Begin with 2 minutes of silence and stillness before God.

I love the fact that God is never limited by what we have in our hands. A couple of years ago, it was coming up on the one-year anniversary of losing my 14-year-old son. I was searching for a specific way to honor his memory, and I wanted it to be something special that would ensure his memory would live on. Through a series of events, I had begun to reflect on the fact that butterflies would be a constant reminder of him for me. After prayerfully considering how I could honor his memory and make some sort of a spiritual impact, I decided to paint wooden butterflies to share with mothers grieving the loss of children. Along with the wooden butterfly, I would share my testimony of how God sustained me through such a difficult time as this. I had a few wooden butterflies on hand and a few colors of paint. I had no real plan or budget to carry this out, but God gave me the vision to reach out to grieving mothers internationally.

The next day, I shared the vision with my House Church, and after posting a message on a grieving mothers’ group on Facebook, I already had almost 50 requests in a single day’s time. Where would I get the butterflies, supplies, envelopes, and postage? Within a week, I had well over 100 requests for butterflies and a wonderful House Church that adopted my ministry and helped me get it going by painting, paying postage, stuffing envelopes… pretty much whatever was needed.
Fast forward now to two years later, and we have mailed out over 500 wooden butterflies to every state in the United States and 16 different countries. The messages from those mothers grieving their losses have been amazing and have encouraged me to continue to carry out this ministry. God has met every need so that this ministry could be sustained.

All of this came from a grieving mother with a wooden butterfly and a desire to tell others about a gracious God that gives peace in the midst of tragedy.

In this 6th Chapter of John, we talk about the wonderful story of the young boy that had five barley loaves and two fish. Jesus was traveling and had a very large following of people who He wanted to feed. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish and began to feed the 5,000. He then directed the disciples to gather up the leftovers so that nothing would be lost. Twelve baskets were filled with what was left. The people in the crowd declared, “Surely, this is the Prophet who has come into the world!”

Five loaves and two fish, a slingshot and a stone, a little paint and a wooden butterfly? What do you have in your hands for Him to use today?

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

• Prayer: Dear God, the Bible is filled with stories of Your miracle power as You were traveling about and teaching. God, as we look around us, we can see those miracles that you continue to carry out right before our eyes today. Lord, never let us miss an opportunity to see all of the wonderful things You have done for us and most of all to share those miracles with others that need to hear us testify of Your goodness. You are a good, good Father and we love You so much! Amen.

Family Application: John 6

By: Carrington Stuart

Today, we’re reading a story from the book of John that involves a miracle! Just like last week, we’ll be talking about something amazing that God did - it was a miracle!
One day, Jesus and His disciples were on a trip and decided to stop and rest on the side of a mountain. All of a sudden, they looked up and realized that a lot of people were following them! They wanted to hear Jesus teach because He’s the best teacher ever!

The disciples were worried that the people would get hungry while they listened to Jesus teach, so they went to find food for them. But there were so many people, they didn’t know if they would have enough money to buy food for all of them! Then, a young boy offered to share his lunch with the disciples. He only had five loaves of bread and two fish, but he gave what he had to Jesus and the disciples. Jesus was so glad that the boy was willing to share!

What happened next was a miracle- something only God could do! Jesus thanked God for the food and began to hand it out to the people. Even though the disciples didn’t think there would be enough, the food never ran out! Everybody got to eat something, and there were FIVE THOUSAND people there! The disciples even had extra food to save for later! When the disciples and the rest of the people saw what Jesus had done, they were so grateful! They believed in Jesus and said, “He is sent from God!” The people had faith in Jesus and trusted Him.

• What is something amazing that Jesus has done in your life? Has He given you good friends? Brothers and sisters that you love? A family to take care of you? How can you tell Jesus “Thank you for what you’ve given me?” How can you trust Jesus to take care of you?
• Prayer: God, thank You so much for everything that You’ve done for me. I’m so grateful for all of my blessings and for Jesus, who came to save us and teach us more about You! I have so many things to thank You for, and I know that You love me so much. Help me to remember that You will always take care of me, no matter what! We love You, God. In Jesus’ name, Amen.