All creatures great and small

Ta-da! The major part of my blog overhaul is done! What do you think!? I'm pretty excited. And now that it is done, hopefully I can get back to pretty regular posting. :)

I figure for the most part my new title and tag-line are self-explanatory, but I thought I'd give a little more background, and give some credit where credit is due.

The whole buffalo/butterfly concept has been with us for a couple of years now. It originally came from the 'woman' book out of a pair of marriage books Greg and I were reading by Gary Smalley. Here is an excerpt from For Better or For Best, by Gary Smalley. He was talking about all the differences between men and women:

The best example I can think of to illustrate these differences is to compare the butterfly with the buffalo. The butterfly has a keen sensitivity. It is sensitive even to the slightest breeze. It flutters above the ground where it can get a panoramic awareness of its surroundings. It notices the beauty of even the tiniest of flowers. Because of its sensitivity, it is constantly aware of all of the changes going on around it and is able to react to the slightest variation in its environment....

The buffalo is another story. It is rough and calloused. It doesn't react to a breeze. It's not even affected by a thirty-mile-an-hour wind. It just goes right on doing whatever it was doing. It's not aware of the smallest of flowers, nor does it appear to be sensitive to slight changes in its environment... The buffalo isn't 'rotten to the core' just because he goes around stepping on pretty flowers. In fact, the buffalo's toughness is a tremendous asset. His strength, when harnessed, can pull a plow that four grown men can't pull.

We immediately loved the idea, and it has stuck with us ever since, and in some ways we've even taken the analogy further. It's been really helpful as one son started being less of a baby and more of a, well...buffalo, to teach him how to be gentle with the women in his life. Dale knows that Mama is a butterfly. :) And once another baby buffalo came along, it's been nice to know that in a house full of maleness, the delicate sensitivity of a woman can be appreciated and respected. :)

Now that you know our creature counterparts, what best describes those in your house? Let us all know in the comments section, and the best one will win...uh...a big virtual smooch from me. :) Because I don't know how those big-time blog sites are doing all that freebie stuff. :)