"Father, what do you need to resurrect in me in 2020?" I whispered as I approached some Frisbee golfers intent on their game.
"Would you resurrect my joy? How about laughter? Oh, I love laughter. I really want to live this year, to enjoy that abundant life that you-"
At that moment, a butterfly captured my attention as it flitted across my path, practically grazing my knees. "Oh, Lord!" I breathed as I followed its progress.
How can I describe the beauty of this butterfly? There was nothing imposing about it, nothing flashy. It had a wingspan of perhaps one inch, and a simple wing structure similar to a moth's, with no intricate color patterns. Still, the flutters of solid yellow fading into the distance over the grass made me think of summer sun warm on my back.
"Oh, it's beautiful!" I exclaimed. "Thank you!"
An answering thought filled my mind. It's beautiful like you. Simple, not flashy. Just doing what God made it to do. Not worrying. Just riding on the breeze.
Tears filled my eyes. "Help me see myself as you do," I prayed. "I know I am beautiful to you. Just the way you made me."
I thought of the butterfly that a student drew for me last year, and the connection I made with a verse that God had given me during that difficult time: "Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see him as He is." (1 John 3:2)
I thought of a caterpilar's metamorphosis, and my own, over my lifetime. "I can't wait to see you as you are, face to face," I said. "And then I will be so beautiful like you."
But then I whispered the words that flowed from my heart. "I am already beautiful, like that simple butterfly. I am not yet what I will be, but I'm beautiful just as I am."
A desire filled my heart then, to follow the butterfly's example by doing what God made me to do, what feels to me like flying. I wanted to write.
So there you go. Thank you for reading.
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