Bugged Out

Looking up at the ceiling of our pantry, I groaned. "Where are they coming from?"

Flicking on the vacuum cleaner, I held the extended attachment in one hand while balancing on a step stool. If I tiptoed, I could reach the top of our 10-foot ceiling, where the tiny brown bugs aggravatingly clung.

Frantic, I regularly vacuumed the little pests which debuted in our breakfast cereal weeks earlier. Yet they stubbornly refused to leave. With all my recent travels, my neglected pantry transformed from storing food to hosting a convention for wayward weevils.

And I was forced to take drastic action.

In spite of the soaring price of food, I had no choice but to throw away two huge, black yard-type garbage bags of otherwise perfectly good cereal, cookies, flour, crackers, chips. Good that is, if you don't mind extra protein in the form of insects.

Ewwwwwwww.

But the worse was yet to come. I found a "nest" of the little buggers on the bottom of our pantry floor, underneath a stack of neatly folded paper grocery bags. I nearly gagged. No matter how much I vacuumed the ceiling, more bugs simply were waiting to crawl up and take their place. Once I found and removed the source, I knew our pantry would be clean again.

After a quick trip to Wally World for containers and fresh, bug-free food items, vacuuming until my back ached and scouring every living inch, my pantry looked neat and tidy. But it was a battle, and an expensive endeavor.

Isn't that how our lives are? We think we are making progress in an area, such as attitudes, because we diligently whisk away any evidence that materializes. Yet lurking underneath hides the culprit, the source - our own hearts - that only the Lord can deal with, clean up, and make as good as new.

I'm thankful that my pantry is now bug free, and our hidden infestation is officially over. I'm also thankful that the Lord is able to go straight to the source of the hidden 'Ewwww' deep in my heart, removing it once and for all. He then fills it with His love. Best of all, He paid the entire price for me.

Thanks, God, for a clean, full pantry. And a clean, full heart.

10 comments:

Speaking from the Heart said...

Awesome comparision. I am glad your pantry is bug free.

Joyful said...

YUCK! Glad you are de-bugged!

Wonderful illustration. I don't want anything 'creepy, crawly' in my heart either!

Have a great day!
Joy

On Purpose said...

This is a terrific analogy!

May I be willing to be vacummed, and cleaned and have Him throw the unneeded, and dirty away!

Sonya Lee Thompson said...

Great post, and I love your new profile picture! Beautiful - and bug free. :)

Have a great week,
Sonya

Kelly said...

I love your new picture and layout and wording! It's gorgeous. You've been cleaning up your blog and your pantry!

What a great analogy. Every word hit home. Loved it.

B His Girl said...

Hey Julie

Love your new photo. Your hair is a little shorter I think? You look mavelous! A weevil convention...oh my! Be thankful it was not another kind of bug that loves Florida...termites. Thanks for stopping by today. You were a spark in my day! :)

Tea with Tiffany said...

Oh, how I relate to bugs. Both in my home and in my heart. I love when we can see God and His work through ordinary and even buggy circumstances.

Thank you for your sweet comment on my recent post!

KelliGirl said...

Julie,
I hate those bugs too! I do have to say I'm impressed with how clean and organized your pantry is!!

What a great analogy to tie it all together. I can see I definitely have a lot of cleaning up to do in my own "pantry."

Blessings,
Kelli

Greg C said...

Great analogy. I grew up in Florida and anyone down there that says they never had a bug in their house is a.....well they aren't telling the truty. Great post. I followed you over here from Kelly's blog.

Rebecca Ingram Powell said...

Wow! I was admiring your gorgeous pantry until I read the story of what you had to do to get there! LOL!

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