Biking with Butterflies

Today was a perfect October day! Naturally, I took the opportunity to go biking. The sun was bright and glorious and the air was as clear as clear could be. The sky outdid it's blue adornment while the trees displayed their rich autumn colors. The temperature was a perfect 70 degrees. I was ready for a great ride and a great ride it was!

The one fun thing about my bike ride today was all the butterflies I saw! A couple of them flew right in front of my face and others flew right next to me while pumping my way up hills. Seeing the butterflies made me think about their recent change from caterpillar to butterfly. Seeing the fall colors of the trees also made me think of change. Life is continually going through change. Nature indeed changes.

A year and a half ago I would have thought I'd still be running at 45. But things have changed. Now I bike and swim more than I ever used to. My individual health has changed. Can't put on running shoes when your knees aren't working as good as they used to. Also a few years ago, I would have thought my children would all still be young tikes. But things have changed and they are growing up in very special ways. My family is changing at a faster pace than I ever would have thought. Change comes to one's own community too. Whether in one's neighborhood, one's church, or one's work place - new friends and folks come while others move on. Everything's a movin' and a changin' except for one extraordinary constant - God! Hebrews 1:17 says that there is no variation or shifting of shadow with Him. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

To know that God will not change is a comfort, but the fact that change comes to everything else in life can be challenging. Yet while a challenge, it's also a great way to learn to trust God's hand of providence ruling over the changing life.

The butterfly seems to soar with such ease almost as if its load is lighter and freer. What if we could look at change from that perspective. Perhaps the challenge that change often brings would slip away and be warmly welcomed instead. When I think about the fact that I've had to turn in my running shoes for biking wheels, I realize it hasn't been too bad after all. Besides, I get to bike with butterflies in October and move much swifter with less jostling than when I used to run.