The Caterpillar and the Curtsy | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: The Caterpillar and the Curtsy | Previous Challenge Entry
By Karen McCabe
05/17/11
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Of all the characters in Alice in Wonderland, they had to pick her to be the caterpillar. She was a pretty girl, a bit over-sized and, like most 13-year-olds, very self-conscious. She dreaded doing the play in front of her entire student body; she was sure she would be laughed at, ridiculed and humiliated. She couldn’t even hide behind the costume since her whole face was exposed and left no doubt of her identity.

But she was also very talented. She shined when she sang at church, school or other places, often being asked to do solos for various functions. She played the clarinet in the marching band and she showed much promise with her acting abilities.

She was just learning about God’s love for her. Although she had been a Christian for some time, still she was not quite sure where she stood with Him. She asked her closest friends and relatives to pray for her because she did know that He was her only hope to come out of this program with any amount of dignity intact.

She wanted nothing more than to drop out of the play and run and hide.

Sometimes God puts us in extremely uncomfortable situations to show us who we are and what stuff we are made of. Of course, He already knows; it’s we that need to see ourselves for who we are. These tests reveal whether we put our faith and trust in ourselves and our talents and abilities or if we put our belief in the fact that without God, we really are nothing at all.

By the time the play began, she was so nervous she was in tears. Oh, how she wanted to run away. But something inside her told her to hang in there.

When she did go onstage, all she could hear were giggles, snickers and even some heckling. The thought raced through her very being, “My life is over; I’ll never be able to hold my head up again! I’m ruined.”

But God was in her. She dropped out and God kicked in. She felt in her spirit He had put her there for a reason. So she allowed Him the freedom to take over in her.

She looked straight out at the audience, scraped up her emotional nerve, and curtsied (as best as a caterpillar can curtsy.)

In that simple whim-of-an-action, she heard a wave of laughter from the audience and could sense their delight. Her confidence began to beam. She fell into her part, radiating not self-consciousness but God-confidence. By the time she was done, she had won the hearts of the entire audience.

At the end of the performance, when all the participants came out for the final bow, she received a standing ovation.

She knew in her heart that what God had done that day by helping her hit her fear head-on would impact her life and help build her trust in Him. God gave her an indescribable victory. And she knew she was loved.

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