you flew away Home.
I held you for a moment,
you were only on loan.
Though a world apart,
I wait to unite...
I hold onto your memory
with all of my might.
God's Promises hold true,
His redemption is clear.
Though our time to be together...
seems farther than near.
So I rest in His Word,
His Peace and His Love...
While missing you each day,
He guides me gently from above.
In His arms you rest whole,
your life is complete.
A truth I hold dearly,
so tender... so sweet.
~Written by Heather Bazzocco, mommy... for Payton on her 7th birthday 5~28~10
Love mommy
There's a jokester in every bunch!
Sweet Avery decorating her sisters grave with all the heartfelt mementos she made for her. Though Avery never got to meet her big sister... she knows her... loves her... and misses her presence in her life. I am touched deeply by Avery's heart. She is amazingly giving, empathetic, and tender hearted. I am so proud of her.
When talking with Avery the night before Payton's birthday... Avery said she, "wished we could go out to Payton's grave and release ladybugs and pink balloons" something we have done on past birthdays. They clearly have made such an impression on her little heart, that she wanted to do them again. It made the day special... and the children loved it. Avery Mae (5), Benjamin (19mo), Brody (27mo) and the twins, Braxton and Barrett (8mo) all were a part of celebrating Payton's 7th birthday.
As our time celebrating at Payton's grave came to an end. I glanced up from under her Willow where I was standing and there attached to a branch directly over her grave, was a cocoon. I am not sure if it is a butterfly or a moth cocoon. I tried to search on-line, but was not able to determine what lies inside to 100%. Truthfully that is not what really matters. What matters is what it reminded me of. How we change... how Payton changed. Many have heard of the analogy used of the life of a caterpillar to the life of a human. We exist in this world as living human beings, caterpillars if you will. Then we die (cocoon). Then if we are believers and followers in Christ... we emerge in new, glorious bodies in heaven (butterflies). Well some of us... are just moths. No, just kidding. The whole process, whether a butterfly or a moth... is a miracle. It is amazing! Go out into nature and everywhere you look God has wonderfully orchestrated His story into each living thing. The symbolism of birth, life, and death is everywhere. You cannot escape, you should not disbelieve it, you cannot discount it. And God is so amazing that He gives us the life of a butterfly to learn from. All throughout the Bible, Christ would talk in parables, stories. He would use a story to symbolize a deeper meaning, a greater point. A moral to the story, to teach others...and us today. In the creation of the butterfly, He has given us yet another perfect parable... another symbol... of the cycle of life. Believe in the powers of God to create magnificent new life, to believe the miracle that God transforms caterpillars into butterflies, to believe the miracle that God transforms earthy bodies into heavenly bodies. Like He has done for Payton.
As Christ talked in analogy in Psalm 22:6, Jesus talked about His death and resurrection. Saying, "I am a worm, and no man..." because He would rise again in a glorified body just like the caterpillar who emerges from his "tomb-like chrysalis/cocoon" in the form of a butterfly. Is it any surprise that God would leave us tangible evidence that such a transformation CAN and DOES happen.
Richard Buckminster Fuller wrote, "There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly". This quote is so true. If you were to look at a caterpillar would you ever believe it could and does change into a beautiful, delicate butterfly? But it does! Thank you God for this miracle, this tangible piece of evidence that one form can and does change miraculously into another form.
Such a reminder of how we are changed, and transformed in death is talked about in 1 Corinthians 15: 12-58. (NIV) "35 How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" 36How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body."
There is so little I feel I need to say after these verses. They speak for themselves. So today as I saw the cocoon... I saw it as one of God's redemptive reminders to me... to my family. A reminder that Payton lives on... that she is in her new body. Just like that butterfly or moth will soon be too. In fact we all, through our faith in Christ, can be transformed when it is our time to form our own cocoons.
"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls a butterfly." ~Richard Bach
