With dirt caked under my nails from working in the garden, I answered my sister-in-law’s phone call and walked around our backyard while we talked.

Suddenly, a butterfly floated in front of my face and around my head, its wings grazing my forehead. It landed on my right hand, the same hand I used to press the phone to my ear, and stayed long after the conversation ended – even through disconnecting the call and switching my cell to my other hand. As the winds picked up, that precious butterfly clung to my middle finger and stayed close to the ring I wore.

Why am I telling you this story? Let me explain.

Many years ago, when I started walking with God, I asked Him in this same backyard to show me a butterfly, if He cared about me or even existed. (What can I say? I was in a dark place at the time.)

Days later, God allowed me to hold a brand-new monarch butterfly I inadvertently “rescued” from its chrysalis. (I thought I was saving a moth from a spiderweb!) The butterfly rested on my finger for about ten minutes while it dried its dark, amber wings.

Not only did God answer my questions, but He also permitted my “doubting Thomas” self to touch and know the reality of His answer.

Fast forward to this year:

My family and I recently returned from a trip to attend my mom’s memorial service, where the pain of letting her go resurfaced. I’m learning grief comes in waves, and God’s the One who understands the magnitude of each, how some knock us over, and what we need to get back up and keep moving forward.

You see, only God could send a butterfly to remind me that He cares, instructing His lovely, winged beauty to perch on my middle finger for twenty minutes – the finger where I wear my mom’s ring.

Only God knows our hearts and what we each need to heal.

“God knows people’s hearts.”

Acts 15:8a NLT.

And only God knows the joy our loved ones who’ve died in Christ experience once they leave behind their worn-out earthly bodies to step into eternity.

Only He can see the radiance of my mom in Heaven as she basks in His light and glory, cancer free and filled with unspeakable joy, while I smile through tears, wondering if there are butterflies all around her and thanking Him for those He sends here.

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