The Butterfly

I was sent this in an email.

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!

Interesting...

"A full-time nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit will change an average of 1,872 diapers in one year."

Hmmm...I worked in the NICU for a little over 4 years. That means that I've changed close to 7500 diapers.

Empathy...

I have a small group discussion on empathy tomorrow...Enjoy!

Fred Astaire: What's empathicalism?
Audrey Hepburn: Is the most sensible approach to true understanding and peace of mind.
Astaire: But what is it?
Hepburn: It's based on empathy. Do you know that empathy means?
Astaire: No, I'll have to have the beginner's course on that one. Empathy...is it something like sympathy?
Hepburn: Oh, it goes beyond sympathy. Sympathy is to understand what someone feels. Empathy is to project your imagination so that you actually feel what the other person is feeling. You put yourself in the other person's place. Do I make myself clear?
[Astaire kisses Hepburn and she, outraged, demands to know why.]
Astaire: Empathy. I put myself in your place and felt you wanted to be kissed.
Hepburn: You were in the wrong place.

Funny Face (1957)

Today is going to be fabulous!

Here are my top 10 reasons why today is going to be fabulous.

10. I had McDonald's hashbrowns for breakfast.
9. I stuck with the first outfit I put on this morning.
8. I accidently set my alarm wrong last night. When it went off this morning, I realized that I still had another hour to sleep.
7. I'm actually at school early.
6. I've already been told that I look cute and adorable today.
5. While I was searching for something to bring for lunch, I remembered that I have a lunch meeting, so not only do I get to go out to lunch, but someone else (school) is paying.
4. The majority of the lights were green this morning.
3. I'm wearing my fun black heels.
2. I talked to my mommy this morning...I love her.

and...
1. God loves me, and that's all I need to know today.

I missed a meeting...

I had to miss a meeting. I had a very good excuse and allowed Joe (a guy in my class) to make my apologies and "explain". Yeah...his explaination went something like this...

"Jeanine had a big diet coke. Jeanine had an accident, so her pants are wet. Jeanine can't be here because she had to go home to change."

Thank you, Joe! Leaving out little details seems to change the story entirely.

Oh, Happy Day!

Today is Monday! Monday is macaroni and cheese day at the hospital cafeteria! That's means that TODAY is macaroni and cheese day at the hospital cafeteria!

I'm so excited. On the whole, hospital cafeteria food isn't the most spectacular, but they do make a mean macaroni and cheese, and I love macaroni and cheese!

What are you having for lunch today?

Ugh!

So I had this great post for today, but my computer decided to eat it, and I don't have time to rewrite it now...maybe some other time. It might make you laugh. It might make you cry. It might make you laugh so hard you pee your pants or cry.

Have a terrific Thursday, everyone!

Dust Bunnies!

I like to have a clean home. I like to look through crystal clean glass. I like to walk in and enjoy the freshness. Sitting in a clean home somehow make me feel like my life is a little less chaotic.

But then...I found it...dust.

I reached up to the top of my bookshelf for something, and it was covered with dust. It's not a place people see. It's too high up...so I haven't bothered dusting it in a while.

How often am I like that in my spiritual life? I come before the Lord to do some "cleaning," but neglect some or several areas because I think that no one sees them. But God sees. God sees that my heart needs cleaning. He sees my hidden dust bunnies.

"You have set our iniquities before you,
Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance."
- Psalm 90:8

The Heart

As I opened my books to study this morning, I found this quote:

"Hearts will never be practical until they are made unbreakable."
-The Wizard of Oz

It's fitting since I'm studying the cardiovascular system.