The Butterfly Gift

The Butterfly Gift

June 2016

As far back as I can remember my dad has always loved butterflies. When I was following my own plans for my life and not the Lord’s, my dad occasionally gave me a ‘butterfly suncatcher’ gift.

I believe one of the main reasons my dad loves butterflies so much is the Christian metamorphosis process which he shared with me in the past. Here is a link to learn more about this process  http://loyal2him.com/foundations/butterfly.htm

I believe my dad was giving me butterfly suncatchers to remind me about this process.

Once I discovered (THE LONG AND HARD WAY) that my own plans always ended up a complete disaster I decided to invite Jesus into my life, and then those suncatcher gifts became pretty special to me.

These are the suncatcher butterfly gifts from my dad. Since my dad has recently become very sick with an inoperable brain tumour and only months to live, these have become even more precious to me. I have had these suncatchers for decades. I have even lost 3 out of the 4 pieces of glass in the large butterfly suncatcher, but I continue to treasure it. 

This Father's Day I bought my dad a large glass butterfly ornament to hang outside so he could admire it from his wheelchair when he sits outside on the deck

Dad’s butterfly collection

 I have a young friend I like to call my Sunday daughter.

We became friends at church and she used to sit with me, hence the name.

We connected on some level and have been friends ever since despite the fact that she has since moved away. 

Pictures of us hanging out at church functions

I was dressed as a Sesame Street character called a Yip-Yip

She didn’t know it was me inside

 She discovers it’s me underneath. Look at that adorable toothless smile. J

Sweet hugs!

A video of Justin and I as the Yip-Yips

This was the day of my baptism

We were spinning

I had to publicly share my testimony. Public speaking was pretty intimidating for me. I remember telling her I was scared and asking her if she wanted to stand beside me as I stood up and shared my story. She was pretty surprised to hear that even someone like me (so old) can still get scared sometimes. She was happy to stay by my side.

 Getting baptized was a huge step of obedience for me as I was in the middle of the process of overcoming Agoraphobia and severe panic attacks. God placed this sweet little girl into my life to help me through it. Isn’t she adorable?

 We had a play date and hung out one night. We had so much fun together. 

This was 2 years ago.

 This June 2016 we had the opportunity to have another play date

She gave me a very special gift. It’s a glass butterfly jewelry holder

Inside were two bracelets. 

On the pendant are the words, “my other half.”

 I didn’t understand the significance of this gift until days later when God began revealing it to me. Once I fully understood, it brought me tears of joy. God reminded me about those suncatcher gifts my dad gave me. He reminded me why my dad loves butterflies. He showed me how far I have come along in my faith and battle with fear. He revealed to me that although my dad can no longer bring me butterfly gifts, He, my heavenly Father, can. He had Sadie, my Sunday daughter, act as his messenger who brought me a butterfly gift. She had no idea I loved butterflies or the meaning behind them.

I had to share this with her mom and let her know how God used her daughter to bless me with her butterfly gift. When her mom told her how God used her, her mouth dropped open, a huge smile crossed her face and she said, “I feel happy. I’m grateful that God used me. I didn’t even know that about butterflies. I tried trading the butterfly one with a heart one but Sierra said no, but God knew that’s why.” 

This one simple butterfly gift has since blessed me, Sadie, her family and now all who read this. 

God is a good God! 

Message from God on Suicide

I was driving down the road on my way to visit my mom when I felt that familiar Holy Spirit nudge. I had just driven past a young lady who was walking down the street. She wore a dark hat and had ear buds in her ears. I was sensing that she was contemplating suicide. I kept driving, thinking it's just my overactive imagination. After about 2-3 blocks the nudge became much stronger. I pulled over and said, "OK God, I'm sensing you want me to go talk to that girl. I feel like a fool, but I'm willing to be a fool for you." I turned around and as I was driving back I said, "OK God, if this is you she will still be walking down the same street." Sure enough she was. I felt like God wanted me to tell her, "Don't do it!" and "He loves her." 

I rolled down my window and pulled up beside her. She pulled her ear bud out of her ear. 
(I don't remember the exact conversation word for word, but I will do my best.)

"This might sound strange, but I was wondering if you believe in God?" I asked.
"Actually, I'm an atheist." she replied.
"I feel like God wants me to tell you something. Sometimes this happens to me and I have to do what He tells me to do." I explained.
"What is it?" she asked.
"He wants me to tell you --Don't do it!!" 
(She dropped the leaf she had been carrying in her hand and held her hand over her mouth. Her eyes filled up with tears. There was a long pause as she collected herself.)
"That is profound actually." she uttered. "Can you keep a secret?"
"Yes I can." I replied (which is why she will remain anonymous).
"I have been considering suicide." she explained. 
"Don't do it!! God loves you!! Don't do it!!" I repeated.

