Living in Paradise...Longing for Paradise - What Ticks Can Teach You About God...

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Jun. 10, 2008

What Ticks Can Teach You About God...

Posted in Christian Life

I am exhausted and humbled. God saw it in His great wisdom to create a creature so tiny...yet so vile to some humans that in it's tiny size, it could bring a grown woman to her knees in tears, crying out to God "Why me?!?!" This creature...The Brown Dog Tick. This past week I found not a few but many, many...many in my house which we had more than likely brought in from a recent camping trip which we took our dog on.

We actually didn't start finding them in the house until we'd been back for about a week, so they had time to explore the house unnoticed for a few days. I recall mentioning to my husband that I didn't think it was a good idea to take the dog camping, but didn't really put up much of an argument...now...many days of hard work vacuuming and washing clothes...and dollars spent on tick medicine, tick dips, groomers, tick collars, and the almost $70 I spent at the laundromat to wash everything we own in one shot rather than dragging it out over a week...and possibly having to spend $200+ more for pest control to COME BACK to re-treat for ticks if they don't go away after the first treatment...I think back to what I said before we went camping...that it would have been easier and less expensive to board the dog for the couple of days we were gone.

In the midst of it all...I was looking at the mountain of laundry to be washed (re-washed in some cases) and the unending carpet and upholstered furniture that needed to be vacuumed (including moving the heavy furniture to vacuum under it)...looking through every toy box and Rubbermaid bin..behind all the books on the bookshelves...Wondering if that little brownish spot on the carpet (the same ones I keep checking) is a stain or a tick... Feeling very overwhelmed, I just started to cry and said...WHY ME, GOD?!?! Why me!! I can't do this...There is no way I can do this by myself." And in that still small voice, I "heard"..."I know, my child. You can't...but I CAN." So my prayer went from "Why me?"...to "Help me!!"

In one night (and I stayed up all night), I finished all the kids rooms, and packed up close to 20 loads of laundry to take to the laundromat (which would have taken me a week to do at home with all the interruptions and distractions), and finished the laundry in 5 hours. I don't think I would have been able to do that if I had tried to do it on my own...I hadn't gotten that much work done in the two days prior...total. It felt good...but what felt even better is that I know that I didn't do it on my own. I had someone there helping me all along the way. I've always noticed that I enjoy working so much better with a friend...what better friend than the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Creator of the universe, the Almighty God, the God who sees me...Who knows me and meets me right where I am in my need and says..."I know you can't do it, but I can if you'll just let go and let Me at it." What an Awesome God!

I'm still cleaning each day to make sure that we get all the ticks, but the task seems a bit less overwhelming when I know that I'm not working all by myself.

...and BTW...yesterday, I had a friend from church just to see how we were doing. When I told her what was going on, she offered to come help. I had hesitated to ask anyone because ticks are one of those things that no one wants to help you with..for fear that they might take them home...kind of like a bad staph infection or fleas...I didn't even want my kids helping for fear that I'd have them crawling all over them. And this lady even has a dog. You know, I was a bit shocked when she asked, because I only expected an "I'll be praying for you" (translated..."I'm so sorry. That must be hard to deal with, and I'll probably forget all about this as soon as I walk away") rather than "What can I do to help?" I even told her that "she didn't have to"...like we always do when we don't want to impose on people, portraying outwardly that we can do it ourselves, but inwardly wanting the help desperately. But In His great wisdom, God had laid it on her heart and she said..."You don't understand...I'm coming over to help, you just need to decided what day and time." Not only did God help me to get more work done on my own..he also sent me a helper.

I love You, Lord, And I lift my voice...
To worship You...O, my soul rejoice
Take joy my King in what You hear
May it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear.

So what can ticks teach you about God?...Well, they taught me (once again) that when I realize my need and cry out to God, He can do through me far more than I can accomplish on my own...when I'm BLAMING God. And they also taught me that in this busy world where people are more and more self-absorbed in their daily lives (including Christians), God still moves people to come alongside and help and not just "pray." May God also use me to be the one who helps others when they are overwhelmed...

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Welcome to my blog...Why "gidget"? Well...my husband tried to teach me how to surf before we were married. I was lousy at it, but he called me his "gidget" and the name stuck. Why "Treasure Trove"? I love sharing about my sweet little "treasures"...and God has blessed me beyond measure....and no, I didn't mean that to rhyme.