Bare Feet, Blessings, & Butterflies

After much coaxing, thought, and pray… I begin this journey into the “blog world.” Cautiously I must admit. In trying to decide the name, “Bare Feet, Blessings, & Butterflies” seemed to fit perfectly. Let me explain:

Bare Feet… for those who know me personally, this is how you will usually see me if I am in the heat of activity. Shoes seem to be a nuisance when you are in a hurry and needing to get things accomplished. Whether it be housework, church banquets, directing a wedding, etc… you will see me slip away for just a moment and rid myself of this burden. Also, this blog will be where I share with you my encounters with my Heavenly Father. "Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground." (Acts 7:33 KJV) We will take off our shoes together and stand in the presence of a Holy God. My feet will not only be bare… but I will also bare my heart to each of you who care to drop in from time to time.

Blessings… I read a story the other day about a group of students who were studying the “Seven Wonders of the World.” At the end of the study period, the students were asked to list what they considered to be these Seven Wonders. Though there was some disagreement, the following got the most votes: 1. Egypt's Great Pyramids, 2. Taj Mahal, 3. Grand Canyon, 4. Panama Canal, 5. Empire State Building, 6. St. Peter's Basilica, 7. China's Great Wall.

While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student, a shy quiet girl, hadn't turned in her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many." The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help." The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the “Seven Wonders of the World” are: 1. to touch, 2. to taste, 3. to see, 4. to hear, She hesitated a little, and then, 5. to run, 6. to laugh, 7. and to love. Oh, how easy it is for us to look at the exploits of man and refer to them as “wonders” while we overlook all that God has done, regarding them merely as “ordinary.” I hope through this blog to remind myself and you of those things which are truly wondrous about the many blessings our Lord bestows upon us daily.

And now for the Butterflies… my mom loved butterflies. There is never a time that I see a butterfly that I don’t think of her and smile, so that is one reason the “butterfly” is in the title of this blog. The other is the symbol that it represents to me: A butterfly must go through 4 stages before it can experience the true quintessence of life. First stage, the egg that consists of an outer layer of shell called the chorion, this shell protects the egg from drying out before it's fully developed. Second stage, then the butterfly larvae creates a caterpillar. In this stage the caterpillar eats on leaves and tries to consume as much food as they can for growth. (Kind of like us in that, as babies, we need our mother’s milk to grow.) 1 Peter 2:2 "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:" This stage usually lasts through young adulthood, until the caterpillar has reached maturity, called apolysis. This is when the caterpillar starts to go into its final stage, cocoon stage. The caterpillar stays in the cocoon to fully develop properly into a strong beautiful butterfly. Once the butterfly has received all of the proper nutrients and wisdom on how to survive the real world, it finally hatches from its shell and begins to flap its wings slowly, then faster and faster, and before you know it, the butterfly is soaring through the sky living life abundantly free.

So come along with me on this journey… we will take off our shoes and get comfortable together, stand in the presence of the Lord on "Holy Ground" hand in hand, count our numerous blessings and name them one by one, and then work through the stages of growth together, till we can soar like butterflies through our daily lives - living abundantly and free.