Our New Arrival

Guess who came out to meet us!!



We've had our little friend sitting in a jar on Emma's nightstand. We knew "hatching time" was close because the chyrsalis had turned black. What we were really seeing was his black wings.







The next morning, Mary went upstairs after breakfast and yelled, "THE BUTTERFLY IS HERE!!!!!!" We all ran upstairs to see a little, soggy, limp butterfly laying at the bottom of the jar. We felt terrible that our friend was confined inside our claustrophobic jar. It was the moment that we had been waiting for since we first set our eyes on the helpless cocoon. It was time to take the jar outside, unscrew the lid and sing, "Born Free."




It was a bit chilly, but hey he chose to make his chyrsalis here, right? Now, is as good a time as any to get to know the weather around here.

"Fly, oh thing of wonder! Fly away!"




tap-tap.



"Yoo-hooo! It's time to use those black and orange things, little guy."





"Please, don't thank us! Goodbyes are hard enough....Now FLY!"






"Mommy??? Why isn't the butterfly flying?"












Unfortunately, we all missed the memo that a butterfly needs to dry upside down for SEVERAL HOURS before releasing him.




We stuffed him back in the jar, hoping he'd crawl right back onto his little stick and drip dry.



We gave him a lovely, warm, sunny spot and waited for him to pull himself back together.



OH Yeah! and we gave him a craisin...just in case he got hungry. I'm no dummy! I read Eric Carl's book, "The Hungry Caterpillar."




Several hours later, his wings looked like they needed ironing.



Well kids, we've done all we could do. It's time to say goodbye...

I'm sorry that you will never get a chance to fly little butterfl...I mean butter"walk."




Oh how we'll miss you!


Thank you for teaching us about metamorphosis.



We love you!






WAIT! before you leave! There's just one more thing I've got to do.









Ok, gross. You can go now.

Transformation

I was folding laundry the other day when Emma came running inside. She was all out of breath. "Mommy! Hurry! Come see what I found!"


She led me outside. There in the driveway was a stick with something small attached to it. She was all smiles as she walked toward the stick and then carefully picked it up. "SEE!!!!? It's gonna be a butterfly!!!!"


Can you believe the beauty of this chrysalis? Look at the perfectly, detailed gold markings! According to my findings, (sorry, I didn't mean to sound like Velma from Scooby-doo) but anyway, according to my findings, this is the chrysalis of a monarch butterfly.




I always thought the caterpillar just went in there, grew some wings and came out a caterpillar with wings. Maybe the scene from "Alice in Wonderland" with the caterpillar influenced my thinking. In researching the chrysalis, I found that the caterpillar actually dies in there, and through metamorphosis, he is chanaged into a butterfly. That means that this little guy literally digests itself from the inside out. Isn't that amazing? He enters the cacoon a creeping caterpillar, and will emerge a beautiful butterfly! No longer will he crawl along the earth. Now, he will fly above it.

What a picture of the work done in my own life! I have been changed from the inside, too. The Bible tells us in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Romans 10:9, "That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

Salvation, the forgiveness of sins, is available to anyone who will place their trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Romans 10:13 "for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins and rescue us from eternal death.

I remember hearing this as a little girl. And around the age of 9, I prayed, thanking God for the gift of his son, and apologizing to Him for my sinful ways. I knew in my heart that God sent Jesus, my Savior, to die on the cross for my sins, and that He raised Jesus from the dead. I put my faith and trust in Jesus.

As the years went by, all salvation meant to me was, "no Hell for Becky." I even remember thinking, "I'm on my way to heaven, so why do I have to actually live differently? Why not have fun while I'm here on earth? What's the meaning of living like a Christian?" Salvation is NOT just "fire insurance." Salvation should reflect a changed life! How stupid would it be for that caterpillar to say, "I like it in here. I'm never coming out." My teenage years consisted of impressing my friends and appearing "cool." Talking about God was very much "not cool," and besides it made me feel uncomfortable. I didn't want my friends to think I was some weirdo....well, at least "weirder" than what they already knew of me. :o) When I was 16, all that thinking changed. I dedicated my life to God. My friends were not always going to be there, but God sure is. And being cool is,..... well....it's over-rated. :o) I want to be impressive in the eyes of God! I could tell you sad story after sad story of where those "cool friends" are today. I am changed because of the Lord Jesus Christ living in me! I am a new creature in Him!



And while I have breath, I will spend the rest of my days praising Him! He gave His life for me!!

Why, oh why, wouldn't I want to give mine back to Him?

The hairstyle that TRUMPED them all

"Mommy, can you do my hair yike dis?"



"Sure!" (I was fully confident that I could handle that first one. How hard could a side-braid be?)





-Awkward. How about a pony tail instead?



"I yike dis."



"No really. I'm good at pony tails."




"I don't want you to take it out, Mommy."




"Please!! Annie! This is an embarrassment!"



"Why?"



"Have you ever heard of Donald Trump?"










I rest my case.