Attack of the Killer Aphids!

I came home from work after a wearying day, ready to cast my cares on the couch and relax in front of a tall, cool glass of iced peach tea, when James announced the attack.  So I went outside and down the steps and over to the planter box where the poor plants were valiantly attempting to throw off their oppressors.  And got seriously grossed out.

Aphids were completly covering one of the stems of the broccoli plant. Ewww.

I've dealt with the little blighters before, in smaller numbers. Performed one of those "home remedies" on them.  Soaped down the plant to loosen their grip, then rinsed 'em off (or squished 'em, I can't recall exactly).

But this infestation was just horrifying.  One of those things that resonates in your brain and turns your stomach.  Like leeches. 

James was fascinated with it, and took pictures (as you can see).  I stood and watched, apalled.  And queasy.  What to do?

As it was the end of the season anyway, I took the easy way out: snipped the entire stalk off and tossed it into the compost (with visions of aphids buried under a mountain of coffee grounds, melting beneath the acidic pile).

But the picture stuck with me.  Because it reminded me of the way my life feels right now.  If my life were a plant, and each of the stems an area of interest or involvement.  Home, church, office, shop; work, worship, hobby, chore. So many stems, so many activities, so many directions. Some mature and blossoming, some still struggling to reach sustainability. Filling my time as I channel the energy from ground and air into the performance of a useful function.

Imagine, if you will, that each of the aphids on the stalk of the plant is a worry or anxiety, a frustration or distraction that pops up in life and attaches itself to an area you're trying to grow.  Stealing thoughts, wasting time, draining energy.

Lately it feels as though the aphids are sucking the very life out of me.

Car repairs, house repairs, school activities, church politics, college finances, career questions.  All of these things needing attention, but there is only so much sap in the stem.  And it feels the supply is drying up.

Sometimes the easiest thing to do, is to trim off the stems with all the aphids and focus on the ones which are still clear.  Like with my broccoli.  Which thrived again once the aphids were removed.  (Until the deer came by and ate off all the leaves!)

Should I trim off a few overloaded stems?  Cut back on all the activities?  Stop doing some of those things?  Learn to say "No"?

Or should I just apply the soap (so to speak) and try to get rid of the worries without affecting the stems?

It's hard.  I'm caught between a deep-seated need to please others, and an intense desire to be left alone so that I can pursue my own interests.  And knowing where to cut things off is difficult.

We've been doing a "40 Days of Prayer" series at church and at home.  The material speaks of God prompting the Holy Spirit to prompt us to pray, even when we don't know what to pray; how we should be praying to move ourselves closer to God's will rather than moving him closer to ours.  So I'm praying to know what his will is.

And wondering if he's going to soap me down, or just do some trimming.