It was a warm summer day in 1993 and Tim was working in the yard. By the way, he’s one of these people who takes his yard work very seriously. As soon as the grass begins to grow, he’s ready to mow it.

When he uses the weed-eater, he wears long pants. This day he had been in and out of the house quite a bit for cold drinks. Unfortunately, there was a stow-away clinging onto his yard pants.

At this time, Sara was still a toddler. I was playing with her in the dining room. She had crawled around the table and I was on the other side. At one point she stopped and sat up. Sitting between us on the floor was an ornate basket my Mamaw Jo had decorated. It had ribbons, bows, flowers, and string of pearl beading.

“Ooohhh,” she cooed and reached for the basket. I assumed she was reaching for the ribbon or one of the flowers.

She was reaching for something else.

A large wolf spider jumped off the basket and landed between us. In horror, I realized she had reached for the spider. It must’ve leapt off to avoid her little grasping fingers.

As most of you are aware, I am terrified of spiders. And there was a huge, icky one standing between me and my baby. It really was like being in a nightmare.

What was I to do? I was afraid to make any sudden movements. If I did, it may run toward my baby and that was unthinkable. So the three of us, Sara, the spider, and me, sat motionless.

Looking back, I am so thankful to God that she didn’t try to reach for it again. I don’t think my heart could’ve taken that.

Suddenly, it took off running straight toward Sara, who sat just there. She had no idea anything was wrong, but I sure did. I screamed in absolute horror. No, I am not exaggerating. I reached over and picked her up. I began to shake her and smack around on her legs so I could knock the monster off of her before it could bite her. During that time, I was crying and still screaming. In my mind, I was in a “Momma battle.”

I didn’t see it anywhere on her. I looked around the floor and saw it on the wall. It must’ve crawled underneath her right leg. Even though Sara was wearing pants, I checked her leg to make sure she wasn’t bitten.

That’s when Tim burst in through the front door. “What in the world is going on in here? I heard you screaming over the weed-eater.”

“The Lord shall; fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” Exodus 14:14 (KJV)

The Lord knew that wolf spider had hitched a ride on Tim’s pants and it had crawled onto the basket. I believe the Lord began fighting for us when He kept Sara from actually touching the spider. Then He kept it from getting on her or biting her. Now, I do think I did the right thing by trying to remove her from danger, but my screaming and crying was another story.

I really shouldn’t have come unglued like that. I let my panic overtake me instead of trusting on God to take care of the situation. And that has had a long lasting consequence.

Sara says I am the reason she is so terrified of spiders. I dare say she’s right. Hearing your momma scream and cry like that would make a lasting impression on anybody.

By the way, if you ever hear me screaming and crying, please ask God to supply you with a can of Raid and a large flyswatter.