Another Episode In The Life Of A Missionary

The other night, I was looking through a box, trying to find my computer when I noticed something moving about 3 inches from my face. I really don't like anything to be that close to my face in the twilight, so I jumped back to examine the cause of the disturbance from a more reasonable distance. Now, my eyes are not that great, and it was not that light in here, but I could tell that it was not something that I wanted in my room! So, at the risk of looking silly if it turned out to be a gecko, I started yelling that there was a snake in my room.Unfortunately, I could not leave the room and climb the tallest tree around because Hannah was sleeping right under the intruder! Although her mosquito net was up, it looks pretty flimsy when compared to the proximity of the creature. Pretty soon, well armed men with flashlights appeared, and the darkness became light as machetes gleamed, held ready for action. Sure enough, a snake was spotted, looking surprised and annoyed at the would be assassins. Andrew cautiously approached, and waited for the snake to get into a convenient spot, and then with great vehemence, struck the snake a mighty blow.This woke up Hannah, who was quite quick at figuring out just exactly what was taking place above her bed, and pretty soon, amid the cries of "where did the snake go" were heard the terrified wails of a 3 year old, who is already afraid of snakes! I snatched her out of danger and sent her to the safety of the living room. The hunt for the missing snake was intensifying...flashlights were plying the darkness both inside and under the house. But, no snake was to be seen! This did not make us feel all that comfortable, and we kept glancing furtively behind us at every sound. (there are LOTS of sounds in the jungle at night)When the excitement of the snake hunt had begun, everyone came running to either squeal distractingly, or to help in the hunt...quite forgetting a certain little lady out in the living room. Destiny just learned to crawl last week, and so she suddenly had the entire living room at her disposal, and was quite bewildered since we normally are trying to keep her from falling outside. (this house was not build for a crawling baby!) But, she bravely decided to make the most of it, and was busy seeing just how many things she could find to pull herself up on, and what could be better than the frail railing around the edge of the living room? Pawkuhmooeydee was the first to go back into the living room, where she spotted the adventurous Destiny, and rescued her from falling headlong into outer darkness, where there would then be wailing... (I just finished reading Revelation again)We never did find that crazy snake, but we know that somewhere, there is a snake with a sore back slithering around. And our prayer is that he will steer clear of our house from now on.