Trouble by Threes?

We interrupt the happy family vacation photos to bring you th e following news:

The other night as Tom and I were dropping off to sleep Troy came running in to tell us there was a snake in the bathroom. Being that this is a not uncommon occurrence I chose to just stay in bed and sleep.

I was awakened a short time later by Tom coming in the room.

"The power's out", he informed me.

"Oh, ok", I sleepily replied. I was determined to keep my eyes closed and keep resting.

"Oh, and I was bit by the snake".

That woke me up!

Apparently while trying to catch the snake Tom had donned gardening gloves but the snake had found a vulnerable place where the fabric was thin.

Here is the culprit.


This is a stileto snake. Small and not too dangerous looking but it has the ability to bend its fangs backward or upward to catch a handler unawares.

Have no fear, this is not a deadly snake. I would not be casually posting this here if it were--especially since our parents read this blog. What it can do is cause tissue damage. We read up on the snake more thoroughly right away and following advice found in the snake book we gave Tom some Ibuprofen.


You can just make out the tiny dot in between the deep creases. It seemed that only one fang penetrated. According to Tom the pain was minimal and similar to being pricked by a needle.



The next morning a small blister had developed. It was a bit tender to the touch but still seemed contained. We watched it carefully all day as we went about our errands in the small city where we shop.

Today, about 36 hours after the bite the blister looks to be subsiding. We will continue to monitor it for any signs of infection or necrosis.

On our way home from shopping we decided to stop off at some new waterfalls--new to us anyway. The plan was that we would have a quick nap before the drive home. When we got there however, the park guide was so happy to have visitors that he insisted on showing us around.

It was fine though, the nature and beauty was refreshing and we felt much better for the stretch and quick walk. Heading back to the car I brushed up against a bush and felt an intense sting on my arm. I looked to see if a sharp leaf had sliced my arm but couldn't see anything. Almost immediately though a swelling showed up around a pin prick hole which told me the story. There must have been a wasp hidden in the bush.

I was pretty miserable as I got in the car and very quickly began having trouble breathing. I've never had a severe allergic reaction to a bug bite or sting so I was a little surprised. For the next hour I breathed in shallow breaths and tried to think calm positive thoughts and pray.

At home we had epinephrine but that was 2 hours away. Even my inhaler was at home since I share it with two of my boys. God had to heal me. And He did! By the time we got home I was fine.

Just before we reached home our oldest son called to say that a severe storm had hit Kazembe with high winds and heavy rain. There was a lot of damage in and around our property.



Some of the grass sections of the roofs only look like their hair was mussed up a bit.



Others have whole sections peeled right back. This roof even shows signs of having lifted completely up because there are cracks and stress fractures in the brick. Praise God that it stayed put.



Huge portions of our fence were also blown down. Thankfully, the new wire fence is fine so it was only the grass fence that blew down.

The most damage we saw was to the Mutomboko arena next to our property. It lost most of its roofing sheets with many of them flying into our property.




This sheet blew hundreds of yards before landing in our garden. Another praise is that no one was hurt by these flying sheets of tin.


Here is our new gate which was bent by the wind. The tin even ripped.

Reading over this post I'll bet you share my hope that trouble only comes in threes and that we'll have some respite.

Please allow this narrative to remind you to pray for missionaries all over the world for their protection.

Until next time, may God bless and keep you on your own personal adventures.

Love!

Amy