Fostering Butterflies

Often it is the teachers that are taught.

My friend Linda appeared randomly at my front door almost two months ago. This, in and of itself, is not unusual. The randomness with which my good friend comes and goes through the pages of my story is one of the things I love about her.

What was unusual about this particular instance, is that she did not come alone. She came bearing two Monarch butterfly friends.

"I have caterpillars at home," she whispered. "Want to? It would be so much fun for your kids to watch them go through their stages."

I don't know that I was necessarily jumping up and down with excitement, but I was game.

And so Little Bob and Jewel entered our lives. Little Bob was a few days ahead in his development compared to Jewel, who was probably only two centimeters long.

So these little creatures became the focus of our kitchen. We fed them milkweed, made sure their leaves didn't dry out too quickly, and even took care of their little-caterpillar-droppings. And every day, they grew.

It was fascinating to watch their transformation. One morning Little Bob was hanging upside down from the top of the jar, curled into a shape like a J. Three days later, Jewel joined him.

And then they were gone...all that remained of them were two green acorn-shaped tubes.

Days passed...days and days.

Until...



Little Bob emerged, leaving Jewel to finish her own journey...



And soon, we awoke to her re-birth:



It was amazing what I learned from these butterflies. Sure, my children learned, too...science-type lessons that I assumed they would learn when Linda brought those tiny caterpillars to my door. But I learned so much more...as my friend knew I would, and as God knew I needed.

Because the season of caterpillars and butterflies just happened to coincide with six weeks of unending chronic pain for me. Pain that led to anxiety and panic unlike anything I had experienced since 2001.

God chose butterflies to teach me...

patience...
perseverance...
trust...
how to hang on...
and ultimately, that the best way to have control is to let go and let God take over.

The worry went away first. Thank you, God, that you made the pain last longer than I let the anxiety reign. Getting rid of the anxiety after the pain would have been easy...living with pain without anxiety takes faith.

Fostering butterflies taught me faith.