Stomping Grasshoppers

No, it's not the name of an alternative music band. This actually deals with exterminating grasshoppers. If you want to skip my crazy rambling and get right to the point, click here.

We have a grasshopper here in the South that goes by several names I know of, including Lubbers, Thumpers, Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers, Georgia Thumpers, and "Those @%$&! Orange grasshoppers".

I'll just call them Lubbers. Lubber eggs sit dormant underground for 3-5 years before hatching. Consequently, you may not see any for 3-5 years, then all the sudden they're EVERYWHERE!

Lubbers are NOT picky eaters. About the only things Lubbers won't eat are pine trees, grass, and weeds. A swarm of Lubbers can destroy a garden overnight. Once Lubbers are more than a few days old, nothing eats them.

Some areas are "blessed" with Lubbers every year, without the 3-5 year break. My house sits in one of these areas. Three years ago, I began trying to exterminate the Lubbers around my house.

When they are newly hatched, Lubbers always move in swarms. They hatch out black in color, making the swarms easy to spot.

For two years in a row, I went out each morning while it was cool and the Lubber swarms were dormant and sprayed each swarm I found with bug spray. This killed hundreds at a time (if not thousands).

Once the Lubbers reach adulthood and take on their bright orange and yellow colors, bug spray has little to no effect on them. So after this point each year I stomped on every Lubber I encountered.

In the third year I became discouraged. I had been mass exterminating Lubbers by the tens of thousands for two years, and it seemed to make no difference whatsoever. I still had Lubbers everywhere. It was like trying to sweep up sand off the beach with a broom.

So I gave up. Oh, if a Lubber hopped into my path I went ahead and stepped on it, but I quit trying to eliminate them from my property.

Now it's year four. Guess what? There's only a fraction of the normal number of Lubbers around my house. I had forgotten something very important. Even though I had Lubbers EVERY year, each individual egg sits underground at least three years before hatching. If I had kept exterminating the Lubbers for five years in a row, I would be rid of them starting year six.

So why am I talking about grasshoppers?

As with most things in this world Creator has given us, there is a practical lesson here. This particular lesson can be reduced to three words: DON'T GIVE UP.

Whether we're talking about the effort we make for our clans, our families, church, or what-have-you , it's easy to get discouraged when our hard work seems to have no effect.

When we are working hard to do the right thing, often we miss what Creator is doing behind the scenes. We may end up quitting just before things start coming together. The apostle Paul said in Galations 6:9  "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."