Praying Mantis

Anything at all can create a little opening to talk about God.

Recently I was in conversation with a non-believing relative who is not generally receptive to conversations about Jesus. My relative is a self-professed atheist & generally claims to like it that way…. although I have my doubts.

But in general I usually stay away from the topic of God, not that I don’t always look for opportunities to sow few seeds here & there to see where they might fall.

Anyway, my relative recently took a photo of a praying mantis she spotted in her garden & sent it to me in a text message. It was really cool, and very well disguised, almost impossible to see in the picture if I hadn’t already known it was there.

Next time I spoke with my relative on the phone we talked about the cool photo she’d taken of the praying mantis.

We were just chatting and admiring all the amazing flora and fauna in her garden when, out of the Blue, she said, “I wonder who praying mantises are praying to.”

Without missing a beat we laughed at the thought of praying mantises actually saying prayers & then wound up having the longest real and willing conversation about God that I’ve ever had with this (usually unwilling) relative.

God works in mysterious ways.