RATTLESNAKE

Oh my, as Rick Holland (one of our pastors) said today, we skipped spring and went right to summer! Along with 95 degree weather around these parts, comes the frightening reality of rattlesnakes and black widows. I was out watering the flowers which were languishing in the heat this afternoon, and my mom was out with me chatting, when she spotted this little guy running from the water through my flowers. "SNAKE!!" She shouted. "WHERE????" I shouted back. My adrenaline was pumping when she pointed right in front of me in the flower bed. I immediately looked for a shovel which so happened to be on the ground a foot away from me. I was probably looking like a maniac as I chopped wildly at the unsuspecting snake. I missed him a few times, but thankfully he didn't get too far away as you can see in the picture. I actually felt a little bad for him. The adrenaline was going for quite a while after his death blow, but (I'm a little ashamed to admit) I was feeling a bit like a hero for having saved my childrens' lives (haha). I'm sure Kurt got a kick out of me coming into his office (as he was studying to preach tonight) and reinacting the attack. A proud moment for this mom. I'm not afraid of no snakes!! Okay, so that's not exactly the whole truth. I'm not afraid of snakes unless they're the kind that have venomous fangs and they're in my backyard while my children are playing less than 5 feet away (yes, that's what happened). That's when fear can set in. Thankfully, I've been reminded of the reality that God holds my kids in the palm of His Sovereign hand, and I don't need to fear! After Cam crawled over a black widow that was on our stairs a little over a year ago, I began to realize that I could never prevent something from happening if it was in God's divine providential plan. After all, He cares for them more than I could! So, I will entrust them to Him, as they belong to Him anyway!