Yesterday, I went out to my mailbox, opened it, and out flew a hornet! On further inspection, I discovered that in the back of the box, Ms. Hornet had begun building herself a nest! Fortunately, she was just 3 cells into her building project, so I ripped it out, threw it away, and said, "Good riddance!"
Today, I went to the mailbox and opened it carefully (well, actually, I flung it open and jumped back 10 feet, all in one motion - hope the neighbors didn't see me!), and discovered that now the box held not one, but two hornets! They flew out of their own accord - and disappeared to who-knows-where. I again inspected the back of the box - and this time, found a nest not 3, but 5 cells large!!! Talk about persistance!!!
This reminds me, that my Tobey (always full of questions - and comments, just see The Lord's Name in Spain post!) recently asked me why God made pests like mosquitoes and hornets. I didn't know - and I said so. However, I also said that I felt confident that God did, in fact, have a very specific purpose in His creation of these pesky critters - even though I couldn't quite imagine what that might be.
Well, today as I pondered the hornet nest, it occurred to me that these hornets were incredible models of perseverance. The first day, Ms. Hornet labors away at the beginnings of her nest - and then along comes moi', and voila' - out goes her nest! All her labor ... destroyed ... in an instant. Poof! Gone.
And what does she do? Does she go sit in a corner and cry? Does she eat a gallon of Ben & Jerry's (does Ben & Jerry's even come in a gallon?!)? Does she bow to defeat? NO! NO! NO! She does NONE of this! She goes and gets a friend - and they begin again, laboring away - and this time they make even MORE progress!
Ah - what a lesson Ms. Hornet has for us. She reminds me of a favorite verse from David Herbert Lawrence:
Today, I went to the mailbox and opened it carefully (well, actually, I flung it open and jumped back 10 feet, all in one motion - hope the neighbors didn't see me!), and discovered that now the box held not one, but two hornets! They flew out of their own accord - and disappeared to who-knows-where. I again inspected the back of the box - and this time, found a nest not 3, but 5 cells large!!! Talk about persistance!!!
This reminds me, that my Tobey (always full of questions - and comments, just see The Lord's Name in Spain post!) recently asked me why God made pests like mosquitoes and hornets. I didn't know - and I said so. However, I also said that I felt confident that God did, in fact, have a very specific purpose in His creation of these pesky critters - even though I couldn't quite imagine what that might be.
Well, today as I pondered the hornet nest, it occurred to me that these hornets were incredible models of perseverance. The first day, Ms. Hornet labors away at the beginnings of her nest - and then along comes moi', and voila' - out goes her nest! All her labor ... destroyed ... in an instant. Poof! Gone.
And what does she do? Does she go sit in a corner and cry? Does she eat a gallon of Ben & Jerry's (does Ben & Jerry's even come in a gallon?!)? Does she bow to defeat? NO! NO! NO! She does NONE of this! She goes and gets a friend - and they begin again, laboring away - and this time they make even MORE progress!
Ah - what a lesson Ms. Hornet has for us. She reminds me of a favorite verse from David Herbert Lawrence:
I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.
No self-pity for our wild thing, Ms. H. What a waste of time that would have been! Nope - just grabbed her pal - and back to work.
Proverbs 6:6 says, "Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!" Perhaps, this was one of the very purposes God had in the ant? To serve as an example to us of industriousness.
Likewise, might our mighty Creator have created the hornet, at least in part, to serve as a model to us? Perhaps this proverb might read, "Go to the hornet, you easily defeated self-pitier; consider its ways and be wise!"
Father, thank you for your wondrous creation and all its creatures - even those that make no sense to me! And thank you for finding such amazing methods for instructing me - even through a hornet in the mailbox!!!
Proverbs 6:6 says, "Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!" Perhaps, this was one of the very purposes God had in the ant? To serve as an example to us of industriousness.
Likewise, might our mighty Creator have created the hornet, at least in part, to serve as a model to us? Perhaps this proverb might read, "Go to the hornet, you easily defeated self-pitier; consider its ways and be wise!"
Father, thank you for your wondrous creation and all its creatures - even those that make no sense to me! And thank you for finding such amazing methods for instructing me - even through a hornet in the mailbox!!!
*I've been wanting to comment, but didn't have an account. I made one today.*
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I heard something on the radio about a month ago talking about bees....as a person somewhat fearful of bees and allergic to one type of bee I've always wondered why no one has bothered to "eliminate" them or why God created them. The story was longer than I can do justice in explaining, but in short they said that if it weren't for bees we wouldn't have flowers and other things that need pollination. I can't imagine a world without flowers and fruit trees...and if they are so dependant on the work of the bee to grow, I guess I can handle a few bees outside. (I just mostly prefer them to not be where I am, LOL.)
Yes! Bees are hugely important! I may have my facts a little confused, but it seems to me that there is a serious honey bee shortage - and that in some parts of the world, human workers have been hired to hand pollinate fruit tree blossoms because not enough bees are available to do th job.
ReplyDeleteBees even have the ability to detect landmines by sorting out the scent of TNT among other things.
My mom and dad have a non-profit environmental foundation - and hosted an informational event on bees last summer - that is where my info comes from!
Fascinating creatures those bees! :-)