I asked her if she wanted to talk. She said no she had to go. As I drove away I felt like I needed to give her some sort of contact information. I pulled over and waited. I wrote the name of my church and the time and day I attend on a piece of paper. I also wrote, "Don't do it!" Once she caught up to my van I pulled up to her and gave her the piece of paper explaining what it was for. I also told her I had the perfect book that I wanted to give to her. I told her it was a book for teens on teen suicide. I told her I was on my way to see my mom, but I had to return home because I had forgotten my cell phone so I could grab the book when I pick up my cell phone and come right back. She said she would walk slowly. I raced home and grabbed my phone and the book. When I returned with my booklet in hand she was sitting at the corner of the street. I walked over to her, wrote my contact information on the inside cover and handed her the book. We said our goodbyes and I returned to my van. 

As I was driving to my mom's place, I kept praising and thanking God for using me to help her. I thanked the Holy Spirit for nudging me. I thanked the Holy Spirit for making me sensitive to His nudges. I thanked Him for His persistence when I was trying to write it off as nothing and go about my own business instead of His. My adrenaline was pumping. I was feeling energized and excited. I prayed for that young lady for the remainder of my drive. 

What if I had ignored those nudges? What if I decided it was too awkward and kept on driving? What if I decided I was too busy or thought I was just imaging the whole thing? Because of my willingness to be obedient, regardless of how I felt, that young lady's day has been dramatically impacted. She is not going to forget this. 

Being used by God to reach out to others who are hurting is the most amazing, exhilarating feeling. You don't have to have any special talent or ability to be used by God. All you need is a willing Spirit and a listening heart. There is no pressure, you're just the messenger. God is constantly looking for people who are willing to make themselves available. 

*The name of the book I gave her is called, "Suicide, helping you and your friends live - special teen edition of "Why They Die" by Jerry Johnston with Don Simmonds. If you would like to purchase copies of this booklet please click this link: Suicide - Helping you and your friends to live - Teen Edition

Guardian Angels

I believe in guardian angels. I also believe that God uses people and/or animals to help us. And why not? God sent the ravens to feed Elijah while he was hiding east of the Jordan. Twice a day they brought him food. You can read more about that in 1 Kings 17. God also used a dove to help Noah find dry ground after the flood. That can be found in Genesis 8.

Have you ever experienced an encounter you can't quite explain? Have you ever experienced a "close call?" If so I would love to hear about it. God may have saved your life on more than one occasion and you don't even know it.

I can remember one occasion that I couldn't explain. I was driving my old beater of a car home after visiting a friend who lived about 30 km outside of the city. It was late at night and I was on a stretch of road that was not frequently traveled.

Suddenly, my headlights went out, it was my relays. The darkness enveloped me as I pulled over on the side of the road. There were no street lights and the moon wasn't out to provide even a little bit of light. I sat there wondering what to do. This was before cell phones were common so I had no way to contact anyone. I thought about walking, but it was a long distance both ways.

Moments later I noticed I could clearly see the road ahead. There was light shining on it. I leaned forward against my steering wheel to find the source of the light. I gazed into the night sky expecting to see the moon, but instead I saw a bright light hovering about 30 feet above my car. It was like someone was shining a large flashlight down from the sky, lighting up a section of the road ahead.

I started to drive, thinking whatever it was, I would drive through the lit up section of the road and end up in the darkness once again. As I slowly drove the light above me seemed to move with me, always lighting up the section of road I was on. This light remained with me until I reached the city limits where the street lights took over, and as quickly and mysteriously as the light had appeared, it vanished. It's something I will never forget.

Adam Walker is a British open-water swimmer. In his sixth of seven long-distance swims for the Oceans Seven, he swam 16 miles of New Zealand's Cook Strait. It's the strait between the North and South Islands of New Zealand. Oceans Seven is seven long-distance swims and has only been completed by four people. About half way through his 16 mile swim Adam saw a great white shark below him. To say this concerned him would be an understatement.

The next thing he knew, a pod of about 10 dolphins showed up and surrounded him, forming a wall of protection around him. They continued to swim with him for an hour. At this point in time the shark finally left and Adam was no longer in danger. The pod of dolphins bid farewell and went on their way. I think it's interesting to know that Adam had also been raising funds for a nonprofit group focused on whale and dolphin conservation.

I think this is an excellent example of God using animals to protect a human. This pod of dolphins acted as Adam's guardian angels when they formed a wall of protection around him. Part of this swim was captured on video and posted on YouTube. As I write this blog post there has been over 4 million views. Here is the link:
Dolphins Protect Swimmer

Will You Outwit--Outlast--Outplay?

