I got the amazing opportunity to study abroad in Peru along with several other students from my school. We spent the majority of the three weeks in Cusco, but we also spent time in Lima, Machu Picchu, and Manu National Park. The idea was to learn the language and the history by being completely immersed in the culture.
Before I left, everyone kept telling me how life-changing the trip would be. And it was, just not in the ways I was expecting.
I assumed there would be a big moment where I would have some grand life-changing revelation. (I tend to have a flair for the dramatic.) But that didn’t happen.
Instead, there were thousands of little moments, and the biggest was the butterflies.
The last big part of the trip was going to Manu National Park in the rainforest. We were going to be “one with nature” for three days.
Three WHOLE days.
In the RAINFOREST.
To say this scenario is out of my comfort zone is an understatement. My idea of being one with nature is laying on the beach. In the sunshine. With a book.
But it was part of the trip, so I didn’t have much of a choice.
The first full day in Manu, we hiked for three hours to a river, and then three hours back in the rain.
I am not a hiker. I try to avoid it at all costs. It takes a very special person to talk me into going hiking. A six-hour hike was a form of torture for me. Again, I didn’t have much of a choice. So, I took it as it came, one step at a time.
Some parts were worse than others. I was already exhausted and worn out, psychically and emotionally, even before we got to Manu. And I really do not like hiking. There’s absolutely no reason why, other than the fact that it is one of the most stressful things in the world for me. Every single time I thought I was going to reach my limit (which was semi-frequently) a butterfly would pop up out of nowhere.
When I needed it most, God would send me a butterfly.
Then, once we got to the river, there were butterflies everywhere.
(I’m slightly obsessed with butterflies, so it was kind of a big deal.)
It wasn’t a big dramatic moment. To everyone else, it wasn’t nearly that significant. For me, it was everything. It was motivation to keep going. It was proof that even though I felt like I was on my own, away from my closest friends and family with no way to contact them, I wasn’t actually alone. God was with me and carrying me the entire time. And He was the only one I needed.
Sometimes, it takes a slap in the face for God to get my attention. But this time, all it took was the whisper of a butterfly.