I have been caring for fish for a lot of my life. When I was a kid, we had a huge aquarium. When we lived in Korea, we inherited a fish tank and when we moved to the States, the kids wanted to have a pet. I bought a 3 gallon tank and started anew. I’ve been taking care of them for the most part, feeding them early in the mornings. There’s one fish in particular I loved. He knew every time when I was approaching the tank to feed them. He would curl up and then stretch out, swim around excitedly like a little puppy dog when his master would come back home. I loved all the fish, but especially that one.

One day the tank was getting very green. Algae everywhere and I decided to clean it. I got lazy. I didn’t save some of the old water to the new. I did a rough temperature check. I just dumped out all the old water, power washed it with the garden hose, and then refilled it with dechlorinated water. Put the fish back in and immediately they went into shock. I didn’t know what to do. I saw some of the fish die immediately. I saw the one that I loved the most fight for his life to the very end. To the very end I was eyeing him, sending him good energy to fight the fight, hoping he’d eventually get accustomed to the new water. I didn’t have any old water since I had dumped everything.

I was glued to the fish tank as I watched more fish die. The rest of my family said it was over. I was in shock and felt super guilty. What do they care, they never fed the fish. There was only 1 fish left. It survived. It lived. But I had mixed emotions over it. I just thought, I failed and that there was no use in keeping one last fish. It was like this post-partum depression and I wasn’t happy it was still alive. I was already thinking of ways to get rid of it.

A day had passed and my wife tells me to come down. My immediate thought was that I was in trouble for something, again. She was sitting next to the tank and said look. I couldn’t see anything at first. But then as I wrenched my eyes, I could see tiny tiny tadpole-like creatures in the tank swimming around. At first I thought they were insects that somehow got their way into the tank. But then I realized how small the surviving fish was. She was pregnant the entire time!

Days have gone by and they are getting bigger. As I’m counting, there are now 12 tiny baby fish! It is simply amazing the turn of events that took place in that fish tank. With death comes new life. It is the resurrection, personified. The mixed emotions turning into joy. I am renewed, rejuvenated and a new creation. I thank God for his blessings abound. There is a new lense with a new perspective, where I was once blind, but now I see.