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.
Wounded Butterflies 