TRANSFORMED

 

Transformed

Here I am crawling on the dill,

chowing down, I'm never still.

I need to grow fast

then I will change in a flash.

Do you see me here

slightly camouflaged, just peer -

I'm dressed in black and green stripes

with yellow and black spots.

Munching,

munching,

munching,

munching.

I'm quite content to quietly consume

dill or parsley morning, night, or noon.

I'm growing bigger every day.

Soon I will change in a big way.

This change is only one of my transformations.

Althogether I'll go through four transitions.

I started life as a small egg, a tiny yellow dot.

You won't notice me unless you play hide and seek.

Soon this change will take place.

I can't wait to begin this race.

Here I am wiggling and wiggling,

my stripes and spots miraculously exchanging.

Wiggling,

wiggling,

wiggling,

wiggling.

Now I am encased in a brown sack,

which completely covers me – it's a fact.

This funny looking sack is known as a chrysalis.

I'm camouflaged once again in this tan dress.

Another name for this change is metamorphosis.

I transformed from a caterpillar to a chrysalis.

In a few days I will change once again.

This change will give me beautiful wings.

My chrysalis will change from opaque to transparent.

It really is a miracle to watch this change in my appearance.

One day soon I'll break free and you'll see me fly,

flutter, and waltz – free – up in the blue, blue sky.

I hope you get to see this transformation.

I know you, too, will be filled with exaltation.

Look for me when you're outside.

I'm the black swallowtail, see me glide....

as I dance to my own music

then stop at a flower for a sip

of tasty nectar which gives me energy

to fly, fly, fly up and away. Did you see me?

There I am dancing in the sky

with wings that allow be to fly.

I couldn't do that when I was egg so tiny,

or a caterpillar or enclosed in a chrysalis, not hardly.

It was my transformation that gave me wings.

Wings that allow me to fly free in the wind.

This transformation was what is best for me.

No longer bound. I'm free! Im free! I'm free!

Flying,

fluttering,

dancing,

waltzing.

* * * * *

The Bible also talks about transformation.

You could compare your spiritual transformation

to that of a new-born butterfly,

when you say goodbye to the old. Bye, bye.

Transformation involves taking off the old

and putting on the new, that's a fact we're told.

Like the butterfly, we need to change from the inside out.

Our old nature needs to be exchanged, without a doubt.

Would a butterfly want to go back to being a caterpillar?

Would you ever want to go back to being a toddler?

Don't you want to grow and mature, surely,

both physically and spiritually.

Would you choose to keep your old nature

when you are given a choice of a new nature?

Would you want to stay encased in a chrysalis of fear,

doubt, disappointment, depression, anger year after year.

God has provided a new way to live.

The answer is found in "forgive."

Realize God's Son offers you forgiveness

then simply receive this free gift, when you confess.

Forgiveness is the beginning of a transformed life.

A life honoring God with a dilemma of choice:

the old way

vs. a new way.

Your lifelong journey now involves putting off the old

way of living and thinking, that is formed by this world,

then putting on the new transformed way of life pleasing to God.

This new way of life begins in the mind and is secured by the heart.

Like the butterfly, God gives us wings "of faith"

that allow us to fly free, protected, safe.

Don't remained cocooned in your old chrysalis.

Shake it off through prayer. Rise above. Persist.

You are meant to fly free,

without worry,

unburdened,

unencumbered.

Spread your wings of faith today.

Be transformed in every way.

Let God replace your old way of thinking.

He'll direct you on a path worth living.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world,

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Romans 12:2

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory,

are being transformed into his likeness

with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord,

who is the Spirit.

II Corinthians 3:18

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;

the old has gone, the new is come.

II Corinthians 5:17

Put off your old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires,

to be made new in the attitude of your minds,

and to put on the new self created to be like God

in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:23-24

Will tranform our lowly bodies

so that they will be like His glorious body.

Philippians 3:21

Life Is a Garden Party

is available via Amazon.

Editing again this chilly April afternoon.  By the time I'm done with all it looks like I'll end up with 10 volumes of Life Is a Garden Party!  Working on getting Vol V ready for publication this year.  The story above is in Vol IX.  It really did happen here.  The photos attest to it.