The Broken Butterfly

She was a pretty thing even with her wings beaten up.  This, against-all-odds, butterfly landed on the top of my car and I noticed her as I got in to leave for work one day.  My brain almost dismissed her as just a “pretty little butterfly”, but the closer I looked, she was extraordinary.  There she sat with her wings at attention, high above her body, as if she were very proud of them.  But the tips of the wings were missing.  They had been torn away by something.  She had been through a lot – poor little lady.  Nonetheless, there she was, alive, in her beautiful multi-colored glow, moving her wings as if to say, “You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” and “I’m as useful as ever – look at me go!”   
 
Well, she clearly was “useful as ever”.  She was an instant lesson for me.  She showed up to make me smile despite her less-than-perfect state.  She was actually more helpful to me looking like an old jalopy than a sparkling red Corvette.  We have all felt that way at one time or another – worn down, beaten up by life, barely hanging in.  Somehow though, we get back up, keep on going, smile anyway, and show up.  That “somehow” is God.  He gives us strength.  He gives us beauty instead of ashes.  He gives us purpose in spite of the pain we have endured. 
 
The sweet, triumphant, broken little butterfly gave me huge inspiration for the day.  Despite my scrapes, bruises, and less than perfect life, I held my head high, showed up and showed out in hopes that I, too, could inspire someone. What a simple reminder of God’s love through the creation of a precious, beautifully broken butterfly.
 
In Christ alone,
Celeste
“…bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”  Isaiah 61:3