“Operation Tangled Web”

I have confronted the evil masses within my walls with decisive force and bold determination. They had invaded my privacy and taken over my house. NO MORE!

First was the visit to the grocery shop to buy the best there was and then home to deal with the delinquents!!

I used that can of spray to deal with the main issue – the office ceiling and corners, the office windows, and doors and outside the office. Then came the main bedroom, kitchen and lounge… and yet I found none in the children’s bedrooms (huh!)

They all came scurrying out of their webs to face extinction and certain death and I bravely held my breath as the fumes and their glares threatened to rob me of life.

Then they started to fall…to the ground…at my feet!!! I held back the screams as I backed out of the rooms – to request my eldest son to deal with the dead bodies with the vacuum cleaner.

With trepidation, I dealt with their homes, babies and food sources which spoiled my home and peace. I pulled out windows and screens and sprayed more of the little blighters that were hiding like secret agents waiting for their not so clever comrades to fall. Then with unquestionable courage I finished off those that tried to flee.

Armed with wash clothes, warm soapy water, a bit of elbow grease and resolve I cleaned and scrubbed all evidence of their existence from every area. Finally I washed the curtains which hid them and resealed the curtain rod ends.

“Operation Tangled Web” was finished and it found a more peaceful and happier me. Now… back to my writing….

 

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I dislike spiders!!!

I don’t hate them… I just don’t like them in my house.

Also, I don’t like them in them in my garden, or on the patio, or in the car or in the garage, or in my bike helmet… or shoes. Ok, I really REALLY don’t like spiders, ANYWHERE!

I don’t think I fear them. They are just…well…creepy!

They have this thing where they take over. They take over the inside of our house, they take over the outside of the house. They just TAKE OVER! They crawl out of their hiding place to reveal themselves at the worst possible times. Like when I move the curtain, or when I pick up a book. Or they drop down in front of me while I am working on my computer. Why do they do that?

So in our house we have the “Daddy long-leg” and the “Black House” spider. Icky!! Then there is the occasional Huntsman, who because of his size could take over a whole bedroom. Ewwwww!!

Odd occasionally we seem to get almost a plague of them very suddenly and only the most throughout clean will get rid of them. And, since my friends and family know my dislike for spiders, I have many who have come forward to admit that they too are not happy with this particular creation of God. Probably along with flies, mosquitoes, midgets and any other creepy crawly.

As I mentioned before, we have in our country the Huntsman spider and here is a little blurb from the internet about this spider…

“Huntsman spiders of many species sometimes enter houses. They are also notorious for entering cars, and being found hiding behind sun visors or running across the dashboard.”

Yeah… so… do you get what I mean? There is nothing… and I repeat nothing… worse for a person like myself to be happily driving along, singing praises to God and then something appears on your dashboard or windscreen…you know.. the size of a desert bowl!! (ok, slightly smaller than that) That “something” is the maker of bad dreams, the disturber of my peace, and will make me a certain maniac as I try to deal with the possibility of his nearness actually touching my person.

My children, I am happy to announce, do not like spiders either. Not that they would admit that.

One day my eldest was joking with me about a spider that was clinging for life on the outside of our car windscreen as we drove to church. It was on the out there, so I wasn’t too worried..right? My youngest was touching my arm, pretending to be the creepy spider. They were both laughing at their mother’s discomfort. BIG BRAVE BOYS!!!

All of a sudden the spider ran along the window and disappeared from view. The boys were joking but checking everywhere around THEM, while I kept my eyes on the road. Suddenly I shouted, “THERE it is!!” and pointed to the windscreen in front of my eldest.

He nearly jumped into my lap!! Both my boys had eyes the size of saucers and it took them a few minutes to realise that I was just kidding with them. Yep, big brave children!

 

The God touch

 

As usual, I find that God speaks to me about simple things that happen in my life to show me that His search of my heart and life are gently causing change and a thoughtfulness of God in that life.

Spiders remind me of things that clutter and cause discomfort to ourselves and to others around us. Spiders also teach me that we can squeal and poke fun at others sin and problems, but when we have problems we expect mercy not condemnation.

Bad attitudes, sin, bad habits…you know… stuff that we shouldn’t have in our lives, but do. They are the things that creep up on us and all of a sudden take over our lives. Indication of their existence are evident in what they catch…more bad habits, sin and bad attitudes.

Attitude come slowly until one day they drop down or turn up in front of us and we wonder what happened. In fact, some would say that a bad attitude can shock us, frighten us and catch us unawares… a bit like the spiders in my house or car. It is what we do with them that makes the difference.

Now let me say about something else. Sin. There I said it. Now before you run screaming at the thoughts of other’s sin, I am talking about our personal sin. The things that separate us in our relationship with God. Note that I did not say that is separates us from God. No. It breaks our close and intimate relationship with God. Easy… deal with it… just like you would deal with any pest in your home. Get the little blighters out of your life and deal with “the sin that so easily entangles’. (Hebrews 12:1) Oh, and btw… if you have any experience with spider webs you know what Paul is saying.

You know, habits are the same. Deal with them if they are causing trouble. Just deal with it.

And here is the really, really important bit. Ask God to help you, and believe. (Mark 11:24)

‘Cause it is only the touch of God that can show up those little blighters and help you clean them away.

God has the gentlest of touch. He doesn’t condemn, only give us the desire to give up the things that will destroy our live and our eternity with Him. But conviction of sin is real. We should dislike our sin. We should want our house (ourselves) clean. He has already provided the cleaner and fumigator (repentance and forgiveness) and he has provided all-round the year pest control (the Word of God and the Holy Spirit).

Why are we happy with the pests and the unhappiness it brings? Is it because that seems better?

Take some time to talk to God today. Spiders are not fun.