– Monday Muse –
Dear One, a few years ago, I opened a kitchen drawer, and to my horror found something which resembled a cockroach. Before that, I had only ever seen just one. It was crawling on an open shelf in a very clean, and popular restaurant. How would I know? After high school, I worked there.
Recently during an especially dry summer I found a smaller, but similar bug not only in a kitchen drawer, but in many places within the house. I was horrified. I called an exterminator, wanting him to come out as soon as possible, and rid our home of the horrific things. To my great relief this is what I was told. “You would be wasting your money. We have taken countless calls from upset women. Do you live in, or near, a woods?”
“Very near one.”
“What you have is not a cockroach. It is a wood roach. This summer has been extremely dry. Wood roaches need moisture and are coming out of the woods to find it. They cannot live in a house. In just a matter of a week or two they will die off. When it rains, the infestation will end. If you water your lawn, you might want to stop. Damp lawns draw them into houses.”
I think you can imagine my relief, it was akin to pure joy! That same day Ron and I were scheduled to meet a businesswoman in town. There we were led to a lovely private room and seated at a table where we would discuss some future plans. The woman was very nicely put together in fitted black-skirt and jacket, dark hose, heels, with every hair in place. She greeted us with impeccable manners, and opened our conversation with the usual chitchat.
During that time, in my excitement, I spilled the beans about what I had just learned about the wood roach. I know it sounds strange, but that is what happened – for I was still in a wonderful state-of-relief. Upon hearing my words the woman hung her head and seemed, for a few seconds, to be frozen in place. When she raised her head I could tell that she was in the same state-of-relief as I was. I cannot remember her exact words, but she mentioned how upset she had been because she too had found what appeared to be roaches ALL over her home. She said that she could not tell anyone, no one, about it. It was too humiliating. She did not know what to do. In an instant, Mrs. Lovely Perfect Woman had been freed from a secret horror. Her joy matched mine. She thanked me for sharing the information. From there we got down to business.
On the way home, I told Ron that I should call the radio station and the local television stations and ask them to make an announcement about the wood roach invasion. There must be hundreds, maybe thousands of people, living in secret horror.
So, if there is a point here, what is it? It is simply this, within God’s appropriate boundaries, let us not be afraid to be real with friend or stranger.
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not
dismayed, for I am your God. Isaiah 41:10
Blessings,
Susanne
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