little rabbit that day.  He had hopped a significant distance, about a quarter mile, from his original home.  How long had he been out of his cage?  How many cars had driven past?  How had he stayed safe?

So many things could have happened to him.  I frequently see animals hit by cars on the side of the road.  Drivers just don't see them in the dark.  How did he manage to cross the road?  Why did he just sit in the gravel and not hop into the brush? 

I'm thankful that God put the rabbit in a place where he could be found, and I'm certain that God and his angels made sure he was safe until someone could come along and bring him to a home where he would be looked after and taken care of.

(content courtesy & copyright Sharon Sigethy Coughlin; photos copyright Roman Krochuk & Elena Elisseeva/123rf.com)