Category Archives: Animals

Honestly….

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In recent weeks, Louisa, Birgitta, Emerald, and I have made friends with a friendly critter who lives on our front porch, a handsome toad we named Terrence.

TerrenceEvery evening at about 9:00, Terrence appears in the same corner of the porch, only a few inches from where we step in and out of the house. As we’ve passed, time after time, he’s never flinched, even at Jack’s dangerously close paws that are as big as he is. And in the morning, Terrence is always gone.

Late one night as we stepped past Terrence to walk Jack, I asked Louisa, “What is it about the corner of our porch that brings him back night after night?”

“The bug-buffet, Mom.”

Of course she was right. Frogs and toads love bugs, and our porch light brought an ongoing, yummy supply for Terrence. Though we never saw him nab one, we knew he was.

Ready to depart.As much as we enjoyed our tenacious toad, we had reason to believe his days at the buffet were numbered. After our encounter with a brown recluse spider last week, we enlisted the help of a pest control service scheduled to arrive with potent chemicals soon, though Terrence didn’t know it.

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All of us are familiar with the old adage, “What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” It’s ready justification for withholding information from, say, an accident report, or an information resource, or a courtroom testimony. Another example might be a good cook who’s asked to share a recipe. She purposely leaves out one ingredient so another cook’s finished product won’t taste as good as hers.

But the old adage isn’t really true; what someone doesn’t know can hurt him. Even in the case of withholding an ingredient, which seems silly, two people get hurt: the first cook who compromises her integrity for selfish gain, and the second, whose recipe fails, making her doubt the first cook’s honesty.

God has a strong opinion about people who wink at lying. For instance, lying is referred to twice in a list of seven things that are “detestable” to him. (Proverbs 6:17,19) He also pits lying against truth, saying those who lie are choosing the devil over him. Satan has no truth in him (John 8:44), and Jesus is the truth (John 14:6).

He challenges us to behave more like him than the devil, choosing a high standard of telling “the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” The reason is important: to reflect the Creator in whose image we’re made. Secondly, he wants to spare us and others from unnecessary hurt.

Porch lightAs for Terrence, the honest, whole-truth thing to do was let him know harsh chemicals were coming, and his best option was to relocate. So we scooped Terrence into a box and drove him to the far corner of our subdivision, gently placing him in a bush near another lighted porch with another delectable bug buffet.

Bon appétit, Terrence!

“Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.”  (Proverbs 12:19)

Poison and Panic

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Spider pic 2Today while I was gone, Louisa, Birgitta, and Emerald endured a crisis. The baby had just woken up from her nap, and Birgitta was on the way to her favorite chair when she spotted a big spider on the upholstery. Screaming in panic, she tore up the stairs and hollered for Louisa to come and help.

When Louisa got a look at the large, menacing spider, she began screaming, too, which prompted Emerald to start in. They knew it would be difficult to kill such a big spider, so Louisa ran for a plastic container, a stiff card, and a book to put between her fingers and the spider.

IMG_3727She caged it in the container, but not before Birgitta clicked a picture. Then she slid the card beneath the spider as it darted about inside, and put the book beneath the card for safety. They carried it outside, walked a block down the street, and let it go.

Back home on the computer they became alarmed when “their” spider matched Google pictures of a brown recluse, a species with a killer venom. The brown recluse has been nicknamed “fiddleback” or “brown fiddler” because of its violin-shaped markings, which this spider did have. Though the brown recluse isn’t aggressive, if it’s pressed (as between clothing and skin), it’ll bite.

Researching further, the girls gasped over computer images of infected bites when spider venom had eaten away flesh, leaving freaky-looking, severe skin damage. People can actually die as a result.

When I arrived home after attending my prayer group, they were still upset and quickly spilled out their tale of horror. “I’ll never sit in that chair again!” Birgitta said.

Later I did a bit of research on my own, envisioning little Emerald vs. big spider. I learned that the brown recluse isn’t aggressive but fears people, preferring to scamper away rather than interact. In our area they’re extremely rare, and a sighting of one doesn’t necessarily mean others are nearby. As Nelson often says, “It’s always too soon to panic.”

I think God would agree with that. He doesn’t want us to panic over a spider or anything else. Second Timothy 1:7 reminds us he “hasn’t given us a spirit of fear.”

So when we’re panicky about something, we can be sure those feelings haven’t come from God but are from the devil, who is a champion at getting us all riled up. Most of the time there’s a way around fearful circumstances that doesn’t include panic, and if we keep a level head, God will show us what to do.

I’m proud of my girls for tackling their spider-crisis bravely, even while risking a bite. But maybe, if there’s ever a next time, they’ll be able to handle it without quite so much screaming.

“Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you.” (Psalm 55:22)

Wildlife

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I don’t know if it’s a drop in the barometric pressure, a problem of over-population, or just friendly natives, but this morning before I was out of my PJs, I had personal encounters with 3 spiders, 1 pincher bug, 2 rolly-pollies, 1 copper beetle, and 2 moths, all enjoying residence inside my house.

My rule is kindness to animals unless they enter without an invitation. After that, it’s “death to intruders.”

From a bug’s vantage point I see how running indoors has its advantages: shelter from a downpour, warmth on a cold day, an abundance of food, and, well, maybe the fellowship. Whatever the cause of this morning’s influx, my reasons for why it was unacceptable trumped their reasons for coming in.

A grasshopperToday’s wildlife scenario put me in mind of an interesting Bible verse written from God’s perspective. He says he sees us as grasshoppers far below him. Interesting.

His point is that people are small and helpless compared to him, just like a skittering spider is to me (and why I feel free to step on it). I have full confidence that I can eliminate it.

Not that people are to God as a bug is to me. The Isaiah chapter is just trying to make the point that God is so much greater than we are, we can’t even comprehend it.

HousesFor example, in the real estate business when a house is put up for sale, realtors look for “comparables” in the neighbor- hood to help set a fair price. These comparably-priced homes are even listed for house hunters to see, to help them make a realistic offer.

But with God, there are no comparables.

Isaiah 40 is a Scripture passage that attempts to describe our extraordinary God as effectively as human language can. Jesus taught with questions, and in these verses God does that too, using a string of fascinating rhetorical questions to make his point:

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
    or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
    or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?
Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord,
    or instruct the Lord as his counselor?
Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,
    and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge,
    or showed him the path of understanding? (vv. 12-14)

The same answer works with all of them: “No one but God.”

He’s making the point that he could have said, “Death to all intruders,” stepping on us like a man steps on a grasshopper. But the reality is that he did just the opposite. Not only did he let us live, he lifted the lowly “grasshoppers” to royal status by permitting us join his family.

Our only right response has to be absolute awe.

“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. (Isaiah 40:18)