Fires, Spiders, and Bears...oh my

When I walked out of the doctor's office with my kids and breathed in the smoke from the Black Forest fire, I got this huge pit in my stomach.  All of the same emotions that I felt last year just came rushing back, fear, anxiety, sadness.  The kids playfully jumped into the car without noticing anything different. Within the next few days, Ted and I were glued to the news coverage. It was heartbreaking to watch home after home being destroyed.  We could smell the smoke. We could feel the heaviness of the city.  It was too soon to relive this nightmare.  One night, in the midst of the restlessness, I woke up to find Ted staring at a jar in our kitchen.  When he discovered that I was awake, he bounded up the stairs exclaiming that he had caught a black widow.  We stared at the glass jar and compared the pictures on the internet, and there was no denying it.  I left Ted pacing the kitchen in a hyper-paranoid state, knowing he would most likely be up all night reading about all the bad things that black widows can inflict on humans.  Soon after that, the kids and I got a glimpse of this cute little bear sitting in our neighbor's tree. He looked so cute almost huggable, but of course, he was much more enjoyable 20' off the ground.

It's an interesting experience, living so close to nature like we are.  Some would say scary (like my poor parents who hear the stories), but I definitely wouldn't say that.  None of these dangers were really a threat to us, but it's fascinating to me to consider the type of power that exists around us. I mean, is there anything creepier than a black widow?  This thing shoots it's prey with enzymes that actually turns them into liquid, and then it drinks it's prey. It's also disturbing to me that she eats her counterpart. I watched a video of this taking place, and the male spider didn't stand a chance. Not only that, but its venom is reported to be 15 times stronger than a rattlesnake. What in the world?  I don't want to share a roof with this tiny narcissistic psycho insect.  The bear is fascinating too...did it really climb that high on it's own? No ladder, no other bears giving it a boost?  Through my camera lens, I could get a great look at his paw...and his long sharp claws. I didn't want to linger there for long, as I was unsure when he would shimy down or when the mama bear would come show off her crawls.  Forest fires are just crazy.  It's fascinating that someone could throw a cigarette in a bush, or accidentally leave their campfire lit, and something so small can become so incredibly destructive. Over 500 homes were destroyed and two people died in Black Forest.  We watched the footage of the fire taking over a couple of million dollar homes.  You can't help but sit there in awe, just watching the flames flicker and grow.  The fire seems to have it's own unpredictable appetite. On a candle, a fire seems so peaceful and insignificant. But while devouring a house, it feels like pure evil.

What do I learn from the fire, the spider and the bear?  That life is precious and unpredictable. God created this beautiful world with dangerous elements.  I'm sure these elements became dangerous after the fall, when death entered the once perfect picture. Now, we wrestle with fear, loss, and devastation.  We see creatures like these as enemies (well, actually the bears are just neighbors, but the spiders are definitely enemies). They represent something uncontrollable, with a power that is beyond comprehension. I take peace in the words that God said to Job, "everything under heaven belongs to me" (Job 41:11).  These creatures may be mysteriously powerful, but God is above it all.  He is the only one that "can do all things" (Job 42:2).  Sometimes, I actually feel thankful for what the vulnerability brings to me; a chance to be reminded that life is a gift, and a deep desire to depend solely on the Lord.