I used to be a caterpillar. A very VERY active and hungry caterpillar! I had 6 “true legs” (that’s the three pair near the front), along with an additional 10 “other legs” that extended along the length of my body (four more pair in the middle and a pair at the end). Those “other legs” are not actually legs at all, but protrusions from the body called “prolegs” that helped me grip onto surfaces to climb, and that helped keep the entire body in motion! All I know is that I LOVED my caterpillar life! I traveled, and ate, and grew, and had some of the most AMAZING adventures with other caterpillars, including many with the very eggs I myself gave birth too! We climbed trees and mountains, crossed rivers and valleys, explored exotic places and smiling faces, and though some seasons were INCREDIBLY difficult, with God’s help, we always kept our little caterpillar legs going, while leading & encouraging other caterpillars to keep growing!
But something happened near my 50th year that changed everything. A worldwide pandemic, met a disease that I contracted along the way called Parkinson’s, and I entered into a painful, dark, and difficult place…into a cocoon of God’s making. Within that 2 year chrysalis, I wasn’t just “slowing down” or “taking a break”, but instead, I was working through a spiritual, emotional, and physical transformation. A metamorphosis that I did NOT ask for, a transition I did NOT seek, nor even know was coming, but God did! In fact, I now understand that this change IS the plan! It’s actually WITHIN THE DNA! And that it is by DIVINE DESIGN that we are changed, and changing! I’m NOT becoming a new species, but becoming what my creator has always intended for me to be! Every cell changes, in order to emerge as something that is both the same, yet different. The “false legs” I relied on in my life are no longer, but instead, have now converted into wings. The butterfly does NOT go back to being a caterpillar, that would be ridiculous, but instead, now needs to learn how to fly! Loss is HARD, but loss CAN be redeemed, when we know the Truth. My life as a caterpillar was good, it was VERY GOOD…..but my next 50 years could be GREAT, if only I can learn to look back and thank God for my caterpillar life, trust God to show me the way forward, and to ask God to help me learn how to fly…To Fly Free as a Butterfly!
Faye Maloney, 2-2-2022
