Wing Status 🦋

“But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in the mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18

I will do my best not to be a random mess today but I make no promises. Promises are the most important to me especially a pinky one. I am so not off to a good start this morning and that’s ok you would probably wonder if this was really me on the other side if I refrained from the random. It is me though and I have much to say. Probably too much, but only the reader can determine that. So, leave your marbles where they are and do not go home yet. (Diane taught me that one, too)

The later time to tell you about Preston is now. It has arrived. So, he loves the weather. You know, the kind where tornadoes are involved and big flashes of lightning. If you ever see someone standing outside while the sirens are going off well that is Preston. If you happen to see him please tell him to get inside and away from the danger. Thank you. He can go from normal to super nerd mode in four seconds which I find really cute. He says “Lord willing” a lot. He is all about the book of revelations, and can talk for hours about it. He really does love me. Can I tell you something? When we met so many years ago I never knew we would go through 18 years of life together. I also never knew we would be here in this moment planning a wedding and discussing how much peanut butter I should eat. But here we are. Except for we are two different people now. I always say no one knows the Preston I know but honestly unless you have spent these past three years with me then you do not really know me either. That is where this new found information I have learned comes in. You see, he also loves to raise butterflies.

I am so not kidding. I mean hardcore nerd life on the butterflies. Probably on my cow level love if that helps you put it in perspective of just how much he loves to do this. I asked him to take pictures of one of the caterpillars growth because I wanted to write on it. I named her Betty! Y’all. I had no clue just how much it would change the way I see things, and also if it really was a girl or a boy. Let’s just say Betty was really a Betty in the end. Let me share her story with you. She ate a lot. Like a whole lot. All the time she was eating. If she was not eating she was going through her five stages of shedding her skin. Each time she did this she grew a little more. Stay with me on this. The whole time while she was growing the chrysalis was too. I always thought you know they like I don’t know somehow made their own cocoon from scratch. But no. It grows inside of the caterpillar preparing it for the last stage. Now that is super weird and cool all in the same. The first few hours inside the chrysalis are critical I am told. This is where she forms her organs and all that good stuff. Also her wings. Tuesday, she made her appearance as the new Betty. She had now made it to wing status, and yes I was emotional when Preston first sent me the picture of her because:

1. I watched her journey. I am aware she’s just a caterpillar now butterfly, but she was Betty to me. 🙂

2. God did the same in my life.

Someone told me once God shows me things in nature, and they could not have been more right. The best thing about it is it was not until my eyes were opened did I see the real lessons. God is so amazing that He would take His creation and share the story of a Christians life with it. Because that is what it is. Let me show you! When I first was saved I feasted on the Word. Every day, every night, and every morning I could not get enough of it. I was hungry for the One who calls himself the bread of life. The more I feasted the more I grew. Then He placed me in a quiet yet dark place. I wasn’t afraid to be there, but there was a lot that had to happen. You know, a lot of growing, forming, and molding to get me to where I am. Do not get me wrong I will spend the rest of my life growing into who God meant for me to be. That part never stops, but there was something so beautiful in the first season of the molding. I say season it was a couple of years honestly. The transformation that took place, though I believe when they see me now the only thing they can say is God did that. True. That is so true. The caterpillars story of transformation is one I will not forget for a long time. I may never forget because well you know I’ll live it soon. I‘m ok with that because really I do not want to forget it.

Two more things I want to share before I stop writing. (I told you I had a lot to say.) If you look at these pictures of her wings and the markings on the inside versus the markings on the outside.. well hands down the inside is much more beautiful. Do you see it? I find her beauty flows from the inside making the outside just as beautiful. I am sure her wings have to be like that so she can hide in the wild or whatever but if we put that aside. Well, look at it again. You see it? The second thing I want to say is she was never suppose to stay a caterpillar. She was suppose to grow, to change, and to fly. My most favorite is she just trusted the process. If anything was out of order in the timeline I would not be writing about her today because she wouldn’t be here. Well there. She could not skip the process because every step was critical in the making of who God wanted her to be.

A butterfly.. with wings

I am happy I get to spend the rest of my life raising butterflies with my favorite nerd on the planet. BECAUSE every caterpillar deserves to be a butterfly. 🙂