Slime in Your Heart?

When I moved to Seattle from Minneapolis fifteen years ago, I exchanged the Minnesota state bird—the mosquito—for spiders and slugs.

Slugs vary in color, but around here, they’re usually shades of brown to black. They come in a variety of sizes, from tiny to HUGE. Really. I’ve seen a few that resembled small snakes. And that’s not much of an exaggeration. Our native banana slugs can grow to 10 inches long and weigh a quarter-pound. And they can eat several times their body weight each day.

It’s amazing the ugly creatures, who move sooooo slowly, can cover a lot of territory. You’ll find them lounging on your deck, climbing up stairs to your front door, or resting in the shade of a freshly watered plant.

I take an odd sadistic sense of pleasure in pouring salt over their bodies and watching them dehydrate into pools of mush.

Slugs love to eat flowers—especially my petunias—and they leave their slime on the chewed leaves as their calling card. Even those planted in pots and placed higher above ground. It’s frustrating to see the blooms and leaves chewed to nothing over night after months of giving them tender, loving care.

But we’ve had a bit of a reprieve this summer. The higher than normal temperatures have driven slugs farther underground. They don't like the sun's light or warmth. They prefer a cool, dark, and damp environment.

It’s pretty much like the slimy stuff in our own lives.

You know. Those things that creep up—ever so slowly—but somehow still manage to eat away at what’s good and beautiful in our lives, leaving a bit of slime on our hearts and souls.

Do you struggle with envy?

Perhaps your friend has a better job, makes more money, and seems to have it so much easier.

Maybe you’re the last person in your group of friends still trying to have a family.

And what is it with some woman who have a metabolism that allows them to eat whatever they want without gaining a pound—or exercising. Soooo not fair!

Maybe pride is your downfall.

Or anger.

It could be anything.

Sometimes we won’t let go of those destructive creatures. We enjoy holding on. We choose to stay in the dark. And then we mope or get depressed because we can’t understand why our happiness is not genuine or full.

Sometimes we DO want to change. Unfortunately, throwing salt all over our bodies won’t kill our imperfections.

But there is a way to be free of them.

Stay close to the Light and bask in the warmth of the Son.

Jesus will forgive. And He’ll give us the strength needed to fight whatever is ugly in our lives.

Lord, cover me with Your salt!

Have a great week. And next time you feel one of the "uglies" coming on - just visualize yucky slug slime. It may help!

Dawn