Confessions of a frog/princess/prince?... a perspective:

 Ever feel like you're caught in the awkward, gangly, nothing-seems-'normal' stage of life?

Maybe you just got a grip on how to be a toddler, and suddenly you have to navigate the school yard.  Maybe you just figured out how to be a care free child, and then puberty hit.

Lets all just admit that puberty/teen years/highschool are probably the biggest gauntlet of awkwardness for all of us to navigate.

Then you're supposed to be an 'adult'.

Good luck with that too.

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And as I read this book on Tadpoles and Frogs to our little guy, I'm reminded again: we all are in these wild stages of metamorphosis from the moment we are born, to the moment we die.

Don't sweat trying to be a princess, or a prince... embrace the wonder all around you - all of us, awkwardly growing through various stages.

All of us needing grace, needing kindness, needing encouragement from one another.

The pond is far too big, for us to be so consumed with our own tiny lily pad.

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Or, as the prolific writer/pastor John Piper shared so beautifully in his Letter to an Incomplete, Insecure Teenager (worth the full read!):

 "...God is good. He has his plan and it is not to make this metamorphosis easy. Just certain. There are a thousand lessons to be learned in the process. Nothing is wasted. Life is not on hold waiting for the great coming-out. That's what larvae do in the cocoon. But frogs are public all the way though the foolishness of change.

I think the key for me was finding help in the Apostle Paul and C. S. Lewis and my father, all of whom seemed incredibly healthy, precisely because they were so absolutely amazed at everything but themselves.

They showed me that the highest mental health is not liking myself but being joyfully interested in everything but myself. They were the type of people who were so amazed that people had noses—not strange noses, just noses—that walking down any busy street was like a trip to the zoo. O yes, they themselves had noses, but they couldn’t see their own. And why would they want to? Look at all these noses they are free to look at! Amazing..."

(an excerpt).

Yep, here's our wonder-fully unique noses everybody.

Have a beautiful day revelling in your pond today, no matter how awkward you may think you look trying to swim.  Trust me, you are a wonder!

Mel ;o)