Pu'rpura Mariposa-Purple Butterfly

Pu’rpura Mariposa

                                            
I do not know her name, I don’t know who she is. But God does, completely.
He knows her so well, He knows that her favorite color is purple and that she is a Butterfly in her home to her family.

This is how I know this…..

The Women’s Bible that I attend at Valley Church, was having a Christmas party the week before Christmas. The Leader of our group, Amanda, let us know what we are going to be doing…finger foods, making an Advent Wreath to remember Jesus in the season and we were going to play a “White Elephant” gift exchange. That is when you bring a gift anonymously and place it in a pile. Then each person draws a number. Starting with the person with number 1 to the last number of the person participating, you get to pick a wrapped gift in the middle or you can steal one that someone has already opened.

That week,
I told my husband…I wanted to get a gift, but had no idea what to buy. I thought of many different things. We were told the spending limit was up to $10. I ran by my ideas to him. I still was undecided. So while we were out, we prayed together and I said this to God, “God, I don’t know what to buy as a gift. I don’t know who will pick this gift at the party. But You do. Lord, I pray You will help me pick the gift for that person. I pray it will bless her and be personal to her. I want her to know how special she is to You in a personal way. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.”

We were going on down the road and my husband pulled up to Pier One.
I said to him, “What in the world are you doing here?” He said, “I know you don’t like this store, but be patient with me. I think you are going to find the gift for that person you prayed for here.”
I was very unsure of that. I do not like that store and my husband knows that.
But I decided to trust the idea.

I have learned, we make our plans, but God does direct our paths.
Proverbs 3:6 “In all you ways acknowledge Him, And he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 16:9 “The mind of man plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.”

I went in, standing just inside the front door, I looked all around me and wanted to turn right back out and go somewhere else…but something in me pulled me right on in….I ventured in, looking at the unusual things in there. I said out loud, “God, what could be here, for the girl You have in mind?”

Then, THERE IT WAS!
I saw it and I was drawn to it.
I looked up and hanging from the ceiling was a beautiful purple butterfly. It had purple ribbons that trailed down below it.
I looked down at the table, searching for a purple one….I found a pink one, yellow, blue, green…every color of the rainbow. But I couldn’t find purple.
I had to get purple.
There in the back of the pile on the bottom was ONE PURPLE BUTTERFLY.
I felt my heart jump and squeeze with the assurance. Yes, that is it!
I then saw a pretty purple flower pen. I said, “I got to get this too. The lady that gets this might feel like a princess.”
I also had a purple little card that said, “God’s Girl.” I taped it to the package of the butterfly and put the pretty flower pen beside it and wrapped it up.

I said to my husband, “God sure did lead me to this and purple seems to be the theme.”

Now I think the purpose of this gift exchange thing, is that others don’t know who gave what. But I wanted the lady who got this to know God had her in mind specifically and personally. Not me….God. From my heart I wanted and prayed for it to be that way.

The time of the party came. I laid the wrapped gift down and went about doing party things with these wonderful women in this group.

God worked out many little intricate details…during the gift exchange…I understood this later, as I reflected in my quite time what exactly took place. Your going to like this.

Weeks before this…my son and I went to a craft fair. There I saw a tiny Christmas village. The person that had this, took 3 little buildings, one a church and placed them in a basket, glued down fluff for snow and tiny white lights in the snow and under the little buildings. She added a few little statues of people and trees. I looked at that really closely and I liked it a lot. A whole lot.
I saw the tag on it and saw it was way too much for my budget. But thought it looked worth the price, considering.
I thought in my heart…”maybe one day, I can make one for myself.”
And off I went about my day…not another thought of it.

But you have got to know this…God was there.
He knows my thoughts, my heart’s desires. Everything about me. He loves me and cares about the details of my life.

