The Highway of Life

Last night after I left work, I was rushing to get home so that my son could get in at least one hour of swim-time before the pool closed and I was stopped three times. Once by construction, the second by a car accident and then a third by a train. My twenty-five minute commute turned into an hour. I found myself aggravated until I pulled up to the accident scene and saw that someone was hurt and the woman was standing outside of her car crying. I immediately felt guilty.

It made me think. Life is much like a highway. We all share the journey and arrive at a destination. As I sat there waiting on traffic I noticed two things:

The Drivers:

Some want to rush through traffic as fast as they can, not appreciating the sunrises or sunsets on the way. Some go too slow missing entrance and exit ramps called opportunity. Some of us drive and get aggravated at other drivers because we have somewhere to be, honking the horn, cursing and screaming making all kinds of unnecessary noise. There are those that take short cuts, cutting off people who were in the lane first, making U-turns, ignoring stop signs and red lights.

There are those who are so focused on their own journey that they ignore others attempts to pull into a lane that they having been patiently waiting for. There are those that are very generous, always allowing other to pull in front of them or stop and help someone who is stalled along side of the road.

The Signs:

The stoplights and stop signs are there to remind us that everyone gets a turn. When it’s your turn, the light will be green, when it’s not, the light will be red. Then there is the yellow light reminding you to take caution before proceeding. The stop signs tell us to stop first, look both ways, then proceed.

The highway signs are a guide telling us where to go and how to get there. Sometimes we pay attention and sometimes we ignore them but it doesn’t negate the fact that they exist. We just need to look up.

The construction and detour signs are such a pain and they are so inconvenient. Without construction, there would be no roads to drive on or bridges to cross. They exist to pave a path to our destination. Yes, they sometimes make us late to our destination, but maybe that is the plan. Maybe that construction and detour signs are there to show us another way. It may not be convenient but the path we are on is too dangerous to drive on.

The funerals, fire-truck, ambulance and police sirens. Why does it seem like whenever you are in a hurry, that you run into one? They are there coming to the rescue of someone who had a rougher road than you. They need help. While you are there complaining about those sirens, someone is facing a life and/or death situation.

The police radars and speed limit signs. It seems like they exist just to harass you but what if they were gone? You wouldn’t have anything to remind you to slow down on your journey. Going too fast can cause accidents and a lot of people can get hurt. They keep you disciplined and accountable.

Last but not least, the construction workers. It seems there is always construction but never any workers. Does that mean that they don’t exist? Of course not. Keeping the road safe for millions of drivers takes a lot of work. Maybe you can’t see them because they are ahead of you clearing the path and building a firm foundation so that you can make it to your destination safely.

I encourage you this week that when you are driving, look around at all the drivers and signs. We all share this journey and we all have destinations so be kind and patient to one another. Take a breath and if you get detoured, that just means that your ultimate construction worker, God is paving your path.

And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 1 Thessalonians 5:14

But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel. Proverbs 15:18

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. James 1:19-20

Have a blessed week!

© Copyrights, All rights reserved
Katrina Green
President
Butterfly Ministries, Inc.

Take a Stand. Spread the Word. Save the Butterflies ♥


"It is the mission of Butterfly Ministries, Inc. to empower and inspire positive transformation in girls and young women by encouraging them to take a stand against gender exploitation and to give rise to a historic revolution."

COMING SOON! Join the Butterfly Movement!

Launching Fall 2010!

"Strength and honor was her clothing" Proverbs 31:25

Temptation of the Serpent

Have you ever wanted something so bad and you know isn’t good for you but it just seems so irresistible?

This is the Forbidden Fruit that surrounds us in our daily lives.

We always want what we can’t have, aren’t content or happy with what we already have and even though we know it may cost us a great deal, we take a bite anyway.

It’s so beautiful, enticing and tempting, isn’t it? It seduces you with false promises that it is far better than the dull fruit that you have been eating for so long and that once you taste it you’ll never be the same. It carries a haunting glow and sweet aroma making your mouth water and your heart race.

It can take many forms such as fame, fortune, women, men, cars, houses, affairs and careers.

