Author: courageous butterfly

Child of God, wife, mother, friend, prayer companion, Spiritual Director, lover of everything butterfly

Faith is calling…will you answer?

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I started a new job recently and in order to orgainze myself, I leave stickey notes in various places, so that at a glance I can see what is coming next. I got a good chuckle when I looked at my desk one morning and saw a note that read “Faith is calling today”. I was actually going to have a conversation with a person named Faith, but I grinned at the thought of how, in that moment, I would answer if my Faith was actually calling out to me.

What would my faith look like, sound like or feel like? These were just a few of the fleeting thoughts going through my mind as I continued to sit and stare at that post-it note. Such a simple little thing turned on so many questions and wonderment, that it spurred me to get to the heart of it all. After much prayer, reflection, and journaling, it’s apparent to me, that when faith calls, I don’t hesistate to answer. Don’t get me wrong, there have been instances where I wasn’t sure of something or lacked the confidence to follow the call, but I always answered. Even if it was a “you want me to do what?” type of response.

Let’s forget for a moment that we live in the age of cell phones. Remember when our phones were attached to walls and we would run through the house to answser before the person on the other end hung up? How exciting it was to hear who it might be! I know there were instances of thinking things like “oh boy I hope it’s not her again”, or “I wonder if it’s him!”. Try to remember those feelings for a moment and imagine answering the call of your faith with those same emotions. What does that look like for you? Are you staying on the call and listenting to what is being asked of you; or have you hung up before giving the request a chance?

Faith is individual and takes root in our hearts, thoughts, and life circumstances.  It is nurtured and strengthened through prayer and our relationship with God.  It has taken time and emotions of all kinds to be in the place I am today with respect to my faith.  I would not trade in any of those moments for anything else in the world.  I was blessed recently to put a call of faith in to action and it was a gift unlike anything I’ve ever received.  I remember thinking to myself, “I wish everyone could feel what this feels like”.  

God calls us in many ways and plants the seeds along the way, we just need to be open and willing to know it’s Him.  I love the post-it note visual and I keep it now at my desk as a reminder of what it means to me when I do answer that call.  As well as how important it is to continue with prayer and reflection in discernment of my response when that call comes in.  

I hope that if you can imagine that your faith is calling, you are able to get a chuckle as you see yourself racing through the house to answer the call!

I’d love to hear your story of what it was like to answer God’s call through faith.  Share in the comments.

Many Blessings,

Kimberly

Courageous Butterfly

A Belly of Butterflies…

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It’s late summer/early fall and the Monarch’s are beginning their migration. Each year I look for more research on this blessed event and I’m always left in awe. It is not surprising that I am stunned yet again.  Did you know that when a Monarch migrates, a direct descendant will be the one completing the journey?  There will be several generations of the butterfly who kicked it off and the returning Monarch will be one that has never been to the original destination. This butterfly will know exactly where to fly, even stopping on the same trees and flowers.  Inquiring minds want to know how this can be; could there be an internal clock; is there GPS tracking; will the generation before leave clues; is it harnessing the powers of intuition; or is it simply winks from God?

Let’s start with the idea of GPS tracking, only because I love the image of a butterfly connecting to Google maps by way of their antenna.  There is research which tells us that the Monarch will determine where they are on the earth’s surface by using the location of the sun.   As someone who is directionally challenged, that would be very difficult for me, say on the days when the sun is hiding behind a cloud.  The monarch, however, is able to sense the position of the sun even when it hides and continues moving on the path which has been laid out for it, but how?

Before we go deeper in to the previous question, let’s dive into the internal clock or intuition.  I looked back on a post from 2012, Trusting Intuition, and my thoughts still resonate with that.  I do however, have some additional insights I would like to add.  Imagine or recall a moment when you had an extremely strong feeling, good or bad, and you could not shake it.  You felt it in your bones and it affected every sensory center within you.  Mostly likely, this caused a bodily sensation, which is often referred to as “having butterflies in the belly”.  This will then generate an outward response which can be reaction, action or nothing at all.  We can’t know what the Monarchs are experiencing internally, but we can try and determine what is causing the intuition or “butterfly in the belly” affect inside of us.

At this point you’re wondering…where is she going with this…and my answer to that is only God knows!  Not even the migrating Monarch knows the path it will travel, but God does, and the Monarch just goes, allowing God to guide.  How amazing if we could do the same!

You are right where God intended.

GPS…God’s Positioning Service, then, is the answer! The sun is the tool with which God lures the butterfly towards its intended destination and for us, we move as God winks!

In September, 2012 when I first wrote on this topic, I was learning how to trust those feelings when they arose in me and act upon them rather than argue or ignore.  Today, as I reflect back I can see that I missed out on sharing something bigger…intuition equating to God’s Will, and God’s Positioning Service is the method in which we travel along our paths. 

So, we know now that the monarch isn’t Googling it’s way, it is being led by God.   As much as I would love too, I can’t fly using the sun as a tool from God, but I know another way to utilize my GPS and that’s with prayer!

I have had many conversations with God about his will for me and too many times I wondered if I was following His lead.  I’m pretty sure the Monarch doesn’t wonder, it knows to trust and because of that trust, a miraculous event occurs. 

I encourage you, when the butterflies flutter in your tummy, to enter into dialog with God in prayer. (in the sunlight if you really want to channel your inner butterfly) In doing so, you will be in tune with God and you will soon be able to pick up on all the GPS signals God is giving you.

Fun Fact! God just so happened to wink at me today when I realized the original post I referenced on intuition, was posted almost 7 years to the date…there is no doubt in my mind that I am on the path intended by God.

Are you in tune with God’s Positioning Service in your life?  Please share in the comments.

Kimberly ~ aka Courageous Butterfly

New page created!! From Caterpillar to Butterfly

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The cover image

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Beech Creek Nature Preserve

I chose this photograph to represent the blog because of it’s imperfection as well as it’s beauty. As you will learn from my stories, the caterpillar’s struggle is real just as real as our own and scars are in inevitable. If you look closely at the tip of the butterflies right wing in this photo, you will notice a piece of it missing. Of course it’s hard to say when and how this happened, but that really doesn’t matter anyway. What matters is that the butterfly is still vibrant and able to fly. More importantly, that imperfection which we see is a reflection of a triumph through pain whether it occurred before, during or after total transformation.

You can call this the Calm After the Storm; Broken is Beautiful; From Ashes to Light; and so many other things…I see wonder! Amazement! Transformation! Inspiration! and God’s Beauty.

The grief of loss may have you broken, but those virtues are still inside. All it takes is a little elbow grease, hugs from friends, a few positive words of encouragement and you will emerge just as beautiful as you can be!

I hope you find healing in your own metamorphosis and enjoy being a member of the Out of The Chrysalis community.
~Kimberly