The Butterfly

For years butterflies have been special to me.  I painted them on the end of Aaron's first crib and embroidered them on the bumper pads.  I've made them - so many different kinds - out of stained glass.  Several years ago, when a friend's father died I wrote a poem about how they represent new life, and gave it to her with a glass butterfly.  That kind of created a tradition for me.  If some one was getting married, having a baby, lost someone through death, going through a divorce, I would send them the copy of the poem and a butterfly.  I truly believe that because of the changes butterflies go through they are a wonderful example of the changes we go through in our own lives.  When we see the beauty of the mature butterfly, it is a reminder for me of the beauty in my own life - even if I'm in a dark place at the moment.  If I can hang in there, God will make something beautiful of my life.

As I began my drive at 7:22 AM, I hadn't gone a mile down the road before I noticed something white on my dashboard.  It was across on the passenger side, and took me a while to identify it because I was only seeing its reflection in the window.  It was a little white butterfly.  At first I thought, "Oh, poor thing."  But then I realized it was a gift from God. . . His blessing as I began my road trip.  A gentle reminder that He is with me as I am beginning a new life, and my future and my destination are designed by Him.

I arrived at my brother's in Traverse City about 4 PM and had a nice visit.  He barbequed chicken and hamburgers and we ate out on his back deck watching as the trees sway in the wind.  It was beautiful, and quiet, and so restful.  As we took our dishes back into the house, the rain began.  As the minutes went by, the rain continued to fall harder and harder, and the wind blew fiercer and fiercer.  We couldn't even see across the street!  And as I looked, suddenly branches - big ones -  started coming off the two trees in the front yard.  They fell in slow motion before crashing down about 6 feet from my car!  It was amazing to watch!

And then it was over.  We walked down the street and found another tree had fallen on someone's roof.  We were the only two with that kind of damage, but there will definitely be some clean up to do.  The power stayed out for a couple of hours, and we went to bed in the dark.  When it came back on, though, all the lights woke us up long enough to get up and turn them back off.  Quite the exciting end to my first day on the road!