The Forbidden Fruit is there to test our obedience and measures our level of contentment, loyalty, and faith in our lives. It exists to test your mind, body and spirit. It separates the strong from the weak.

Don’t be mistaken. The forbidden fruit is guarded by the serpent, not by God. God never promised that temptation would not come our way, but that he has given the ability to overcome those urges. It is up to us to use it. Temptation is not the sin, submitting to it is.

Take a look at your life. Are there people, places and things that are calling you, begging you and luring you to just come and take a bite? Have there been situations in the past where you finally took a bite and that tiny bite sent poison throughout your veins and caused you to choke to the point that you can’t breathe? That bite took everything you loved and came with a hefty price tag that you couldn’t afford. It didn’t taste as good and was not as delicious as it appeared and the satisfaction was short-lived. Now when you look back, you miss the fruit that you had been eating all along. The fruit that you had was far greater than the forbidden fruit; you just lost your appreciation for what was given freely.

I encourage you this week to take a look at your life. Appreciate all of the beautiful fruit around you. Take care of it. The more you care for the fruit in your life, the more it will flourish. If you are busy gazing at the forbidden fruit, your fruit may be spoiling.

“For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” 1 Timothy 1:7

"Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." Genesis 3:13

Have a blessed week!


© Copyrights, All rights reserved


Katrina Green
President
Butterfly Ministries, Inc.

Take a Stand. Spread the Word. Save the Butterflies ♥


"It is the mission of Butterfly Ministries, Inc. to empower and inspire positive transformation in girls and young women by encouraging them to take a stand against gender exploitation and to give rise to a historic revolution."

COMING SOON! Join the Butterfly Movement!

Launching Fall 2010!

"Strength and honor was her clothing" Proverbs 31:25

Change Starts Within

Have you ever found yourself analyzing others and quickly judging them? You may not speak it but you may certainly be thinking it.

On my way to work this morning, I was running late as usual. (I’m still praying on that one!)

Of course everytime I am running late, I hit every red light on my way. As I pulled up to a red light out of the corner of my eye, I saw a woman applying makeup and texting! The first thought that came to mind was, “Couldn’t she do that at home?” Then it hit me! It was my reflection in an office building window. I felt a sudden embarrassment come over me and then it was followed by guilt. Of all the layers that God is peeling off of me day after day, I still struggle with that nasty sin called pride.

It is so easy to look at others short-comings, faults and behavior. The real revelation comes when we realize that change starts within. Self-Reflection is the harshest reality! How can you change the world if you don't change yourself first?

This week when you find your thoughts critiquing someone, imagine that person being you. In fact, pull out a mirror and look at the reflection.

“Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become your character.
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.”
Author Unknown

“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” 1 Corinthians 13:12

Have a blessed week!


© Copyrights, All rights reserved

Katrina Green
President
Butterfly Ministries, Inc.

Take a Stand. Spread the Word. Save the Butterflies ♥


"It is the mission of Butterfly Ministries, Inc. to empower and inspire positive transformation in girls and young women by encouraging them to take a stand against gender exploitation and to give rise to a historic revolution."

COMING SOON! Join the Butterfly Movement!

Launching Fall 2010!

"Strength and honor was her clothing" Proverbs 31:25

The High Price of Fame

I was flipping through channels and there was a show that I came across and watched called “Toddlers & Tiaras.” I was quite disturbed as I watched these little girls forced into beauty pageants undergoing hours and hours of hair, makeup and coaching by their mothers. They had hair extensions, spray on tans, false teeth to replace the missing teeth that most children proudly display, false eyelashes, nails and clothing that you would typically see on Vegas showgirls.

The mothers would either pressure the girls to be something that weren’t and the child would become upset or the mother would cater and bribe the child so that they would comply making the child spoiled with a nasty attitude. The competition is fierce and the pressure to be perfect is very apparent as you look at the child’s faces. I felt sorrow and pity as I watched the torture that they endured attempting to smile through the make-up but found it difficult. Their innocence and inner spirit was being drowned with make-up, glitz and glamour.

This reminds me of Brittany Spears and the grooming that took place when she was a child. She was thrust into the public eye as a pre-teen sexualized for fame and fortune. This was all done at the hands of those who were supposed to protect and raise her up in the way that she should go.

