“An invalid lady procured once the cocoon of a very beautiful butterfly with unusually magnificent wings, hoping to have the pleasure of seeing it emerge from its cocoon in her sick-chamber. She watched it eagerly as spring drew on, and finally was delighted to see the butterfly beginning to emerge. But it seemed to have great difficulty. It pushed and strained, and struggled, and seemed to make so little headway, that she concluded it must need some help, and with a pair of delicate scissors she finally clipped the tight cord that seemed to bind in the opening of the cocoon. Immediately that cocoon opened wide, and the butterfly escaped without any further struggle. She congratulated herself on the success of her experiment, but found in a moment that something was the matter with the butterfly. It was all out of the cocoon it is true, but its great wings were lifeless and colorless, and dragged after it as a useless burden. For a few days it lived a miserable sickly life, and then died, without having once lifted its powerless wings. The lady was sorely disappointed and could not understand it. But when she related the circumstance to a naturalist, he told her that it had all been her own fault. That it required just that pushing and struggling to send the life fluid into the veins of the wings, and that her mistaken kindness in shortening the struggle, had left the wings lifeless and colorless.”
“The Christian Secret of a Happy Life”
(If you are interested in reading the book, it is really and incredible book that makes you dig down deep and think, you can find used copies but make sure that you do not get a newer abridged version because you will really miss out.)
By: Hannah W. Smith
1875

I feel like this is where I stand…with scissors in hand. Will I cut the cocoon open because it is easier, faster and it is what the world accepts as timely and good? Or will I lay the scissors aside being patient and allowing the butterfly to struggle and fight that its wings might fly full of color in its own unique time?

This past week I got the incredible privilege of attending a luncheon with some friends where the guest speakers were Ron Hall and Denver Moore who are the authors of the book, Same Kind of Different As Me. Many wonderful people in our lives worked to make this possible as my mom offered the table at the luncheon, Brad’s mom kept brother and Brad picked up sister from school. It was a lot of juggling but all totally worth it! Thank you to everyone who made it possible plus a HUGE thank you to hubby for taking your lunch to pick up sis!!! I am starting to sound like I won an award! It felt like it being able to meet Ron and Denver. If you have not read the book it really is a great read. It is a true story of one woman’s obedience to God and how she changed many lives and still continues to change lives to this day. It is also the story of Ron and Denver as they interact with this woman which just happens to be Ron’s wife. It is a story of lives transformed! Ron is a great speaker as he pretty much retold the story of the of his wife’s obedience. Denver is an amazing man and he shared two songs with us and spoke a little as well. Denver is a man who uses his words wisely and powerfully. He tells it how it is and does not mess around. It was incredible to hear these men speak, and to actually meet them and speak with them in person! Incredible! If you have not read the book I do highly recommend it (as if you could not tell)!!!

“We leave the birthing room daily. We want freedom from the ache. We want to control the level of groaning in our life. Our search for relief is utterly foolish, yet we demand it with fervor every time we shut off the whispers in our hearts-the whispers to dream, the whisper to acknowledge a current disappointment, the whisper to remember something or someone lost. We desire the thrill of a newborn cry without the months of anticipation and hours of labor-ridden hell.”
From The Allure of Hope by Jan Meyers

The Allure of Hope: God’s Pursuit of a Woman’s Heart
By: Jan Meyers

Sir Gibbie
by George MacDonald edited by Kathryn Lindskoog

One of my new favorites!!! It is truly an incredible book!

The Enchanted April
By: Elizabeth Von Arnim

The Secret Life Of Bees is an incredible book that has definitely had a large impact on my life! A friend just shared with me this trailer for the movie that will be out this fall! I can hardly wait!!! I think that there is a girls movie night already in the works!

A Wind In The Door
By: Madeleine L’engle

I LOVE THIS SERIES!!!

Cold Sassy Tree
By: Olive Ann Burns

I finally got around to using Amy Karol’s Bend The Rules Sewing book last week. It has been calling out from the shelf for a very long time. I decided to tackle the Simple Tote as I did not have much time but wanted a little project to finish! I used some of the wonderful Japanese fabric that I had received from Kris awhile back. I am really excited about the tote and plan to use it as a lunch bag!

In other news Blakley has tagged me from Rockin Smokin to grab the nearest book, turn to page 123 and post the 6th, 7th, and 8th sentences so here we go…

Tonights nearest book is Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting by Marva Dawn and page 123 reads…
“Certainly we can always enjoy other people more fully when no obligations are impinging on our time. In our society it is difficult to embrace people instead of things, to cherish time rather than space. So much of out technologically efficient and materially exploitative culture militates against these values.”
There you have it! Pretty intriguing huh!
I am supposed to tag 5 people but instead I am just going to open it up and if anyone would like to try this go for it! It is kind of interesting to see what turns up!