I love Spring! The days get longer and warmer. And who can resist the flowering and greening of the world around us. But there are two things I detest about this time of the year. One is weeds and the other is biting bugs. The problem is our yard is pretty much full of both!
During the winter RuthAnn and I avoided looking to closely at the back yard. Even when we were sitting in the hot tub I would keep my eyes away from the myriad of weeds that had populated our lawn. It was understood that it was just too cold to do anything about them anyway. Also, during the winter most self-respecting bugs go into hibernation or find a way to not bite my bare feet when I do have to venture as far as the backyard shed. So, all things have been status quo until Spring arrived.
But since about the end of February and yes, I know that is not officially Spring, we have begun our battle against both of these vicious foes. On the weed front, it is all about our back yard. No weed killer or pre-emergent seems to touch the variety of weeds that have sprung up. So, the only other solution is the old fashion way, on our hands and knees pulling them out by the roots. Of course, the only problem with this is when you are on your hands and knees, unless you are well covered, you are open to one of the worse ‘biters’ of our region, the fire ant.
If you have never dealt with this pest, then count your blessings. Sometimes it feels like I spend half of my time outside sprinkling their ant mounds with poison and it is a losing battle. Cause you can kill them in one place and they will just pop up in another. What is worse is if you are busy picking weeds and have exposed skin these nasty ants will find it and bring their friends! Before you know it, your skin will be burning, and ten to twenty welts will appear. You now have days of itching and burning agony to look forward to. As I have said, I hate weeds and biting bugs!
Last Sunday it was like adding insult to injury. RuthAnn was picking weeds in one of our raised bed gardens when she was attacked by black gnats, leaving her with bites on several places and us wondering if we will be fighting them for the rest of the spring. All I can say is when Adam and Eve decided to take bites from that apple, they never could have known what menaces would be released into this world!
It is strange, but I never thought about how sin has affected our world until I understood how perfect of a world God had created and meant for us to live in. Look at this from the book of Genesis, “Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground- trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food….” (Genesis 2:8 part) God had made a perfect place for us to live in. A place where He communed with us face to face until after the fall, “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8) Think of it, our ancestors walked with their Creator in a perfect place, but sin ended all that.
And as they tried to hide themselves because of shame they had never known, that world was lost to us. “And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, “You shall not eat of it.” Cursed is the ground because you, in pain shall you eat of it all the days of your life; it will produce thorns and thistles for you and you will eat the plants of the field.” (Genesis 3:17-18) Now we live in a world full of weeds and biting bugs.
And if it ended there, I don’t know if I would ever pick another weed with a joyful song in my heart. But even before God told Adam how bad it was going to get He had already promised Satan his time was short, and we would have a Savior, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman. And between your seed and her seed. He shall crush your head and you will bruise on his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)
That promise was kept in Jesus Christ and He has promised the day when Eden would return in the last book in the Bible, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” (Revelation 21:1-3) Once again we will walk with God in a land lush and without fear of thistles or nasty bugs!
So, soon I will need to get back at pulling more weeds and protect myself all I can from bites. But there will be a joyful song in my heart, cause this aint my home and soon I will never pull another weed. Till then happy Spring, y’all!
Blessings John
4/4/18
