Yesterday, my husband and I realized that we have had a theme in our lives together—lizards! That’s right, creepy-crawly lizards! It seems that wherever we have lived over the past 4 years that we’ve been married, lizards have also lived side by side with us.
For our honeymoon, my honey whisked me away to a small Caribbean island called St. Barthelemy (or St. Bart’s as it is known to the swanky set that frequently visits there). It was beautiful and unlike anything that this relatively sheltered Southern girl had ever seen. We stayed in a cottage on the beach, with the ocean at our doorstep and enjoyed the saltwater breeze that blew in over the water. We jaunted around the island in a rented Jeep and spent lazy afternoons together on the beach. We were not, however, the only residents on our little plot of land. One could not step outside without running into one of the many long green iguanas that made their homes in the bushes around our cottage. They ranged in size from about 1 foot (the babies) to 3 or 4-foot adults, measured head to tail. We have a classic picture of my new hubby chasing one around the yard.
When we were in NC, we had a family of blue-tailed skinks that lived under our front porch. We would come home, disturbing their afternoon lounge in the sun, and watch as they scurried away to safety. (One spring, we also had a pair of sparrows that made a nest on our front porch. But that does not fit with my lizard theme, so I’ll save that for another day.)
Now that we are in MS, we have a new type of “lizard” keeping us company. I don’t really know what these are called—my mom says they are anoles, but I have never even heard that word before. They actually look like miniature versions of the iguanas that we saw on St. Bart’s (see, I can sound trendy and in the know too!). They are usually 4-6 inches long and either green or brown. Occasionally, I see one extending a red pouch under his chin in what I imagine is an attempt to look appealing to the lady lizards. They are remarkably fast and scurry around happily on our deck or through the trees in our yard. Today when we got home from the library, one leaped off of our garage door to the safety of the ground when it was startled to discover the door opening.
So, what is the deeper meaning of the lizards? Is God preparing me for bigger scarier creepy crawlies in some exotic missionary locale where He will call my husband? Or is it all simpler than that? Perhaps they are just lizards and just one more part of God’s creation for me to enjoy. Only He knows. In the meantime, I will enjoy my latest lizard buddies and hope that my next reptile neighbors won’t be these guys.