I often wondered …
I often wondered as a child if it was okay to kill bugs. You know what I mean. If you see a spider inside your kitchen, should you squash it or catch it and release it? My eldest used to catch flies in the playroom, grasshoppers in the garage, even ants on the kitchen floor and release them outside.
As a child I felt the need to release them too but as I got older I started squishing bugs. For one I just didn’t have the time to catch and release. Also, when I became a mother I felt it was my job to protect my kids. I didn’t want anything dirty on the floor for them to put into their mouth or worse- crawling on them while they slept. But I still felt bad about squishing them.
One day I felt God’s nudge reminding me that bugs are not a scary thing. They’re a gift that He created. Chickens and other animals rely on them as a source of fuel/protein for their diets. We don’t know every reason or purpose for every one of God’s creations, but He does, and He made each and every one for a reason. So, I told God I’d take the time to catch and release His creation.
But then there’s fire ants. I used to curse out the fire ant piles. If you live in Florida you know what I’m talking about. OUCH! I tried a million and one ways to kill them; boiling pots of water, diatomaceous earth, borax, essential oils. But it was no use. When all my hippie ways didn’t work I submitted to my husband’s request and let him use poison … to no avail. Those things were relentless. Then I gave up trying myself and quit asking people to even help and cried out to God … PLEASE HELP!!! That’s when he sent the chickens.
The chickens got right to work on eating the fire ants. I mean tore them up. They are handling business and instead of all those ants dying in vain; they served a very good purpose. How cool is that?!?!
