Candice Corwin

You may have noticed that I have been using a blue butterfly on a lot of my communications. Next time, I will explain blue but today I will share about the butterfly.

I have come to love butterflies and they have become a symbol for me of my life and a testimony about my walk with God. There are two main reasons, in addition to being beautiful, as to why I like them so much.

Reason one: I learned a few years ago that God uses the waste (the poo that is) of the caterpillar in the cocoon to make the wings of the butterfly. Wow! Such a symbolic thing to show that God takes the difficult things, the bad choices and the stuff we go through that is just really hard and He can transform those times of challenge, rebellion, grief and difficulty into something useful and beautiful. Now, I am NOT saying that God makes “bad things” become “good” (my hard, crappy stuff still is hard and crappy) ~ what I am saying is that the way He can use those times (if we let Him) can bring beauty out of the ugly. This happen when we are changed for the better or our story is used to help someone else know that they are understood and that we care because we too have journeyed through the hard times. God is a God of transformation! I know this because He daily is transforming me in so many ways and I am so thankful for this! This is why I love Psalm 116 so much ~ it is my story written there.

Reason two: I also learned that the DNA of the caterpillar and the butterfly are the same…it is the DNA of the butterfly. Wow! The butterfly is always in the caterpillar. God sees us like that I believe. He knows who we are and how we are but He always sees in us who He can make us to become if we will let Him. We may see the negative or challenging but He sees the potential we have. We may see what is right in front of us but He sees the dreams inside of us and has a plan to bring those to pass in His way and time. We may see the circumstances around us but He knows He is in us and that through Him we can do all things. (Phil. 4:13) Just like the caterpillar is made to be a butterfly, we are made to be His sons and daughters. We may have to go through times of cocooning but if we will allow those times to grow and teach us, we will eventually have times of beauty and flying! There’s a song I love by Mandisa that talks about how God sees us vs. how we often see ourselves ~ check it out: The Truth About Me.

I am trying to be a butterfly. I want to allow God to take the things I have been through that were hard and all my bad decisions and make beauty come from them. I want to remember that just like the caterpillar, who I am meant to be for God is always inside of me and with His love, growth and development I can daily strive to become more and more of who me made me to be to do what He has put in me to do.

This all sounds so good but it is so hard. Whew! The butterfly has to work and pry and claw and stretch and struggle to get out of the cocoon. None of that is fun or easy BUT that is how it’s wings become strengthened and stretched so it is ready to fly. I have been going through a lot lately and I am praying that God will use the challenging to make me a better and more beautiful woman and that He will use the struggle to bring strength so that I can fly for Him.

An unclear path does not make the dream unclear ~ keep walking.

A friend and I were talking the other day about life and all that is going on with each of us and we came to the mutual conclusion that we each wanted no regrets. We agreed that we didn’t want to get down the road and look back and regret what we didn’t do-or at least try to do. We didn’t want to look back with a lot of “I really wish I would have…” or “When I had the chance I should have…” or “I did what was safest, sane and sensible but I missed out on….” kinds of statements.

There is something about “going for it” that separates out what we “could do” from what we “have to do.” Oh, there are many things we could be doing but what is it that we MUST do? You know, the thing (or things) that deep inside you KNOW that you HAVE to do.  There are some things that come to mean more to us and move us more than the fear that tries to stop us or the road blocks that come to interrupt us. It is when the vision or dream that we have shines more brightly than all other things and even when the path is cloudy, the dream remains clear. This is a HAVE to do.

I have come to a place where there are giants in the land. Giants of financial problems, giants of attempted joy crushers, giants of attempted confidence breakers, giants of doubt, worry, fear, uncertainty, frustration, discouragement…giants. You know what I am talking about-you have giants too. My vision that God has given me and called me to walk in remains clear but the path is cloudy & cluttered with giants. I must choose what I will look at-I must choose what to fix my eyes on if I am to keep walking. Jesus tells me-tells us-we are to fix our eyes on Him. When Peter wanted to walk on the water in Matthew 14:22-33, he did just fine as long as he was looking at Jesus. It is only when he started paying attention to the waves and the wind and it occurred to him that he actually CAN’T walk on water that he began to sink. When he doubted he began to sink. Jesus immediately grabs him up and asks him why he doubted. I realized that Jesus wasn’t asking Peter why he was doubting himself but rather why he was doubting Him. I do that. You do that. Yes, it is hard to admit but often when we doubt ourselves it is because we have stopped looking at Jesus and we forget who He is and so we forget who we are and Whose we are and down we go.

