Geckos

By Jodi Whisenhunt –

Geckos. Nope, I’m not referring to a certain insurance company. I’m talking about tiny little lizards that like to frighten me.

“Scared of geckos?” you ask. Yes. Yes, I am. It’s not so much a terrifying fear as much as it is a startling fright.

It all started in the mailbox. I opened the door, reached in and grabbed. Something jumped onto my hand, ran across and skittered down the bricks. I tossed the envelopes high in the air and let out an “Eek!” Cautiously inspecting each parcel, I retrieved the mail and hurried back inside. The next day, I opened the mailbox and the guardian of the goods stood his ground, daring me to take his letters. I guess he was expecting a fresh shipment of crickets.

Another time, I glanced up through the window above my front door, through which the porch light illuminates the foyer, and noticed a gecko lying in wait for a late night snack. I watched him inch closer, closer to the smorgasbord of flying delicacies. He’d scurry a bit one way or the other, seeking a better vantage point, but his attempts were futile. He’d never taste those beetles, moths and mayflies, because he was on the ceiling inside my house. You think I slept very well that night? He was gone by morning—but to where?

Now a family of three geckos ambushes me whenever I open the storm door. Recently, as my son stepped out, all three rushed in. One climbed straight into a laundry basket. Another dropped his flopping tail and got stuck in a cobweb, and the other stopped still on the door frame. If I’d let the door close, he’d have been squished. Fortunately for them (and for me), my teenager came to the rescue.

I do appreciate these little guys, and I know they will not harm me. In fact, they get rid of lots of pests. I credit them for the reduction in wolf spiders this year—thank you, thank you, thank you, geckos! I suppose it’s a good reminder to me that God is in control, even in the small things I might normally overlook. These geckos keep jumping out at me, sometimes literally, and forcing me to notice and be grateful “that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him” (Romans 10:9, NIV).

Jodi Whisenhunt is a 2009 Amy Writing Award-winning freelance writer and editor in McKinney, Texas. You can find her at www.jodiwhisenhunt.com or www.magicalmouseschoolhouse.com, where Disney IS school.