"For God so loved the world. . ."

"That best portion of a good man's life; his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love. " William Wordsworth English Poet


"No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted. " Aesop Greek Fable Writer



Now after reading this next blog you'll be wondering how on earth I came up with that title. I know how the rest of it goes, but this small phrase just sticks with me everytime I look at "Manny". Manny is a praying mantis that Lauren found outside and decided to keep as a pet. One thing praying mantis' need to do is to shed their old skin and they do that while they hang upside down from a branch- then they just "drop" down out of it. Well even though Manny has 2 branches, 2 potted plants, fresh grass, a small piece of log and a hand drawn nature scene in his cage, he still managed to molt lying down which restricted his healthy new skin and left poor Manny all deformed. We couldn't let Manny go now- how could he feed himself? Or worse, he'd get eaten by a bird with no way of defending himself. So Manny became part of the family. Manny is given fresh grass everyday, sprinkles of purified water and hand fed cat food. We all find ourselves checking on him frequently- especially after we've been away and the kids are so good about feeding him everyday. All this makes me wonder "how on earth could we love a bug so much?" Who knew there's room enough in your heart to honestly, compassionately care for a bug!!! But we just love this little guy so much and I've spent a lifetime teaching these kids that we care for all of God's creatures- big and small. God loves us so much and I feel that it is our responsibility to love others- even a bug. (I don't always feel so loving toward the bunnies that eat my flowers but I just have to giggle and hope they enjoyed it!!!) We all have a purpose here and even poor mangled Manny is making a difference in our lives. He's teaching my children how to care for a pet, be responsible, to care for others even if they're different and most importantly, to love- in a world where so much anger & hate is all around them. (I wonder why Lauren's a modern day hippy!)

This what a praying mantis should look like

and this is poor Manny. Look at his two front arms. . . they both vear off to the side and he can't even open one of his little hands!

Gavin likes to study Manny too. Look at his poor body- he can't fly with those mangled wings
A face only a mother could love? (right now mom's going "eewwww, MELANIE") I like to think that what's going through his mind is "thank you for taking care of me" when really he's probably thinking " I want to bite your head off woman!!!" :0)
Here he is licking off some cat food that got on his arm

Did you know praying mantis' are really smart? After they mate they bite off their mates head and eat them! That'd be one way of doing it!! hee hee haa haa