If you’re always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be. ~ Maya Angelou
What do normal people look like where you come from?
In New York City ~ the place I come from ~ normal people speed walk everywhere the subway can’t take them. They work from 9 ’til 5 or midnight and dream of moving to New Jersey.
Or, if they’re really adventurous, South Florida.
One thing normal people from NYC don’t do is move to Southern New Mexico.
But that is exactly what my husband and I did.
We did it even though normal (but lovable) friends and family had warned us about the downside of moving away from the “safety” of New York to the Wild West.
As I recall, we could expect to deal with:
- suffocating HEAT,
- scorpions, snakes, and
- the isolation that would surely come with being the ONLY black people in New Mexico.
Yeah, you read that right.
But we came west anyway, where we’re now enjoying mountain valley life in a climate that rocks and new friends from a multiplicity of cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
Normal people don’t chase snakes either (no matter WHERE they’re from)
Yet, when one of those pesky snakes “they” warned us about actually did appear in our yard and I had finished SCREAMING ~
I ran for my camera and spent the next several minutes snapping pictures while my husband, broom in hand, coaxed it back out towards the mesquite tree it had crawled out from under.
All the while, I stayed as close as possible to the snake, and marveled at how it traveled, undulating along the ground. How it managed to stretch itself out STRAIGHT when putting on maximum speed to escape that broom.
Chill, Lady, I’m just looking for a place to lay in the sun . . .
Amazing creature.
This was my first encounter with a snake not on display in some zoo or pet shop.
Being so close to one was a bit unnerving, but my innate fascination and delight with pursuing this “new thing” trumped any fear I have of snakes.
Life opens up when you do what you know and want most to do even when you’re afraid to do it.
For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases Him. ~ Philippians 2:13
If you're not a little scared as you step out on that new thing, you're not doing it right! Click To TweetKeep this in mind the next time you come up against a challenge so SCARY it seems to slither!
And check out some of these GREAT BOOKS that have encouraged me in my journey into the unknown:
1) In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson
2) I Dare You and
3) The Confident Woman, both by Joyce Meyer
4) A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller
and, FOR YOUR favorite TEENAGER:
5) Who Wants to Be NORMAL, Anyway? by Kent Julian
Are my eyes deceiving me? Does that snake look at least 12ft long. Whew! Can’t say it didn’t bring back a little childhood fear….the ones I’ve seen were only babies, 15 inch snakes. As I read your amazing post with fear and excitement, thinking all along that this looked like YOUR yard, I was thinking “I will not be visiting them if this is so” Lol! When I read the part about Lawrence coaxing it back out towards the mesquite bushes with a broom, I laughed hysterically because my natural instinct would be to kill him. Amazing adjustment on both your parts. To answer the question, I would visit the Mother Land to walk where Jesus walked, within the next few years. Thanks Mel for stirring up my afternoon!t here.
Even with all the political tensions, I’d take the opportunity to go to Israel too.
Personally, I’m drawn to travel in Europe, France in particular. Maybe it sounds
corny or ordinary, but I must see Paris. Still trying to get my head around the
idea of (possibly) traveling there alone.
Nah – it was ONLY about 6 feet so you’ve nothing to be concerned about!
I love your answer regarding a trip to the Holyland – it’s surely a place like no other.
OK. 6 feet huh? That’s 5 feet more than I can handle seeing live. Lol!
I was so excited I wrote Mother Land, but thanks for understanding that I meant Holyland.
Justine, let’s just follow in Mel’s footsteps and “Just do it” Cheers!
This is a great! article. Please tell us more about your wild life adventures.