it is that ear-peircing scream that, as a mom, you drop whatever you have and run to the origin of the sound. and it wasn't just one child's scream, it was both. there was no time to even ponder what might have happened, but to just feel the fear of what may lie ahead. as i turned the corner of the hallway, there they were....no, not a pool of blood, not bones popping out...it was...a lizard. the kids' faces were white and they were huddled in the corner of the toy room as if king kong just came crashing in. geesh. relief overcame me until i soon realized, "who the heck is gonna get this lizard out?" ah ha! troy would be home in less than an hour. problem solved. one hour later...our hero enters the home. he is bombared by the kids and with no time to waste, he was ready for attack. (actually, this description of goliath, in 1 samuel 17, is quite paralleling: a champion named goliath, who was from gath, came out of the philistine camp. his height was six cubits and a span. he had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. his spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels.) there he went, down the hallway of doom and we all followed. down with one heave, the shovel pierced the lizard's tail. his body tumbled over and there he lie. tailess, belly up and to all appearances...dead. what a mighty warrior! that is....until we all looked down and the lizard was no where to be found. ugh.
although it is a funny story that we are still laughing about, that lizard made me think. wow...that smart little thing. he let "goliath" chop his tail off, didn't flinch, immediately went into "play dead" mode and the moment we took our eye off that little critter, he made his escape. so...i named him "david"...how fitting. and david taught me a little something that day. we may think we are at the end of the rope...no hope left. everything seems downhill from here and so...we give up. i have been feeling that way lately. many things in my life are tetering and i just want some answers. i do feel i have been patient, but my patience is about to run out. i am sick of being patient. then....david came into my life. wow, that little guy...i want to be more like him. he waited to act just at the right moment. i have to be reminded that is how god works, too. he will give us our answers "just a the right moment". JUST when we need it. that is why david was a man (or lizard...hee hee) after god's own heart.
i want to be more like david. however, i am not excited at the thought that david (the lizard) is still roaming our toyroom, minus a tail, of course. and i can tell you, goliath isn't that found of this defeat, either. long live david!
Jeni Barbush
loveSTRONG ministries
Executive Director