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

She became an American sex symbol that young girls worshiped and idolized and grown men lusted after. If you follow her today, you can pretty much come to a conclusion that none of the beauty, fame nor fortune bought her love, contentment or inner peace.

In fact, many of the childhood celebrities that were thrust in the public eye while their minds and spirits were still developing have had issues with drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, broken relationships and suicide. As they rise to stardom and are idolized, they are surrounded by lights, cameras and fans and they attract people who just want them for what they can get. Then as the beauty, fame and fortune fades and dwindles, they are not accustomed to the loneliness and do not recognize their own reflection. They realize that they were just a product, a novelty for sale and no one ever really knew who they really were as a person. Do they even know who they really are?

This doesn’t just apply to celebrities. The professional sports industry is a very dark industry as well. Fame and fortune arrives with a hefty price-tag. Very few can handle the pressures that come along with it. It’s just like the old saying, “All that glitters ain’t gold!”

Parents, before you thrust your child into the entertainment industry, please think about the cost that comes along with it. What is your child’s soul worth? What is your soul worth? Scripture made it clear as it pertains to thrusting a child into darkness, sin and idolatry.

“But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” Matthew 18:6


© Copyrights, All rights reserved


Have a blessed weekend!

Katrina Green
President
Butterfly Ministries, Inc.

Take a Stand. Spread the Word. Save the Butterflies ♥


"It is the mission of Butterfly Ministries, Inc. to empower and inspire positive transformation in girls and young women by encouraging them to take a stand against gender exploitation and to give rise to a historic revolution."

COMING SOON! Join the Butterfly Movement!

Launching Fall 2010!

"Strength and honor was her clothing" Proverbs 31:25

Pretty ain't so Pretty!

I often wonder why girls and young women go through life focusing so much on exterior beauty ignoring their inner beauty. They look in the mirror thinking, “I wish I was prettier.”

I have never been a girl with stunning beauty nor have I been a plain Jane. I have just been pretty. In fact every challenge I have come against, people have said, “Well at least you are pretty” as though pretty got me privilege. I realized that focusing primarily on surface level is pointless. It is deceitful, creates false expectations and upsets priorities.

There is a dark side to pretty.

As a little girl, pretty got me preference but preference isn’t so precious when you are preferred by predators. Gazing at you, hovering around you like a vulture waiting to seize the perfect opportunity to devour you. Pretty made me prey.

As a pre-teen pretty came along with harassment and threats. If I spoke to a boy, girls would threaten me and call me all sorts of vulgarities even though they were unmerited. Pretty took my pure intentions of friendship and turned them into paranoia. Pretty made me prisoner.

When I gave up the only thing I ever had that made me feel of great value to a boy that told me he loved me and called me pretty, as soon as I told him I was pregnant, he found someone prettier. Pretty didn’t keep him around. The priceless gift that I gave was pitched in the trash never to be seen again. Pretty wasn’t so priceless.

As an adult, if I got a promotion, people assumed it was because I was pretty; not because I gave 110%, not because if they asked for eight hours, I gave ten; not because I worked with good cheer and an attitude of gratitude. No, it was because I was pretty. Pretty got me prejudice.

As a single mom looking for a complete family, a husband to call my own and a father figure for my children; pretty attracted those who wanted a taste of pretty. To get what they wanted but as soon as they seen that pretty came with a package of three kids, Pretty was too much pressure.

Pretty has made me too plain for the polished and too polished for the plain. I never feel welcomed by either, no matter how hard I tried to blend in, I felt like a pretender.

So before you prefer pretty, remember that pretty brings a whole lot of problems!


“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Proverbs 31:30


“Let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.” 1 Peter 3-4

© Copyrights – All rights reserved

Katrina Green
President
Butterfly Ministries, Inc.

Take a Stand. Spread the Word. Save the Butterflies ♥


"It is the mission of Butterfly Ministries, Inc. to empower and inspire positive transformation in girls and young women by encouraging them to take a stand against gender exploitation and to give rise to a historic revolution."

COMING SOON! Join the Butterfly Movement!

Launching Fall 2010!

"Strength and honor was her clothing" Proverbs 31:25