Butterflies. Flittery little things, aren't they? Ever tried to catch one? It's not so easy, is it? But are they ever beautiful. In the last several years, Paul and I have have done our best to make the yard attractive to these little fliers. They've come to mean a lot to us, and as I was pondering their presence out back this year, I realized a few things.
Butterflies have had wonderful intrusions into my life for a long time. Today I realized that it's much longer than I thought.
When I was a child, I was taught not to catch them because of the powder on their wings. My mother told me that if you hold them and too much of the powder comes off on your hands, they won't be able to fly anymore. If I did manage to catch one, there was always a little powder on my fingertips, and I worried that the poor thing wouldn't be safe. But they always flew away when I let them go. So either Mom was wrong or I never managed to remove enough of their powdery coating to prevent flight. I'm glad about that. I remember that I wanted to catch them so that I could get a better look at them. They're so beautiful.
Many years ago, when I was a new believer in Jesus, I was talking with a friend while our kids were napping. We were standing at the fence between our yards. There was a pretty blue butterfly flitting around us and I asked her if she'd ever had one land on her. She said she hadn't. I hadn't either, but remarked how cool that would be and I wished it would happen some time. A moment later, the butterfly landed on the front of my shorts and stayed there for a few minutes while we just marvelled at the crazy coincidence of the situation. That was the first of many times that butterflies were significant in a season of my life. At the time, I didn't recognize that it was a gift from the Lord.
Years later, I had my first go around with a potentially serious health issue. I had a mammogram that looked suspicious. I had a stereotactic biopsy, and then an excisional biopsy. This was over the course of a few weeks time, and Paul and I were anxious for the results. The result was that a precancerous lesion had been removed during the excisional biopsy. Nothing further needed to be done. While we were going through the process, Paul put in new flower borders around our backyard. I had been asking him to do this for a few years, but he likes to have a straight run when he cuts the grass, and just had no vision for my idea. That year he decided to go for it.
Our neighbor Joe saw him digging up the grass and came over to see what he was up to. He went home and came back with his rototiller. So the work was faster and easier and we ended up with twice as much border as we originally intended. Then Joe asked if we'd like some butterfly bushes. He had too many and was going to pull them out. I said yes, and so he gave us four good sized plants and told us how to care for them. They flowered in a few weeks and we had more butterflies than we'd ever had in any other summer. Paul bought me a beautiful bracelet for my birthday, with butterflies linked together all around it. They had become very special to us. Butterflies reminded us of the goodness of God, the generousity of friends, and our love for each other. Every year since then we've added more flowers that attract them, and avoid using poisons in the yard.
I've been trying to write a book and not been very diligent about finishing the project. The Lord has faithfully encouraged me, and even sent butterflies to keep me company and amuse me while I was working on it last summer. We have some small, quick varieties that are called skippers. There are two color variations, I think. They remind me of miniature Harrier jets, because of the way their wings stand up. One afternoon, as I was researching and writing while sitting on the steps of our small porch outside the back door, one little flier came and perched on my knee. It sat facing me and looked right at my face. It was most distracting. I had to pay attention to it, and talked to it until it flew away. I went back to my work, thanking God for sending it. It came back again. I stopped working and watched it; it was sitting in almost that same spot on my knee that it was the first time. I thanked it for coming and told it it was welcome to visit again, but that I needed to get back to work, no matter how cute it was or how much I enjoyed its company. It flew away again, but returned three more times! Each time it sat in very nearly the exact spot it had been the first time, looking right into my face. On a few other days last summer, I had other varieties of butterflies land on me. I just love that. It blesses me. One afternoon when I was sitting near the pool and Paul and Adam were swimming, there were two yellow swallowtails that kept flying around me, and one briefly landed on my head. The guys thought that was pretty funny! (I don't wear perfume in the summer, so that isn't the reason.) Why does this happen? I can't say for sure, but I think the Lord has just been showing me His love and encouragement, and using something that I can't miss. Whatever the reason, I really enjoy the visits, and maybe they do too. Thank you, Father. I love my gifts.
