Damaged Goods

Change can occur and things can morph even when you think that thing (or person, or self) is broken and beyond repair and rejuvenation.  This was proven to me once again by my children, the best teachers in the world.  My little ones were playing in our backyard yesterday, which is mostly garden and chicken coop now, with little room to run around but plenty of space to explore!  They brought in a caterpillar.  Oddly enough it was stuck in a bandaid that was finger shaped/sized.  It must have fallen off in the backyard and the caterpillar had crawled inside.  Well, if it wasn't injured when it went inside the bandage (ha!) then I'm sure it was a little worse for the wear after my little ones had squeezed him out of his temporary medical facility!  They were so excited about this cute little green caterpillar hiding in the bandaid!  They promptly put him in a jar, and spent the next half hour deliriously holding him, plopping him in the jar, filling the jar overfull with food and water, emptying the jar so the caterpillar wouldn't drown, and holding him again.  When they finally settled him into the jar with spinach leaves scattered on the bottom, plastic wrap on the top, and holes vigorously poked in the plastic, I thought he was a goner for sure.  He had to be injured, damaged goods, after being manhandled  lovingly taken care of for so long.  I mean, he's only a tiny bug after all!  But as the little ones were so attached to him, we placed him on our science hearth and decided to watch our little "science experiment" for the next few days before releasing him to the wilds of our backyard.

We pulled down our nature guide on insects and Jack and I found many green caterpillars, before finally finding one that looked just like him:  same lime green, translucent skin, white dots lining the side of his body, and two tiny brown dots on his head.  It looked like he was a Polyphemus Moth.  This morning, two days after finding Mr. Caterpillar in the bandaid, my littlest guy was inspecting him in his jar and yells, "Mom!  There's white, cloudy stuff all around the caterpillar!  Come look!"  We all came to look, and sure enough that little, resilient guy was spinning a cocoon!  I have to say, I was amazed he was still alive, not to mention spinning a web.  It was our own little science project come to life, found in a discarded bandaid in our backyard.

I love so many things about this story.  I love that homeschooling just fits so seamlessly into life sometimes.  No oftentimes.  There are so many ways to learn, and we just have to live our lives and be open to that.  I've been moaning to my patient husband lately how life seems to be getting in the way of homeschooling. Whether it is sickness, haircuts, or family and friend emergencies, sometimes I feel like we can never get to the "school work" but instead are busy with the business of life.  This was a great opportunity for me to realize that learning is always going on, whether in the finding of a caterpillar in the midst of playtime in the backyard, or learning about how the heart works after their grandpa had a heart attack.  It is all part of one holistic, seamless life, and it is not compartmentalized into school  time and real life time.

The second part of this caterpillar story that I love is that this manhandled, bruised little bug, this piece of damaged goods, is in the process of transformation.  Not only did he not die, but God is transforming him from an earthbound creature into a soaring, floating, winged creation.  He survived the bruises and the bumps of his short life, and soon he will fly through the air, fluttering from flower to flower.  If God is able to do this for the caterpillar, then I trust completely that he can do that for me.  No matter how damaged I am God can transform me to.  I may not always feel like I am soaring, but I trust that I am in the process of transformation, always.  I that my Creator is continuing the process of creation in my daily, in spite of and usually with the help of, all my ugly bumps and bruises.