This week we took the boys to the St. Louis Zoo.  I have great memories going to the zoo growing up.  As a child and young adult, I lived in the city and enjoyed city life.  The zoo was one of my favorite places.  I still remember the gift shop at the front entrance being my favorite out of all the gift shops.  If I recall, I think I always left with a pencil or a pack of animal playing cards.  While we were at the zoo with the boys, it was such an enjoyable day. There was hardly any people at the zoo that day.  We walked the whole zoo and all of the animals interacted with Drew and Luke.  As we were leaving, I asked if anyone wanted to go into the insect area.  Luke wanted to hang out with Matt at the sculptures, so Drew said he would go with me.

I am not into insects unless they are butterflies.  My love for butterflies started a few years back.  I remember being at a Barnes and Noble and while checking out there was a magnet that said, “Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly”.  From then on, I always associated butterflies with transformation.  After losing Hope, butterflies have such great meaning to me as they are the symbol of infant loss.  Drew and I entered the butterfly section at the zoo and it was beautiful.  The foliage was blooming and the butterflies were flying.

I am not sure where I found this little snippet.  When my Dad passed away two years ago, I found this snippet and saved it to my phone.   It truly is a beautiful way with words.

“Everything broken doesn’t have to be completely fixed for me to be completely fine.  I can be scared and brave and frail and unbelievably strong all in the same leap of faith.  And I can be hurt but I don’t have to live hurt.  I can choose to believe in the epic goodness of God to completely surprise me with breathtaking awesome possibilities.  Broken is what people are.  Beautiful is what God makes them.”  Lysa TerKeurst

The colors and the patterns of butterflies amaze me.  They are so detailed and just beautiful.   Last year, we hatched butterflies here at home and one of them had a broken wing.  Even though it had a broken wing, it kept trying to fly.  We kept watching it and it kept walking around and fluttering.  As the healing process continues,  there will be days where I will be just fluttering.  I am grateful for my friends and family who have supported me and continue to encourage.