Imagination is a gift of God. Sometimes that gift can run away from us, disrupt our logical sensibilities and grow legs. Sometimes it becomes a monster in the closet, a ghost in the attic, or, in my case, the alligator under my bed. Yep. When I was a child, the alligator under my bed was my worst nightmare. At bedtime most kids ask their parents to shut a closet door or leave a nightlight on, but I made my mom check under the bed for gators. It didn't matter that we lived in Maryland, irrational fear doesn't have to make sense. Lyle The Crocodile was a daytime friend living in the pages of my books, but at night he and his scaly pals came alive to terrify me. My fear of these hideous prehistoric creatures has grown so great over the years that all I have to do is look at one on tv and I start to feel nauseous. It was really inconvenient to find out they live in the canal next to my home. Lately I've been getting irritated about it because I want to kayak in the local waterways but I'm too afraid.
So, imagine my surprise last month when my husband decided that we needed to take an airboat ride through the Everglades for Spring Break. Imagine the conversations we had after he said it. Seriously. No one NEEDS to airboat in the Everglades, but he was completely determined it was something we had to do with the kids.
I shouldn't be surprised that God would challenge me in this way. I'd been internally bragging about successfully knocking out my fears, but this was a biggie. I prayed about it and figured God was providing another fear busting opportunity and the adventure I'd been craving. In my quest to be more like Jesus, I decided to run toward fear instead of running away. Check it out!
This is at a rest stop on the way to the airboats and that is a totally fake smile on my face, I'm really saying, "Hurry up and take the freaking picture! Is it still behind me?"
The captain offered to let me sit up top with him so I did and I stayed in that position for the entire two hours at top speeds. Now I know what "clinging to the edge of your seat means." I wonder if he heard me chanting, "JesusiswithmeJesusiswithmeJesusiswithme..."
Meet Sally. Captain Good Ol' Boy plays with her every day and clearly they had some kind of relationship because I swear the thing was flirting with him. At one point I found myself thinking, "Oh, this is so cute!" and then I smacked myself back into reality.
This snaggletoothed guy is called "Old Man"; he got in a fight with another male gator, that's why his teeth are jacked up. He's over 10 feet long and yes, that's his head RESTING on our boat. I was happy to be up top but wasn't so happy that he was close to my family - he does have the ability to climb on board but Captain said he wouldn't want to. I'm not even joking, this guy caused my stomach to turn - the gator not the captain.
Me trying not to have a heart attack. Old Man is still hanging around and Old Lady had just swum out of her hideout to see what the fuss was about. She was hissing at us! Maybe she was hissing at Old Man but I was done for the day. I think they had a gang.
See ya later alligator! Sorry, I couldn't help myself - it had to be done.
There's something very cool about facing a fear like this head on, especially a childhood one. Am I still afraid? Yes, but far less so. I have a healthy respect for them now as opposed to terror and repulsion. I can view them as part of God's creation and a necessary and integral part of the Everglades ecology. Thanks for the experience God!
Rock on Erika! So proud of YOU!!!
Posted by: Lisa Arnold | 04/01/2010 at 07:03 PM
Love it! Looks like an awesome time! My trip to New Orleans last spring included a swamp tour and my favorite part was all the alligators, they are really cool creatures. Good for you for facing the fear :)
Posted by: Leslie | 04/03/2010 at 06:05 PM