Honey Bee

 

Honey is the only food on earth that never spoils. I have articles that back that one up. Cockroaches are the only animals that can survive a nuclear holocaust. I have no proof other than hearing it once. If I'm right there will be a lot of cockroaches eating honey after the bomb drops.

Melissa is Greek for honey bee. I am partial to bees because they are my namesake. I am a lot like a honey bee. I can be super sweet or I can sting. I am a hard worker. I serve my royal parent. I like tight spaces and geometric architecture. I look good in warm yellows and horizontal stripes. Smoke affects me negatively. See, I'm practically an insect.

I can't forget this little nursery rhyme I learned as a child:

Keep a watch on your words, my darling,
For words are wonderful things;

They are sweet like the bees’ fresh honey,
Like the bees they have terrible stings.

Oh, words. What words have flown out of my mouth. A spoken word is the one thing you can never take back. (Or something you bought 91 days ago at Target.) Words can be dulcet amber drops or blackhearted stabs of poison.

A bee has two simple choices: make honey or sting; contribute everlasting goodness to society or break someone down.

A word about beehives, er...families. Families can be awesome or families can be rough. Another quote that always comes to my mind when I start to get irritated with mine:

We stand in a sacred relationship to the people in our lives, especially family, because they are not there by chance.

The people in our lives were placed there not only for us to enjoy but also to cross us and to dissatisfy us from time to time so we can learn that love is not a matter of personal satisfaction but a going out of our hearts to empathize with, to understand, and to try to bless the other, giving up the demand of the natural man for satisfaction.

To love the other, to forgive the other, to cease to demand that the other satisfy us, and seek to be able to bless that person.

Relationships were given to us to develop us in love.

This past weekend MY FAMILY (Greg's parents + his six sisters and their families + a foreign exchange student + my parents + my favorite aunt + my four siblings + Lucy) came together to celebrate Archer's blessing at church. It was a lot of people. A lot of personalities. A machine with lots of moving parts. A lot of pulled pork. I know it is not always easy to get along with our bloodline but Sunday was the perfect storm of charity and patience and it put me on Cloud 9. MY FAMILY was all honey and the memory of that day will last forever. Greg said it was one of the top ten days of his life. I felt so loved to have them sacrifice their time, money, and comfort to support us in our baby triumph.

You will never regret being nice to your family because honey never spoils you.

 

*nursery rhyme by author unknown, family quote by M. Catherine Thomas, bee image from a matchstick box I bought at Harmony boutique in Provo yesterday