Luke 10:19 "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing by any means shall hurt you."

The above verse I had been singing out loud over and over with a tape of scripture that is set to music, and was singing it off and on the whole day.

My father-in-law (an unbeliever) had come from Wisconsin to stay with us for a week so he could see his grandchildren (our kids). On his second night with us, I was feeling very restless. I wondered what was going on. As I walked into the kids' bedroom, I stepped on my son's toy rattlesnake (my sons knows I don't like snakes but he is fascinated by all creatures and loves to read about them) I picked up the toy snake,and a "warning" signal went through my body"Oh no, Lord...don't tell me I'm going to have to deal with one of these [snakes] soon!"

I shook my head at the thought of it and went to the living room and sat on the couch. I decided to read our local newspaper and noticed there was a small article about a little girl who had been bitten by a rattlesnake. Once again, I felt that "warning" signal. We live in an area where this would not be uncommon.

I decided to go lay down since my kids were in bed and my father-in-law had retired early. I laid down but I was tossing and turning when suddenly I heard my husband yell out loud, "Oh no....Yikes!"

I ran into the living room where our cat, Sam, was hissing at the couch where I had been sitting just a half hour ago. When my husband moved the couch we both jumped back. Coiled up and looking straight at all of us was a rattlesnake! I grabbed our cat and put him in our bedroom while our dog ran to hide. I grabbed a shovel from outside and with three hard blows my husband succeeded in killing it.

Normally, I wouldn't have been so level-headed to run outside (in the dark of night) to get the shovel. But the earlier warning the Lord had given me helped keep me a lot calmer. God has protected my family and I so many times and I will continually praise Him for it....in fact, it makes me want to sing! :)