The death of my first butterfly was redeemed today.
Today was the day that another one of our butterflies emerged from its chrysalis. I was kind of worried about our other two butterflies because we had such a hard time finding Milkweed for them. And then they attached their chrysalises to the outside of their jars! Their chrysalises are small, too.
Here’s the one that came out today.
She’s fine! Phew! What a relief.
This is how it looked last night before we went to bed.
This was how the chrysalis looked at 7:30 in the morning. I had put the jar beside my bed so I could see the little rascal come out. I took this picture at 7:30 AM, then went back to sleep. When I opened my eyes again at 10:00 AM, I was staring at an empty chrysalis!
I looked around on my nightstand. I got Anna to help me and she found it on the floor all crumpled up. But as soon as she picked it up, the wings started straightening out. She put it on an envelope and let it hang upside down from it. We thought gravity might help it with the straightening of the wings. Then we took it out and put it up on the branch of a tree.
A beautiful butterfly, at last!
We waited for hours and finally we were rewarded with this sight:
First Flight of Baby Butterfly from Penney Douglas on Vimeo.
The date was Sept. 13, not Sept. 11. I was still sleepy and not thinking too clearly.
My neighbors had a chrysalis, too, from the caterpillar Fiona gave to them. They came out to watch our butterfly hang in a tree, hoping to see it fly for the first time. They had to go in and start school before our butterfly was ready to fly. So they went inside their house. After about 20 minutes they came back out. Their butterfly came out of its chrysalis, too!
So Tina put her butterfly up in the same tree that our butterfly was in. It was her tree, after all! Our butterfly had flown to Tina’s tree on her maiden flight. So we watched and waited for our butterflies to fly, but we couldn’t stay out there all day. We took some pictures and then left them with our blessings.
Butterfly Neighbors from Penney Douglas on Vimeo.
Sorry it’s so hard to see the butterflies. I had a hard time seeing the butterflies with the camera, and for some reason I didn’t think to zoom or press the close-up lens on my camera. If you listen to what I say on the video, I give some pretty good information. If you look real close you might be able to see our butterfly at the lower right hand side of the screen.
I hope our butterflies make it to Mexico or California and join lots of other Monarchs like this!
By the way, I got this picture and lots of other good information about Monarchs from this site.
Butterfly Kisses
Later this evening, Gary said he was outside and a butterfly flew right by his face. He figured it was our butterfly. I think she likes us and wanted to stay and be our pet. Tonight when they got home from the YMCA, a butterfly landed on Patrick. He took it over to the meadow where there’s clover and the mosquito sprayers won’t come. I asked if he said nice things to her as he released her. He said that he told her to have a nice flight and stay away from snakes, frogs and toads. That sounded pretty good to me.
So I had a sweet experience with two butterflies after having such a disheartening experience with my birthday butterfly a week and a half ago. Tina’s butterfly came out after only a week. It usually takes at least 12 days. I feel like God is saying that He will always give me good things, no matter what bad things happen along the way. He always more than makes up for any loss or disappointment I suffer along the way.
Another Redemptive Experience
I have had several bad experiences with the Mascoutah Library during the year we have lived here. So I stopped going there completely. But I was still considered their patron. I was allowed to use their card at the Belleville Library, where the staff was always very kind and reasonable with me. But I was considered Mascoutah’s patron. They said I owed $11, which I did not. But I couldn’t get them to take it off. They said they waived it, but it remained on my account. I went to Belleville and never had any problems with them. But last week I had to re-register my library card. So the librarian had to call Mascoutah Library to make sure I was in good standing. They said I owed $11. I told the librarian what had been happening. She went to bat for me. She called them back and told them that I had been a very good patron of theirs for a year and a half (closer to 2 years) and that she had never known me to be dishonest. In fact, I was there to pay a fine I owed and had just handed her the money when she decided to call and try to work things out. She told them that I said I did not owe that fine of $11. The person on the other end said it must have been a computer glitch, and they cleared my record. I was then able to use my card to check things out at Belleville Library for as long as we’re still here. We have no idea how long that will be, but I’m so relieved that I will be able to keep using the library until we go.
I felt that “picked-on” feeling until the librarian, Serena (wonderful Serena), went to bat for me. It almost made me cry when I heard that it was taken care of.
God Makes All Things New
The enemy tries many things to make us feel defeated. These may seem like small things, but they felt huge to me. Well, being kicked out of our house is pretty major. But the butterflies and library fines may not seem too important. But God knows how I’m made. He knows what affects me and how it affects me. And He cares. And I happen to know that He likes me. He thinks I’m a pretty okay person.
He reminded me of that today. Through a butterfly. He started the redemption process last Thursday night through a little librarian named Serena.
I don’t know how He will redeem the stress and uncertainty we’ve experienced as we’ve waited for Him to move again and the devil has applied pressure to make us feel worthless and uncared-for. But I know He will do something wonderful for us. Just because He loves us. We are His beloved and He is ours.
He makes all things work together for our good. Because we love Him. Because He loves us.
But There’s More
There’s another message in the butterfly. The one that Pat delivered to me. I am to look like my Creator. I am not to be fearful of predators. I need not hold back out of fear of negative comments. I need not fear losing friends because of telling the truth about what I believe. It’s time for me to come out of my chrysalis.
"Oh that God would give every mother a vision of the glory and splendor of the work that is given to her when a babe is placed in her bosom to be nursed and trained! Could she have but one glimpse in to the future of that life as it reaches on into eternity; could she look into its soul to see its possibilities; could she be made to understand her own personal responsibility for the training of this child, for the development of its life, and for its destiny,--she would see that in all God's world there is no other work so noble and so worthy of her best powers, and she would commit to no other's hands the sacred and holy trust given to her." -JR Miller
