Butterflies for Jesus

My eyes opened early this morning and the first question that came to mind was “Lord is this really all there is to life?”  I get up  early every morning go about my day to day activities whatever they may be.  I get up Monday thru Friday prepare breakfast,  get the kids ready for school and then commence to getting myself ready for work.  I stay there from 8:00 - 5:00 and maybe run out to grab some lunch somewhere in between.  I then come home prepare dinner, help with homework, prepare the children for bed, and since I’m in school, I try to catch up on a little homework that I simply didn’t get around to doing over the weekend because I was doing laundry, catching up on house work, and running from store to store trying to find something the kids need for school. At the end of the day I   spend  some quiet time with God for study, meditation and prayer, then I lie down go to sleep and do it all over again. 

So this morning I found myself asking, “Is this really all there is to life?”  I’m a single parent of five children of whom I’ve been taken care of on my own for several years now because my now ex-husband has remarried and feels he has no responsibility to them.  He pays child support whenever  it’s convenient for him and to be completely honest, I’m a little tired.  I’m tired of the same old thing day in and day out. and  I’m tired of waking up to the same problems every day of my life.  At least my fleshly nature is tired.  My spirit know there is so much more to life.  My spirit knows that God has a purpose and plan for my life and the lives of my children, my spirit knows that God has never failed to meet my needs.  So here I am embracing yet another one of life’s roller coaster rides and I’m trying to go thru this ride smiling, but it gets hard sometimes because I want more and sometimes I want it NOW.  But I say like Paul said, “for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”  

In HIS Service

Shirley Hubbard
Butterflies for Jesus Youth Ministry
www.butterfliesforjesus.org

I bounce back every time the devil knocks me down.  Oh what a powerful statement.  But how many times have you been knocked down and felt like you would never et back up?  The Lord has given me the awesome task of writing about being broken.  As I embarked upon this assignment I immediately ran to the dictionary to define the word broken; as I began to dissect the word I came across a phrase I thought was rather intriguing; to destroy the completeness of.  When I read the phrase I was immediately taken back to a scene from the movie, Jerry McGuire, when Rene Zellweger and Tom Cruise were in the elevator with the hearing impaired couple; before the couple gets out of the elevator the man says to the woman (in sign language), “you complete me”.  As I pictured that scene in my mind I began to question what life would have been like if he woke up one morning and she no longer there.  Would he still be complete?  
    
     I was then quickly reminded of a time when I allowed circumstances to destroy my completeness.  I saw vivid images of me lying on the floor of my bedroom closet in fetal position crying and search for someone (other than God) to shed some light on this horrible thing that had turned my life upside down.  I wanted nothing to do with this God that would allow such a thing to happen to ME and the last thing I wanted to hear was, “all things work together for the good…”  Life had thrown me a curve ball and I found myself searching for something or someone to complete; something to make me whole again; something to fix what had been broken.

     If you’ve ever experienced anything traumatic in your life you know what it’s like to be broken and confused and you know it’s you know it’s not always easy to stand firm on you faith in Christ.  In most cases your fleshly nature begins to ask every why question imaginable and the last thing you want to hear is “God has a purpose and a plan”.  You want answers and you want them yesterday and before you know it, you find yourself slowly pulling away from God.  But, before you give into defeat I encourage you to do as Paul and Silas did when they were thrown in prison — begin to rejoice in the midst of the trial.  Don’t wait until the trial has ended to shout — SHOUT NOW!

     Acts 16:25 & 26 reads, “Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God…Suddenly there was great earthquake, and the prison was shaken and all the doors flew open and the chains of every prisoner fell off.”  Purpose in your heart that today is the day that you will totally surrender your circumstances to God and begin to shout through the trial—start praising God for what you know He’s going to do and watch Him loose the chains and set you free.  Your heart may be breaking — SHOUT anyway knowing that God can fix what’s broken in your life—your finances may be a little shaky but SHOUT anyway and God will pour out blessings so GREAT you won’t have room to receive.

In HIS Service

Shirley  Hubbard
Butterflies for Jesus Youth Ministry
www.butterfliesforjesus.org

One day, one friend asked another ‘How is it that you are always so happy?
You have so much energy,
and you never seem to get down.’

UNWANTED TOUCH

(The author of this poem has chosen not have her name revealed)

“A sweet talk turned bitter by someone I cared for so much—a growing relationship cut short because of your unwanted touch.” Have you ever lay awake in your bed afraid to go to sleep for fear that your father would show up? You knew if he did he wasn’t coming just to say good night.  

