Yikes! I Was Bit by a Snake at Camp: Blue Racer or Side Winder? God Again Spares My Life

The summer after fifth grade, I attended a Camp Fire Girls’ Camp. We slept in cots outside of the tents under the beautiful stars. It was a lot of fun – until one night when a large snake curled up on the end of my sleeping bag. I saw him, knew he was there and was afraid to move. He just stayed there like it was his home. But I was afraid and didn't move for probably an hour. When I did try to get out of the sleeping bag, the snake bit me twice – once on my knee and the other time on the bottom of my foot as I escaped. I cried out and went to find my camp counselor. She didn’t believe me until she saw the snake still on my cot. Then she nearly fell over backwards trying to get away.

After that they tied my leg in a tourniquet and took me to an ER, or whatever the equivalent was back in those days. When we got there, they made cuts at the sites of the bites and tried to drain the blood before taking off the tourniquet. Afterwards they said it was probably a nonpoisonous Blue Racer, but they took extra care in case it was a poisonous one around that area, like a Sidewinder, and because the snake was quite large.

Was it a Blue Racer or a Side Winder? It was too dark for anyone to tell.

          The funny thing is, they never called my mom or told her about it. They bandaged it up and wouldn’t let me swim the rest of the week. When I told my mom on the way home– remember she’s a nurse – she found it all very hard to believe until I showed her the wounds and bandages.

           So, God had again spared my life and was preparing me to trust Him over and over.The outcome could have been much different. God did this many times—spared my life and taught me to trust Him in difficult situations. He did this when I lived in Chicago with my Dad’s abuse and drinking problem. He did in our moves and now He did it with a snake. But I still didn’t know it was Him.