Remembering Charla

Our family lost someone this week who had become part of our every day life. She was our front porch spider, Charla. For months, Charla had resided in the corner of our front porch with a finely kept, intricately designed web, which she always maintained so nicely. Every once in a while, the web would look rather ragged; however, by morning Charla would have it tightly woven again, with the zig-zag pattern prominently displayed. She got her name from Claire, I think, who when referring to her as Charlotte, as in Charlotte's Web, instead called her Charla, a name no doubt she knew from our aunt and real estate agent. (If by some chance aunt Charla reads this, I promise the spider being named Charla was the kids' doing, and something you can even be proud of, because Charla was a magnificent spider.)

Last night, we noticed Charla was missing. Claire said she probably went to her friend's house, Grant thought she was probably sleeping, Jessica and I feared the worst. Before I went to bed, I checked again, still no Charla. The web is failing and it doesn't appear that Charla is still here to fix it again. Then this morning - still no Charla.

Charla reminded us of the beauty of God's Creation. How she worked on her web as an artist, wrapped up her prey, protected her egg sacks, and did it all so gracefully. Jonathan Edwards, a 19th Century American Evangelical, remarked that the ultimate thing shown by the spinning spider is "the exuberant goodness of the Creator, who hath not only provided for all the necessities, but also for the pleasure and recreation of all sorts of creatures, even insects."

So thank you Charla, for reminding us daily of the beauty and intricacy of all of God's creation. And should one day your offspring appear, they will have a welcoming home in the corner of our front porch.

Charla
July -November 2007