New creation

Butterflies are awesome. I mean, they are really beautiful and fluttery and everything, but they are also a really amazing living creature. Jack's daycare provider Cindy had three caterpillars a few weeks ago. One morning when I dropped Jack off, we got to see a caterpillar hanging on a branch into a jar, getting ready to make its chrysalis. Later that same day, when I picked Jack up, I got to watch a video of that very caterpillar making it's cozy little home. Amazing! But that's not the end. Through some divine work that surely only God could be a part of, this caterpillar gets to completely transform itself into a beautiful butterfly. And sure enough, a week after watching that slimy grub of a creature spin himself into a green sack, I got to watch a beautiful monarch butterfly hang from and crawl around on Cindy's finger. It couldn't fly away yet because its wings were still too wet and heavy. So it just hung around for a few days and eventually fluttered off. The same process was seen with the other two caterpillars. And now when I see butterflies, I think, "You used to be a completely different creature! You got to change! When you were a caterpillar, frankly, you weren't much to look at. But now you are gorgeous!" :) There is a quote by Richard Bach that says "What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly."

Sometimes I would like to change. I'd like to magically transform into something totally different and fly away. Particularly when life is sucky. But the amazing news is that God does transform us. He doesn't just make us and say, "Okay, good luck out there!" He totally changes us every day. Which is so reassuring. Again, particularly when life is sucky. :)

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old [mediocre caterpillar] has gone, the new [beautiful butterfly] has come. (brackets mine....) ;)