Butterflies 15

10/13/2026

Good morning this is today’s Word

The Domino Effect

We’ve all seen what happens when someone stands a bunch of dominoes on end, creating a long line in order to knock them all over, and then sets the line in motion. It starts with a tiny nudge of that first piece, and then, one by one, they fall until there are none left standing. This is a good picture of how we can feel when we’re struggling to find hope in our lives. That first falling domino may be a sense of discouragement, a sad memory, or a moment of doubt—anything that weighs our hearts down and clouds our minds with negative thoughts. What can happen next is just like a line of dominoes set in motion—a chain reaction leads to feelings of despair. Once our thinking is headed in a particular direction, it can be hard to make a turnaround. Because God knows this about us, He has provided us with ways to find freedom from the negativity and find hope in Him. When we feel powerless over our domino-like thoughts and feelings, He is the One who can stop the falling and start something new.

When we recognize dark thoughts, the most important thing we can do is say, “Lord, help!” We can acknowledge that He is infinitely greater than our thoughts or feelings, and He is able to guide us toward the light. He invites us to believe in His power to change what we believe is out of our control. “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him to help you do it, and He will” (Psalm 37:5 TLB). This includes renewing our minds.

During the times in our lives when hopelessness threatens to keep us down, let us remember that He offers hope in any moment. He stands ready to stop that domino effect of our struggles anytime we turn to Him. He delights in making room for His joy and peace to rise up in our lives. Even if we barely recognize it today, the more we trust Him, the more we will sense Him bringing light into the darkness—something He has done since the beginning of time.

Lord, help me to turn to You when negative thoughts and feelings bring me down. You are my hope!

“So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the LORD!”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭31‬:‭24‬ ‭NLT‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.31.24.NLT

“Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭37‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.37.5.NLT

So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the LORD!

10/12/2026

Wonderfully Made

One of the first things many of us learned about God when we were children is that we are each uniquely created by Him. And just as no two fingerprints are alike, no two souls are alike; He chose to cover this earth with every human imaginable, knitting us together so intentionally and intricately. However, living in a time when social media rules so many of our interactions, we can easily fall prey to the comparison game. Being a unique creation can be overshadowed by who we’re supposed to be, what we should be doing, how we ought to be acting...you know how it goes.

It’s important when we go through times of grief that we remember our uniqueness and avoid comparison. There are certain ways we’ll feel, and certain things we’ll do that may never happen for someone else— because everyone grieves in their own way, in their own time. Allowing yourself the freedom of that expression is a wonderful form of self-care. Sometimes, you may be surprised by your feelings or actions, and that’s okay. God guides us through each journey differently but offers Himself as a steady anchor for each of us to cling to, no matter what we face. And remembering how deeply He understands us helps when it feels impossible to explain ourselves to yet another person. Of course, it’s a blessing to have caring friends with listening ears, but there are some things we need to reserve for our heart-to-heart times with Him. We can bring every question, every disappointment, every confusing feeling to Him and trust that He will help us sort through all of them. He will cover our entire experience with His love, and we don’t have to feel lost; He will be our shelter for as long as we need. Remember the words of Psalm 139:13– 14: “For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (NIV). He made you one of a kind. This is your journey, and you will walk it in your own way, but you will never be alone.

Lord, what a gift it is to be Your unique creation. Remind me that this is my own journey to walk with You.

10/12/2026

Good morning this is our Word for today

Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.

10/11/2026

Yesterday’s Fruit, Tomorrow’s W**e
One thing I’m certain of is that God loves me. I’ve been through too much in my life and seen how the Father has taken care of me to say that He doesn’t have His hand on me. I can hardly speak about how I’ve seen God move in my life without becoming overwhelmed. I realize that some people don’t feel that way about God. They look at their lives and can see only negativity that forces them to ask, “If God loves me, why does life keep hurting me? Why do I keep losing everything that’s valuable?”

Really? Is what you lost that valuable?

In this season, in this stage of your life, the fruit you’ve held on to has been culled, and you’re desperately trying to stop the bleeding. On the outside, your blessings have been taken from you, and the exterior pangs you feel are accompanied by the inward agony for what you cannot reclaim. But the Master has not placed value where we have. Whereas we long for what has been taken, the Master is overjoyed with what remains. Could it be that the Lord hides next season’s harvest in what we have left?

Your miracle is never in what you lost – it’s in what you have left!

If you’re down to a handful of meal, that’s all you need. If you’re down to two fish and five loaves of bread, that’s all you need! Like the widow in the Old Testament, you can be down to one last jar of oil, but the Lord has created more capacity for you to pour out, improve upon, and increase what you have left. Start looking at what remains and cease grieving over what you lost. After all, if you needed what the Master took from you, do you really believe the Lord would have sought to take it?

For where God is taking you, you don’t need the weight and refuse of yesterday’s bread. The Master has an expected end for your life, and the trip doesn’t require the extra baggage of last season’s blessings. If the Lord, in all His wisdom, took from you what would weigh you down during the next leg of your journey, why would you seek ways to regain it? In pruning you, the Lord is assisting you in circumspectly and precisely tailoring your life down to carry only what you need to get out where He wants you to go, because He knows that the blessing of last season’s harvest can become a trap and graveyard for your future.

Are you willing to leave behind yesterday’s fruit so that you can embrace the w**e of tomorrow’s new season?

I’m writing to those of you who find yourselves awestruck by the damage left behind by a Master who dared to cut you. Though it appears that everything you built has been taken from you, the Lord has strategically left a remnant that will give rise to more fruit next season. It’s the remnant that is most valuable to the Vinedresser, for there is life in what remains.

10/10/2026

Please join us on 10/21 For a Candlelight Vigil for survivors of Domestic Violence @ The Refreshing Place 2500 Nebraska Ave.
We will provide the candles.

10/10/2026

Today Word:

The Gift of Memory

As we read the story of Jesus’s birth, we come upon this verse about His mother’s memories. While it’s easy to imagine Mary as some sort of superhuman because of God’s great purpose for her, we are reminded in Scripture what a normal life she led. Just like any mother, Mary treasured in her heart her first moments with Jesus. It’s something we can all relate to in one way or another. We’ve all been given the gift of remembrance—certain times in our lives we’ve cherished with the people we love most. And in our times of loss, those memories become even more precious as they provide connections with the loved ones who are no longer with us on this earth.

As we pray for God’s comfort in our grief, we can be sure that one way He puts His arms around us is through the gift of memory. When Jesus gave His life, Mary was there at the foot of the cross. She faced the journey of loss just like we all do. We can imagine how God must have comforted her as she recalled moments shared with her beloved Son.

Being able to remember is a wonderful gift to help us through our toughest days. When our loving Creator knit us together, He intentionally blessed us with the ability to remember. When grief and loss entered our broken world, it was already part of His plan to help us recall the moments we shared and the connections we created in our love for each other. He also understood that some memories would be of hard things we’d rather not experience again. Just remember, He is the God of all. Pray for those comforting moments of remembrance to shine through for you. Your Father knows just what your heart needs, and He is there to lead you through.

Lord, thank You for Your gift of memory. Please help me to find true comfort in the precious moments I’ve shared with loved ones.

10/09/2026

Good morning, this is our word for today.

Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

10/09/2026

Butterflies 15 will be hosting a Candlelight Vigil for survivors of domestic violence awareness month. Come support our survivors.