I was talking with a couple of good friends the other day. I was really struggling and sharing my heart with them. As we were talking, one of them referred to me as the "Little Pupa". Her and my other friend grinned and we chuckled about it. I'm afraid, no matter how hard I try, this nickname is going to stick with these two dear friends.
It made me think about something after they left. My very first tattoo was a butterfly on my wrist with the letters SPCH underneath (pictured to the right). The SPCH is from Romans 5:3-5, "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." (Suffering... Perseverance... Character... Hope). I chose the butterfly for my design because of a story I had read. This is the story...
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 squeeze its body through the tiny
hole. Then it stopped, as if it couldn't go further.
So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bits of cocoon. The butterfly emerged easily but it had a swollen body and shriveled wings.
The man continued to watch, expecting that any minute the wings would enlarge and expand enough to support the body. Neither happened! In fact the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around. It was never able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand: The restricting cocoon and the struggle required by the butterfly to get through the opening was a way of forcing the fluid from the body into the wings so that it would be ready for flight once that was achieved.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. Going through life with no obstacles would cripple us. We will not be as strong as we could have been and we would never fly.
So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bits of cocoon. The butterfly emerged easily but it had a swollen body and shriveled wings.
The man continued to watch, expecting that any minute the wings would enlarge and expand enough to support the body. Neither happened! In fact the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around. It was never able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand: The restricting cocoon and the struggle required by the butterfly to get through the opening was a way of forcing the fluid from the body into the wings so that it would be ready for flight once that was achieved.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. Going through life with no obstacles would cripple us. We will not be as strong as we could have been and we would never fly.
-- Author Unknown
I got this tattoo after a time of some suffering in my life and I wanted a reminder of how God uses the struggles in our lives to make us stronger and give us the ability to fly. I was going to get it on my ankle but decided on my wrist so it would be more visible to me day to day. I may be back in the "pupa" stage again, but my butterfly on my wrist reminds me that I will once again fly.
With hope,
Sherri "Little Pupa"
