The Battered Butterfly

He was a pretty thing even with his wings beaten up.  This against-all-odds butterfly landed on the top of my car and I noticed him as I got in to leave for work one day.  My brain almost dismissed him as just a pretty little butterfly, but the closer I looked, he was extraordinary.  There he sat with his wings at attention, high above his body, as if he were very proud of them.  But the tips of the wings were missing.  They had been torn away by something.  He had been through a lot – poor little guy.  Nonetheless, there he was, alive, in his beautiful multi-colored glow, moving his wings as if to say, “You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” and “I’m as useful as ever.”    
 
Well, he clearly was “useful as ever”.  He was an instant lesson for me.  He showed up to make me smile despite his less than perfect state.  He 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, battered 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.
 
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   
 
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