Here in Florida, we have what people call "Love Bugs." I know exactly why they are called “Love Bugs,” but I am not fond of these little critters. Why don’t they just get a motel room?
On Tuesday, I needed to go across town for some quick business and office supplies. It would not take me long, and I would get back home in a short time. I almost got home when out of nowhere came a big dark cloud that hit my truck in the front as I have never been hit before. At first, I thought it was the apocalypse. When I got through it, I realized I had hit, or rather, they hit me, a group of “Love Bugs” and were smeared all over my window and the front part of my truck. I used to have a silver truck, now it was just about all black, at least in the front. When I walked in through the front door at home, my wife saw I was more agitated than ever. I even slammed the door behind me, which indicated how aggravated I was. “What happened?” I just looked at my wife and then said, "Those lousy Love Bugs attacked me as I was driving, and they're all over my truck. I'm never going to get them off." With that, I went, got a bucket of water, and tried to clean them off my truck. I noticed my wife was smiling as I left and said to me, “You should drive more carefully.” Then she snickered. I hate it when she snickers. When I walked in, my wife said, "Well, did you get them all off your truck?" Then she gave me one of her infamous snickers. Throughout the day, when she looked at me, she was snickering. The next morning my wife had to go down to the store to get a few groceries. As she shut the door behind her, she said to me, “I guess I’m going to have to drive carefully.” Then she snickered again. A little over an hour later, she returned, and when she came in the door, I noticed something was wrong. I asked her if anything was wrong, and all she said, "No, nothing’s wrong. I’ll take care of it.” I knew by her demeanor, something was wrong, and something she really did not want me to know. That perked my curiosity. In a few minutes, I looked out the window and there she was with a bucket of water washing the front of her van. I had my suspicions, which proved correct. When she came in the front door, I was waiting for her and said, “Any Love Bug problem?” With that, I not only snickered, but I laughed out loud hilariously. “Maybe,” I said between laughing, “you should drive a little more carefully.” Her stare informed me that she did not think it was funny, which made it even funnier for me. Thinking about that, I remembered what the prophet Amos once said. “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3). Walking together on the same pathway, we experience the same thing. Sometimes we forget that, I know I do. I am learning not to criticize other people for what they’re going through at the time because I may go through that same experience tomorrow. |
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