Sometimes I think God has a way of reassuring us in unusual ways.

I’ve had a lot of anxiety about doing things like driving - worrying that as slow as I move lately, I wouldn’t be able to react fast enough. Tonight my appetite wasn’t good but I thought I could choke down a burger. Even though he wasn’t hungry, my wonderful hubby drove me to the Wendy’s for a late night munch.

I ate, then took Sam (my dog) out for a bit of fetching in the backyard. He likes exercising at night in the summertime, without the hot Carolina sun beating down on him. Usually I’ll walk around the yard awhile, giving him periodic breathers. Tonight, the grass was almost dry and the skeeters weren’t too bad, so we were out there a good 30 minutes or so. Once he was panting pretty good, we wrapped it up and went inside for some lounging in the computer room.

About a week ago I noticed I was getting a mild rash from a new medication, I stopped taking it but it’s not quite gone. After a few minutes of sitting down, I felt a little tickle on my leg. I pulled my pants leg up and didn’t notice anything in the dim light. I made a mental note to check it later in better light, to make sure the rash hadn’t spread.

After sitting down for about twenty minutes, I moved into the kitchen to do the dishes and clean up a bit, forgetting to check my leg. Then back to the computer room and back to the now familiar feeling of that tickle on my leg. Scolding myself for not checking it while I was up, I took the lazy route. I reached up behind me and flipped on a plant light. I swiveled my chair around and again pulled up my pant leg.

I have never moved so fast in my life.

Sure enough, right there on my kneecap was a giant spider, just a bit bigger than a silver dollar. I smacked it away as fast as lightning and jumped five foot from my chair, lithely bounding over the dog in a single step while letting out a loud scream.

My dog is still looking at me like I’m crazy.

Some of you have probably seen my spider macro photos. I NEVER kill a spider. I prefer weavers, webless spiders tend to give me the willies.  That’s probably due to their ability to jump right at your face and clear five feet in half a second - kinda like I just did.  I appreciate them for all the noble work they do in the neighborhood, killing mosquitoes.  But there is a time and a place for a spider. The time is not while I’m relaxing late at night. That place is not my in my pants leg. My husband immediately reminded me I’ve been checking my leg periodically for at least 45 minutes. As I write this, my pant legs are TUCKED into my socks.  But I’m not the only one, I’m noticing that my husband is scratching a lot of imaginary itches, wiggling around and running his fingers through his hair an awful lot…

Sometimes we wish for more direct answers to our prayers.  Be careful what you ask for.  I don’t think I’ll be worried about driving anymore. Somehow I’m sure that spider was on my leg that whole time… and for some reason, it didn’t bite.

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My sis showed me this after reading this post