so what’s the BEE-ig deal?

I remember as a child being told that if a butterfly landed on something it meant you’d get a new one of whatever it landed on—on your shirt, you get a new shirt. So for years I have been drawn to the butterfly as a symbol of newness or a chance for a do-over. I was intrigued that what was once a worm crawling around with limited access to life’s offerings could withdraw and hide for a period of time and emerge a transformed creature that could sail to new heights and never have to depend on inching along again. I aspired to be the butterfly—beautiful and carefree—but mostly felt like the caterpillar—lowly and heavy-laden. In the effort to focus on “calling things that were not as though they were”—I began using the butterfly as my symbol—an icon if you will. I arranged 4 P’s (that stood for Pray, Praise, Prepare, Prevent) in a manner that created the wings of my butterfly and put it on my personal stationery and calendar items for my planner. This logo became part of my mantra that served to remind me that I could become a new creation and just needed to remember to “pray for guidance,” “praise for the blessings,” “prepare for the future,” and “prevent a relapse.”

At some point in time my girls became aware of my preoccupation with butterflies and we had a conversation about the butterfly being my “symbol” and, consequently, they each wanted a “bug” to be their symbol. As a result, Brittany chose a Bumblebee and Kaitlyn, she chose a Ladybug. Here we are years later and the symbols have been retained. One way is that we all three carry a Brighton key ring that has all three on it—butterfly, bumblebee, and ladybug. And in the joint name for our photography hobby—LadyButterBee—we have a name created by combining a part of all three words into one. With the recent news of the “Queen B’s” pregnancy—it is only fitting that I refer to the baby as my “GrandBee.”

And this, my friends, I have done On Purpose!