Icky Things, Part One

I tell you, this is just the year that God is teaching me to be stretched in big ways and small ways. These past couple of weeks, I've been stretched in a small way within my classroom. (Okay, there is a LOT of stretching daily here at school; today I am focusing on one.) Those of you who know me well can attest that this is REALLY stretching for me - in a non-spiritual, non life-threatening sort of way. I have to set up the post about what God has taught me with a background post:

I hate icky things - bugs, mice, bugs, worms, bugs, etc. When we lived in our TX ghetto house, we had mice, waterbugs (basically giganormous cockroaches), and geckos (those cute little lizards are not so cute when they are in your bathtub at 6 am! We also had albino geckos which were really freaky). It was so gross! We would call the landlord to let her know and she would just say, that's how it is in TX. And, it was true in a sense as many of our friends had them. And, most of our friends were living in cheap housing because we were all going through seminary; cheap housing brings all kinds of critters I guess.

Anyway, Jason has had the honor of sending these blessed creations on to wherever dead animals go. I have often joked that I could not have remained single for that reason alone - disposing of unwanted creatures. I told Jason that's his divorce-free insurance - only joking!! He would bravely trap the mice (one night three ran out and we were going ballistic trying to catch them all), flush the geckos, and squash the waterbugs. I was helplessly fearful when it came to these feats.

I am especially grossed out by the squashing of a bug. It really isn't fear of the bug in and of itself. I know a giant cockroach is not going to bite me or something. It's the fear of going to step on it and it running up my leg or jumping on me. It's largely the dread of the crunch of the exoskeleton and the squishing of the guts all over the floor/my shoe... ICH! I cannot get over that aspect. I honestly just shivered thinking about it. And, there is always a little thought that runs through my head as to whether God would have us kill cockroaches. Aren't they his creations as well? Shouldn't we just release them? But, that's just a very small thought.

So, as you may or may not be wondering, there were many times when I would come across an animal friend when I was home by myself. Thankfully I never encountered a mouse or gecko on my own, but I often came across bugs. Incapable of squashing them myself but not wanting them roaming around in the house, I came up with a failproof solution. I "cupped" the bugs. This process simply involved putting a cup over the bug until Jason could come home and dispose of it. Sometimes it would be dead by the time he got home due to lack of oxygen. This system worked pretty well although Jason always found it amusing to come home and find an upside down cup in the middle of the floor. And, I always used the same cup as to not mix up drinking cups and bug cups. Washing them with bleach just somehow couldn't kill the ickiness in my mind.

One morning as I was getting ready, a HUGE waterbug/cockroach came crawling across the bathroom floor. I was absolutely terrified as it was the largest bug I had ever seen outside of a zoo or some other animal display. It was longer than my fingers. I was almost in a panic. But, having a system in place for these situations kept me calm, and I rushed to get my bug cup. However, I came back to "cup" the bug only to find that the bug was LONGER than the cup!!! Oh my goodness, what in the world was I going to do??? I raced to my kitchen to find something long enough to capture this monstrosity! The only thing I could find was a glass loaf pan - heavy enough that the bug couldn't throw it off or crawl under it and long enough to cover it. I raced back to the freak of nature and "cupped" (or should I say "loafed"?) it. Whew!

I continued to get ready keeping as far away as possible. I watched it with the same morbid interest that we watch the remainder of a car wreck. I just couldn't look away; I was horrified! After a few minutes though, something strange begin to happen. The glass loaf pan began to fog up. The bug was SO big that his breath fogged up an entire loaf pan!! I was absolutely freaked out!

Needless to say, Jason took care of this big bug. He still wouldn't let us break the lease and move out; we didn't have children at the time or I surely would have pulled that card. That is until we got broken into by the gang members next door, but that is a whole other story - they even stole our roast beef!

So, my bug warrior has always taken care of me; I'm so thankful for him. We haven't experienced infestations of anything lately - just small things here and there, but I am still insanely squeamish of all creepy-crawlies... We've even had fish tanks over the years that I like to enjoy, but can't stand picking out the dead ones, cleaning the tank, or anything of that nature. You can imagine that we don't keep fish that long.

So, imagine my surprise and horror when I discovered that the fourth grade class I was teaching would be getting animals to study! Animals that I would have to care for, feed, clean cages, etc for a period of several weeks... more on that tomorrow!