The little boy began thinking about all he see on the back of the caterpillar his mom had told him he would get to ride. Would the caterpillar be a giant caterpillar - after all, it would have to be since his mom said he could ride on it! How big would this caterpillar be? Would he get to feed it as well as ride on it? How fast could the caterpillar go? How far could he ride the caterpillar? How fast could a giant caterpillar move? Do giant caterpillars move quickly or slowly like little caterpillars? He wondered what kind of butterfly the caterpillar would turn in to one day. He hoped it wouldn't go into a cocoon just yet because he wanted to ride on the caterpillar, but then he started to think of how cool it would be if he could ride on the butterfly the caterpillar would turn into after it became a butterfly.
As he was thinking about all the great adventures he could have riding on the caterpillar they arrived at his uncles house. He couldn't wait to get out of the car and see the caterpillar he was promised to ride on. After greeting his uncle he anxiously asked where the caterpillar he could ride was kept. He could hardly wait to ride on the caterpillar. His uncle said it was around back. With pure excitement he took off running to see his promise. When he got around back he stopped in his tracks. With a look of disappointment he asked his uncle, who was making his way around back to catch up to the little boy, "Where is the giant caterpillar?" When his uncle pointed in the direction of a machine the little boy realized the giant caterpillar wasn't anything he had dreamt it to be. He had imagined a giant caterpillar that would one day become a butterfly, but before him was a machine - a big dirty metal machine. What the little boy didn't realize is the promise his mom gave him of being able to ride on the caterpillar was actually his uncle's Caterpillar tractor. Here he was standing right in front of his promise, but didn't see it because he had imagined something totally different.
His mom kept her promise because that boy was allowed to ride on his uncle's caterpillar. Although initially disappointed he realized how cool it was to ride on this Caterpillar tractor - even if it wasn't the same caterpillar he was thinking of when he was given the promise.
This story was based loosely on a true story from a friend's real life adventures. It got me thinking about how the promises God has given me and how I turn them into something they aren't supposed to be turned in to, but should just be the promise as it was given. Sure it's fun to dream, but at the end of the day the promise is simple and I don't know if the caterpillar is one that will turn into a butterfly or a tractor... both of which would be super awesome to ride as a seven year old little boy!
