~Thankful Thursday~Special Butterfly Story

Today, I've included a the "Special Butterfly Story" which I had heard in the past and was recently reminded of it when Jan asked me to see if I could see about getting a Prayer Quilt a young friend at her church who has been diagnosed with lymphoma. Ryann has adopted The Butterfly Story as she travels this cancer journey. We all have struggles, they range from one end of the spectrum to the other. I want to embrace my struggles and be thankful that I have God to guide me through, so that I may fly!

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it had and it could go no further.

Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. And we could never fly.
(author unknown)

I think I'm finally making progress with my job, but more on that at a later time.

Thankful Thursday is hosted by Iris at Sting My Heart.
Blessings!