Icky Worms

Deuteronomy 15:11 reads, “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.” 

Our oldest daughter has decided it is her sole job to rid the world of injustice. I love this characteristic of her most of the time, but if I am being honest, there have been several occasions when she had her mind set that she was going to make sure anyone and everyone in her five foot radius was treated equally and fairly, and it didn’t matter how inconvenient it was to me. 

I will never forget one summer day when she was four years old. It had just finished raining and the sun was shining. Our driveway however, was riddled with worms. At first when she saw them she freaked out. She didn’t know what or where they came from and thought they looked icky.

I had to carry her sisters into the house and some groceries, and I didn’t have enough arms to carry her as well so her freaking out was not what I wanted to deal with in the slightest. It was hot and I wanted to go inside, so I told her very matter of factly that they would go away shortly and if not the sun would dry them up and they would die. 

“Mommy,” she yelled from the van as tears began to flood her eyes, “they can’t die! We have to save them!”

I looked at her and studied the distress in her face. She was serious. “Sweetie, they are just worms,” I began to reason. “They’re fine. They don’t need saved. They are disgusting.”

She began to wail. Then she gingerly stepped out of the van so she didn’t step on any of the worms and carefully walked over to me. “Mommy, just tell me what I need to do. If you won’t help me, I’ll do it myself. You said God made all the animals and we need to love all of them. That means the worms too, Mommy!” 

In this moment I had a very important decision to make. On one hand, I could have told her that some animals are better than others and we don’t need to worry about the ones that are gross or disgusting. Or on the other hand, I could have agreed with her and told her how right she was, every animal does count, including the icky worms. I could have then told her how we need to use our resources to help the less fortunate and show love to everyone. 

So what did I do?

I told her she was right. And one by one we picked up each and every worm in our driveway and tossed them into the grass. 

I hated it. They were icky. But you know what I loved?

After every single worm she picked up and tossed into the grass, she shouted, “I saved it! I saved another one!” She was over the moon with pride and excitement for showing compassion for the worms. And I loved seeing her fight for them. 

My daughter’s heart for justice reminded me of how God asked us to take care of the poor and to be openhanded to those less fortunate. The worms were less fortunate on that rainy day. Even though my daughter had never read this particular verse in Deuteronomy, the Holy Spirit moved her to action. My job as her mom was to foster that fire. 

Yes it was icky. Yes it was inconvenient. Yes it was annoying. But she didn’t care, because she saved them. 

She showed up for them. She didn’t allow the hot sun, or the crying little sisters, or the pile of groceries needing to be carried in divert her from her mission to help them. 

This is how we need to love people. There will always be people in your life who are less fortunate, or bothersome, or annoying, or in your way, but instead of dismissing them, or calling them icky, or turning your head, or blowing them off, what if instead you stopped what you were doing to help them? 

Helping others doesn’t always mean you need to give every penny you own either. There are dozens of ways to give to others. Sometimes just a kind word of encouragement, a boost in the right direction, a helping hand, or maybe even just a little grace goes further than you might realize. Oh, but what a difference maker you will be. 

I would like to encourage you today, be the light in someone else’s day. Save the worms from drying up on the driveway. Go the extra mile to show others the kind of love that Jesus demonstrated. If my four year old can do it, I know you can too. Go be the difference. 

This post is in coordination with the Verse of the Week on Romans 15:5, and the Prayer post titled, Help Me to Love Them Anyway, and the post on Practical Ways to be the Hands and Feet of Jesus titled, Love Them Anyway.