So here I am on this path surrounded by giants but the vision is brighter and so I will walk this cloudy path and every day try to practice keeping my eyes on Jesus where they should be. He called me out of my boat of safety to walk out on this water and walk I will…

Have you ever noticed how life seems to be full of things that are challenging, hard to deal with or figure out? You know, crap and stuff and junk.

Often, it seems as if someone ripped the pages out of  the guide book for these things and then you realize that you can’t find a guide book. Or can you? There is the Bible.  But aren’t we quick to blow that off a bit…yes Christ followers, Jesus lovers, I do mean us. I mean we KNOW it is God’s book and of course it is there to guide us and give us all we need to live life but-

We always say but…

It is God talking to us-GOD talking to us-God TALKING to us-God talking to US! WOW! Does that just get overlooked? Do I forget the Truth of that?!? Do you?!? Honestly, wouldn’t we rather most days to have a guide book to pick up that has lists or steps or something easy to follow? Yes, but what I have come to realize is that:

1.  I much prefer following a person-Jesus-as opposed to some list.  He knows where I am going-He has already been there and been through it all-on my behalf I might add. Plus, He holds my hand when I don’t need carried and He battles for me as I battle for Him. Yeah, much prefer following Him.

2. I much prefer not just to have a list of do’s or don’ts but rather Truths and questions and thoughts that prompt me to grow and all from a God who gives me a choice about following Him or not-knowing He is THE Way yet wanting us to want Him. Plus, He includes promise after promise after promise that can be “proven” time and again in stories from then and now-my own stories for that matter show Him to be a God who keeps His promises and that He indeed is who He promises He is, was and always will be.

3. I much prefer to know that God cared enough not to give me-give us-a mere guide book that could be changeable. Oh no, He cares so much He gave us a love letter that is eternal and doesn’t change and is there any time I need to read it-just like Him. He cares so much that He signed it on THE CROSS, in blood. All so I can know He really means it when He says He would do anything to save us and that He loves us and that He NEVER will leave or change or give up. Mercy…wow.

Yeah, that makes the stuff and crap and junk more navigatable (yes, I made up a word…again). It doesn’t make it easier or less frustrating or less painful per se but knowing I am not journeying alone because He is there and so are those I love who choose to love me back and that makes my theme song crescendo* loudly… “Just keep swimming…just keep swimming…just keep swimming….”

(*Shout out to Chelsea Coghan and my nephew who has me watch Lil Einstein videos and my former band directors who taught me a cool word for “gets louder” !)

One of my favorite parts of the Christmas story is that the FIRST people to hear that Jesus had been born were shepherds. Shepherds in a field away from it all where they probably were forgotten about and they were just in the midst of doing what they do. Shepherds who were considered at that time to be the “lowest” and least respected really in their culture. Yep shepherds heard FIRST. And just like our awesome God, He didn’t just send like one little angel-oh no! He sent thousands and thousands of them.  While there are many “scholarly” theories as to why the shepherds were chosen, I think God did it for two main reasons:

1.) He knew that they would be excited! As excited as He was really! Have you ever told someone something you were really excited about and they had a lame response like “oh that’s nice”? Of course you wanted to scream, “No, it is not nice, it is magnificent and you clearly don’t recognize that so why did I tell you?!?!” See, God knew they would be excited too. In fact, they left all their sheep and ran to where Jesus was. Now that doesn’t sound like much, but they left their job, their way of making a living and ran…unheard of in shepherd world. They couldn’t help it though. JESUS was born. Jesus was BORN. After 400 years of nothing what had long been promised had come…Emmanuel had come! God DOES keep His Word.

2.) By telling the shepherds first, God reminds us that He sees us even when we feel forgotten and we are all caught up just doing what we do and being who we are. He reminds us that He comes to us and wants us to come to Him just as we are. The shepherds didn’t have to get new jobs, shower or change clothes or figure out their problems or work through their issues or get rid of their baggage in order to be told about Jesus or to go to Him. God meets us right where we are and loves us and through Him, and Him alone, can change come to us-encountering a living God definitely changes you.

So this Christmas, while we are each out here in our “field keeping watch” over whatever we keep watch over in our sphere of influence, God will come. Probably not with thousands of angels but He will come. He will come just for you and just to you.  He will, with great excitement, remind you that His son came, lived, died and lives again and like the shepherds, if you let Him, He will irrevocably change you and love you and live in you. You will never be the same. Even when it is cold and night and you feel alone, He will be there. He will come. He promised. And Christmas reminds us that He keeps His promises.

Back then, a star appeared in the sky over the place where Christ was born. I wonder, if above each of us that He lives in, if there just might be a star over our head that casts it’s glow over us and hopefully through us.  Celebrate and tell all about the God who comes near, the God who keeps His promises! Yep, shepherds…wow. Shine on, shine on shepherd friends…