It was creepy looking. All winter it appeared in various places around the house. We often found it crawling up and down the drapes in the family room. Today was spectacularly warm for April and so tonight it used up its welcome. Knowing that it would not have to fend against ice, snow and below zero weather I cupped it in my hand and took it outside. I was not expecting that my hand would smell so good. Really. I'm not being facetious. It was a very sweet smell quite unlike the pungent odor left behind by lightening bugs. I cannot imagine it was a defense smell so I am going to anthropomorphize this potato bug that spent the winter with us and fantasize that it was saying, "Thanks for the winter accommodations."

We anthropomorphize so many things. We give human characteristics to our pets and other forms of life. We even anthropomorphize our heavenly Father. I think He wants us to. He knows it helps us approach Him and understand that we are loved. Jesus told us to call Him Father. However we make a huge mistake if we limit Him to some grandpa in the sky. He is so much more than the figure on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel touching fingers with Adam. His Fatherhood is only one aspect of a creator who not only knows how to convert energy into mass but established the laws that govern our vast universe. The laws of gravity, magnetic fields, and light rays filled with color all originated from His massive intelligence. How grand that someday we will see Him face to face. Jesus promised, "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." Matthew 5.