"Spring Has Sprung"

The sunshine is like a heated blanket on a blustery day. How good it feels against my soul. Do you ever wonder how the butterfly might see the spring's arrival? What a long awaited birth it has endured as it lay wrapped in a cocoon of nothingness, only to appear as though there were not a day missed of life. It opens it's beautiful wings to dry and shows off the magnificant colors that God created. Did He make them beautiful just for us or is it for some other reason unbeknownst to us?

In a way we are like those butterflies. We can hide ourselves in the same kind of imprisonment in hopes that time will peel away our old self so that we may experience a birth of a new beginning. The symbol of "butterfly" from the Bible means "promise of new beginnings" If you are experiencing rough roads right now, please don't feel too discouraged. Even though you may feel so desperate or hopeless, and it feels like there is nowhere to turn...look within yourself and see the butterfly within you. It is there just waiting for rebirth into something so beautiful and filled with strength and courage that when you unfold your wings to the sun of life you will be noticed as a gift to your family, your friends and strangers. Let the change begin, let the hurts go. Don't allow the past pains rule your beautiful self. The past memories and scars will have control over you if we continue on with our anger or painful walk. Yes, it is difficult to go through this cleansing but what an achievement when you come through it unscathed. There is so much to life that we shouldn't miss out on. I walked blindly for years before I saw colors, breathed in the delicious smells, and heard the song of birds & insects. What a waste of years!

I remember a time when I was suffering deeply with my life's struggles and it was getting to the point of hopelessness when one day, a sunny, winter's day, I was walking through a field and came across a little bush on a mound. I almost stumbled over it because for years I walked blindly, seeing nothing, hearing nothing, smelling nothing. Something made me stop at this little bush though and as I looked down upon it my breath was caught in a frozen mist in front of my opened mouth! It was beautiful! It took me moments to breathe again. I had never seen anything so spectacular as this silly little snow-covered bush. The sun shone it's smiling rays upon it and it sparkled like diamonds...hundreds of diamonds! I fell to my knees in awe and tears warmed my frozen cheeks as they trickled crookedly from my eyes. My heart filled with such profound love and gratefulness that I thought I would shout. I thanked God for His sending me "my frozen bush" to remind me that "life is mine if I want to take it... life is beautiful if I want to make it"

My life changed after that moment. Sure, I still had struggles and sometimes I even had down and out wars with myself but all the while I knew that I was fighting for my rebirth. Sometimes the "labor" is a little long and difficult...but...my life's instinct struggled to do what was needed...fight the good fight and win with honors!

If you feel like talking to me I would be happy to listen over email. Being alone with these feelings of hopelessness is not needed. Sometimes it is difficult to talk to family about these issues and it is easier to let go to a faceless email friend. I am not an expert on many things but I do have experiences in "life's skills" and I have an awesome shoulder via email. Please, don't be alone in this. Let someone be there to admire your struggle from the cocoon of life!

Bless you today, tomorrow and always