The caterpillar thought his life was over....

and then He became a butterfly.

How many times have we as woman found ourselves in a place of despair, confusion, discontentment, loss, frustration or consfusion?

This is the reality of our lives.. a cycle of renewing our mind, and becoming more like Him.

Change is inevitable.

The Butterfly is a result of a masterpiece creation,, from the Hand of God,.. our Almighty Creator.
There is no mistaking the perfect plan of metamorphisis yhat we can observe from the Butterfly.

WE are the Chryssalis.

We are being held in the palm of His Hand.. continually being molded into a new creature.

But the Choice is ours... to allow this Change.. this metamorphisis.. or to cling to the world.

Sitting in a rocker in my room,, it was quiet,, the blinds were opened just enough to give me a glimpse of the outside...
The wind was blowing,, and just in my line of sight,, was a sturdy tree. accustomed to the changing and cycling of the Seasons.  It was standing upright... bracing against the wind.. an action it has performed endless years...
and new buds were beginning to form on each outstretched branch.
But,, what my eyes were focusing on..
was the lonely branch with a handful of dried, curled leaves... dead.. bearing NO fruit..
Hanging onto that branch tightly.  The wind furled around those brown - dead leaves.. and they held tight... blowing with the gusts that came at them,,
But they would not let go.
There was new life,, a renewing of the trees life beneath those dead grasps,, and they wouldn't let the tree be renewed... completely.

Romans 12:2 -
"and be not conformed to this world.. but be ye transformed..

2 Cor. 5:17 - "... If any man be in Christ.. he is a new creature.. old things are passed away... all things become new."

How many things are we holding on to?

For you.. today... in this Season of your life:
It may be:
An illness
A Loss
Friendships
Relationships
A Job
School

Are you holding onto them with Tightly clenched fists...
Waiting for the trial to pass, or the circumstances to ease up, or just plain hoping that it will disappear?

Picture this:
Those very things that have come to your mind today..
The things that are causing you to feel stress. or lack of sleep, the things that grieve you, or hand you frustration
Are you allowing these things to bring you closer to Christ.. to be more like Him?
OR
Are you holding onto them with tightly clenched fists?

Take those things... on bent knee.. those tightly clenched fists.. and with your hands held to the Heavesn.. arms stretched out high.. and your palms wide open..
Give them to God.

Don't be like that AIndependent, upright and stalwart tree.. holding onto the very thing that will hold you back from true transformation.. a metamorphisis.

Surrender...1st.

Purse Change... the butterfly lays its eggs, and they hatch into a caterpillar.  The Caterpillar then takes weeks to eat the leaf upon which those eggs were hatched.
Perfect plan.

Romans 12:2 - Be not conformed.. but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind..."

We face many decision in our day.. God has a perfect plan for us, and he has chosen us to become something beautiful. 
The renewing of our mind requires us to focus on what God say... and NOT the world.  not our own ideallyic thoughts.
For example...
My life path is different from yours.. and the same for every one in here.
You may see something in another life that you wish you had..
better health..
better marriage..
more spirituallity..
How can we focus on what God wants here?
The Bible tells us to be content.
How can we be transformed into a new creature if we are trying to cling to what the world tells us?
What if that caterpillar decided to take week vacation... mosy around to other leaves... try out what some his buddies were living, and then what?
The PLAN that God had for that caterpillar to transform into something beautiful would be altered.

Our time in the Scriptures and Our thought process is what will renew our mind and transform us into something beautuful.
A Woman of God does not look like the world.
We need to put off, and the put on.

Spending regular time in God's word cannot be relaced with a quick scan of a fix-it verse...
or a learning a random verse here and there for the appearance of Godliness.

We are the Chrysallis.

Our family has collected the caterpillars every year and observed this process of transformation.
Listen carefully...
One thing we have observed every single time, is that as thwe transformation is taking place... the chrysallis becomes transparent.
You can see the beauty coming through....
Every little change becomes more and more evident to the observer each day of the metamorphisis.
Are we as woman like that?

When God looks at your heart... is it transparent?
Full of those things which He loves
Filled with an eagerness to make His choices
Is the beauty of transformation evident to those around you?
Can they see the beauty shining through?

2 Corinthians 5:17 - ".. Old things are passed away,,behold all things are new."

Remember this..
A transformation... the change to become more like our Savior does not happen over night.
But as we submit our will.
pursue His plan,
and prepare our minds..
we will become a new creature.

Little daily habits become big life habits.
Wishing vs. contenment
Anger vs. Joy
Pride vs. humility
Greed vs. Unselfishness

Have you ever observed someone that radiates the beauty of Christ?
What does that look like?
The old becomes new.

Daily habits of talking to God.
Daily habits of memorization.
Daily habits of reading His words.. written for you.
Daily habits of thanskgiving.

( Use Colossians memory book example
Use Grateful Lists- read some as example)

Another observation we have made while observing the chrysallis .. is this..
There is always a golden thread weaved through the fibers of the chrysallis.
It is beautiful to see... it is a bright golden thread.

The thread that holds us together.. that holds our hope, our faith and our desire to change is Gods Word.
IT is the thread that weaves beauty into our fiber of being.
It is what you observe when you see a transformation in another person.
This thread of hope... for a fuller life.
A life filled with change - beauty - joy - contentment.

(use example of twins pregnancy)

And the most beautiful thing of all -
The birth of that butterfly.
And if you ever observe this process.
you will see..
it is slow..
it is planned... not rushed.
The butterfly even sits for hours not moving. wings unfurled,, allowing the blood reach its heart..
and when you look at this masterpiece,, you will see this...

That golden thread?
It is woven into the wings of this new creature...
proving that which is good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God."
All things have become new.

So, like the butterfly, :
Surrender
Put off/Put on
Pursue Him
and
Take flight on your Faith - He will guide you...to a true transformation.