Giving Up On Parsley…well, not really as I love parsley.
I love parsley so much that I grow it in my herb garden and I grow it in my Herb basket!
Well, I did grow it in my Herb basket until a beautiful Swallowtail Butterfly came along.
You see, several years ago, a Swallowtail butterfly decided to use the parsley in my Herb basket as her “nest”.
So perhaps this new butterfly is kin, but the black swallowtail butterflies come to my Secret Garden every year and lay their eggs in and on my parsley plants.
First, the butterfly lays eggs all over the parsley and as soon as the Caterpillars emerge from the eggs, they begin devouring my parsley like crazy.
I actually remember the first day I saw a pretty black swallowtail butterfly laying her eggs.
I was alone in my Secret garden and noticed this large black butterfly with a few yellow dots and pretty blue band at the base of her “swallowtails”.
She was sooooo pretty.
She kept darting in and out among my two different parsley’s….. and so I snapped many pictures …. up close and personal.
Of course, I have to confess that I did not know she was laying eggs….but I commented to the Captain that she certainly liked my parsley and didn’t mind me getting close.
Later, you can imagine my surprise when I saw various sizes of pretty little green, black and yellow caterpillars all over the parsley.
When I saw the little buggers, my first instinct was to remove them from the plants as fast as I could, as my plants looked as if a plague of locusts had descended upon my beautiful parsley. I wanted to stand with staff in hand, fist in the air, proclaiming loudly “Let my plants alone!”
Sorry, I got a little carried away with Cecil B DeMille’s Ten Commandments and Moses asking pharaoh to “let my people go”!
But then….then, I thought about the beautiful black swallowtail butterflies they would become and I couldn’t do it.
One can buy parsley in the supermarket anytime, but watching a caterpillar turn into a butterfly…well, that is a different story.
And when it came down to it, I couldn’t harm or chase away any of God’s creatures…unless it was a slithering serpent, but that is another story for another time.
First thing I did was to check with the local Rotary Club who had a huge butterfly cage; to find out if I needed to do something to protect these caterpillars.
I was told the same thing my Mother used to tell me as a child, …(when I found baby birds or baby anything)….just leave them alone.
Below on the left is a swallowtail butterfly starting to emerge…the green chrysalis on the right is about 8 days old.
I was also told the difference in male and female Swallowtail butterflies…never thought I would be privy to that sort of information.
You can see the blue band on the female….hey, for once the female of the species is a bit prettier than the male. 😉
As I have watched these beautiful creatures over the years, it got me to thinking of how this metamorphosis is like how we humans change as we follow the Lord.
You see, a caterpillar is bound to earthly things, he becomes attached to plants upon which he exists and eats continuously, until he goes through the painful metamorphosis process, which transforms him into a new creation, separating him from what he was to what he is to become.
This caterpillar goes from being needy and dependent and then through a painful process, he is transformed into being an independent beautiful butterfly.
As the butterfly is transformed, it will never go back to being a caterpillar again. Instead he/she becomes a new creation. A beautiful butterfly soaring and flitting from beautiful flower to flower and free to do all that God created it to do.
Our transition is similar to the caterpillar: We are needy and bound to earthly things until we go through a healing process or perhaps a better word is a restoration process that God wants for us. That healing/restoration makes us whole with nothing missing or broken. This is what empowers us to soar through life with the liberty and freedom that was God’s intention from the beginning of time.
So how do we make this metamorphosis happen?
There are two requirements to becoming a new creation. The first is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and receiving forgiveness for your sins. The second is letting go of what was.
I’m not going to tell you that the process is easy and I’m not going to tell you that your life will be perfect, a bed of roses or that you will have no more worries.
When the butterfly emerged from the cocoon, it was all alone and unsure of the future. As humans, we may experience those same feelings, but remember Romans 8:31 “If God is for us, who can be against us?” What seems to be your darkest hour may bring your greatest miracle. It was certainly that way for me during my bout with Pancreatic Cancer. We are all a work in progress. He will transform your life and take you on an amazing journey if you let Him.
Trust God, He is in control and He knows you. Did you know that the Bible tells us that even the hairs on our head are numbered? (Matthew 10:26-31) God knows what He is doing, and He knows what’s best for you. He loves each one of us unconditionally.
John 14:6 Jesus said…. ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’
The means of salvation is through…and only through…the person of Jesus Christ. We can not strive to earn heaven, we can only seek to follow Christ.
I will end by saying this. I don’t want to someday stand at the judgement seat and have my friends look at me and say…”you knew, but you didn’t tell me, I thought you were my friend.”
Have a Blessed Day and enjoy the beautiful creatures around you.
why my catterpillar turn black?
This post got past me! You are amazing for taking good care of God’s creatures!
I loved this post!
thanks Nancy for stopping by….and for your kind comments. Hugs.
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Kari, this is a beautiful analogy. Thank you for sharing the Gospel boldly! I had the same thing happen to dill several summers ago. Happy Sunday, my friend!
thank you for your encouragement Pam…Nature has so many examples of God’s Love, if we take the time to look. It is raining as we speak and I hope you are having a respite from the heat.
How amazing to be a part of that little part of nature, right there in your garden! Isn’t it funny when something like that happens and we end up learning so much from it? How long are the caterpillars eating your parsley until they spin their cocoons, do you know? How very sad that the butterflies live such a short time. I guess at that rate, they better keep busy procreating!