Busy little bees

We’ve all seen them, some of us are scared of them, some us admire them from a distance and then there are those that find the beauty of them them up close and personal. Honey bees are small but they are mighty. We would not be able to live in the world we live in without these little creatures. I want to quickly list out a list of some of the jobs that bees do, stick with me, I have a reason for this:

1. Honey bees are pollinators, which means they fly from plant to plant transferring pollen which helps the plants grown and produce
2. Honey bees live in hives which is where the queen guides them on the jobs they are to do
   1. The workers are the ones that we usually see in out gardens, they collect pollen, protect the hive and clean the air in the hive by beating their wings
   2. The drones basically help the queen repopulate the hive during the spring and summer and then when the hive shuts down for the winter those poor little dudes are kicked out
3. The main thing honey bees are known for is well HONEY. Luckily for us they make so much of it we can harvest some for ourselves from the hive.

I’d say these little brilliant flying machines are pretty awesome. They do so much for us and they don’t even know it. This makes me think of another type of “honey bee”. I think we all have a person or know of a person that has a certain way about them that makes them special.
Just as the honey bees are programmed to follow the queen bee I have noticed that people who seem to always be doing things for others are programmed that way and have a central reason for doing what they do, whether it’s a religious reason or not, to know a busy honey bee type person is a blessing.

A few years back I met this gal when she came in to the vet hospital with her two dogs. She was one of those people that you knew right after you met them that they would be great to have as a friend. At that time I was under this weird assumption that I couldn’t make friends with clients and that I was to just help them and their pets and then move on to the next room. Because of that I will say I lost out on a few years of what would have been a fun friendship. Luckily I got my head on straight and started talking with her more outside of work and we became instant friends. What I started to notice the more I got to know her was that she was always doing something nice for someone, whether it was picking up something at the store for her neighbor, writing a note to someone that needs encouragement, or going on a walk. She never thought twice about it, just something she did. Such a sweet busy honey bee. Totally ingrained in who she is.

One of the jobs I had was to run a youth group at a church I was attending. It was important to show the students that how Christ treated people is exactly how they should treat people. We would have lessons about it and talk about it but one of the activities that seem to really hit home with them was when we did the Easter lesson one year. The group was split up so that they could to individual activities in separate rooms. For example one room was to write a note to someone in their lives who sacrificed something whether big or small for them which resulted in their life changing for the good. Another room the kids were instructed to take their shoes off so that another student could wash their feet, just as Christ washed the apostles feet at the last supper. What I was trying to accomplish was to teach them that Christ sacrifice all for us and that they should see that sacrificing a little for someone is something they could do. They were learning that we are all in the world together, and as they grow in their faith and learn to think of others and not just themselves they will produce such good things just as the honey bees produce sweet honey.

I have a saying that I tell my kids all the time and especially now that they are together more. I tell them “ We need to be nice to each other inside our home because out in the world it’s not always a nice place to be”. Basically our home needs to be the safe place where we build each other up not tear each other down. Our home is the hive that we protect with our every fiber, we don’t allow bad in so the quality of good is as sweet as honey, and we stick together through all life’s ups and downs. Christ is the center of our home, and we go out knowing that we need to treat people with kindness, show respect to everyone and do our best to work hard in all aspects of our lives.

How can you be like the honey bee? I mean really think about it. For such a small creature they are so important, they are small but mighty. How can you then, being much bigger then that honey bee do good in your every day life? Until next time:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

Akeelah