Squash bugs

Last weekend, we discovered that squash bugs had invaded our garden.  Being the novice gardeners that we are, we thought we'd dodged the proverbial bullet with these critters, but alas, the invasion, and now war, is on.  Thus far, they seem to be winning, but our persistence in searching day by day seems to be paying off.  


Today, as I searched, I found a large squash bug in the process of laying eggs.  For a brief moment, the sensitive mom side of my welled up...VERY brief lapsing moment...and then the killer side of me came raging forward.  I grabbed the momma and squished her, and then proceeded to smash all of her babies.  Yes, I am a baby killer.  


Hunting for these bugs has been one of the most challenging gardening events ever.  After killing momma and her babies, I searched for eggs and bugs on other leaves and came across an entire colony of just hatched squash bugs, which look like small black spiders.  I quickly smashed those as well as they tried to skitter away.  


Leaves on our pumpkin plants are turning yellow as a result of the bug invasion, and we are praying that our pumpkins don't get infested on the inside, which is what these darn bugs do.  The fruit looks beautiful on the outside and then you cut it open only to find rot on the inside.


The Lord is using this whole experience to paint a very real picture of the reality of sin as well as the evil one.  I'm convinced that squash bugs are a result of the fall of man...and therefore are from the pit of hell.  They do NO one any good at all and only bring death and destruction.  Like sin, they hide under the leaves of plants, laying numerous eggs in the hidden-ness of the leaves, and thus from one momma sin, is produced a whole plethora of sinful issues.  Once these bugs hit, they are REALLY hard to get rid of...how like sin in our lives.  We open the door to something that seems harmless, or we know it's bad (one bug), and then the entire inside of us becomes rotten to the core.  Sometimes on the outside, we look healthy and "ok"; but look inside and there is rot due to sin.  


The enemy is like a roaring lion, prowling around looking for whom he may devour.  He's constantly looking for ways to plant eggs that will destroy us.  We have to be vigilant about removing the eggs so that sin does not run free and take over, ruining our lives.  


I must admit, that after the first day of killing bugs and smashing eggs last weekend, I was very discouraged.  The next day, I didn't even want to go out to the garden because I was afraid to find more bugs and egg colonies.  In my heart, I just wanted to avoid it and hope it would go away.  How true is that of our hearts sometimes with regard to sin:  we know it's there, but we don't want to deal with it.  I mustered up the strength and went on a bug-hunt.  Sure enough, I was smashing and destroying bugs and eggs.  My heart began to shift.  


The next day I was excited to get out to the garden to bug-hunt! I want to rid the garden of any infestation of squash bugs and I will turn over every leaf to find every bug and destroy them as I am able.  Just as with sin, this is a war, fought daily, and the lives of our 'fruit' are at stake.