Double Feature! - Gigantic spider vs. bag of M&M's // "I Walk On", a poem of trust

It was beautiful, but its beauty was sinister. I was walking back to our house in Shell, and as I got to the swinging bridge a colossal spider walked elegantly onto the narrow dirt path and stopped. I was transfixed. It was the most enormous spider I had ever seen in my life. (And I grew up around the jungle!) As I stared at it, and it at me, I calculated that if I were to lift it up and set it down on a dinner plate, without straightening its legs out, just in normal pose, its legs would be resting on the outer rim of the plate. Extending its extremities, it would have had about a 12-13-inch leg-span. It's body was bigger than any I had seen and was about 5 inches off the ground. It seemed to be a tarantula, but its legs weren't very hairy (not like the goliath spider).

I've looked it up on the Internet, and never have I found a description that matches what I saw. The closest is the huntsman spider, the largest known, only discovered by science in 2001. The huntsman has about the same leg-span, but it walks with front legs in a sort of crab-like fashion...which my spider didn't. The huntsman has a body a little less than 2 inches long, and mine's was from 3 to 4 inches long. (If anyone can tell me what it was, I'd love to know!  If the largest spider known to science was only discovered 12 years ago, who knows what other species are still out there, unknown?!)

I wanted to capture the creature, but all I had in my hand was a small bag of M&M's. The spider's body was half the size of the bag, so it obviously was useless. I wished I'd had a sweater, so I could wrap it around him. Finally someone came along the path, and through him I sent word to a couple of the missionaries who collect spiders. But it took too long for them to get there, and the spider had headed into the underbrush. I was really disappointed that no one else saw such a magnificent work of art. The closest was when one of my friends finally arrived and we peered into the underbrush, where we saw the spider glaring back at us. All we could see were his glowing eyes. They were so far apart and so far off the ground that his enormous size was easily imaginable, and my friend said there was no way he was going in after it! (I didn't blame him!) It's a haunting memory, with still a tinge of disappointment, but in the end I'm sure the spider far preferred his own environment.  Some things are better off just left alone.

(Isn't it awesome that God never says that  about us?)

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                            I WALK ON

            You know where my path's uneven,
            where it's strewn with debris and stone.
            You know where it turns most ruthless,
            for You walked it Yourself...alone.

           You know where the seas are deepest;
           even there they obey your Voice.
           You know where the road is steepest,
           for You climbed Calvary's Hill...by choice.

          You know where I'll cross a desert
           like the one where You faced your Foe.
          You know where my griefs weigh heavy;
          when You bore them, they bent You low.

                                           You know where I run for safety
                                           when my courage in tatters lies.
                                           You know where I find my refuge
                                           when the harmony 'round me dies.

                                           You remind me that where I'm weakest,
                                            your Power can make me strong.
                                            I can live each day touched by Music,
                                            for You are the Eternal Song.

          You know where my heart is headed.
          You set all that I need in place.
          I walk on, for my soul is embedded
          in the depth of your Love and Grace!
                                                                                       -Becky Rhon

                        
I place this poem here because in the next blogs I want to show you how, in the days, months and years following a collapse that challenged our faith, priorities and balance, God proved what this poem says! He knew everything we'd go through; He knew where we'd struggle and where we'd triumph. He set what we needed in place. He was ready to let us know in special ways that we were truly "embedded in his Love and Grace".  Please join me!
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(Again, if you would like to use my poetry, please let me know!  Thanks.)
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