Butterflies have had wonderful intrusions into my life for a long time. Today I realized that it's much longer than I thought.
When I was a child, I was taught not to catch them because of the powder on their wings. My mother told me that if you hold them and too much of the powder comes off on your hands, they won't be able to fly anymore. If I did manage to catch one, there was always a little powder on my fingertips, and I worried that the poor thing wouldn't be safe. But they always flew away when I let them go. So either Mom was wrong or I never managed to remove enough of their powdery coating to prevent flight. I'm glad about that. I remember that I wanted to catch them so that I could get a better look at them. They're so beautiful.
Many years ago, when I was a new believer in Jesus, I was talking with a friend while our kids were napping. We were standing at the fence between our yards. There was a pretty blue butterfly flitting around us and I asked her if she'd ever had one land on her. She said she hadn't. I hadn't either, but remarked how cool that would be and I wished it would happen some time. A moment later, the butterfly landed on the front of my shorts and stayed there for a few minutes while we just marvelled at the crazy coincidence of the situation. That was the first of many times that butterflies were significant in a season of my life. At the time, I didn't recognize that it was a gift from the Lord.
Years later, I had my first go around with a potentially serious health issue. I had a mammogram that looked suspicious. I had a stereotactic biopsy, and then an excisional biopsy. This was over the course of a few weeks time, and Paul and I were anxious for the results. The result was that a precancerous lesion had been removed during the excisional biopsy. Nothing further needed to be done. While we were going through the process, Paul put in new flower borders around our backyard. I had been asking him to do this for a few years, but he likes to have a straight run when he cuts the grass, and just had no vision for my idea. That year he decided to go for it.
Our neighbor Joe saw him digging up the grass and came over to see what he was up to. He went home and came back with his rototiller. So the work was faster and easier and we ended up with twice as much border as we originally intended. Then Joe asked if we'd like some butterfly bushes. He had too many and was going to pull them out. I said yes, and so he gave us four good sized plants and told us how to care for them. They flowered in a few weeks and we had more butterflies than we'd ever had in any other summer. Paul bought me a beautiful bracelet for my birthday, with butterflies linked together all around it. They had become very special to us. Butterflies reminded us of the goodness of God, the generousity of friends, and our love for each other. Every year since then we've added more flowers that attract them, and avoid using poisons in the yard.
I've been trying to write a book and not been very diligent about finishing the project. The Lord has faithfully encouraged me, and even sent butterflies to keep me company and amuse me while I was working on it last summer. We have some small, quick varieties that are called skippers. There are two color variations, I think. They remind me of miniature Harrier jets, because of the way their wings stand up. One afternoon, as I was researching and writing while sitting on the steps of our small porch outside the back door, one little flier came and perched on my knee. It sat facing me and looked right at my face. It was most distracting. I had to pay attention to it, and talked to it until it flew away. I went back to my work, thanking God for sending it. It came back again. I stopped working and watched it; it was sitting in almost that same spot on my knee that it was the first time. I thanked it for coming and told it it was welcome to visit again, but that I needed to get back to work, no matter how cute it was or how much I enjoyed its company. It flew away again, but returned three more times! Each time it sat in very nearly the exact spot it had been the first time, looking right into my face. On a few other days last summer, I had other varieties of butterflies land on me. I just love that. It blesses me. One afternoon when I was sitting near the pool and Paul and Adam were swimming, there were two yellow swallowtails that kept flying around me, and one briefly landed on my head. The guys thought that was pretty funny! (I don't wear perfume in the summer, so that isn't the reason.) Why does this happen? I can't say for sure, but I think the Lord has just been showing me His love and encouragement, and using something that I can't miss. Whatever the reason, I really enjoy the visits, and maybe they do too. Thank you, Father. I love my gifts.
these are silver-spotted skippers on a stonecrop flower in my front yard
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