How Often It Works

My children have been "raising" caterpillars this summer. As opposed to last summer when we'd find the caterpillar, dump some green stuff in the bucket and let everything inside die, this summer the kids caught five, and I did a little research.

I discovered that we had "Buckeye" caterpillars which, incidentally, eat snapdragons (imagine that! since they found them on, you guessed it, the snapdragons.). We have faithfully plucked the life right out of my snapdragon bed and kept these caterpillars alive. They've grown and several have gone into their chrysalis.

When the first chrysalis showed up, Princess was so excited she picked it off the jar and brought it to me. I thought she'd killed it for sure. She dropped it, squeezed it, carried it around and finally dumped it back in the bottom om the jar so that, as her mom told her, IF the butterfly came out, we'd know it happened.

Since that first chrysalis made its appearance, three more caterpillars fattened up and went into hiding.

Contrary to my expectations, the first chrysalis opened to reveal a butterfly (abuse and all). And then the second. And today, the third.

We have one more chrysalis and one more fat caterpillar that I expect to go into hiding any day now. We've released three beautiful butterflies.

This morning I was again amazed at how well God's earth works. Caterpillars hatch, eat, go into chrysalis, pop out and fly off. Over and over again. As long as they have something to eat and air to breathe that is.

So many times we get all wrapped up in ugly side of life when something goes wrong. We get to where we expect life to fail us. And we've failed to notice how often things go right.