The Best Little Voice

"And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way'..." Isaiah 30:21 [ESV]

Very cautiously peering through the arched window atop our front door, I stretched to the full length of my tip-toes but STILL couldn't really see what I was trying to locate. This, day three of what shall henceforth be known as "The Hornet Wars," was just about my last straw with the trio of Paper Wasp thugs that have been attempting a nest in our front door frame. They didn't get the memo clearly labeling the high-traffic area "OFF LIMITS." The current score leaves casualties on both sides as Hubs was stung twice when attempting to re-enter.

Image Credit: Adobe Stock

The pale, paper-thin carcasses of partially complete comb structures lay littered across the front porch and into the spilled-over birdseed sprouting under the feeders. However, you would be hard-pressed to find an actual Paper Wasp fatality because while I may have inadvertently injured a drone knocking down the nest - my intent is not to kill them if I can absolutely avoid it. They have a valuable place in our ecosystem as pollinators. I  just don't want to be stung every time I use my front door. And sadly, if they don't get the message, I will have no choice but to send them from this mortal coil. 

Peeking through the frosted glass in a vain effort to see into the far corners above the door jam, I finally just took a deep breath and cracked the door a bit. Then, an odd indistinguishable noise escaped me as I leaped backward and slammed the door closed.

Not only had those little angry flying needles begun to build yet another nest, but upon opening the front door - they hung at EXACTLY eye level!  

Really, guys? You have an entire planet, two freshly potted, flowering calibrachoa, and several nice trees mere feet from this location, and you have to continuously choose my front doorway and then get - pardon me -  get all angry as a hornet at me when I bump into you? 

These guys will NOT give up. 

Again, I knock the thing down.

I've got to ask - what in the world makes them keep trying? I've dusted them with hairspray [because I know it will irritate them but probably not kill them], I've hit them with compressed air and knocked them down with a long-handled broom. And. They just. Keep. Coming. Back.

I'd like to bottle up and buy some of that blind focus and tenacity—I could use a bit right about now.

A bright spot in a frustrating battle came when FINALLY!... I opened the door, anticipating a sting to the nose or eye, and blinked with a grin. They were gone. Timidly, I stuck my head out a little bit more to confirm that they weren't just around the jam on the other side - but?

Image Credit: Adobe Stock

Nope ... nothing. No angry mini-battalion of relentless pain, no oddly expressive wide oval eye thingy staring at me. They were just gone.

Walking around the front, I spotted where they'd moved. I think we've finally come to an understanding. They are in the far corner of the garage frame. I can live with that. Not a high-traffic area.

Ages ago, I discovered that many different hornet\wasp species can successfully recognize human faces. And fellow souls - they hold a grudge. Unlike the bee, a hornet doesn't lose its tail when it stings you. The wasp suffers no damage and has an endless supply of venom, and it can keep coming back to strike as often as it desires. So - picture the ridiculousness of a 52-year-old woman changing shirts, face masks, and hats every five minutes to chase three little [ok, they weren't so little] hornets away from the front door. My very new neighbors probably think I'm a few fries short of a Happy Meal. 

The Paper Wasps, after being knocked around a LOT, just got back up and kept on trying. 

HOW?!

At the very least, they had to be a bit punch-drunk. What were they thinking when suddenly their entire world started spinning at the whim of a long-handled broom? How do they know which way is still up? How do they know there even IS an up after that?

Bigger than that? How do they know when it's time to pack it in and go somewhere else? You have lost too much and cannot continue - it is time to start over. Who resets the clock on a Paper Wasp? 

Just like my poor little dizzy Paper Wasps - we can often be faced with things that leave us reeling and trying to figure out which way is up. If you've been a reader of this blog, you probably know that my tiny little slice of the planet has recently and somewhat relentlessly been DRAMATICALLY altered. Four years after COVID-19 officially started its vice-like, boney-fingered devastation, we are STILL reeling from the backhand of a long-handled broom. 

After losing nearly everything - how do you keep going? What if MY nest gets knocked down again? 

In the aftermath of a two-year Tsunami that rips the solid sand from underfoot over and over and over again? - Where and when is it safe to even take another step?

What if I don't have any confidence in my ability to pick one more foot up one more time? What if I'm lost and I'm too terrified to try to stand up again? I don't want to fall on my butt AGAIN. If I don't try to put the paper nest back up  - I can't mess it up and lose it all again. And no one can knock it down. AGAIN.

Deep breath, little, lost, spinning hornet. 

God is with us and will TELL us where to go next. He says it plain as day and in black and white right there on the pages of Isaiah. 

Hey - little lost spinning Paper Wasp, how about you try God's location and construction plan?

Maybe the terrain I'm on wouldn't be so rough if I'd prayed and asked for directions in the first place. All we have to do is be still for a hot minute and listen to the gentle voice nudging us in the fruitful, joyful, fully successful, and faithful direction God is waiting and longing for us to take. I mean, if we really want to, I guess we can just keep trying to build our OWN lives, putting a whole lot of effort into a paper thing that will get blown down when we keep building into the wind. And yes, God will ALWAYS love us and ALWAYS bless us in spite of ourselves - but just think of the beautiful stability and celebration that comes when we really let go and let God lead.

God's got this. He really, REALLY, really DOES!