31 Days of Life Stories #6

Today, I'm going to share with you the number one story the family likes to tell on me. Every. Time.

My number one life story is the horsefly story.  Gee Whiz!  I don't know why that has to come up all the time.  

One summer, I was staying at my aunt's and uncle's home. They had a little above-ground swimming pool for their 4 kids.  It was a fairly decent size because I was about 12 at the time and I enjoyed getting in it every day.    

One day, it was lunch time and everyone had gone in to eat except my cousin, Renda, and I.  We decided it was worth skipping lunch to have the pool to ourselves. We were sitting in the pool chatting, when the biggest bee I had ever seen came and landed on Renda's head.  

I yelled, "Don't move, there is a giant bee sitting on your head!"  

Of course, that scared her and she opened up her mouth and started screaming! She never moved her body, just screamed. 

I ran into the house, yelling "Uncle Sammy, come save Renda.  A giant bee is attacking her."  He dropped his fork and ran out of the house to the pool.  When he got there, he yelled disgustedly at Renda, "Stop screaming, it's just a horsefly," then turned around and marched back into the house.  He didn't even get it off her!  

Renda obediently stopped her screaming, and swatted the horsefly away.  I asked her why she was screaming if the horsefly wasn't hurting her.  She replied that I said it was a bee so she knew it was going to start to hurt any minute. 

The funny thing about this story is now I see the lesson in it. Everything is not always how it seems. I thought I saw a giant bee stinging my cousin.  I heard screaming so I thought she was in pain. However, she really just had a harmless insect sitting on her head.

How many times have we thought we were being attacked and it was going to be the worst thing that ever happened to us only to find that everything worked out in the end?

Of course, for me, a good example is when we experienced the flood of 2011. (If you hadn't heard about it, maybe someday I'll tell you.) I figured it was one of the worst things ever to happen to us but it turned out to be for our good.

Romans 8:28 at work. 

The next time something happens, first stop and think, "Is this really what it seems to be?" It might be a trick of the enemy. If it does seem harmful then figure God is going to work it out for good when the time is right.  If you are a believer, you can stand on that word.

This post is #6 in my series, 31 Days of Life Stories. Hundreds of writers are linking up at the 31 Day Writing Challenge hosted by Crystal Stine. There is a wealth of information on many topics. Go visit and see! I'll be posting under the category "Inspiration and Faith."