Beautiful Transformation

It's spring time! How exciting?! To me I see spring time as a time of change. Flowers are blooming, birds are singing, and the caterpillars are curling up into their chrysalis' and forming into a beautiful butterfly. And that particular transformation just amazes me. Honestly, caterpillars aren't very appealing to look at to me. But then they miraculously transform into one of the most beautiful insects.

I work at a daycare as a pre-k teacher. Every spring we get caterpillars, we take care of them, wait for them to crawl up into their chrysalis' and then put them in the little net thing till they "hatch." Well one of the teachers accidentally dropped one into some sugar. And when it hatched its antennas were stuck together, it couldn't fly, and didn't have all its legs. It was so sad.

All this reminds me of us as Christians and the transformation we go through. I'm not talking about the biggest transformation when we get saved and we become new but the constant transformation in our lives. We as Christians are consistently changing. We analyze our lives and realize that there are things that we need to change. We may be living wrong. We may be participating in something we shouldn't. Etc. Etc. As for me this week has been a major learning experience. Quite a few things have happen in my life and they weren't so good. But I'm thankful for them none the less. I've learned a lot and I believe that I have matured much more. I believe that God brought me to these storms to learn, to grow, and to mature. People make mistakes and people learn from them. And I pray that I keep learning. It's not fun messing up and then going through all the pain and suffering. But in the long run they pay off. God never does anything without knowing what is going to happen next. God never makes a mistake. God is never taken by surprise. And that is what's so amazing! He is all knowing and He is my God. And I know that no matter what I go through God is there with me every step of the way. These certain situations are still going on, but already I'm changing and learning from them. And I just hope that others will recognize as well.

Giving Up

"Sometimes when I'm alone and I can't keep it in anymore. Sometimes when I'm surrounded and feel out of place. When memories weigh me down and regret and fear consume me. When I feel I've done nothing right and everything wrong. When I know I don't deserve what I have, but I still want more. When I can't forgive. When I need hope. When all I want is to give up and sleep forever. When I cry tears of heartache. When my soul is wounded. When my faith is tested, but every tear I cry is counted. They are caught in His hands and every weeping moment is spent in His arms. My tears may be pain. My tears may be of sadness, but the comfort is of God, Who hates to see me cry, but knows sometimes I need too."

This is a poem written by one of my friends and at the moment it just really spoke to my heart. Right now I have been dealing with some hard things such as: school, work, personal things, and spiritual things. None of these things are terribly bad but things that are bringing me down. Situations have happened and I wouldn't go as far as losing faith but just feeling like giving up. Maybe it's the same thing, I don't know. Anyway, this poem really helped me. It helped me to realize that when things are going wrong or not how you wanted them to go. When things get overwhelming or stressful. When trials and storms come. God brings them to us. And while these certain situations are going on in our lives, He is holding us. He is carrying us and leading us through them. Isn't it so amazing that if we just trust in the Lord to guide us that we will come out of these trials much stronger and wiser? It's a wonderful feeling to know that God wants the best for our lives, He doesn't want to see us hurting. Yet he knows we have to hurt so we can learn and grow closer to Him. As long as we keep pushing through and we aren't giving up, He will be there completely, leading us! Don't get me wrong, I know God is with us through it all. But what I mean by that is if we give up we will stray away from the One. So when things are getting rough, when storms are coming, don't give up! I've learned more in the valley than I have on the mountain!