Thursday, June 3, 2010

We are not ants.

"Ants don't sleep."

That's what Bubba read me from the cool facts app on my ipod as we drove down the road.  Really?? I didn't know that...although I do know that those little guys are busy, busy little guys.

On Saturday, Bubba and I were weeding (you know, pulling the grass out from where we don't want it to grow even though it's not growing well where we want it to).  Some of the grass was growing from below a stepping stone, so we lifted it up.  We found ant-land.  We saw tunnels and ants running around.  We saw larva and as soon as we lifted the stone the ants scurried over to the larva and carried it deeper under ground.  It was cool and gross at the same time--perfect entertainment for a young man.  They were working hard and fast.

see the larva?

Then two nights ago--Pickle found a few ants in our kitchen.  We looked closely and realized they were just a few of the many parading through our home.  We followed the parade backwards and learned they were marching along the crack of our wood floor and carpet, along the wall, the crease at the bottom of the stairs, again along more wood floor and carpet to the front door.  That's a long way for those little legs!  Those ants don't stop!

(Sorry, insect-lovers, but armed with super-spray, we happily killed them all. )

Ants don't sleep.  Ants don't stop.  They keep going, keep marching, keep working.  They jump into action when a crisis arises and the babies need to be carried below.  The are willing to walk and walk and walk in search of some crumbs.

We are not ants.  I know you know this.  But do you?  How do you live your life?  Do you act like an ant?  Do you think you just can't stop?  Are you afraid of stopping?  Feel guilty for it?  Do you only stop when the super-spray of exhaustion or illness takes you down?

We've been talking a lot about stopping at church lately.  We've been talking about Sabbath.  Our pastor has been leading us down a road of exploring the gift of Sabbath that could just revolutionize our lives and relationships with God.

I can't wait to share more with you on this...but first:  Are you too much like an ant?  Do you practice Sabbath?  Talk to me!

4 comments:

mer@lifeat7000feet said...

I am NOT like an ant! I have way too much sloth in me to ever be one.

I do enjoy productivity, and I love lists and schedules, but yeah, all that ceases for us on Sundays. John started that with us 5-6 years ago. Sundays are different. On Sundays we go to church, we eat leftovers for lunch (takes some planning on my part!), we nap, we rest, we enjoy doing NOTHING. John and I also unplug from the computer, and we don't let our kids have friends over on Sundays. We try to end the day with a simple meal and a game or a tv show/movie together. We love Sundays so much that we've really tried to make Saturdays as much like Sunday as we can. That one is a little more challenging!

Dawn said...

We do practice a very low-key Sabbath. My husband and I became convicted in this area several years ago when Sunday became our church "work day." And by that I don't mean that we don't serve anymore - I just mean that we've given up the "very important meetings" and what not that seemed to always be scheduled before church, after church, and Sunday afternoon. And all the very necessary "errands" that just had to happen before Monday.

So, yes, we attend church together and even serve during that time. But Sunday afternoon? Family "down" time. No meetings. No housework. No yardwork. No shopping. Sometimes it means we all nap. Other times it means we take the boat to the lake. Or watch a movie together. All meals on Sunday are as a family. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sometimes we do invite another family to join us - but, it's always a family who understands how we observe the day. (In other words, I don't prepare a "party.")

Mondays are much better now thanks to our Sabbath Sunday. And, we actually feel refreshed from the weekend even if Friday and Saturday have been crazy.

Karen said...

I do not like ants! yuk! That sounds like an interesting study. Please do share.

Melinda said...

Would love to hear more on this... I have ant-like periods, but I just can't go breakneck speed all the time. I'm not wired that way and I don't like the person I am when I get too busy for too long. I'm getting better at pacing myself.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog this week and rejoicing with me about Micah. God is good. All the time. Even when He doesn't give us the answer we'd like. I have to remind myself of that, too. ;0)

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