Dear Daughters,
We stroll through life sometimes, thinking everything will continue to be as good as it is today, until suddenly it isn’t. We fall into a pit – never see it coming – but there we sit in a deep dark hole. Have you ever fallen into the proverbial pit yourself? A hole of self-pity, throwing a woe is me party for yourself and no one shows? I’ve done it far too many times. Sometimes I awake in the morning with the dread of starting a new day because of a poor night sleep, and am tired even before I put my feet on the ground.
Every morning I say, This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it… that is, every morning I remember. Today it was quite a while after I woke simply because I forgot and didn’t feel like rejoicing, I felt like complaining: Why did I have another short night? Why do I have such sorrow in my heart? The war in Ukraine has taken a toll on many of us, the heartbreak of seeing in real time one country brazenly attacking another with no provocation.
After coming out of the Covid years, many of us were hoping that our lives would calm down and get back to normal – whatever normal may look like. But now there is another world crisis.
It’s amazing to me when most every created thing in our world lives, grows and behaves just how God planned for them. Flowers grow and bloom, sharing their beauty with the world, thinking nothing of themselves but only bringing joy to their Maker as well as people all around them. Or take a scampering squirrel – I love to watch their playful antics as they run up a tree as another squirrel chases them down – their joy is laughable and contagious. Think about dogs who love their owners, listen to whatever troubles their people have and get all wiggly and excited when you come home? Or how about the lowly caterpillar, waiting patiently for its metamorphosis?
Plants and animals live the purpose for which they were created to live; trees give fruit, vines grow multiple varieties of squash and the stars shine brilliantly in the sky at night. The sun shines and gives warmth, even on a cold winter day. You never see a star wishing it was a cloud, or a daisy wishing it was a dog. Every part of creation does just what they were created for – except for people.
What is it that people were created to do? Just like the plants and animals, we were created to give glory and praise to our Maker.
Have you ever considered the wonder of a wormy little caterpillar transforming into a butterfly? The life cycle begins when the female adult butterfly lays her eggs (the size of a pinhead) on any variety of plants. In just 3 – 7 days the caterpillars will emerge out of the eggs and start eating whatever leaf they were born on and others like it. They eat and eat and eat. In just 2 weeks of full-time eating, they are about two inches long and a hundred times the size of the egg from which they were born.
When the caterpillar is finished eating and full grown, it hangs from the plant and becomes a chrysalis for several weeks, looking as if it were dead. But inside a miracle of transformation is happening. Metamorphosis is going on, a caterpillar becoming a butterfly.
What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly.
Richard Bach
To the caterpillar, it must look like his life is over and he is dying, never to do anything of value again. Maybe I’m giving too much credence to this little humble creature, I’m sure his thoughts are not quite that profound. But even to the untrained human eye it looks like his life is gone and perhaps forgotten.
Do you ever feel like you are wrapped up in a cocoon, nothing growing or changing and it feels as if your life is over? I think we’ve all been there at one time or many. When you are in the pit, it sometimes feels like a cocoon – dark and tight. But, since Jesus promised He would never leave or forsake us, we know He’s in the pit or cocoon with you and me.
But we often feel forsaken, forgotten. Feelings cannot always be trusted, because even though we feel alone, our God is with us no matter what. And that is a promise from the Creator who made you.
Just like the caterpillar, Jesus is changing us, transforming us into a people who will glorify Him. When it seems like the end of the world, and all looks dark, be not afraid, for He transforms us into beautiful butterflies. It is only then that we too, like the rest of creation, will do what we have been called to do. Instead of warring with other people we will learn to love; instead of considering only our own selfish desires we will look out for the good of others.
God looks at the chaos and all He sees is beauty waiting to emerge.
Curt Thompson
Let’s shine our light just as the humble butterflies, flowers, squirrels and dogs do. Praising our Creator without restraint, knowing He is bringing us to a place of comfort and peace where there is no fear, no matter what happens all around us.
Love, Mom
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