Month: July 2025

Tales of Truth: Holly’s Story – Part 1

On By JCIn Miscellaneous, Wounded Butterflies BlogLeave a comment

Last week, I shared a true story with you about a young girl named Gem. Today, I am sharing the true story of Holly, Gem’s mother.

Holly grew up very poor. Her father had an affair and then ran away with her mom’s best friend when she and her siblings were young. Holly’s mom was working long hours and several jobs to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. Holly, being the oldest child, became the parent to her siblings, doing the cooking, the cleaning, the laundry and so on. While Holly did what needed to be done, she dreamed of having her own family and house with a loving husband who would never abandon her.

When Holly was in high school, she met the man of her dreams. They got married as soon as they graduated and started a family together. Within seven years, Holly and her husband had five children, Gem was the fifth and final. When Gem was 4 weeks old, her father ran away with a high school cheerleader.

Just like her father had left her mom, Holly’s husband abandoned her and the children. All of the pain that Holly’s mom went through was now hers to bear.

As she was growing up, Gem was sick a lot, in and out of the hospital for various illnesses. Her father was not in her life, she wondered if he even knew Gem’s name, let alone cared about how sick she was. One July day Gem complained of a headache to Holly, her mother did not think too much of it. After all, it seemed Gem was usually sick with some illness or another.

Holly did not have time to take Gem to the doctor, she was working long hours and several jobs to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. Besides, Gem’s older siblings would be home and could keep an eye on her. After a hasty call to the family doctor, he told Holly to give Gem an over-the-counter pain reliever to bring down the fever and take away the pain from the headache. That is what Holly did.

Out of nowhere, Gem’s fever went up to 103 and then 104 and kept climbing. At the hospital, Holly watched through the glass as the nurses plunged Gem into an ice bath to bring down the fever. Holly began to think this illness was different.

One of the nurses yelled, “We are losing her!” Holly was shuffled to a waiting room as the medical team worked on Gem. As she sat there alone, Holly could not grasp what was happening. She felt helpless as she wondered if her youngest child was going to live or die.

Holly did not attend church, she was too busy for that and she did not believe in prayer. In her desperation to do to something to help Gem, Holly called her Gramma. She did go to church and her Gramma did believe in prayer. Gramma then called church members and the word spread that immediate prayer was needed for Gem as things were looking grim.

Holly thought that even if Gramma praying did not help, it certainly could not hurt. . . .

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, thank You for every breath we take. Thank You that You fill our lungs with air and give our hearts the strength to pump our blood throughout our body. Thank You for medical teams and for healing. Thank You for Your peace and love. Help us to share You with everyone we meet. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, Amen.

Tales of Truth: Gem’s Story – Part 2

On By JCIn Miscellaneous, Wounded Butterflies BlogLeave a comment

This is part two of a true story about a young girl named Gem.

Laying on the ground and looking up the clouds was Gem’s favorite thing to do. She would pretend she was a bird and could just fly away. Gem was sick a lot, in and out of the hospital for various illnesses. She was never as sick as that one day in July.

Gem heard one of the nurses yell, “We are losing her!” The bright lights over the table were blinding, they burned Gem’s eyes. Those lights were the last thing Gem saw. All the chaos and the yelling and the pain was gone. The burning bright lights gave way to a different kind of light. This light was all around Gem, everywhere. It was soft and bright at the same time, but it did not hurt her eyes. The light was so comforting and full of peace. While Gem cannot explain it, the light was love. She wanted to be in the light, it was like an incredible hug. The light made her feel free and at perfect peace.

Suddenly, the light was shrinking as if it was going into a tunnel, it was leaving! Gem tried to grab the light and hold onto it. She tried to run towards the light but something was holding her back. Gem wanted nothing more than to stay in that light. She wanted to follow it and become a part of its love, peace and beauty. As the light got farther and farther away, Gem started to hear the sounds of chaos – machines buzzing, nurses yelling, and maybe there was someone crying. She did not care, Gem wanted to feel that light again. Why was it leaving and taking its peace and love away from her. Gem felt sad that she was not strong enough to fly away and follow the light.

