“On Thursday he ate through four strawberries, but he was still hungry.”

You may have recognized those familiar words from Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This week in our son’s kindergarten curriculum we’ve been covering the life cycle of the butterfly, which naturally has included revisiting this beloved children’s classic.

I’ve learned so much about the butterfly’s metamorphosis process during this unit. First, for the monarch butterfly, the entire life cycle takes only about 30 days, and up to 15 days (half its life) is spent inside the chrysalis. Talk about isolation!

During another kindergarten lesson this week, we watched Storytime with Ryan and Craig who read aloud The Very Impatient Caterpillar by Ross Burah (check it out here – it’s a super cute book, and performance). Here’s a quick synopsis: the book focuses on the chrysalis stage of the butterfly’s life cycle and one particular caterpillar who struggles through the slow waiting of metamorphosis.

This children’s book made me laugh, but also made me pause, “Oh my goodness, I am this very impatient caterpillar!”

I hate waiting! I’m always looking for the fastest route, simplest process and quickest result.

These are days marked with waiting… waiting for stimulus checks, schools to reopen, news on a job status, a family member’s health diagnosis, and so much more. And all of us are waiting for the return to normal.

Waiting is hard. It can be painful and always requires patience and trust.

After becoming aware of my impatience, God drew me to two scriptures:

Psalm 27:7a “Be still in the presence of the Lord,
and wait patiently for him to act.”

Psalm 40:1 “I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.”

These verses ask me to be still in His presence and wait patiently. Though not your typical “call to action,” it is typical of the kingdom of God to require the opposite of what the world requires. In this case the requirement is to be still, let go and let God take control. While I’m waiting, God is doing His best work and all I have to do is step aside to make room for Him. While I patiently wait, in faith, I change. I grow.

And like the butterfly, waiting brings my biggest transformation. The butterfly develops strong, colorful wings. One monarch was even recorded traveling 265 miles in a single day! My biggest transformation happens while waiting too.

Waiting builds faith, trust, wisdom and perseverance. Skills the Lord wants to strengthen in us so He can build His kingdom through us.

So, let’s embrace this period of waiting. Let’s hope in the Lord and allow Him to renew us, so we can soar on wings like eagles… or butterflies (Isaiah 40:30-31).