BEE AWARE...

Most of my friends and family know that I have a severe allergy to bees of any kind...wasps, hornets, yellow jackets...basically anything with a stinger.  I have gone into anaphylactic shock twice in my life, and I carry an EpiPen in my purse at all times.  Thankfully, I have not needed to use it, as I haven’t been stung in a long, long time.

A few years ago, while I was  in our newly remodeled bathroom, I looked through the big, glass sliding doors on our walk-in shower.  There, crawling on the tiled floor of the shower, was a wasp. He was just slowly crawling around close to the drain.  My husband, Ed, had been working around the house, so he would come in and out intermittently.  When I heard the storm door close, I called his name a couple of times. I wasn’t very scared, because the wasp was contained inside the shower, and was some distance from me.  When Ed heard me call for him, he quickly came to see what was wrong.  I pointed to the shower, and Ed killed the wasp and threw him away. “I’m going back outside,” he said.

Shortly thereafter, out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw something whiz past my head. “Nah,” I thought. “I’m just being paranoid.”  Then, I felt it land on my head. I knew immediately what it was. I screamed loudly, but Ed was still outside. I screamed again. No answer.

I looked in the mirror, and sure enough, there sat a wasp...right in the part of my hair, close to the crown of my head. He was just sitting there. I was terrified! I stood absolutely still, afraid to move.
I knew that if I tried to swat it, it would either sting my head or my hand. My purse, with my EpiPen inside, was all the way at the other end of the house. While I was mulling over these thoughts, I heard the front door close, as Ed came inside.

“Edward!” I screamed, as loud as I could. Years ago, when Ed would overreact if I screamed out, (when sometimes I was simply startled, or saw a spider), I told him that if I ever REALLY needed him, I would call his name. This time, he heard me, and came running.

“There’s a bee in my hair! There’s a bee in my hair!” I said, trying to remain calm. Somehow, Ed was able to put one hand under the strand of hair with the bee on it. Then, he smashed the wasp with the other hand. I was safe at last! Luckily, Ed wasn’t stung, but he was willing to take the pain for me.

As I wrote this, I couldn’t help but think of a comparison. Jesus bore our pain on the cross.  Isaiah 53:5 tells us:

“But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”

Sometimes, many of us may be in danger. We may be helpless on our own. But, if we’ll call on the name of the One who is always there for us, we can be rescued.

Have a great day!  Bee safe...Bee vigilant...Bee aware...Bee prepared.