..."caterpillar..."

The fellers are both outdoors men. The tallest feller more so than the short one, but he lets his big brother drag him outdoors.

I am a science teacher at heart, finding an experiment in all things.

I recently saw an idea on pinterest to take the top of a pineapple, plant it in a pot, and grow a fresh pineapple.

My oldest son loves to help me chop fruit, watermelons in summer, pineapples... I think it is using a serated knife that makes this task, I dread, fun to him.

He helped core & chop the pineapple.  We retrieved a terra cotta pot from the woods, I had winterized, last fall by tipping upside down, and planted the pineapple top in it.  I had a little patio garden last summer, mixed greens, chives, green onions, and herbs.  Interestingly, the mini-green onions that had been in the pot are still growing next to the pineapple.

The shortest feller found a caterpillar on an unseasonably warm winter day.  It was crawling on the brick wall on the stairwell to our basement door.  My son gently scooped it up and placed him in the pineapple/mini-onion pot.

My youngest son named the caterpillar "Lil' Guy." It has lived in the pot in our basement for over a month.  Every day he checks on it, making sure "lil' guy' is still with us.

One morning, we couldn't find him.  A few moments later my son exclaimed, "He's over here." The caterpillar had crawled 15 feet over towards the night light illuminating the stairwell. My son scooped him up, put him back in the pot... where Lil' Guy has remained.  A habitat in a pot, in our basement.  He crawls from pineapple sprout over and amongst the onion fronds.  He seeks higher ground when we water the pot, atop the bristly pinapple leaves.

We're nearly 3 weeks into the season of Lent, 13 of the 40 days.

Lent reflects the 40 days Jesus the Messiah, spent in the desert.  He was tempted by Satan, but used the time of solitude to submit & obey His Father.

Lent takes place the 40 days leading up to Easter, the resurection of Jesus.

Lil' Guy has me thinking... how long can/will he survive in our basement without fresh air and only 3 daylight windows.  How long can a caterpillar live with out the sun?...

How long can we live without the Son?

Lil' Guy reminds me of my walk as a believer.  I get cozy in my habitat, comfortable in my surroundings.  Then I start to crave time with the Lord... just like Lil' Guy crawled to the night light, craving it's light.

We like the caterpillar may recluse, we may wonder, but eventually we seek out the Son.

Are you spending these 40 days:
Giving something up?  Reflect on Jesus' sacrafice for you...
Doing something beneficial?  Focus on how it can strengthen you for His glory.,,

I wonder when Lil' Guy will spin a crysalis?  To begin the journey of changing for the better.
How long then before he emerges as a new creation... metamorphosized into what God intended for him to be all along.

Are you like a caterpillar, inching along on your journey?
...waiting for the Lord to scoop you up?
...longing for a new beginning?

Li' Guy reminds me that we are made new ... if we just choose to believe.