Army Worms

Army Worms - those horrible little creatures that come and steal your grass away in the night. Perhaps you've never heard of them... perhaps you've never been privy to their prey. Or, perhaps, you simply live in an area of no worms (lucky you). Whatever the case... beware!

You see, last year, we built a new home. And, due to the slope of our lot, we needed grass FAST! So, naturally in true Albertson fashion, we (all about six of us) laid 60 pallets of sod (that's roughly 30,000 square feet) in a little under 18 hours. Crazy - I know, but we were on a roll. After the time, effort, money, and well, body aching we spent on the lawn - nothing was going to keep it from thriving... so we thought.

And, then, in the middle of the night - we were ambushed! You see, one day our lawn was green and thriving - looking somewhat like a golf course with its plush greens. And, then, we noticed a slight breeze rolling through. Now, by breeze I mean, the grass was waving - pretty, yes. But, weird as there was no wind. And, within literally hours - the entire lawn went brown! Then, we saw them - the sneaky little worms had moved in and were eating our grass one piece at a time.

So, I, being the lawn care expert that I am, went immediately to Lowes (and, by immediately, I mean drove the 45 minutes to an hour to the Lowes... as we do live in the middle of nowhere) and purchased three bags (each covering 15,000 square feet) and one sprayer (covering another 15,000 square feet) of army worm killer. So, you do the math - our lawn recieved twice the dose of army worm killer. I was determined to kill those army worms - dead!

Needless to say, my adventure in army worm attack turned out well. For a while there, we thought I burnt the grass, but fortunately, it was determined to survive. We caught the ambush in time! And, with our quick thinking (and special food), the army worms were no longer a threat to our lawn... until this year (we'll get to that in a minute).

In 1 Peter 5:8, we are asked to "be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Well, here's what I think... we need to be on alert. Even when things look great - correction - especially when things look great, the devil is waiting to ambush!

Now, let's think about this. Would the army worms attack my lawn if was brown? NO! Army worms like fresh green foliage. To attack a brown yard, would be to attack one they'd already won. Its the same with the devil. When things are stinky and I am not in God's word, why would the devil fool with me? I mean, he's already won. But, when life is good and my relationship is thriving, he seeks to ambush. Then, sometime, in the middle of the night, he sneaks in and turns my green, plush relationship into a brown, gritty mess.

As previously mentioned, I won my battle with the army worms... last year. And, this year - I'm feeling pretty great. No army worms, green grass... life is good. And, then, in the middle of the night - brown grass, again. And, I see - the worms!

So, what's the moral of the story? You can conquer the worms once, you can conquer them twice (which I did), but they are coming back. And, sometimes, they leave scars on your lawn (like a big brown patch in the back yard). Same with the devil - we can conquer him once; we can conquer him twice, but he's on the look-out. And, if we are not alert, he will brown scars on our life.

So, beware the worms are coming - are you ready? And, are you alert?



"Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters..." Isaiah 55:1