Category Archives: Sin

Critter Gitters

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I live on the edge of a forest that’s alive with critters of all kinds, everything from ants to owls to fox to turkeys. Of course there are also deer, mice, squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, gophers, ‘possums, coyotes, spiders, and raccoons. All of them were here before I was, so I try to give grace. But when they leave the forest and enter my house, all bets are off.

Though I would never harm even an ant when it’s outside, killing that same ant on my kitchen counter feels right. The same goes for any other critters who take up residence with me.

Last summer the situation reached a new low when I found chipmunk droppings scattered over my silverware and in my measuring cups.

IMG_3646Then winter came, with the pitter-patter of little feet in my attic, and this spring I noticed yellow urine stains on the white bedroom ceilings. Logic told me a crowd of critters was cohabitating with me, breaking house rules.

That’s when I called “Awesome Critter Gitters,” a local pest control service with a reputation for gentle but insistent removal. Eric arrived with a truck full of live-trap cages, all sizes, and the determination of man over beast.

“First off,” he said, “we’ll do a thorough inspection of your home’s exterior, inch-by-inch. That’ll tell us where they’re getting in. After that, we’ll set live traps at the exits to make sure everybody’s out. Then we’ll seal up the house.”

For the next few days, Eric was a steady presence on my property, crawling all over the roof, using a mirror on a stick to look up, under, and behind every inch, just as he’d promised.

Critter GitterHe was up and down his ladder dozens of times, inspecting every crevice, anything wider than a pinky finger. “They don’t need much space to get in,” he said. I watched as he pulled acorn caps and shredded nesting material out of some very strange places.

He put pieces of tissue in tubes connected to several of the holes. “If the tissue falls out, we know an animal exited. If it falls in, they entered.” He showed me evidence of active use next to loose siding pieces. “See that grey smudge? Oil from a squirrel’s fur as he pushed his way in.” Other gaps were clean at the edges, indicating they’d abandoned those.

After Eric left that first day, the very next morning the traps were full, so I called him.

(To be continued)

Even a…”spider skillfully grasps with its hands, and it is in kings’ palaces.” (Proverbs 30:28 NKJV)

Swept Away

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Over the holiday weekend, our extended family celebrated with a picnic and explosives, much like the rest of the country. But I had a little celebration of my own, too: I bought a new broom.

IMG_3566My trusty old one had swept well for years, but by the 4th of July, I finally admitted it had passed its prime. So when I made a trip to the grocery store and saw my broom’s close cousin hanging on a rack, I took it home with me.

 

IMG_3567My new broom didn’t cost much, but each time I pull it out, I get a little thrill. Sweeping is more efficient now, and even a bit fun.

I thought back to my childhood and the brooms Mom used, made of straw. They were heavy, stiff, and often left broken bristles along the way.

 

Bristle broomsBefore that, it was brooms made of tree branches, and preceding that, thin sticks tied in bundles. Compared to those, my new broom is the Rolls Royce of the sweeping world.

At my house, a broom is most often used for brushing up wayward sand from beach trips or nudging acorns off the deck. But of course there are a hundred other uses for a good broom.

Beyond all of those, though, are the many ways God uses a broom for his supernatural sweeping, and my little red one could never do what his does.

For example, during the miraculous Red Sea extravaganza, he “swept the Egyptian army into the sea.” (Exodus 14:23) And though I can only sweep what can be seen, God can sweep away the invisible with the same effectiveness, things like evil. “I will sweep with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord Almighty. (Isaiah 14:23) God’s “wrath has gone forth, a sweeping tempest.” (Jeremiah 30:23)

One thing is certain – he never sweeps without a desire to make things clean. In the Old Testament he said, “I will make a clean sweep of the house of Jeroboam,” and then he proceeded to do away with every family member who was bent on evil, leaving only the righteous. (1 Kings 14)

That may sound harsh, but the Lord’s ability to sweep away evil has a benefit to us these days. Now that Jesus has died to save us from sin, God does something wonderful with his broom — on a regular basis.

cirrus cloudsAny of us who choose to surrender to him can watch him sweep “away their offenses like a cloud and their sins like a morning mist…. ” (Isaiah 44:22)

And there’s no broom that can sweep any better than that!

“What woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not…. sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?” (Luke 15:8)

But I already paid!

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Dirty carMarch must be a good time to own a car wash in the Midwest. Unlike Hawaii, Florida, or other balmy climates, our cars get dirty fast. When it snows, road-salt coats everything with a cloudy film. When it rains, mud adds a new layer, and when the sun comes out, it bakes everything into a stubborn crust of filthy.

My favorite stay-in-the-car automatic wash is next to my grocery store, so I use it often during these messy months in Michigan. Recently, though, it refused to cooperate.

I entered the code numbers into the computer as always, and the automated voice instructed me to pull forward, as always. But when I got to the place where the light usually flashed “STOP,” it gave me a strange instruction instead: “BACK UP SLOWLY.”

auto car washAssuming I’d pulled in too far, I crept back to the starting line, thankful no one was waiting behind me. Pausing to give the wash-computer time to re-boot, I slowly began moving forward again. But when I got to the sign, it still said, “BACK UP SLOWLY.”

This time I backed all the way out to the machine where I had punched in the code, thinking I could simply re-enter the numbers. But when I got there, the voice was already talking. “Please wait. Car wash in use. Please wait. Car wash in use.”

I poked my code in anyway, but it didn’t change her message. Nevertheless, I’d paid for a wash and was determined to get one. Pulling forward a third time, I saw the same BACK UP instruction and decided to take a new approach.

Turning off the engine, I left my car and walked around to the busy gas station, where I got in line at the check-out. When it was my turn, the attendant surprised me by yelling at me. “What do you think you’re doing going back and forth, back and forth in my car wash? You’re going to break it!”

“It’s already broken,” I said, “but I didn’t do it.”

“You did!” he said, in front of three customers. “I saw you!” He pointed to one of 4 TV monitors at ceiling level, and sure enough, there was my parked car on the screen.

“But it told me to back up instead of stop, so I did.”

“See?” he said, feeling vindicated. “That’s when you broke it!”

I tried to defend myself, but he cut me off. “Get your car out of there!”

Jabbing his finger in the direction of the TV monitor, he repeated himself in a louder voice. “Get it out of there right now!”

“But I already paid for a wash!” I whined, trying not to look at the faces of disgruntled customers waiting their turns.

(…to be continued)

“All things should be done decently and in order.” 1 Corinthians 14:40