“Don’t kill it, Mommy! Please don’t kill it. We have to let it live.”
“But Son, I have to kill it. The ant will bring all of his friends in the house, and we will be invaded. We can’t have a houseful of ants.”
“I’ll get it, Mommy. I’ll take it outside by the trees. Then it can live.”
This was a ritual at my house when my youngest son was small. Every insect or reptile had to be saved. We had to catch lizards, grasshoppers, and crickets, but I drew the line at cockroaches. After a hard rain, we had to go outside and save the earthworms on the sidewalk. What a tender heart! Too bad it wasn’t as tender towards his siblings in those days.
He was always showing me what he had found, whether it was a colorful rock or a huge ant hill. He was intrigued by every new discovery. One day he showed me a stick with a cocoon hanging from it. He was full of questions. “What is inside of it? Can we help it get out? Will it be a good insect or a bad one?” The list was endless. I was lucky, because the questions were easy to answer. I knew we could not help the insect out of the cocoon, because that would ensure its death. As far as what kind it was, I just told him we would have to wait and see.
No one at our house was a specialist on insects, so we had no clue what was inside. We knew something was inside the cocoon, it was going through a metamorphosis, and it was changing. Nothing we could do would affect what was going to exit the cocoon.
As I looked at my son with his innocent wonder and amazement, I realized he was in his cocoon for the next few years. Unlike the insect, many things would affect my son’s life. Among the most important were the things his parents said to him, the things he saw on television, the way he saw his parents treat each other, and most of all, the things he learned about God. Would he accept Christ? Would he live for God? We had a great influence on what he would be when he came out of his cocoon. However, the final product was not entirely up to us.
Unlike the insect, my son has control over whether he emerges from his cocoon as a beautiful creature or a nasty pest. Of course, he has some control over his physical appearance by how well he takes care of himself, but I am mainly referring to the inside, to the heart. His metamorphosis won’t end when he is an adult.
Hopefully, his heart will become purer and more mature, “a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” with each passing day. So much work and time were involved when he was in his cocoon, but he is out of his cocoon now, and he is still going through a metamorphosis. However, he is in charge of his changes, even though his dad and I are here to guide him.
Our family is going through a metamorphosis. For so many years, everything stayed the same. Our children just got a little older each year. We had growing pains and spent time in the cocoon by teaching values and rules, standards to guide their lives. We laid a foundation of Biblical principles to be followed.
Our five kids are married so we have ten now. When our children were emerging from their cocoons, we could not imagine what the future held. We now have twelve lovely grandchildren, and they are definitely in their cocoons. I wonder what they will be when they emerge?
The most exciting part is to see the metamorphosis of the relationships in our family. Each of the children has matured and grown in his relationship with his spouse and with each other. They still get frustrated with each other, but the depth of their relationships pleases us. My husband and I have grown closer with each passing day and enjoy each minute we share together.
Pathway Ministries has gone through a metamorphosis. It has grown and branched out. We are able to minister to thousands of people now. We have branched into Virginia through GoMix Radio, we minister to young people through Pathway Christian Academy, we help pastors and laymen learn God’s Word through Christian Bible College, and we have PathPointe magazine to keep you updated and informed. This all started with a few students at a fledging Christian school.
In each person’s life, a constant metamorphosis occurs. Changes are all around him. Maybe he will open his eyes and see how he can affect the changes in his life early in the cocoon stage. We all go through physical changes from youth to old age.
When we get older, it seems to take a little longer to heal from a pulled muscle or a hacking cough. I have stopped trying to hide my gray hair, and the wrinkles just won’t go away. I cannot hide them anymore. If we take better care of ourselves in the cocoon and throughout young adult years, our physical bodies will be in better shape. But eventually, our bodies do grow old.
More important than our physical bodies, we all go through a spiritual metamorphosis. Christ came to earth to live, die, and rise again for each of us. He came that we might be transformed into new creatures. Our change from death to life is instantaneous, but the metamorphosis to maturity is ongoing. John 10:10 says he came that we might have life and that we might have it more abundantly. Continue to go through your metamorphosis and exercise your wings. See what God has for you.
If you are saved, you are a child of the King! Claim the promises of His Word and live life to the fullest. Maybe when your metamorphosis is complete, the Lord will be able to say to you, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
Mrs. Worthington has five children and twelve grandchildren. She serves as Principal of Pathway Christian Academy in Goldsboro.