If you could’ve heard her scream…

you would have thought someone was murdering her.  Tessa: 3 years old, sweet most of the time, with the tendency to be borderline-whiney.  This precious girl tells me at random times throughout my day, “I love you Mommy” and with pure joy and excitement in her voice “I grow up in Haiti!”  Not to paint a perfect picture, I have heard her scream before:  at Drew when he teases her or in anger at Braden when he steals a toy (or just sits down on her toys) or just when she doesn’t want to share!

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Today I heard Tessa scream and cry in pure fear, and there wasn’t much I could do to calm her down.  The culprit: a massive mosquito with a leg-span the size of a nickel. We were driving to church to drop Drew off at preschool, driving thru traffic at a snails pace for who knows what reason.  Drew says, “Mommy, there’s a fly in the car” and I look back to see a huge mosquito flying around.  The next thing I know Tessa is screaming  and crying with her arms frozen in the air because the mosquito flew by her and landed on her window.  I was trying to convince her to shoo it away, but there is no reasoning with a hysterical 3-year-old.  The next thing I know, the mosquito landed in the underside of one of her arms that she had over her head.  She was screaming even louder and frozen with fear.  I’m trying to drive during all this and the area we were driving in has these huge orange road-construction drums lining the edge of the road, so there was no way for me to pull over.  All I could think to do was to start tossing stuff at her arm.  The thing within reach of me was my bag of trash from  Chick-fil-a this week, so I chucked it at her, successfully getting the nasty bug off of her arm.  But she’s still screaming because it’s still near her.  Fortunately, putting her window down sucked the nasty critter right out of the van.

I have never seen her like that and you can bet I gave her an extra big hug and kiss when we got to church.  I know there are going to be times in her life when she’s going to be that scared again.  I know I can’t protect her from everything.  I wish I could.  And I wish I could “fix” everything she faces in life as easily as I did today by just throwing trash.

~Becky

Comments

TRUTH SHARER said…
This story was so good I had to post it on my blog with a link to yours!

That's my girl!

I hope there are no mosquitoes in Haiti!!

Love, MOM
[aka MOM-MOM]
B His Girl said…
She's precious. Cute story. I saw a video on aol about a Mom who fought off a cougar that caught her small son on a hiking trail. She used a water bottle to get the cougar to turn him loose. A Mom has to do what a Mom has to do.
Edie said…
Hi, I came over from Stephanie's blog.

Poor little thing. My heart goes out to her. I can see one of my little grand-daughters doing the same thing.

Your sweet little daughter is adorable, and I'm so glad the mosquito got sucked away in the wind. :)
Too bad that all our fearful moments aren't as easily solved. Still and yet, it's good to know we've got a Driver looking out for us. Hi, elaine here over from your Stephanie's sight.

Blessings and peace to you as you prepare the hearts of your family members for the upcoming move.

peace~elaine
Beth Herring said…
Several of my gandkids are terrified of anything that flies!

Your daughter is adorable. I will pray for your family as you minister in Haiti.

(I stopped in from your mom's blog)
Crown of Beauty said…
Came over from your mom's blog. Thanks for sharing this story. We all can learn something from it.

What at adorable three year old she must be.

Praying for you as you prepare to go to Haiti.

Blessings,
Lidj