A Plague of Flies

Dinner time has become something I look forward to every day. First, I enjoy making dinner while Katelyn stands on a “big chair” watching, helping, and tasting the food as we listen to Brenden play G.I Joes or “tracks” with Noah. It has quickly become a time that I cherish and a time that I hope the children will remember. Second, I love having the kids eat with me and Brenden (they usually eat breakfast and lunch at their mini table and chairs). You never know where the conversation will lead. Sometimes the kids will just sit and listen to Mom and Dad talk about their days, other nights the kids have us laughing with their conversations and silly faces. Tonight when we sat down for dinner, a few flies started to fly around our heads and our food. At first, I was thinking there were maybe just 2 or 3 flies. I started swinging my pony tail back and forth to shoo away the flies while Brenden started waving his arm across the table trying to keep the flies away from his food and the kids’. Then I see a couple of flies around Brenden’s head and I look at Noah only to see a big smile on his face. He is enjoying watching Mom and Dad get attacked by flies (while Katelyn is continuing to dip her finger in her ketchup and eat her fish…she will not miss a meal!). After a while I can’t take the buzzing in my ears so I get up and assume my fly-killing position at the kitchen sink window with Green Works all-purpose cleaner in one hand, paper towel in the other. A fly would come to the window, I would squirt them to paralyze them then quickly finish them off with a paper towel. I start this process and start counting…one, two, three, four, five, six, seven…I kill seven flies! I look behind me only to find Brenden up from the table with kitchen towel in hand (his preferred fly-killing method) trying to swat down the flies (such a guy’s way to kill them!). By this point, the kids are up from the table, our food is cold, there are flies everywhere, and despite the frustration it’s kind of fun. Counting my pre-dinner fly total along with Brenden’s fly total we squashed, swatted, and swiped a grand total of 20 flies! I have no idea how that many flies got into the house. And as I type this, 2 hours after dinner, I can still see two or three (I hope no more!) flies and I can hear the loud buzzing of flies in two different places. It’s really starting to give me the creeps. It reminds me of the plagues that God sent to Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Maybe we are being judged for our sin and having a plague of flies attack our home. Lord, help us!