Welcome to Yellow Butterfly!
My desire is to see women of all ages find hope and healing through this blog, writing, and speaking.
The symbol of a Yellow Butterfly is a picture of my life: an orphan daughter becoming the daughter of the King. In order to fly, the caterpillar must allow itself to be transformed into the beautiful creature it was meant to be: a butterfly. It is a picture of hope for me, but not just for me– for other people, too, who want more in this life.
We all have a story to tell. Here’s a small part of mine: For four years in high school and into college I wrestled in a severe and dark battle for my life with bulimia (just like Princess Diana. . . .). I had some traumatic events happen to me the summer before my sophomore year of high school. This trauma along with puberty, gaining weight, and an unhealthy emotional foundation of shame, and the perfect dark recipe was triggered within me.
For those of you who don’t know, bulimia is a type of eating disorder where you binge and purge–an addiction tied up in the inability to vocalize feelings or feel like you have a healthy amount of control over your own life. It starts innocently enough as a desire to lose weight, but ends in being truly addicted to food. Food is a chemical, a strong chemical, and an addictive one when you are eating in such large portions and throwing up every day. With God on my side, and the extreme love of my husband Tony, and my God, I won this battle. But it wasn’t easy. . . . This is my testimony. God’s power was stronger than this addiction.
As you can imagine, I don’t normally lead into a conversation with this dark bit about my former life, but this time it’s okay. God healed me, and I’ve never looked back. Since I’ve overcome bulimia I’ve overcome many other spiritual battles as well, including shame.
My past doesn’t define me except as an amazing piece of my testimony of God’s healing love for this orphan girl who became a daughter of the King, a testimony I’ve given to him to use as he will. I’m still on this journey with my God, learning who I truly am in Christ.
I love being a wife to Tony and love being a mom. We have three amazing adult kids. Two are married, and we have five grandchildren. I also love studying and teaching scripture, drinking coffee, playing the piano, worshiping, and hosting people in our home.
Many times as I was raising our three children I would compare myself to other mothers and find myself greatly lacking: in meal planning, fashion, the size of my waist, or take-your-pick in the ways we women compare ourselves to each other.
It seems I had to learn how to do everything the hard way, putting one foot in front of the other hour by hour and day by day! How did every other mom make it look so easy?
Now I would love to use some of my wisdom to help even one woman overcome her obstacles in life: to feel more confident in motherhood, in marriage, in decorating, in a career, or in planning a wedding. Not as easy as it looks, I’ve found, and I’ve helped plan two now. Go to arisemybeloved.com to see my 125-page eBook for $4.99 on wedding planning. Go to Adele Brown or Audrey Skinner on Facebook to see their wedding albums.
I have a passion to see women know they are beautiful and loved, to help them find the same hope and healing I have found in a real relationship with a real God: to go from the caterpillar stage in their walk with God to flying free like a butterfly, overcoming.
If I can help one person feel a sense of hope or find some kind of healing to face a new day then this site is a success to me!
Yellow Butterflies are creatures of mystery, beauty, and complexity.
Butterflies use four different types of skillful wing motions to keep themselves above the ground by masterfully using the air that comes at them, flying gracefully in the sky, with delicate precision. That’s how they were designed.
My hunch is that if you’re a woman reading this right now, you’re doing some crazy juggling in your own life to handle what’s coming at you. You were designed to fly, too, in confidence and grace and power.
To discuss having me come speak and/or lead worship for your church or organization, email me at stacey@wheelerministries.com or text me at 480-734-3656.
Choose joy today. Choose life, because you are unique, you are talented: you are dazzling!
Stacey D. Wheeler, M.A.
