You fell in love with this $7 butterfly necklace at the gift store this week. We were in line paying for it when something else in the store caught your attention. You quickly tapped me on the leg and asked if you could get two things. I explained that you couldn't and began to pay the cashier. At this point you started to ask fervently.This escalated into a tantrum as we left the gift shop. I was disappointed, upset, embarrassed and mad at the way you behaved. I told you that you would not get the necklace until a later time because of your behavior.
All afternoon you kept asking when you would get your butterfly necklace. Once I felt you understood that your behavior was not acceptable, I gave it to you. After all, it was a gift. It was an undeserved gift. And it really made me think.
I can’t help but notice your dirty little fingers next to this shiny butterfly. It makes me think of all the undeserved gifts God has bestowed on me through my own lifetime. I have been covered many times in my own dirt, yet He has accepted me and loved me through all of it. He gives grace and love time and time again, when I don’t deserve either.
I felt embarrassed as I carried you out of the gift shop, screaming because you only got one gift; but I am so thankful for this reminder. Similar to the transformational life of a butterfly, I am reminded that through Christ we can also be transformed into something beautiful. No matter our age, we continue to need God’s undeserved and never ending grace.