ANTS!

we have a major ant problem! i feel like they're ALWAYS crawling on me. and, they aren't the big fire ants that i'm used to, they're the little teeny ones that just show up if there's a crumb or something on the floor.

i used to be so fascinated with ants when i was younger. i have no reason why, but i just liked to watch them. well, my love of ant watching returned as i watched them the other day.

my mom had given me this ant killer solution that has the smell and consistency of syrup, but is deadly! well, i placed some on a little piece of cardboard on the sink in our bathroom, and they did not come immediately, but when they came, MAN! i was amazed at their cooperation to complete a goal. we have jacob's monitor plugged into an outlet above the sink, and sometimes we forget to unplug it after it's gotten some electrical "juice." well those ants were coming from the carpet on the floor into the bathroom in droves, climbing up the cord, eating that stuff, and sort of like giving each other high five in passing while some were going down the cord. and, there was one ant who appeared to be telling everyone where to go get the "good food." he was at the center of the cord and turning around to all the ants moving them forward to the syrup.

fascinating! i even leaned down on the floor to see where they were coming from, but i couldn't tell. it was just a small carpet fiber or something. well, i figured if they were eating that stuff, if i got another small piece of cardboard with the poison on it and placed it next to that one, more would come and more would die. well, when i placed it down, the "director" looked as if he bounced up and down as if to say, "HEY GUYS GET OUTTA THERE! IT'S A HUMAN!" what appeared to be hundreds of ants beautifully aligned in a circle eating off this drop of "syrup poison" quickly dispersed and in sync all ran down the cord! their timing was impeccable, and they never bumped into one another. i started to smash them all on the way down, but i realized the rest of the nest(??)( pile??) wouldn't get the poison, so i let them go.

in watching them, i thought about my pastor who has said "the natural is always a manifestation of the spiritual," and i thought about the spiritual ramifications of what i saw. i thought of I Cor. 10:23 (NIV), "everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial-everything is permissible, but not everything is constructive." wasn't that the ants? they happily ran to what they thought was sweet satisfaction (free will/permissible) only to later discover they were actually running TO their demise (not beneficial).

lord bless those who are reading this particular entry. let them not be swift to run to what appears sweet, but let them be guided by you in determining what is beneficial and what is constructive. develop them lord into spiritual warriors and help them to know that anything that is not done for the lord is done in vain (see I Cor. 15:58). in jesus' name i beseech you, amen.