When Gem awoke, it was two weeks later. She was laying in a hospital room with the television on. A family member she loved was there and began to talk gently with her about what happened. Gem did not want to hear any of it, she was very hungry and asked for a cheeseburger from the fast food place in the hospital that she knew was there from all of her other hospital stays. Most of Gem’s medical equipment had been removed by this point and only two pieces that could be rolled around were left. The family member put Gem in a wheelchair and wheeled her to the fast food place.

After Gem ate her cheeseburger, they returned to her hospital room to discover a horrified group of nurses. The family member was asked what they were thinking and at the same time Gem was being asked how she felt. Gem felt fine, but she wanted that light back. As the nurses checked Gem over, she closed her eyes to try to find that beautiful light again. She wanted the calm it gave her. She wanted to feel the love she felt coming from that light. How did that make sense, it was a light – but it was love and brought peace somehow. Despite all of her attempts, Gem has yet to see that light again.

Gem was told that she died on the table and was gone for some time. As the medical team was working on her body, Gem’s spirit ascended like a bird toward heaven. But it was not Gem’s time, she had more life to live, it was too soon. God breathed the breath of life back into her lungs and she gasped her way back into the chaos, the yelling, and the arms of her loved ones. But things were different.

Later on, Gem came to know Jesus as her Lord and Savior. She felt that same inexplicable peace and love. As Gem began to read the Bible, she understood that Jesus is the light of the world. Gem now carried that peace and love and calm inside of her everywhere she went. Gem realized that with Jesus in her heart, she IS the light. The light was now hers to share with as many people as possible.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, thank You for every breath we take. Thank You that You fill our lungs with air and give our hearts the strength to pump our blood throughout our body. Thank You for Your light and for healing. Thank You for Your peace and love. Help us to share You with everyone we meet. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

Tales of Truth: Gem’s Story – Part 1

On By JCIn Miscellaneous, Wounded Butterflies BlogLeave a comment

I am about to share a true story with you about a young girl named Gem.

Laying on the ground and looking up the clouds was Gem’s favorite thing to do. She would pretend she was a bird and could just fly away. Gem was sick a lot, in and out of the hospital for various illnesses. She was never as sick as that one day in July.

Gem complained of a headache, which was not one of the symptoms she usually had from the other illnesses. Then came a high fever, a very high fever. The family doctor was called and thought it was a typical virus that Gem had picked up. She did, after all, have a weakened immune system. The doctor said to take an over-the-counter pain reliever to help bring down the fever and relieve the pain from the headache. That is what we did.

Out of nowhere, Gem’s fever went up to 103 and then 104 and kept climbing. A trip was made to the hospital, the same hospital where Gem had been admitted many times for various illnesses. This was different. She tried to focus on being a bird and flying away. The nurses plunged Gem into an ice bath to bring down the fever. Gem was losing consciousness, it is hard to know if that was because of the pain, the fever, the stress on her body or the shock of the ice.

One of the nurses yelled, “We are losing her!” as they tried to fight whatever illness was ravaging her frail body. Gem was placed on a high table so it was easier for the medical team to work on her. There were tubes, cuffs, and machines hooked up to Gem very quickly to assess her organs and take over her breathing. Everyone was running around and yelling instructions. The bright lights over the table were blinding, they burned Gem’s eyes. Those lights were the last thing Gem saw.

All the chaos and the yelling and the pain was gone. . .

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, thank You for every breath we take. Thank You that You fill our lungs with air and give our hearts the strength to pump blood throughout our body. Thank You for medical teams and for healing. Thank You for Your peace and love. Help us to share You with everyone we meet. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

Storm the Gates of Heaven

On By JCIn Miscellaneous, Wounded Butterflies BlogLeave a comment

You may have heard people say they are going to storm the gates of heaven. This phrase usually means that the person is going to consistently and relentlessly pray about something until the gates of heaven ‘open’ and provide the answer.

While we are commanded to pray without ceasing, (1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Never stop praying.”), we are provided access to boldly approach heaven in prayer through Jesus. Hebrews 4:15 says of Jesus, “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” Hebrews 10:18 says, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.”

Through our belief in Jesus and His death on the cross, there is no need to storm the gates as if it will be a battle to enter. We are provided access to boldly come through Jesus.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, thank You for the blood of Jesus. Thank You for His sacrifice that provides us access to the loving arms of our Father in heaven. Help us to walk by faith and Your Word. Help us to be an example of Your love to everyone we encounter. Lord, help us to grow in You each day. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.