A Scary Afternoon, Full of Blessings

Between Conference Sessions on Sunday, all the kids were out playing. When I called them into eat Devin was running as fast as he could, crying and calling my name. I ran out to see him and he said that there was a rattlesnake. I didn't think that he knew what a rattlesnake was. He kept saying that it was moving and then he would put his hand up in the air and move it back and forth. It looked like the motion that the rattles would make. He kept talking about it and he was really scared. He would not eat, and kept saying that there was a rattlesnake. So Ben walked down there and Jared met him with a gun. Ben said a prayer that if there really was a snake that they would find it. Soon after that, Jared yelled out that he found it. It was near the creek where the water from the sump drains into the creek. It is all dried up right now. But he saw the snake down in the little gorge under some old mesquite tree that fell down. He started shooting at it. Ben ran in and told us that Jared found it and we went out to see. I told all the kids to stay, but I took Devin with me so we could put some closure on the rattlesnake for him. James took the pitchfork and got the snakes out from under the sticks and there were two! We were all surprised. They were gigantic! The rattles were huge! We are so blessed that Devin was safe. I truly believe that someone was watching out for him.

They cut the heads off and buried them. Then they cut the rattles off and we saved them. They skinned the biggest snake. While it was getting skinned, Devin finally left my side and stood right next to the snake. He could obviously tell that the threat was gone. But he still talks about how all rattlesnakes are bad and naughty.
One thing that was interesting...there was a man that showed up on a quad during this whole ordeal. He was the one that wanted the skin. He cut out the heart of the snake and it was still beating! It was so amazing! He said that the heart will beat up to 6 to 8 hours after the snake is killed and then it will slowly stop. Isn't that weird!?
They would just wiggle their bodies, especially while it was getting skinned.
Here's our brave and blessed boy, Devin.

It is truly a miracle that he was safe and protected from harm.
Here is Jared, our hero who shot the snake. When Devin talks about the rattlesnake now, he says that he was shaking when he saw it. What a brave little boy. For more pictures, see the Reed's blog.