At my house this is not a euphemism. I scream this all day long in the summer months. It is not because the air conditioner is on, it is because I HATE flies. We live in the country, therefore we seem to have more of these pests than usual.
One of the first things my children toddled around with was a fly swatter, trying to eliminate the enemy. Sometimes, when there are just too many flies for me to handle, (more than one) I will put out a bounty, 5¢ per fly. I do provide quite a bit of entertainment for my children all summer, chasing after the buzzing irritants myself. I am somewhat surprised that none of my kids has ever bought me one of those electric fly swatters, the ones that zap them in mid-air, but then again my children are intelligent.
Just as I am vigilant about keeping the doors closed to flies, I am also as concerned about what else might zip its way into my home. I have to constantly be on the lookout for evil that loves to come in when a door is left open. I am not only talking about blatant evil either, sometimes the door is opened simply by my bad attitude. Pretty soon all kinds of nasty things are flying around: hurtful words, ugly looks, unkind actions.
I have found the quickest way to squash that kind of infestation is with an apology for my hasty words. If I can calm myself down, fairly soon things are back to normal. Well, as normal as things ever are in a house with eight children and a mother running through waving a fly swatter!
“Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” I Peter 1:13
Leave a Reply