Dragonflies

The summer after sixth grade was a summer full of dread.  I went to a small private school and the seventh grade teacher had given us an assignment to do over the summer.  We were to collect insects throughout the summer and turn in a bug collection for our first science project in seventh grade.  I don't remember how many we were suppossed to find to receive an A, but my "recollection" is that it needed to be 100 insects!  This was just terrible.  Who would want to collect bugs throughout the summer?  Are there really even that many bugs to collect?  Well, my bad attitude was not very conducive for the finding of bugs.  The night before the project was due, I ended up literally being on my hands and knees unsuccessfully searching for bugs in spider webs.  I think I managed to collect 30 bugs that summer and my very best bug, a June bug, got a book dropped upon it and broke. (P.S. I did not get a very good grade, probably my worst grade in life:).

The other night, I had to laugh at the irony of life.  The Lord has blessed me with a daughter whose interests lie in the exact opposite realm of my own.  Her enthusiasm for nature and exploration are way beyond mine.  But the one thing my daughter, Mercea, has is the ability to encapture my lack of passion up with her own passion and make me passionate about something I used to hate.  We literally spent an hour outside with a butterfly net, trying to catch bugs.  Mercea ran with enthusiasm and deep belief that we would catch the bugs.  Our mission on this particular night: dragonflies.  There were literally 100's of dragonflies flying around this night, and it was quite a beautiful sight.  They were flying between 15-20 feet above our heads.  My short little daughter would run full speed ahead and jump trying to catch a dragonfly.  I soon got caught up in her mission.  We would watch for ones that would start to fly low and the chase would be on.  Those little suckers are very fast and very smart.  They zigzag all over the place.  After 15 minutes of trying to catch a dragonfly and being unsuccessful, I began to believe all the more that we would catch one.  Low and behold, I did manage to catch a beautiful iridescent green and blue dragonfly in our net.  Our night ended with one large beautiful dragonfly, two different kinds of grasshoppers, and 2 little moths.  They now sit in a butterfly house on my kitchen table as treasures.

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So the teacher in me wants to give you a beautiful parallel between this story and my life.  While I've thought of many none came close to the beauty of the moment.  So, I really shared it because it is now a precious summer memory I have of my daughter but if you want some thoughts to ponder from this story here is my list:

• Enjoy the unique qualities in your kids.  If you let them, they will expand your world more than you ever imagined.
• I think the Heavenly Father gets excited when He sees us trying to do the impossible and He steps in and helps us finish our dreams of the impossible.
• If you are passionate about something, you have the ability to encapture others that could care less and bring them along with you.
• You get more done and do a better job when love and not duty is motivating you.
• Where was my daughter when I was in seventh grade?
• Finally, I pray your summer will be filled with a beautiful memory for you to carry throughout your life.

In Christ,