I JUST CAN'T ESCAPE IT ... IT KEEPS COMING BACK TO ME ..."PERSISTENCE" ... IT'S THE YEAR OF PERSISTENCE! Once again, the Lord is bringing to my heart the veracity of this word for myself, for NewHeart, for this year.

This is a season of reflection for me personally the last few years. It is the span of time in the calendar within which I found myself summoning all the energy I had just to get out of bed four years ago. I had hit a wall, and ultimately, over the course of several weeks, I found myself diagnosed with burnout and clinical depression.

I am so glad to say that the Lord faithfully surrounded me with a capable team of people to bring me out of those dark days! He is SO good! As I write, last weekend was Easter. I was literally brought to tears when I came to Saturday afternoon with an undeniable sense of excitement and anticipation - it was EASTER!!

I had no other reason to rejoice in my spirit than that (not that THAT isn't good enough - it is!). A most exciting feature of the rise of emotion I experienced all through the weekend was the fact that there had been some years when I wasn't sure I would ever encounter such anticipation again! The Lord gave me a RESURRECTION weekend!

What does that have to do with PERSISTENCE? I'm glad you asked! Over the last few weeks, I began to notice that our yard, then our church property (I'm right next door) ... then our neighborhood, then our entire city ... and I just read this week, our entire county ... has experienced a drastic rise in swarms of butterflies. It's a beautiful sight!

(Now I've got you stumped! Persistence .. butterflies ... what gives?) Well, are you aware of what makes a butterfly? I'll save you the science lesson: a caterpillar makes a cocoon, stays in it while being transformed into a butterfly, and then breaks out of its shell to allow it to continue as a more productive member of the food chain (sorry for the macabre analogy there) and an awesome representation of death and resurrection.

However, the resurrection of the caterpillar into a butterfly is most intriguing. Maybe you've heard the proverbial story of the little boy who sees a butterfly beginning to emerge from its cocoon. Excited and impatient, the young person decides to help the butterfly, gingerly ripping its cocoon for it and releasing the insect. But an interesting thing occurs ... the butterfly trips out of the cocoon, its wings shrivel, and it dies.

Why? Because the struggle to get out of the cocoon is necessary in order for the blood to reach every part of the wings and muscles it needs to be the butterfly God intends for it to be. Did you catch that? THE STRUGGLE (PERSISTENCE) IS NECESSARY FOR GROWTH, SURVIVAL, AND FULFILLED PURPOSE!

NewHeart, we're no different! The Lord sent the rain, the source of the extreme butterfly migration we are experiencing. Without the rain, no representation of death and resurrection. I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I think the Lord is giving US this picture!

As we are in a season of experiencing growth in love for one another, maturity in Jesus, and even in numbers, the Lord is reminding us that the struggles we've encountered are to make us more able to handle what He brings our way. Let's come together with continued expectation for His presence to show up and more of His life to fill us, so that the world will know!

Struggling, enduring, persisting ...