Blessed

The Blue-ringed octopus is reported to be the most poisonous of all cephalopods.

It is the smaller of the two species with a body size of less than 5cm and arms around 7cm. They are commonly found around the coral reefs of northern Australia and everywhere else between Australia and Japan. They use one of their two poisons to the kill their prey although the exact method they use to do this is still not known. It could be that they bite their victim or that they expel toxic saliva into the water that then acts on the prey. The Blue-ringed octopus has a second poison that is much more toxic and is used as a self defence mechanism against predators. My neighbor told me that this octopus kills more people every year than sharks.
Normally this species of octopus is not aggressive and they would rather blend into the background than confront a predator. However if they have no other choice then the Blue-ringed octopus release a neuromuscular venom that causes the victim to become paralysed. The toxin they release is fatal as it paralyses all of the muscles in the body including those in the walls of the heart.

Why do I tell you all this? Because today we found one in the tide pools where my children were swimming. This morning I felt like something bad may happen at our beach outing. We said a special prayer that we would all be safe and off we went. At one point I noticed Noah jumping in a small puddle--no bigger than a regular rain puddle. I didn't think much of it. Then, a few minutes later, my girlfriend was walking next to me when her daughter stepped in the same puddle. She started yelling "Get out!" because she saw this small octopus and knew what it was. It wasn't any bigger than 2 inches. After finding out how dangerous this creature is (confirmed by a pediatrician friend who was with us this day) I got really freaked out that Noah was just playing in this tiny puddle with it. I feel so blessed that nothing happened and that everyone is okay. Heavenly Father really did answer our prayers today!