Bugs...and God

I don't think it's much of an exaggeration to say that all three kids have been rather obsessed this week with catching (and releasing) bugs and examining them in clear containers.  They've caught all kinds of ants; various butterflies and moths; beetles and spiders; bees and mosquitos; dragonflies and flies; and a number of types of grasshoppers.  Between trampoline time and bug-catching time, they've spent considerably more time outside than inside this week.  It's been such a learning experience - especially for Seth, who comes in with startled exclamations such as "Mom, grasshoppers can really jump far and even hang upside down on a piece of grass!" and "Mom, you've got to see this ant closeup - it has three parts on its body!" and "Mom, come and look at the bee's nest" (which was actually a wasp hive but good to find nonetheless!).

We've had good table discussions about which insects are herbivores and which are carnivores, which insects prey on others, etc etc. and it's pretty clear to me this week that learning happens in so many different forms.

Perhaps my favourite comment, though, came from Matthew yesterday.  We'd been having a good conversation about God and why He might have created bugs and how neat it is that He created such a variety of creatures to fill the earth and creatures of such infinitesimal detail at that.  Matthew kept staring at one of the containers that the kids had furnished with soil, branches, leaves, and little bits and crumbs of food from the table before adding the bugs of their choice.

He finally pointed to the container and said, "Mom, you know what that really is?"

"What?" I answered.

"It's God in a box," he said, smiling.  "The bugs are part of who God is.  It's really God.  In a box."

I couldn't have said it better myself.