Because during the Christmas party, one of those sweet ladies, had bought a village kit, 3 little buildings, one a church and wrapped each and every little piece, included a box of tiny white lights and the white fluff for snow! She had placed it all in a big Christmas bag.
I saw this when a lady picked this gift and opened it.
My eyes got big as half dollar coins!
I thought, “Oh yes, I am going to steal that one when it is my turn!”

I even went out of turn, by reading my number wrong. I didn’t have my glasses on. When the number I thought was mine was called, I went right up to that prize and started packing it up for myself.
Then another lady said, “You might not want to pack that up so fast, what if one of us wants it.” I stopped in my tracks. I felt instantly very selfish and bad on the inside. I stepped away, and said, “Oh, I didn’t think of that…I am so sorry. I will share. If anyone else wants it, that is okay.”

Then right beside me was Frances. I have grown to love this precious lady since I met her. She is such a sweet loving soul, full of grace and gentleness. I can’t imagine my life with out her imprint.  She said in such a sweet soft voice, “Excuse me Kim, are you certain about the number you have, I am sure I have that number.”

I took another hard look at my slip of paper and there it was, the wrong number.
I was actually 2nd to the last of us all.

I was so embarrassed. It seems, I never can do anything in a quite way.
I seem to stand out all the time, everywhere I go. I ask God all the time, “God please make me quite, not so loud and bold in my ways. Sometimes I think I should just tie bells to my heels where ever I go. I am that obvious and I don’t like it.”

I am starting to think, He likes me the way I am. Because nothing has changed about my personality or character no matter how hard I try and pray about it. Maybe I should just be who He made me to be and Thank Him for it. He will work on the areas that need His touch. I am sure of that.

As the gift exchange went on, I noticed no one was stealing the village. Then I wondered if they were all being nice cause they knew I wanted it.
I couldn’t believe no one else would want that! :)
I am not implying that the other gifts were not nice. They were all very nice. My heart was just set on one. The Village Set.

I also saw how the gift I bought was being left each time in the pile. No one was picking it. Even though no one knew who brought what, I felt indifferent, like the kid who got picked last at school cause no one liked her/him. I was getting a little hurt feelings, to tell you the truth.

But as I felt that, I begin to watch something dynamic unfold.

It finally was my turn. Yes, I got my village!

Then it was the last lady’s turn. The gift I brought, still sat all alone. Nobody picked it and she didn’t have a choice. It was all that was left. But I forgot she got the option to steal. And she left that gift on the floor and went to each person in the room to see which one she wanted. That meant that the person she took the gift from, would get the last gift laying in the floor.

She took a gift that was picked earlier from a girl that was sitting near a corner of the room and sat down with it. That meant that girl had to take the last unwrapped gift in the floor.

So she got it. Unwrapped it and held it to her chest. She is of Spanish nationality. She said, “Don’t steal.” “Do not steal.”

But the thing is…no one had the option to steal a gift. It was over. She was the last with the last gift.

I could hear her talking to her mom, in English and then in Spanish. I wanted to get closer to hear her. I wanted to know what she was saying.

I wanted to know what God did for her and how He answered my prayer.

I heard her say…”Purple and Butterfly and I am God’s Girl.”

So at the end of the party, I went to her side and I told her, her gift was so pretty and the ribbons were pretty that hung down from it.

She said, that Purple was her favorite color and in her family she is known as the Butterfly. She said it in Spanish to me too, Pu’rpura Mariposa.

I don’t know her…I didn’t know purple is her color and that she has a nick name of butterfly at home by her family. But God did.
He knew her favorite color and all the sweet details of her life.

He knows that about you too. That is how much He is into you.
Don’t think for a second you don’t matter. Everything about you, is everything to Him. You are perfectly and wonderfully made. He created everything about you. As my Bible Study Leader, Amanda says, “It is a great joy to delight in the things of Him.”
So delight in Him and rejoice in His great love for you and all that concerns you.
You are His favorite.

Kim Wenrich
Pslams 139
2 Corithians 5:17
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