The Unwelcome Visitor

Yesterday…it happened. No, it probably isn’t a big deal to most of you, but it was a HUGE deal to me. Ti bolted to the right out of our basement headed toward the car. I did an instinctive “scan” of the sidewalk before I walked out the door. There it was. Laying in all it’s nasty, skin-crawling glory. All I saw was about twelve inches, but that was WAY more than enough for me. I calmly (um, maybe that’s not exactly the right adjective) hollered for Ti. He came around the car and then he saw it. I knew what was next. He screamed – a blood-curling shrill. He doesn’t like ants, let alone you know what. I can’t even type it – you know the “s” word. Somehow he jumped over that sucker and came flying in the basement. (I’m still not sure how he missed it when he left the basement). By this time I had dropped most of what was in my hands – some of it is still laying in the floor. All the while, I was summoning Joe in a high pitched shrill of my own. Ti was running up the steps hysterical. Y’all, hysterical. All I can say is “snake” over and over. Joe turned to go back up the steps. Dude! Where are you going?? He thought he would go out the back door and come around. Why? To sneak up on it?? Um, no. You are getting this thing…NOW.

It was a circus! I found my way upstairs. Ti was standing in the hall – still screaming. I grabbed him. He was shaking. If you don’t know already, he is super special and sometimes things are a lot more intense for him. His little heart felt like it would come clear out of his chest.

I walked to my bathroom window so I could keep an eye on the situation and make sure that sucker breathed his last. I could tell right away Joe had lost that nasty thing. He was beating around in the azaleas…walking up the steps to the backyard. How in the world did he let that thing get away?

I’ve struggled with this ordeal since yesterday. Like, I don’t want to go outside and I’m definitely not going outside in the dark…at all…until who knows when. BUT then it hit me. That disgusting thing is just like the enemy. It was laid out, belly flat, enjoying my sidewalk. Invading my space. It traumatized my kid. It traumatized me. Here’s what we didn’t realize right away – the light fixture immediately above where it was “laying in wait” was housing a bird’s nest. Y’all, it was sly. It knew where it was and what it was doing.

What Joe didn’t tell me until later is that it got defensive when he tried to pick it up to move it. Then he said he turned away for one second and it was gone. GONE? Now that thing is somewhere out there…not dead. BUT it got me thinking a little deeper. Just like the enemy! He gets defensive when we try to move him – throw his attack plans off track. Friends, if we let our defenses down and aren’t paying attention he moves around, and while it appears he is gone, he is actually still “out there” – we may just not see him at the moment.

1 Peter 5:8 tells us “Keep a cool head. Stay Alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping.” (MSG) Just like that nasty snake. Poised to make his move. Here’s the thing…I am not happy the snake visited yesterday, but it was used as a tool to remind me to stay alert. The enemy is close and wants to catch me off guard. My heavenly daddy is closer. I desire an even deeper, more intimate relationship with Him where I’m increasingly focused on what He is doing and don’t have time to be caught off guard.

So, while yesterday was traumatic (not kidding), I’m choosing to be grateful for the lesson. Oh, and triple checking before walking out the basement door! One more thing, Joe advised he wouldn’t have killed a “good snake”. Seriously?