Here in Florida, we have what people call “Love Bugs”. I know exactly why they are called “Love Bugs”, but I don’t like these little creatures. Why don’t they get a motel room?
Being cooped up at home for quite some time is not that exciting. You can only be closed for so long.
On Tuesday, I needed to go across town to do some quick business and office supplies. It wouldn’t take long and I’d be home in no time.
“Anything you want me to pick up while I’m gone?” I asked the Gracious Lady of the Parsonage. I always like to try to help whenever I can.
She’s a big shopper, particularly a big thrift store shopper. She knows every thrift store in a 100-mile radius, but more than that, she’s known by her first name. I, across the room, am not a very good shopper.
Many times, my wife sent me to the store with a list and I was never able to get everything on that list. I don’t know why, but she would miss two or three items on her list. I’m not saying because the list was too long, that’s probably the reason, but I’m not saying.
Knowing this, my wife replied, “No, I can’t think of anything I’d like you to pick up. Drive carefully.” I breathed a deep sigh of relief, knowing that now I wasn’t going to get into any kind of trouble.
Not many places open this time due to lockdown so I didn’t have much of a choice. Therefore, I did what I was supposed to do as quickly as possible and headed home. Please don’t let this find out, you know, but I stopped by a drive-thru and bought some delicious ice cream. I enjoyed it all the way home. For me, ice cream is so much more delicious when no one knows you’re eating it.
I almost made it home when out of nowhere came a big dark cloud that hit my truck in the front like I’ve never been hit before. At first, I thought it was the apocalypse.
As I drove through it I realized that I had hit, or rather been hit by, a bunch of “Love Bugs” and they were smeared all over my window and the front of my truck. I used to have a silver van, now it was almost all black, at least in the front.
I know they are “Love Bugs”, but at that moment I did not feel any kind of love towards them. I was feeling the exact opposite, but I won’t mention it.
When I walked through the front door of my house, my wife saw that I was more agitated than ever. I even closed the door behind me, which indicated how upset I was.
“What happened?”
I just looked at my wife and then said, “Those nasty Love Bugs attacked me while I was driving, and they’re all over my truck. I’m never going to get them out.”
With that, I went and got a bucket of water and tried to clean them off my truck.
I noticed my wife smile as I left and she said, “You should drive more carefully.” Then she laughed. I hate when she laughs.
No matter how hard I worked to get those bugs out of my truck, I couldn’t get them all out. It was a dark reminder of the love of insects.
When I walked in, my wife said, “Well, did you get them all out of your truck?” She then she gave me one of her infamous giggles.
Throughout the day, when he looked at me, he would chuckle.
The next morning my wife had to go to the store to buy some groceries. As she closed the door behind her, she said to me, “I guess I’ll have to drive carefully.” She then she laughed again.
A little over an hour later, he came back and when he walked in the door, I could tell something was wrong. I asked her if something was wrong and all she said was, “No, it’s okay. I’ll take care of it.”
I knew from her behavior that something was wrong and that she really didn’t want me to know. That piqued my curiosity.
Within minutes, I looked out the window and there she was with a bucket of water washing the front of her truck. I had my suspicions, which turned out to be correct.
When she walked through the front door, I was waiting for her and I said, “Is there a problem with Love Bug?” With that, I not only chuckled, but laughed out loud hilariously.
“Maybe,” I said with a laugh, “you should drive a little more carefully.”
His look informed me that he didn’t think it was funny, which made it even funnier for me.
Thinking about that, I remembered what the prophet Amos once said. “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3).
Walking the same path together, we experience the same thing. Sometimes we forget, I know I do. I am learning not to criticize other people for what they are going through right now because I can go through the same experience tomorrow.