Butterfly

[southerngale]

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared; he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. The man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.

The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been.

And we could never fly...

[azskyman]

That's not just a profound discovery, but one that we should remember each day of our life.

Hard to do many days, though, since we can't find answers when we need them.

Thanks for the story though. It is how I try to model my life....although I fall short all too many times.

[j]

A great story SG..I read it twice. Made me think about mistakes I may have made in making life too easy for my own children.

[Pburgh]

Thanks Kelley,

Sometimes it's hard to understand those hardships and why they happen. This really puts it into perspective.

As my Dad used to say, "Suffer a little, it's good for your character".

j, don't worry, no matter how easy you make it for them, they end up having trials and tribulations that will make them stronger ------ and make you want to help them all the more!!!! Right Steve????

Thanks again Kelly, I will definitely remember this story.

[Stephanie]

I liked that story SG. I wanted to cry for both the man and the butterfly!

[Colin]

Great story... but poor butterfly!

[southerngale]

I'm glad you all liked it. I thought it was worth sharing, but I probably should have made a more inviting title so more people would get to read it.