I’ve learned in my life that it’s the little things that get you down.

You would think that the big things are the ones that steal most of your time. But those big things grab attention from the start. You know they’re there, you know you have to do something about it, and you do.

The little things in life, often unnoticed and ignored, cause the most problems.

Everyone has their definition of what a “little problem” really is.

A little problem for me is finding the pen I need for a particular project. I have a different pen for each project and I don’t like to mix them up. Someone in the family thinks it’s crazy that I have that kind of problem. But everyone is crazy in some way.

Another small problem for me would be finding the right book to do some research during the day. Trust me, that little problem can turn into a big problem at the end of the day.

But then there’s the Gracious Lady of the Parsonage.

Never ran into a problem that he couldn’t fix and fix right away. No problem, in his mind, goes unsolved at this time.

Sometime this year, we will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. For 50 years I have lived with her and have learned a few things about her.

For example, when something doesn’t work right, you stop what you’re doing and fix it, and if it can’t be fixed, then it’s not really broken.

This is quite different to me. There’s nothing I can fix. If it ain’t broke, I can’t even fix it. That’s why we make an excellent team.

There’s nothing she can’t break and there’s nothing she can’t fix. What team do we do?

There’s nothing too big that she can’t fix and fix right away. I’ve always appreciated that, and I can’t imagine how much money we’ve saved by not hiring people to come in and fix something.

Truth be told, I never noticed anything was broken until my wife fixed it. What would our home be if she wasn’t near her?

But recently I found out something new about her.

My wife, her daughter, and her granddaughter spent three days shopping at thrift stores in St. Augustine. That meant I was in charge of the house for three days. I still don’t understand why he left me in charge for so long, but I don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

Anyway, I was in charge, and I tried to be as careful as possible, so as not to get myself into any trouble. However, someone in the house dropped some cat food by the door while she was feeding the cats. I am not at liberty to reveal the name of that person.

I never found any problem those three days and I enjoyed myself; At least I thought I was having fun.

My wife came home on a Thursday, and we went to bed that night, and early the next morning, while I was shaving, I heard a loud voice coming from the kitchen area.

“What are you doing here?”

I almost cut myself shaving, thinking we had an intruder, and I better go outside and see what’s going on.

When I got to the kitchen, my wife was in the doorway, looking down with a spray can in her hand, yelling, “Get out of here and never come back.”

He didn’t know what he was talking about or who he was talking to. As I got closer, I looked down at the floor, and to my surprise, there was a whole colony of ants that had invaded her kitchen. I have never seen so many ants in my entire life.

I was afraid to ask what I could do because he probably would have told me.

I try to support her for the next hour as she gets those ants out of her kitchen. Most of them did not survive. When it was over, I thought that would be over and we could move on with our lives. After all, an ant is a tiny thing, and easily disposed of in my opinion.

By the afternoon, I had completely forgotten about the morning’s incident.

We went to bed that night, as usual, thinking that everything was fine.

The next morning, while I was shaving in the bathroom, I heard her yell again, “You’re not back, are you?”

I had forgotten about yesterday, so I ran out into the kitchen to see what was going on in the world.

There at the door my wife was looking down and yelling and spraying something and I noticed it was the ants again.

“I told you not to come back anymore!”

They came back again, and for the next few days, they came back every morning. Finally my wife got her way and the ants disappeared. I have no idea where they went, but I hope they don’t come back again, or they’ll be in serious trouble.

During the day, it occurred to me to think of the Bible verse that says, “Ants are a weak people, but they prepare their food in the summer” (Proverbs 30:25).

Ants are so small and yet they can create quite a problem if not taken care of. Where are the uncles?