SUMMER SESSION #2 - WHAT YOU CAN'T SEE--CAN HURT YOU

 With warm (HOT!) weather comes an annoying pest.  I live in the South--we have a plethora of insects.  In the few months of winter, we get a short respite, but they come back as soon as it begins to warm up (March).  The infamous 

No see ums (that is the Southern Scientific Name) are a tiny insect that you really and truly cannot see.  The first notice you have is their infamous bite.  For something so tiny they have a MOST annoying bite.  They seem to really love the beach.  Be warned--do not go without bug spray AND your sunscreen.

Those are not the only nuisances we have to put up with.  There are ticks and mosquitoes galore.  Do NOT walk out your door early in the morning or late in the evening without repellant.  Why some say the mosquito is the state bird of Louisiana.

Lest I forget we have wasps, yellow jackets, bees and hornets flying around looking for a victim as well.  Most of these we can see--they are clearly visible to the naked eye.  BUT the no see ems and the scourge from my childhood chiggers are tiny and almost invisible to the naked eye.

We called these little pest red bugs in my childhood--a magnified image would give you the reason why--they really are red.  These buggers LOVE to hide under the cover of any place your clothing fits tightly.  Think waist band, sock tube, leg bindings on your underwear.  They would walk right up your leg from their hiding place in the lush grass of summer and enjoy a banquet.  The first notice you have of the invasion is the itch.  NOT just your ordinary everyday itch, but the itch that made you want to claw your skin off.  Until I became a more sophisticated teenager who was not rolling around in the grass, my summers were spent scratching where the chiggers had been biting.  Only poison ivy can hold a candle to this misery.

My mother was proficient in stopping the scratching.  Another lesson from my youth (there were things like manners my mother was on a quest to teach) 

DO NOT SCRATCH IN PUBLIC

Can I tell you what a tall order that is when you are about to itch to death!!!  This lead to Clorox laced water baths -COOL WATER or bathing with her favorite remedy 

Germicidal soap.  I am fairly certain she brought this remedy from her youth when her father was a druggist and owned a pharmacy (pre need for a license or schooling since there were not many medicines).  It is exactly what you would expect--a strong medicinal smelling antiseptic soap.  There was a bar in the children's bathroom and strict orders many a night to use it.  How wonderful to smell like a hospital and itch.  This accompanied with a thick lathering of calamine lotion was a nightly ritual.  Those little monsters enjoyed their banquet, but they ended up down the drain after their final meal.  

Such a sweet memory from my childhood--😆.  Where in the world could I be going?  Why you must see it---those little nuisance sins which sneak up on us and grab hold before we know what it happening.  The next thing we know we are scratching the scab off our wounds and unable to leave it alone.  We need a good soaking in cool fresh water of the Gospel with a major application of sin ridding repentance followed by the thick application of the soothing Holy Spirit.  

OH, the memories of long ago summer pasts and the lessons learned.

"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds 

on the things of the flesh,

but those who live according to the Spirit

set their minds of the things of the Spirit."

Romans 8:5

Remember during the summer the blog will only post two times a week.  If you are not already signed up to receive new blog notifications via email, please do so on the right side of the blog page.  I am also taking a social media break this summer so there will be no Facebook notification of new blogs.  I am thankful for each and every reader and pray you will also be able to rest during this season.