caterpillars

A week or two ago my mom brought me a bouquet of queen ann's lace for my cubicle at work. They were gorgeous (thanks Mom!), but little did I know they harbored stowaways. After it had been there a few days, I noticed something on the flowers out of the corner of my eye. A caterpillar! Upon closer inspection, there were two. One yellow, black and green striped, the other black and orange. I brought them home, someone gave me a big (empty) pickle jar to keep them in, and I started feeding them. It was a little difficult to figure out what kind of butterfly they'll be, but it turns out they're both Black Swallowtail caterpillars (visit this website for photos of each life stage)

They were well taken care of while we were on vacation (thank you Neighbors!), and just this morning I noticed that one of them is in pre-pupa stage. Soon he'll create a cocoon and take a little rest, and when he's ready he'll come out as a beautiful butterfly. I was hoping that the whole process would take long enough that we could release the butterflies on Liam's birthday, but according to the information I've read, it won't take that long. Either way, I'm excited to see this miracle unfold before my eyes.

If You want me to

This morning we were heathens and didn't go to church. We decided instead to do one of the devotions from a book we're working through and it suggested listening to praise and worship music together. While I dug through my dusty pile of CCM cds I found "A Night in Rocketown". It's a collection of live music from a live concert, including Ginny Owens. When her single "If You want me to" came out, I loved it, but I haven't picked up the disc for years. After we had gone through some of the songs we both knew I pulled out "Rocketown" and played Ginny's story and the song for Mike, knowing he probably had never heard it before. Ginny is blind, and after graduating from college she tried to get a job as a high school choir director, but no one would hire her. As she worked through the disappointment, she wrote "If You want me to", and hopefully she'll forgive me posting her lyrics here.

The pathway is broken
And the signs are unclear
And I don't know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley
If You want me to

No, I'm not who I was
When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet
So if all of these trials bring me closer to you
Then I will walk through the fire
If You want me to

It may not be the way I would have chosen
When you lead me through a world that's not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I'd never go alone

So when the whole world turns against me
And I'm all by myself
And I can't hear You answer my cries for help
I'll remember the suffering Your love put You through
And I will go through the valley if You want me to

When I cross over Jordan
I'm gonna sing, gonna shout
I'm gonna look into Your eyes and see
You never let me down
So take me on the pathway that leads me home to you
And I will walk through the valley if You want me to

Yes, I will walk through the valley, if You want me to

It's as if God sent that message through her directly to us. Sometimes we can't understand why we have to go through such difficulties, but God is leading us all the time, and when we get to heaven, He will dry every tear, and we will understand.