After clearing out the brush and weeds from behind the spider web I was spent.  This project wasn’t what I had planned and took longer than I expected. It looked as though I was only half way done. I decided to stop.  I was tired and had “other things that needed to be done”.  I told myself (and God) “I’ll finish it tomorrow”.  As it goes with life that didn’t happen though.  Other things kept popping up that I thought were more pressing than finishing weeding out the rose bush.

 

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I didn’t get back to clearing it out until several weeks later after a torrential downpour. The storm had brought down and washed  in a load of pine straw on top of what was already there.  As I began  again to clear out weeds and pine straw I found yet another surprise waiting for me: a snake!  I froze. We have a few poisonous snakes here which I’m not too familiar with.  It had crawled under the pine straw and popped its head up as I was pulling some weeds. Immediately I was thankful for the thick leather gloves I was wearing. My feet and ankles were not so protected though.  I backed away and went inside to don some socks and an old pair of cowboy boots.  I also grabbed a shovel.  

 

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Back out I went to see if the snake was still there. It was. I gently coaxed it out from where it was hiding. It was small and a beautiful gold color.  Not wanting to kill a non-poisonous snake since they help with bugs and mice, I got it to leave our yard.  

 

Then I finished clearing out the pine straw and other weeds. Stepping back The bush looked better than I imagined it would! From the start of that day, even with the snake snafu it only took 30 minutes to finish, even with the weeds that had grown back!

 

The next day at work I showed my co-worked some pictures of the snake.  I was informed it was definitely a poisonous snake.  Not only that, it was also young. I learned this makes them an increased threat since they don’t control their venom like more mature snakes.  If a young snake bites, it releases all its venom!  I regretted not disposing of it then!

 

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A few days later I stepped out to the back yard to water and prune some other plant I had growing. There on our back patio was the young snake sunbathing!  I quickly stepped back in, yanked on my boots again and grabbed the shovel.  Stepping out I took a breath, praying God would help me do this!  He did! I was able to kill the snake with one slice of the shovel.

 

God taught me a couple more lessons that day. The first is the importance of finishing what God has you start and to not be distracted by what I thought I should be doing. Also, not to put off what I know God has told me to do. Had I cleared out all the pine straw before the storm, the snake may have never made a home there.

 

The second lesson is that God doesn’t waste anything.  Even when I’m not obedient, He uses that to teach me and grow me.  He showed me that my hesitation in killing the snake the first time only led to regret and fear, which are not from Him.

 

The third lesson was that when given another chance to obey, immediate obedience is best and He will provide help.  God reassured me that not only does He love and protect me, but our children and our dog as well. Though the snake was beautiful, ultimately it was a danger to our family.  God knew this and kept us safe as He taught me these lessons.