Tiny blessings

Jesus taught that we don’t need to fear how others may treat us because God is in control. God sees every sparrow that falls from the sky (Matthew 10:29). As it turns out, God knows every wasp’s nest too.

It was a hot, weary day last June when I picked up my son Kieran from kindergarten. The teacher appeared in the doorway with pursed lips, furrowed brow and both hands on my son’s tiny shoulders – body language for “You wouldn’t believe what he put me through this time.” I steeled myself against the threat of parental embarrassment.

The teacher informed me that my boy had been a little too “hands-on” in his exploration of the science table. Apparently Kieran was the first child to ever succeed at freeing a wasp’s nest from a jar, its secure observatory for the past three years. (I tried not to let my pride in his manly vigour show.) After three years without air the perfect little nest had crumbled in his hand.

Looking down at my little collector of bugs, weeds and pine cones, I could tell his heart was broken over the loss and filled with remorse. I apologized profusely and dragged my three-year-old daughter Gemma, kicking and screaming, off the play structure.

As I headed for home I tried not to worry about the 12 long years of strained teacher–parent relations that stretched before me. I knew our school division teaches “restitution” – making it up to those you have wronged. How could I make restitution to the teacher and ensure that she continued to view my son in a positive light? There was only one way. I needed to find a replacement wasp’s nest.

But where? (Last time I checked, Wal-Mart didn’t carry them.) I hadn’t seen a wasp’s nest since we bought our house five years earlier and had to knock a large one out of the shed. And I didn’t have much time; the school year was almost over.

I’ve prayed about specific, seemingly trivial matters in the past (that expired coupons would be honoured or that my 20-year-old Electrolux wouldn’t give up the ghost) and God humoured me. I decided I had nothing to lose.

“God, would you send me a wasp’s nest?”

After I tucked the kids into bed that night I realized I had left their bikes in the yard. So, braving the mosquitoes and dodging a single wasp, I unlocked the shed. There, hanging on the inside of the door, was a beautiful little wasp nest. I returned moments later, armed with a bread knife and a salsa jar, to claim God’s gift.

The next morning my beaming son walked to school with his head held high and his restitution in his arms, to greet a surprised and grateful teacher.

God may not have blessed me with compliant children or a brand new vacuum cleaner, but certainly does find comical ways to remind me he’s watching.

And if even the stinging insects are God’s messengers of mercy, imagine what my heavenly Father can do through me?

Angeline Schellenberg is a mother, writer and speaker, and member of Crossroads MB Church in Winnipeg.