In HIS Service

Shirley Hubbard
Butterflies for Jesus Youth Ministry
www.butterfliesforjesus.org

Do you like me? Yes or No? Circle One.  This seems like an innocent enough question, but what does it really mean to like someone of the opposite sex? What happens if you circle yes? Does being someone’s boyfriend or girlfriend come with expectations? And if so are you ready to live up to those expectations? Most young people are all too anxious to dive into a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship not realizing that in most cases there’s more to this relationship than you getting to wear his letter jacket. Being someone’s boyfriend or girlfriend opens a lot of doors that youth just aren’t ready to deal with. I remember when I first thought I was in love—I was sooo excited—I thought about that boy day in and day out. He was the first thing on my mind when I got up in the mornings—the last thing on my mind before I fell asleep—(as a matter of fact I fell asleep thinking about him)—I could eat, sleep and drink that boy. I was in love and there was nothing anybody could do or say to convince me that he didn’t feel the same. And because I just knew  he was in love with me too I decided to give myself to him on a more intimate level—not because I really wanted to but because he kept asking—I knew I wasn’t ready to go that far but he simply would not let up.    He said he loved me and if I loved him I would do it. He had made up in his mind that NO would not be my final answer and he was right—I eventually gave in and I have never regretted anything more in my life. No matter what other’s tell you—it was not fun—I did not enjoy it–I was just ready for it to be over. You see, I was a virgin and I gave that up for a few minutes of what was supposed to be pleasure and my life has not been the same since that day. I was only fifteen when I lost my virginity and gave birth to my first child at the age of sixteen. I had plans to graduate high school, attend college and become a child psychologist.   Things didn’t work out as planned because the love of my life walked away and left me raising our child, so college was put on hold because I needed a job to provide for my child. A lot of you are probably thinking this could never happen to you but you’re wrong. Your plans may be to wait until you’re married to have sex but having a boyfriend or girlfriend sometimes makes that difficult.

     I had the pleasure of teaching a youth workshop a few months ago and the question was asked, “Is it o.k. to hold hands?” My answer was no. You should have seen the looks I got from that answer—most of the young people in the room saw nothing wrong with holding hands. Think about it—-if you’re in the movie theatre with your boyfriend or girlfriend and he/she grabs your hand; if you really like him/her you’ll probably feel something when your hand is grabbed and before you know it your hormones are raging out of control and when you leave the movie theatre more than likely you won’t go right home—you’ll stop somewhere and holding hands will quickly turn into kisses and the kisses will lead to more intimate things and before you know it you’ve slipped into something you had not intentions of doing because you’ve awaken feelings inside of you and you’ve gone too far to stop or maybe you don’t want to stop. Believe it or not that won’t be your last time doing it—you’ll do it again and most likely end up in a situation you don’t want to be in. You could contract a sexually transmitted disease or maybe you’ll end up like me and have to put your dreams on hold because of an unplanned child. I’m not saying you’re destined to fail because you decided to have pre-marital sex. I am saying that dating complicates your life so before you dive into it count up the cost. Ask yourself if you’re really ready to handle a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. Are you able to stand FIRM on not giving up your virginity? Are you able to stop at just holding hands? Be honest. Most of us are not strong enough to say, “This is as far as I’m going”. I encourage you to STAND knowing that you are indeed worth waiting for. Sex is good but only within the confines of marriage; this is what God requires of us. 

In HIS Service

Shirley Hubbard
Butterflies for Jesus Youth Ministries
visit us online @www.butterfliesforjesus.org

  Dating can be a fun and exciting part of your life. It can also be a very confusing time, especially when dating for the first time. Once you like a person and know that person likes you, you may not know what to do next. You can start by learning what makes a dating relationship healthy and safe.

     So what does makes a healthy and safe relationship? Just like healthy friendships, healthy dating relationships should start with good communication, honesty and respect. In a dating relationship you may find yourself wanting to spend all your time with the individual, but it’s important to spend adequate time apart. This will help you maintain healthy relationships with your special someone, family and friends at the same time.

     In a healthy dating relationship you should never feel pressured to do anything you don’t want to do. You have the right to say no to anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. Your date should respect your right to say no. Respecting your right to say no means your date will stop when you say no.

     Remember that just saying no is not always easy. You should think about it ahead of time, have a plan and follow through with that plan.

In HIS Service
Shirley Hubbard
Butterflies for Jesus Youth Ministries
www.butterfliesforjesus.org