Ants, Car Creatures, Compressors, Peeps, Termites

I think some days that God is out to get me.

During Holy Week at our church, for some unknown reason, termites decided to erupt out of the wooden baseboard in the Forest Avenue foyer of the Sanctuary.

Our head building caretaker had been spiffing up the old black and white tile floor when he noticed my new best friends.

Sure enough, the termites had staged quite an invasion. They were curiously crawling around and inspecting these unfamiliar surfaces.

Maybe they were communicating to themselves, “Hey, where did the soft wood go, how did we end up here, we’re usually crunching wood in the dark, where did this light come from, who is this old guy holding a spay bottle?

Down on my knees, I probed deeper. Sometimes when we probe deeper into the outer layers more challenges are revealed. As I gently pried off the first piece of stained wood, I quickly saw that the next piece of trim work had been decimated by the termites.

No telling how long they had been silently chomping on the wood.

With a touch of agitation, I grabbed the spray bottle of Windex with ammonia in it. I started spraying. A long time ago, an exterminator told me that Windex with ammonia can temporarily help in eliminating creatures that show up at the wrong time.

I made the call to the company who has our termite contract. One of their technicians would stop by early on Thursday morning.

Not long after that encounter, a church member told me she forgot to tell me that ants had been sighted by one of the windows in the nursery on Sunday.

Sure enough, the ants were all over the window ledge and the HVAC register.

Once again, the ants met Windex.

Maybe in their defense, the ants were responding to the disruption they had experienced during our summer of 2024 building renovation project. That extensive project had peeled back all layers in one section of our building. I’m sure we intruded into the ants’ space.

Perhaps, the ants were seeking revenge. My guess is they were on a secret mission. The ants were working their way to the office of our Kids Director, Jen Williams, and her stash of Peeps. The ants were planning to disrupt Easter.

Again, I made a call to our pest control company, and our reliable technician was scheduled to visit the ants on Friday.

In the interim, I spent time cleaning up the ant massacre. I’d learn from past encounters its about eliminating access. I found no evidence of intrusion from the outside, so I concentrated on caulking up any openings and seams around the window trim and the HVAC unit.

Early on Thursday morning, I met the termite technician. He confirmed that the visitors were termites, not flying ants. For a few minutes, he share his options for treating the damaged area. For sure, he would treat the visible wood, but he also wanted to get inside the plaster wall above the trim work.

With this, we agreed on him drilling three small holes into the plaster. This gave access for treating the inside of the wall area. In turn, I agreed to patch the three holes.

Later on Thursday afternoon, I was able to get the damaged baseboard presentable for Easter.

Over in the nursery, the caulk work from Wednesday afternoon worked. No ants were scurrying around the window or the HVAC unit.

Easter Sunday was a pretty, warm day in Richmond. We had made the switch over to the summer season with the HVAC systems in the older sections of the building. Initially, these chillers with their compressors, pumps, and air handlers fired up properly.

While that initial start up had gone well on Thursday afternoon, that wasn’t the case on Sunday morning. The chiller for the Trinity Hall wing of the building was a bad bunny. The chiller despite prompting would not fire up.

Luckily, no one croaked from heat stroke in that section of the building on Sunday. However, the news wasn’t good when the unit was checked out by our HVAC service company the following week. One of the compressors for that chiller decided—“I’m done, I’m not working another Richmond summer, find another compressor to battle that heat and humidity.”

Now, our Trustees are reviewing a quote for replacing the uncooperative compressor. The cost is not pretty.

On Friday, May 2, the call came on my cell phone at 9:28 a.m.

Our youngest daughter, Elizabeth, had started her drive to Richmond from Raleigh. She was coming to attend a dance recital for two of our granddaughters on Saturday afternoon.

But this call wasn’t about how much napping I would do during the recital. No there was a sense of urgency. I could hear concern in Elizabeth’s voice.

She explained there was a noise coming from the dashboard of her car. The noise reminded her of the type of the scratching sounds that an agitated squirrel or mouse make when they are trapped inside the wall of a house.

Elizabeth was convinced that some crazed furry creature was going to explode through the dashboard or floorboard of the car as she sped up the interstate.

When I finally was able to settle her down, we walked through a series of unscientific tests. No creature exploded out from under the hood, nor from the dashboard.

At the gas station where Elizabeth had pulled over, a nice man noticed the raised hood. Clearly, he saw this young lady going through a sequence of unusual maneuvers while holding a cell phone. Possibly, he thought she was about to lose one or all of her marbles by the actions he saw.

He decide to investigate. With me listening in on the phone, he asked if she needed help?

Calmly, Elizabeth told him about the noise and what she was attempting to do.

Upon hearing her concerns, this kind stranger suggested that leaf debris might be in her ventilation system. He talked about the “squirrel cage” for this system and how debris can become trapped and blown around.

For now, that explanation made sense.

Elizabeth thanked him for his willingness to help. She continued her drive toward Richmond.

Later on Friday afternoon, we had a father-daughter bonding session.

First, we removed all tree debris from the windshield wiper area of the car and under the hood too.

Then, per the advice of the helpful stranger, we went inside the glove box of the car to remove the air filter for the car’s HVAC system. Yes, the filter for the HVAC system is located behind the glove box.

Despite watching helpful Youtube videos on how to access the filter, this work was not profanity free.

But inside the filter and the surrounding area, we did find leaf debris particles that could have been the noisy culprit.

During this endeavor, I did as all fathers are supposed to do. I put my hand into the cylinder for the vent, and I let out a scream. A scream that conveyed a furry creature had my hand.

Of course, this tactic worked. Elizabeth’s was initially quite startled, but not impressed with her immature father.

Elizabeth led the way in getting the filter and glove box back into the proper positions. Remarkably, we didn’t break anything.

Usually, situations with ants, termites, compressors, and car creatures can be remedied. However, that is not always the case for human beings.

Right now, despite fighting with all of their strength, and the best efforts of oncologists, someone within this hour is going to lose their battle with cancer.

Today, a darkness so deep and desperate will push a person to die by suicide.

With the end of another school year in sight, a single parent with three elementary age children wonders how they will survive the summer. Her concerns are based on the gutting of funding from leaders in Washington who have no clue about the reality of real American life.

Easter is over.

For me, Easter, despite its resurrection ending, is a difficult story.

Life is a difficult story too. Disruptive challenges are always, always part of that difficulty.

But with Easter, I always come back to Thomas. That’s right Thomas.

I identify with Thomas because he is honest. Like me he doubts. He doubted that Jesus had appeared before the disciples after his death.

Thomas wanted proof.

He wanted to see the wounds Jesus had suffered during his crucifixion.

How do we confront our doubts during life’s challenging moments?

Maybe, the key is to always hold on to hope.

Even when we doubt, and our faith is fading, we must not let go of hope.

And here’s why— Romans Chapter Five verses three and four: “because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

Remember in the post Easter story, someone you encounter needs your perseverance, your character, and your hope.

Doesn’t matter if this person is confronting ants, compressors, car critters, termites, or the true reality of real life— someone needs hope.

On those bad days in an old church building when I’m convinced that God is out to get me, maybe he’s simply reminding me, “Hey knucklehead, someone you encounter today needs to hear that hope from Romans. Don’t let them down.”