Mr. Chips was my pet goldfish. At five years old, he was the survivor of a twosome that I had named Fish and Chips, but Fish died and I began calling this guy Mr. Chips.

One Easter Sunday morning I went to feed Mr. Chips before going to church, but he was not in his bowl. Now how could that be? My first thought was that my tiny pet had gone to goldfish heaven, and someone had removed him from his bowl before I could discover his floating body. But no one had even looked in on the little goldfish. It then dawned on me that perhaps he had jumped out of the bowl–some fish are known to do that.  I got down on my hands and knees and searched the floor under the desk. There he was lying in a dust ball on the carpet!  His little body was quite dry when I picked him up, but as he lay in the palm of my hand I thought I detected a slight movement…could it be? Yes!  His tiny gill actually moved!

I slipped him back into his bowl. He floated on top of the water and then suddenly flicked his tail and began to swim, leaving tiny trails of dust behind. I scooped out the bits of dust, gave Mr. Chips his much-deserved breakfast and went to Easter Sunday service.

I arrived home two hours later and promptly checked in on my pet. He wasn’t there!

“Did anyone see Mr. Chips?” I cried.

Again, no one had looked in on him. I got down on all fours once more, looking for my fish and there he was, for the second time, lying lifelessly under the desk. Just as the time before, I could see a tiny flicker of life, and gently slipped him back into his bowl. I watched hopefully as he again swam the dust off his little gold body.

As I observed Mr. Chips regain his life force for the second time that Easter morning, I knew I had to change his name to Mr. Miracle. That little guy lived another five years and never jumped out again.

That’s my fish story–what’s yours?

Even the Bible has a few great fish tales!