Don't kill it! That's an answer to my prayer!!!

Two weeks ago, I was yearning to go outside. I had been too sick to get out of bed for a couple days. But, as the sun was slowly descending toward the horizon, I was determined to get outside and breathe some fresh air. Unfortunately, I was in the midst of reading the Bible when I became determined to go outside. I kept thinking, oh, one more verse of Scripture and then I will get out of bed. I must have said this too many times because by the time I got outside, the sun had set and it was growing dark. I was outside only a few minutes when the following happened:

La, la, what a beautiful evening. I meandered to a tree and thought that looks like a snake (insert photo of a snake 2 feet from me). I wonder if it is alive. It looks dead the way it is lying across the decorative rocks around the tree. Oh, my! The markings and coloring on the snake look like a rattlesnake. I wonder if it has a rattle for a tail. (I cautiously look at the tail.) It is hard to tell the way the snake is positioned. I should look at the head. Yep, it definitely has a rattlesnake head. Yikes!!! A rattlesnake!!! (I quickly move away from the snake and start praising the Lord. I was so close to the snake!) I cautiously go back to the tree to see if the snake is alive. Yep, it is alive and is now all coiled up with its head poised ready to strike. Wow, and it blends right in the the rocks too! Praise be to God I saw the snake when I did! Snakes come out in the evening. I have seen some on the roadways always after the sun sets. I now know not to go out into the yard after the sun sets. There are definitely snakes around!

A few days ago, I was thinking about how I dislike rattlesnakes. Then, a thought popped in my head. Without rattlesnakes, there would be lots of mice around, and mice are a HUGE headache! They get between the walls, into the attic, into any nook and cranny. Ah, yes, Lord keep the rattlesnakes around to eat up the mice. Then I remembered there are black snakes which eat rattlesnakes. I sent up a quick prayer, "Oh Lord. Since we need the rattlesnakes to eat the mice, could you send a black snake to the area to eat the rattlesnakes?"

This morning, my dad saw a black snake slither from the driveway into the edge of the yard. As soon as I heard this, I exclaimed, "Don't kill it! That's an answer to my prayer!" I then explained black snakes eat the rattlesnakes and rattlesnakes eat mice. So, don't kill anything. God is taking care of it all!