Butterfly

“When God pushes you to the edge of the cliff, trust him fully, only two things can happen, either He will catch you when you fall, or He’ll teach you how to fly”

I don’t know where or when I heard this quote. I don’t know who said it. But I do know that it has made an impact on my life. I am at a point in my life between childhood and adulthood. It’s a place I don’t like to be. I don’t want to grow up. I say I have the Peter Pan Syndrome. But that is a story for another day. Right now let’s focus on learning to fly.

The time has come again when the Monarch Butterflies start to make an appearance. I remember when my sister and I were little we would go out and search the milkweed for monarch caterpillars. We would put them in jars and feed them leaves and watch them grow. Then one day they would create their little green and gold trimmed cocoon and would just hang there for what a couple impatient little girls would think was forever. Then their cocoon would become almost clear and we could see those orange and black wings inside. Finally they would break out and stretch their wings. We would open the lid and watch as they dry their wings on the edge of the jar and eventually fly away. As I watch the butterflies flutter around in the goldenrod today I started to realize that we are kind of like butterflies. We are cute little caterpillars who eventually go into their little cocoon and begin to transform. We decide who we are, who we want to be, we start to prepare for our future. Then, when the time is right, we break free and fly away. We might fall the first few times, but we get it eventually.

But what does this have to do with the quote?

“When God pushes you to the edge of the cliff, trust him fully, only two things can happen, either He will catch you when you fall, or He’ll teach you how to fly”

This year has been a year of preparations for me. Taking time off from school to decide what I want to do, getting my braces on and hopefully off, getting my driver’s license. I’m in my cocoon, figuring out who I’m going to be, preparing for what is to come. A cocoon most might consider I’ve been in a little too long… A few weeks ago I went on a trip that helped me see what my future holds just a little clearer. It also will help me better prepare myself for what that future will hold. It was the beginning of my breaking out of my own little cocoon.

Soon I will find myself on the edge of the jar, ready to try to fly. Honestly, it scares me. And I might fall. But I must trust that if I do fall God will catch me. Or, if the time is right, He will teach me to fly. And He will do the same for you. If you are in the same place as me, standing on the edge of that jar, hesitant about spreading your wings, maybe it’s time to make the jump. Don’t be afraid to spread your wings and fly.