I watched in amazement
at the excitement my children displayed as they showed me the caterpillars they
had collected at the Wycliffe base. When
I had first suggested that they consider taking a jar to collect caterpillars,
they didn't think it sounded like a good idea.
But upon arrival at the Wycliffe base and learning how intriguing caterpillars
could be, even my very girly girl was into collecting them.
We brought them
home in a glass mason canning jar with a lid that had nail holes punched in it. The children then went to work dividing them
amongst themselves. This is when my
youngest got into the act. In her excitement,
she stepped on one of the poor creatures.
Oh the tears that flowed down the face of my little boy. His little heart was just broken that one of
the caterpillars had come to such an untimely end. As his tears calmed, this sisters and him divided
the remaining caterpillars. The jars
were lovingly stuffed with leaves and branches.
We spent the rest of the evening receiving updates on whose caterpillar
seemed to be enjoying the leaves the most, whose caterpillar wasn't looking so
well, whose caterpillar was crawling on the lid, etc. The excitement filled the house.
As I watched my
children intrigued with the caterpillars, take ownership in the project, and
delight in the creation of our Heavenly Father, my heart was touched. In the craziness of being a mom, wife, home
school teacher, correspondent with supporters, living in a country that is no
mine own, etc, I had become tired. In my
weariness, I had forgotten to take pleasure in the little things. I had forgotten to take time to see the world
through the eyes of child. I was no
longer looking for the beauty and adventure of what life was bringing my way, but
resigned to just putting one foot in front of the other.
As I thought about
experience more, I came to the realization that this adventure with the caterpillars
went so much better since the children had a jar ready to start the process
when they got to the Wycliffe base. Even
so my Heavenly Father has equipped me for the adventure that He has me. He has given me the “jar” that is
needed. But how do I respond to the
adventure He has given me? Am I too
tired, to enjoy the little pleasures? Am
I too weary, to see His Hand guiding my path? Am I too discouraged, to hear His
voice through my day? Is my focus on the
“normal” things, so I forget to listen for His voice and see Him in the
unexpected? Or am I embracing this adventure
with the eyes of child? Am I delighting
in the new discovery, allowing myself to grieve over the heartbreaks, but be
resilient to once again find a way to enjoy the excitement of life? Do I trust my Heavenly Father enough to know
that He has given me the “jar” that is need?
So for tomorrow, I
will try to take the time to see the world as an exciting place. I will try to take time to pause, reflect,
and enjoy the adventure of my life here.
I will try to effectively use the “jar” that I find in my hand.
I know this is a post from a while back but somehow it appeared in my feed today and was just what I needed. I also noticed we have three things in comon. We are both from Iowa, both trained to be teachers and are homeschooling (but mine are teens) and both married to pilot mechanics.
ReplyDelete