**This is a post from 2 years ago from my previous blog, reposted here. Praising the Lord that we have not found any more giant snakes near us in the recent days.**
Now…..enjoy….or not.
For as long as I can remember I have had a debilitating fear of snakes. The kind of fear that makes you cry, your hands shake, and even, on occasion, throw up. To some this fear may seem silly or irrational, but to me, it is all too real.
But I had no idea how real it was going to get…..
At first, we began finding these little baby pythons in the yard, on the back stairs, and even on the laundry basket. Let’s just say I didn’t handle it well. Picture me puffy-eyed, red-faced, on the floor of the bathroom crying to Dave about how I just couldn’t stay here anymore. We had to move, and quick. Every time I thought about these evil, evil things I would erupt into sobs once more.
Eventually I did pull myself together somewhat and managed to carry on (I even managed to leave the bathroom floor), although I wouldn’t go into the backyard for many, many days. I squirmed with fear every time I thought about these horrible things, and prayed that I would never, ever, ever see one again.
After all, here I am sacrificing comfort, missing family, and dripping with sweat every day all for the Lord, right?! Surely the Lord would answer my desperate pleas for a life free from any more snakes! Right?! Ahem.
In the end, they caught 22 baby pythons between our backyard and our neighbor’s backyard (which by the way, they found far more in the neighbors’ backyard, and my dear friend and co-worker handled the snakes far better than I did).
Life returned to normal (relatively), and slowly the threat of finding snakes faded into the distance. I still would not go outside in the dark, or ever walk in any kind of tall grass. But overall, I was able to carry on with life.
And then, just when life was returning to normal, last Wednesday I heard our Indonesian neighbor boy yell for my son, Britton, to come see the snake he found. Oh great, I thought, another baby python….here we go again.
But nothing could prepare me for what it was they found…..
This, literally feet from my house. Tears spring to my eyes and my hands are shaking just posting these pictures. My greatest all-time fear, right near my own house! It is difficult to even believe it.
Have we moved yet? No. We are still living in our same house, right in the middle of all the slithery action. Am I camping out on the bathroom floor? No, although I did have another melt down, the kind where it turns into the ugly cry. And I do mean the UGLY cry.
Yet, in it all, the Lord has given me great peace. Throughout my day, I keep singing the song from Rich Mullins,
Hold Me Jesus Cause I’m shaking like a leaf, You have been King of my glory, Won’t you be my prince of peace.That snake was big, really big. And I am shaking like a leaf.
However, the God I serve is bigger than that snake, and bigger than my fear. I have had to come to the end of myself and my own fears and realize that I serve the God who made that huge, disgusting creature (although I’m sure I don’t know why).
I raise my shaking hand and slip in into His and know that He is with me. It is very humbling, and very freeing all at the same time. The Lord doesn’t promise us a life free from trials, but He does promise us He will be there through all of them.
I have never held tighter to His mighty hand, and I have no intention of letting go. And the good news is, neither does He.
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