Shannon
A Plague in the West
It started just like many days start. We had been traveling around the American west, satisfying an urge to get out of town and feed the adventurous spirit in each of us. We landed in a small motel somewhere in northern Wyoming late the night before, and everyone slept in. I opened my eyes the next morning and saw the sun peeking through the drawn curtains, realizing it was well past breakfast. Throwing back the covers, my nine year old frame ran to the door and pushed it open to see where we were. Misty mountains poked up on the horizon, their peaks capped with fluffy white clouds. The sun was climbing quickly in the sky spreading its heat on the rugged Wyoming countryside. The day had begun and we were wasting it!
I had made enough commotion that mom and dad were beginning to move around in the room behind me. People were moving back and forth outside, getting on with their day and I was ready to meet them all! The desire to get outside came over me with compulsion. Almost beyond control I turned to implore my parents asking, "Can I go outside to play?" They were compliant and helped me into some appropriate clothing. "Don't play in the parking lot," was the last instruction I heard as I ran out the door.
Scoping out the area, I spied a small weedy pond near the back of the motel. Oh joy! I loved ponds. They were always full of interesting insects, critters and fish. Filled with anticipation, I snuck up to the edge, carefully watching for any movement. I saw a dragonfly lounging on a bulrush not three feet from my nose. A water-skater whizzed by as if called to an emergency, and a small group of minnows scooted through the shallow water.
A small disturbance irrupted in the weeds next to the path. I noticed dark green frogs with white underbellies and brown spots everywhere; climbing over each other, weaving through the tall grass, and splashing the muddy water. Exciting!
With one perfectly executed victorious pounce, I leapt toward a frog capturing the wiggling creature in my hands. Awesome! I ran back to our room, water flying, frog wriggling, frog legs flopping, and slimy weeds falling to the ground everywhere. My path looked like a crime scene with all evidence leading to room 107, our little room on the first floor next to the ice machine.
I burst through the door, dripping bits of sludge onto the carpet. The ruckus should have startled my mother but she had dealt with my exuberance for many years and had nerves of steel. "Mommy, mommy, look what I caught!"
"Ribbit!" The frog just stared at my mother, eyes bulging because of the pressure I was applying with my little hands. "Ribbit....crooooak!" Translated he was likely saying, "Mom, can you get me out of this mess? I mean, really!"
Mom looked up, assessed the situation, and simply said, "Honey, why don't you go ask the cook for a jar to put your friend in? When you’re ready for breakfast, come to the dining room over there,” and she pointed.
I shot out of the door and into the kitchen of the restaurant attached to the motel. The cook obliged with a gallon glass pickle jar sporting a metal lid. I stuffed the frog into it and quickly returned to the pond. Throwing some weeds, mud and water in the jar, I continued to collect more frogs. When the jar was full to the top of the little amphibians, I sat down to admire my handy work. Countless beady little black eyes looked back at me as if to say, “If you let me out and kiss my head, I’ll turn into a prince!” They looked longingly at me.
I ran back up the path toward the restaurant with my jar full of prince’s. What I quickly learned however was that a gallon jar full of mud, water and frogs is heavy! Numbness began to radiate through my fingers from the pressure the jar applied.
“Mom, dad, look what I caught,” I cried as I burst through the diner door! A few people near the door absent mindedly looked up from their brunch, coffee cups in hand. And then it happened. The slippery jar flew from my numb fingers and burst on the concrete floor.
Everything went into slow motion scenes as if recorded for the horror movie: Frogs Attack! Diners sat there, forks half way to their open mouths, frozen in astonishment. There were muffled screams, wet muddy frogs hopping every which way, and broken glass all over the floor. One dignified lady jumped up with a contorted look on her face, her hands in the air, and her new Italian heels splattered with mud. An older gentleman brushed a frog off of his plate, while another frog hopped onto a high chair staring down its patron atop a pile of mashed potatoes.
As I look back on that event, it was just “one-of-those-days.” My folks tried to pay for the damage, but the manager said it was the most excitement they’d had in a year, and no real damage was done. A few years later we stopped again at the same restaurant. The manger shared that people still talk about that day, and it sort of “put them on the map”. “Besides,” he said, “it made for some funny memories.”
No matter how well we plan, sometimes things don’t turn out as expected. There are times in our lives that seem like we’re staring down a grizzly bear and there is no clear way out. God promises us in Isaiah 43, that whatever the circumstance in our life, he is with us. When you walk through swirling waters, he is there. When you step into the fire, he is there. There is no situation and no place that God does not inhabit for the good of those who love him.
Are you standing at the edge of a precipice today with no way across? Cry out to God, seek his help, his love and his comfort. He is faithful. Take a moment to read Psalm 91. You are called beloved! He will lift you up in the hands of his angels so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
Amen
Shannon
Psalm 91
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
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