Archive | June 2016

The Butterfly

Yesterday, I was talking to my sister on the phone, when I looked out the window and saw a gorgeous butterfly flitting through the leaves of my husband’s lemon tree. “Go and get a picture of it,” Brenda said. The butterfly didn’t stay long enough for the picture but the scene created a picture in my mind.

A number of years ago, when we were  living in a tiny apartment, my husband’s lemon tree appeared to die. There was no sign of  life, just a bare stick. Finally, I decided that I would discard of this dead tree and put a new one in its place for a  Father’s Day gift. The tree had other ideas. Before I could carry out my plan, a tiny spot of green appeared. It was a very small beginning, hardly noticeable, but now we have a healthy tree, that has actually had to be cut back several times.

Butterflies are my favourite symbol. Inside the dark cocoon a lowly caterpillar grows into a beautiful butterfly. Life out of death. Joy out of sorrow. Hope out of despair.

We all go through periods in life in which it  seems as if dreams have died. Perhaps they are too remote,  too impossible, too painful to fix. We don’t have the answers or the foresight we need. We have tried our own solutions and they haven’t worked.

When I saw the butterfly hovering about our lemon tree God spoke to my heart. The dreams you cherish are still there, waiting for the right time to be revealed. They are not dead. I am in control  of them. 

Whatever you are facing, don’t give up. Your tree will bloom. Your butterfly will land in its branches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Finish Line

13307231_10156961266475156_458387478405197081_n“As soon as we go around this corner, Mom, you will see the finish line,” said my daughter, Hannah. We were walking a 5k in the Scotiabank Bluenose Marathon. Hannah could have run the 10k with ease, but she signed up for the 5k walk to be my guide and encourager. We rounded the corner and saw the big arch of the finish line. Then something odd happened. As we approached the end, I had this horrible fear that I wouldn’t be able to finish, that my feet would not carry me any further. Why?

A young woman on my Sunday School team said the arch looked further away than it was and that the last stretch was uphill. Technically it was a more challenging part of the route. This was not really surprising. It is often just before a major accomplishment, significant  change or restoration, that we encounter the greatest resistance.

Sometimes, we can see the finish line ahead but at other times, we have no idea how close we are. This is when we are most tempted to quit. This is also when we need to keep putting one foot in front of the other and refuse to back down. I once had a dream, during a difficult period of my life, that I was riding a bicycle towards a destination. I was not sure of my physical ability to ride the bicycle nor of my knowledge of how to get to the place I was heading. I just knew that if I  kept riding, I would arrive.

Situations can come unexpectedly into our lives. They may seem so bewildering and hurtful that we have no ready answers,  That is exactly the time when God wants us to keep walking, keep walking, keep riding, keep riding, trusting him that the outcome of our journey is entirely in his hands. We will reach our destination. We will come through the finish line.

Hannah and I walked through the arch together, holding hands, and feeling the triumph of completing our race. The sense of dread, that I wouldn’t make it to the end, was only a feeling. Reaching our goal was well attainable but if I had stopped walking, I would never have finished my course.

Refuse to quit. Never give up. You may be way closer to victory than you think.