“Hugs from Jesus” blankets are the physical depiction of being wrapped in scripture. God’s Word reveals His character to the reader including His undeserved mercy and unfailing love for us. The verses within scripture are abundant in God’s love for His people, reminding all who read scripture and all those who receive a “Hugs from Jesus” blanket that God loves them as an individual bringing them peace, comfort, and encouragement. 

The “Hugs from Jesus” blanket business originated multiple years ago when my cousin Carrie was diagnosed with and later died from cancer. What started as one gift of comfort for Carrie during her battle with cancer, has formed into a small business designing and producing numerous blankets for family, friends, and some strangers at all stages in life. But this too, doesn’t come without a story. 

After I created a blanket for Carrie, I made lots of blankets for others. One such blanket was made a for a friend of a friend who was diagnosed with brain cancer. It wasn’t until a year and a half later while at my son's swim meet that I was talking with the gentleman who received my blanket. Both he and I discovered that I had made the blanket for him. He informed me just how much the “Hugs from Jesus” blanket meant to him, especially coming from someone he did not know. God’s love was able to shine through an act from a stranger with scripture inscribed on a blanket, it couldn’t end here. 

Since this encounter, that has rested fondly in my memory, the concept of the blankets have expanded further than a Bible verse providing comfort in a time of illness and into blankets containing verses for multiple points, stages, and struggles in an individual's life. Afterall, in peace and persecution, every person should be reminded and experience the safety of God’s love for them. 

This said, I have created blankets for a family who experienced a death due to an overdose, an individual who was physically injured, for new parents bringing home their newborn baby, for young adults before their send off to the college or University they committed to, for those who are battling disease, and for those who simply enjoy viewing a blanket with a verse of scripture. This is an explanation to clearly depict that every person needs to be reminded that God’s love for them is unwavering and unfailing. Despite their current walk in life, they can rest, both physically and spiritually, in the comfort of God’s Word. 

After all these years, it is time to kick start my small business. God has spent some time tugging at my heart but His prompting became more prominent when my brother was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer and passed away just two and a half months later. There was nothing left to say so, just as I had done all those years ago with my cousin Carrie, I designed a blanket for him and his family. I feel confident this was God’s nudge to where He is sending me. 

The “Hugs from Jesus” blankets started as what seemed to me as a small gesture, but God uses all things no matter how small they may seem to us here on earth. 

The Why of it All 

I began making these blankets because my heart was shattered when Carrie was diagnosed with cancer. There was nothing I could do here on earth to fix this for her or to save her children from the heartache they were going to experience. The only thing I could do was to surrender the control I so badly desired to God through prayer. 

After battling this internal tension of control and desiring to fix this, the idea struck me. There was one thing I could do, wrap her in the scripture of God. When Carrie would wrap up in this blanket, she would literally feel “hugs from Jesus,” God in the flesh. This blanket would lay on her when anyone was visiting. If they didn’t know what to say they could read the blanket containing a verse and pray it over her.

When there is nothing we as people can do or say, we turn to scripture. Scripture is what makes up the Word of God and contains nothing but love, God is love. Nothing and no one on earth can change God’s love for us, His creation. In our deepest sorrows to our most vibrant joy, we should do our part to spread the Word of God. This is my part. 

Here are some examples from past blankets we have made so you have an idea of what it may look like.