If you're a Survivor fan you will understand my title. Today I want to talk about Stuffles, the honey badger. I believe we can often learn valuable life lessons by observing God's creatures. Even Solomon and Jesus told us to observe them.

Matthew 6:26 (NLT)

Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are?

Proverbs 6:6-11 (NLT)

Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones.

    Learn from their ways and become wise!

7 

Though they have no prince

    or governor or ruler to make them work,

8 

they labor hard all summer,

    gathering food for the winter.

9 

But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep?

    When will you wake up?

10 

A little extra sleep, a little more slumber,

    a little folding of the hands to rest—

11 

then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit;

    scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.

Before you read on, please stop and watch Stuffles in action!

http://blog.petflow.com/truly-astonishing-i-had-no-idea-they-were-this-smart-must-see/

It was very entertaining and quite comical to watch Stuffles continuously outwit his zookeeper. He reminds me of my clever little ferrets. I'm a ferret lover and, like Stuffles, they love to problem solve. Mind you, if one of my ferrets started turning my bedroom doorknob in the middle of the night my son would have to peel my fingernails out of the ceiling. 

Now watch how my ferret Geist overcomes his "obstacle!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LjaEKQmfLs&list=UUdWrhwluT4pdQqNPUKvQKfw&feature=share&index=9

Aside from being very amused by Stuffles' clever antics, I was inspired by his tenacity. Whatever "obstacle" stood in the way of his freedom, he never gave up, and I mean NEVER!

The devil has all sorts of "obstacles" in his bag-of-tricks to try and keep us from enjoying the freedom Jesus died to give us. Often he succeeds with these "obstacles" which distract us and steal our joy. Thankfully, Jesus has given us everything we need to outwit -- outlast -- and -- outplay the devil. 

Luke 10:19 (Amplified)

Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and [physical and mental strength and ability] over all the power that the enemy [possesses]; and nothing shall in any way harm you.

The serpents and scorpions mentioned in the above scripture are Satan and his demons. Isn't that great news? Knowledge is good but, like Stuffles, we also need tenacity because even though we may outwit the devil once or twice he will always try again. It might even feel like you are in your own version of Alcatraz. This is where that Never Give Up attitude needs to kick in. 

Watching Stuffles really ministered to me at a time when I'm facing my own "obstacles." Recently one of my ferret fur babies passed away in my arms. I take the loss of a fur family member pretty hard. Shortly after that I was laid off at my work and I have property taxes and income taxes coming due as well. Being a single mom with no savings to fall back on, this has been a time of leaning on and trusting God to provide more than ever. I wanted to share this with you because I want to be able to look back at this at a later time and see how God provided, because He always does. 

Right now sadness, unemployment and worry are my "obstacles." 

What are your "obstacles?" 

Will you OUTWIT -- OUTLAST -- and -- OUTPLAY the enemy?

Nikki's Story

I want to introduce you to Nikki and tell you his true story. Nikki is a green and yellow parakeet who has led quite an adventurous life. He was chilling with the sparrows, going wherever they went, doing whatever they did, eating whatever they ate. He was an independent parakeet. He was taking care of himself. He didn't know that his life was in danger from predators every single day. He didn't know that winter was soon to come and if he remained with the sparrows he would soon be dead. 

One day he was enticed by some millet inside the safety of a cage. On that day he had a choice, continue eating what the sparrows were eating or try the millet. He chose the millet. He entered the cage, tried the millet and discovered that it was good, so good, in fact, that he no longer desired the food the sparrows ate.

He got to know the person who provided this millet and discovered that because he chose to eat the millet she had saved his life. Over time and much more millet he got to know her better and now she has become his best friend.

Answer Key

• The sparrows symbolize unbelievers and going along with the crowd.
• The sparrow food is whatever the world calls fun (drinking, drugs, parties, the bar scene, pornography, promiscuity, etc.) .
• Winter symbolizes the end times and the return of Jesus.
• The millet symbolizes God' word (the Bible)
• The safe cage symbolizes the church.
• The best friend symbolizes Jesus. 

STOP!!

Before reading on, please do me a favor; after reading through the answer key, go back up to the beginning and re-read Nikki's story. Then return here to continue reading. 

This is the true story of a parakeet that hung around my back yard bird feeder with the sparrows for most of this past summer. In the fall I was finally able to capture him and not a moment too soon. He would have surely died in the cold outdoors. My son wanted to name him Nikki which is short for Nicholas Cage since he's in a cage, I know, funny guy. 

Please don't misunderstand the cage symbolizing the church, I'm not saying the church is a cage, I'm referring to the cage as a place where you can feel safe. If you find a church where it's members are actively operating in the gifts of the Holy Spirit you will feel welcome, loved and safe. 

I hope you enjoyed my analogy and God bless you richly.