Monday, January 28, 2013

Changing How We React to Obstacles



I want to cultivate the tenacity of a well-known delicate-winged creature. I’m talking butterflies and I’m talking migration.

This isn’t some post about wanderlust or an insatiable desire to pack my things and hightail it to the Florida Keys because my nose runs every time I step outside. No, I’m referring to what it takes to push through when the winds kick up and food becomes sparse. Gusty gales and times of hunger come for all of us, though they’re disguised differently. A rush of wind knocks us flat on our faces when we lose a job or a loved one. Hunger pangs are triggered in times of loneliness or whenever our vision grows cloudy. 

This is why I admire the Monarch’s innate ability to survive—their propensity to endure.

Monarchs are known for powering through a myriad of obstacles, including seasonal snow cover, adverse weather conditions like strong winds and extreme heat, sandstorms, unsuitable habitat, hostile landscapes, and lack of food sources to name just a few.

In case you’re nodding and saying to yourself, “Sure, Wendy, we all want to grow stronger in this area,” let me give you a few more things to think about.

Migrating butterflies adjust. They adjust to their circumstances—to their surroundings.

And yet remarkably, they stay on course. They refuse to allow obstacles to become deterrents. Despite the fact that no single individual makes the round trip, (meaning each flight is entirely new for them) Monarchs handle change with incredible finesse. It’s as though they anticipate complications, quickly acknowledging them, then regardless of what tries to alter their flight, Monarchs fly on.

As I did a little research I read that the Monarch’s flight pattern is not affected by the wind.
Which brings me to these two verses…

“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching…” Ephesians 4:14

“But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” James 1:6

I’d love for my faith and my commitment to trust to mimic these resilient, beautiful creatures. Certain. Not dismissive of or ignorant to obstacles on my path, but sure and steady despite them.

Has something in nature ever reminded you of who you want to be?

*I also read Monarchs have milkweed in their bodies which is poisonous to most predators looking for a lovely-winged meal. But their wings say back off. Predators spot their wings and receive a ‘don’t mess with me attitude’ in any altitude. Wonder if having the Word in us and “flying” in its strength is like being swollen full of milkweed in the eyes of our enemy? May our wings show it.

**received butterfly info. here & photo by stock.XCHNG

19 comments:

  1. I didn't know that about Monarchs!!! I love nature but am not sure I have a specific creature I'd like to be like. I do love cats though. LOL
    Great post, Wendy! Happy Monday. :-)

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    1. I found it pretty cool. More of a dog woman myself & Happy Monday to you!

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  2. Sometimes I want to cocoon for a while--let winter just pass on by! Great post. :)

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    1. Feel like that in Feb. but even more so in March. Trying to wake up to the beauty of it all helps.

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  3. Beautiful, Wendy.

    Hmmmm...maybe an Alaskan sled dog? They seem to just keep running and going no matter how cold or long the journey. ;)

    Thanks for this post!

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    1. My used to have a running joke (pun intended) where we'd say, "Mush, mush" to each other whenever we said we were tired. Reminded of it after I read your husky example.

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  4. I love this, Wendy. Such a cool post! I don't know that I've ever thought about something in nature that reminded me of who I want to be...but now that you've got my brain pinging, I think I'd like to be like a willow tree. They always seem so graceful to me. They have to strong and endure all kinds of weather, yes...but they do it with grace and beauty. I'd like to be like that. :)

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    1. We had an awesome willow tree by our pond growing up so I 100% get where you're going with this.

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  5. This was a good post for me to read this morning. I posted about what I've been up against lately and I'm going to think of the Monarch butterfly as I continue to endure and wait for the sun to come out.

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  6. In church yesterday we talked about bees and being anxiously engaged in what they do. That's something I'd like to be. More anxiously engaged.

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    1. Engaged, absolutely. I think I've got the anxious thing going pretty strong already. I could back off that one some. ;-)

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  7. YES!! I want to be the moon. No light in an of myself, but reflecting a greater light in the midst of darkness. That's who I wanna be. :)

    Beautiful post, Wendy-girl. Love your heart.

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    1. Moon...ah. Nice choice. And you'll like this...made me think of Frodo in the spider's lair with his elfin light. ;-)

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  8. I just visited a butterfly garden at the Stuttgart zoo. Beautiful creatures! I think ants are pretty amazing little insects. They work so hard, and they work together.

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    1. LOVE butterfly gardens! Yeah ants pretty much rock my world. Crazy cool how so much of what goes on in nature could teach us at any given moment.

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  9. An interesting post. I like birds. We used to have bird feeders in our backyard. We saw a pileated woodpecker two years ago. I was pecking out a stump we had left after we had a tree removed. That bird took the stump completely into the ground.

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    1. Talk about tenacious and determined. Yep, I like that woodpecker. I'm a fan.

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  10. I particularly love that last paragraph, Wendy. Being filled with the Word of God is our best defense.

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  11. Love the lessons we can learn from these creatures.

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