Butterflies

Last week my boyfriend gave me a small painted lady caterpillar. (I decided that it was a girl.) When I first looked at her I couldn't come up with a name. I knew that she had great potential even though she was just a tiny caterpillar. Some day she will be a beautiful butterfly. I decided to name her Tiny. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. It was amazing to think that such a little thing that crawls around could become a beautiful butterfly with wings. Over the past week I have watched Tiny grow and grow until she became a big caterpillar. As I watched her grow I thought about metamorphosis (the process of changing into a butterfly.)

There are two times in my life that I went through a sort of metamorphosis. The first was when I was born. Before I was born my mother couldn't see me but she knew that she had a beautiful baby growing inside of her. She had no idea what I would look like but knew that God had amazing plans for me some day. My mother knew that I had great potential. The second time was when I accepted Christ as my Saviour. The old self is gone and the new self is come. The caterpillar in me died and the butterfly was born. I think the butterfly is an amazing illustration of being born again. We are still the same person but different at the same time. It is not until we are born again that we can reach our full potential.

There is a third metamorphosis that is still to come. When I die (or Christ comes back and calls me home) I will be given a new body. This resurrection body is going to be beautiful and amazing. I'm not sure what I will look like but I do know that it is still going to be me. I know that I have not reached my full potential. I know that God has amazing plans for me in this life but He also has great plans for the next life.

Yesterday, Tiny made her chrysalis. She is going through the changing process. I'm looking forward to seeing my little baby come out totally changed into a new creation. I can't wait to see her flutter her wings and fly away when I release her. It is a beautiful thing to look forward to. But I'm also enjoying every moment of the process. Every stage of her life is beautiful to me.