Fly...freedom!

Last year....wow what a year.  i have been reluctant to write...so much in this messy brain.  I have like 15 things i want to blog about but the time it takes to organize thoughts to pen is great!  Last year can be summed up for me in a few words...individually meaning one thing, collectively meaning a much bigger thing.  Here are the words...
Value...Placing VALUE on others
Love...Loving people like God the Father loved His Son Jesus. John 15
Less...He must increase, i must decrease. Phil. 2

i must say these have been hefty lessons to learn and since it is the beginning of the year a new word has been emerging....one that builds on the past words....once a word has such impact they just stay with us....i like that! The word is Metamorphosis...my husband & i prayed for a fresh word this year and of course he uses this scientific word being that he used to be a science teacher...i like the more simple...Transform.

Of course he spent time telling me all the ins and outs of the caterpillar to the butterfly and i have been thinking...what part of this process am i?  There are 4 stages...the egg, the larva (caterpillar), the pupa (chrysalis) and the adult (butterfly).

Side note...when my sister Cassi & i were younger we would try to get our little brother Zach to believe that the caterpillar was really called a capilitter or callapitter...seriously when writing this i could not remember the right pronunciation.  Haha!

Ok so I've so been the caterpillar ...walking to and fro eating up what i can, learning much about Gods great creation, learning life's lessons...it's hard being a catapillar. Did you even know that this furry little creature sheds it's skin 4 or 5 times in his little life span?  Just like us...shedding the old man for the new.  1 Corinthians 5:17 says, if any man be in Christ he is a new creature, old things passed away, behold all things become new!  What comfort!

You never know when you could be eaten up or stomped on...when our oldest daughter Franke was little we went to the zoo and on the sidewalk was the most beautiful caterpillar, colorful and fuzzy...she walked right up to it and stomped on it...guts and all...i was horrified knowing the outcome of this soon to be butterfly...pat and i sat her down and explained that not all little creatures needed to be stomped on...some needed to grow up and be beautiful butterflies...just like her... God was preparing her right then to grow and mature and someday Fly for His great purposes...she is graduating this May...oh my...that is just TOO much for this momma!  i will never forget that day...but by all means we can still stomp on spiders, mosquitos, and other pesky insects....right?

This next season called the pupa stage is just like the word sounds...i find myself in & out of this stage...this is a season of divine change...of renewal...a time of listening...being still...waiting.  i must say that growing hurts sometimes but i know the great plans HE has for me are IMMEASURABLY  More an i could ever ask or think...i don't just say that lightly...i actually know it! i BELIEVE it!  i wonder if the caterpillar knew?  The best is yet to come....listen to this verse with fresh ears...i have also heard it about a million times...let these Words breathe on you...they came from God Himself...
Romans 12:1,2

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Sometimes the cocoon is for re wallpapering our minds...some redecorating has to take place.  Not thinking of what could have been but what will be...what secrets God wants to reveal to us...a sacrifice for His Renown!  

So does being in a cocoon mean that I will be transformed? The cocoon is stifling, uncomfortable, cramped, not enough air but just enough to survive. i don't like it...but i am willing to do GO through the process if it will make me more like Jesus and if i kneel to Him and beg Him to transform me.  YES!  i am asking this year for Him to bring on the transformation in so many ways...some i will share with you and some are just secrets with HIM.  He is my favorite!  

i remember as a child catching butterflies in jars with breathable lids and just staring at them...i could never bring myself to keep them...i knew they needed to fly...i felt freedom watching them fly out of the jar...i think God takes great delight when we allow Him to take us through this process of molding us...

i challenge you...will you allow Him this year to change your life...to Renew?  To Metamorphosis? Soar, Fly?

i cannot wait to share with you my seasons of flying... The butterfly stage....it is a reflection of the verses in Phil 2 about working out salvation in fear and trembling...i am choosing to do it a little scared knowing the outcome are some beautifully wings ( i hope orange, pink blue & black) that will take me to heights i cannot imagine...FLY!  
if you are interested this is a beautiful short film of the caterpillar to the butterfly.

http://youtu.be/7AUeM8MbaIk