The Ox in the Ditch (and the Turtle in the Road)

 May 19, 2025

Yesterday on the way to our little country church, Travis and I saw a box turtle lying upside down in the road. We passed it by at first—just one more bump in the journey. But I could tell by the way he tightened his grip on the wheel that it had gotten to him.

“Are you going to turn around and help that turtle?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said, eyes scanning for a place to turn around. “As soon as I can find a spot.”

So we turned around. And sure enough, the poor thing had been hit. Its shell was cracked. Another car was coming, so in a hurry, Travis picked it up and tossed it over the fence into the pasture.

“Why did you throw it?” I asked, wincing.

“I was trying to get it out of the tall grass,” he replied. “So it wouldn’t get stuck.”

We drove on, but I could feel the weight of that turtle still sitting with him. After a moment he said, “I’m going back.”

And back we went—again. He spotted the turtle, now on its back again, in the pasture. Determined to help, he decided to climb through the barbed-wire fence. Mind you, Travis is almost 80 years old.

I held the wires apart while he tried to squeeze through, but he lost his footing and down he went—right into the ditch. And because I was holding the fence, I fell with him.

I bounced up fairly easily. He did not.

There we were: two old folks in the ditch on a Sunday morning, rescuing a busted-up turtle. Grass-stained and breathless, we stood there trying to decide what to do next when a man from our church slowed his car to check on us.

“We’re fine!” we waved. “Just rescuing a turtle!”

He nodded and drove on, no doubt wondering what in the world we were doing.

“I’m going in there and getting that turtle,” Travis said again.

“You can’t go through that fence,” I told him.

“Yes, I can,” he insisted.

But just then, the turtle flipped itself over.

We looked at each other. And laughed. And headed to church—him with grass stains on his new shirt and pants, both of us a little bruised but smiling.

As we sat down in the pew, he leaned over and whispered, “Isn’t there something in the Bible about an ox in the ditch?”

I nodded. “Yes—if your ox falls in the ditch on the Sabbath, you get him out.”

He grinned. “Well, we did. Even if it was a turtle.”

Still Curious, Still Growing. Still Grateful.

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