“Why Would God Care About Us???”

“Why Would God Care About Us???”

Towards the beginning of this journey, I  (Carrie), knew I had to give some of my lifelong passions over to God, sacrificially. Not everyone must, but I figured that my love of sewing & working with fabric may not be accessible all over the world. 

You see, I have had such a joy all of my life “playing” and creating with fabric – from the time I was three, I was making clothes for my dolls with my sisters. I love to sew, quilt, and use my quilting as art (I have designed a number of patterns, have spoken internationally, taught color classes and even worked quilt humor into a business!)

So I, literally, in tears, sacrificed this to God, asking Him to take away my passion of working with fabric.  I figured it would be much easier to willingly give it to Him and then not sew, rather than have this passion yanked  - fingernail rips in the fabric as it is pulled away unwillingly out of my hands.

God is such a gentleman – he received this paltry sacrifice of mine…. But only diminished it greatly, rather than take it completely away.

Then a few months later we were having a garage sale & a lady came up & said, “You’re a quilter, right?”  “Yes” I answered.  “Do you have any fabric for sale?” Oh my word – I hadn’t even THOUGHT of that! “I will be right back down with some!” Off I went.  As I piled my arms with fabric, I was ready to leave the room & I heard God say, “Wait!” 

“Lord, I have a buyer… “

“Wait!”

“But…”

“Wait!”

So, I put the fabric down, went back out to the lady waiting (thinking all the while, “What am I going to tell her???”) I saw her and out came the words, “I’m sorry, but I just can’t sell it right now.”

She replied very empathetically, “Oh, honey, I understand!”

I thought, “Well, not for the reasons I am privy to!”

A bit later in the process for being willing to be called out, we had a call from a leader who was wondering if I would be willing to speak to a group of women for an outreach.  I asked the Lord, He said “Sure”, so I did too.  Then I asked if there was a subject they would like me to speak upon. “No”, was the answer from the leader. “Ok,” I said.  I am not an expert, but I have spoken to enough groups that I thought of some ideas I could be speaking about.

  Well, the time came… we are in the air, headed to a country where many don’t know English and I am going over my notes when I heard God say, “So what do these women want to know, Carrie?”  I quipped off my answer & then asked, “Will this still work or do You have something else in mind?” God answered & said, “How about a question and answer time?”  “Ok, Lord.”  Done.

  We arrive & on the way to where we are staying, the leader asks me if I am prepared for the next evening’s outreach. I confirmed that I was. 

Then they asked, “What will you be speaking about?”

I replied, “Well, it will be a question and answer time.”

“Oh, GREAT idea!”

“Well, God changed it up on the way over here.  What kind of outreach is it?”

“I’m not going to tell you!”  (Did I mention this leader is a bit ornery??)

The outreach time draws near.  We are driving there, enter the building & you could hear the excitement and fun coming from the women. The leader indicates that I should head first up the stairs, so I comply.  When I get to the top of the stairs, I burst out laughing…..30-40 women are all quilting!  I thought to myself, “Well, at least I know where I can send my fabric when I move overseas!”

Eventually, they finish with their quilting for the evening and are requested to sit in a circle for the guest speaker (me).  The translator is seated on one side of me and the leader on the other. I am introduced, they announce it is a question and answer time & a hand flies up in the air.

“WHY ARE YOU HERE??” Comes out of this woman’s mouth like angry machine gun fire and precision.  So, I explain briefly about God caring for each and every one of them.

Another hand flew up, “WHY WOULD GOD CARE ABOUT US?” is sprung forth with similar precision and hostility. (Maybe it is cultural??)

The questions kept coming, each one with more & more depth requested. After about 30 minutes, the final question arrived, “Who IS Jesus, anyway?”  I looked to the leader to see if an assigned “answerer” would be used.

“Go ahead, it’s your gig.” Came the answer.

“Lord, where do you want me to start?” (Each culture is different regarding how to approach history) “Genesis” was the answer He gave, so I asked Him for a Reader’s Digest Condensed version! He amply supplied, and when I was done, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room! Some women were sobbing. The leader leans over and says,

“Carrie, you’re witnessing a miracle. These people HATE to show emotion. If they HAVE to, it is only in front of family.  Carrie, NONE of these women know each other!”

I thanked the Lord for speaking through me and my translator.  On the way home, I learned that the ONLY believers in the entire room were the four of us that came in the car & the three pastors’ wives!

Strong Bones & Spirit

   The experts say that in order to build strong bones, there must be not only an adequate source of calcium, but also stress and strength to add density to your bones and sinews.  I can't help but think this is often the case as well with a person's prayer life and spirit life.

   If you know some prayer warriors or people who really are tight with God, chances are they have been in some very deep & difficult circumstances in their lives.  Just like those who have lots of life experiences have tremendous wisdom you can glean from, so you can with those from deep spiritual experiences.

  Life is a balance. Balance comes from strength.

  "With God our intentional sacrifices become more than just sacrifices; they become expressions of love and trust that draw us closer to Him,. It's a kind of 'losing' strategy in which our losses pale in comparison to our gains... the riches of intimacy with Christ and increased strength to pursue holiness in every aspect of our lives."  - excerpt from Made To Crave Participant's Guide, pg.142

   I don't know about you, but we are in the process of getting REALLY strong for God through all of these losses and stresses. I have found through many situations if I ask the Lord, "Could you just show me later  - why - so I know it wasn't for naught."  He will. Sometimes it hits like a 2x4 on my head. God delivers.  Sometimes I can glean wisdom from others without having to have the difficulties - but it is less personal unless I can apply it to something I am going through.  How about you?

Challenges and blessings

  We all have challenges and blessings in life - which one do you concentrate on?

  We try to concentrate on looking at the blessings in the midst of challenges.  Probably our biggest challenge is that have closed our business after 12 years. Kurt has SUCH a great heart, and still wants to help others, but we can't do that and still speak to possible supporters as we try to raise up the few percentages of our support.  Praise the Lord, we are SO close to 70% monthly support and over 1/2 way with our departure costs!  (If you are prompted to help, there is a link on the right that can directly set you up:)

   Some of our friends have health challenges, but God is working lots of blessings in the midst of their trials. Keep looking for the positives in life - it is a sanity saver and (I personally think) a health saver.  There have been "surprise" payments for some of their bills, they have been healing sooner than expected, or the friends have been able to speak into others' lives that they have come into contact with. Those are all blessings!

  Another friend of mine was going through chemo & she was part of a group that went into chemo at a certain time.  A gentleman in the group was absolutely despondent & speaking of euthanasia. My friend had requested prayer for this man. I told her I would pray, then God prompted me to tell her to tell him, "There are youth in Asia - and there are old people too!"   We laughed and prayed for her friend.  The next day she went into chemo & her friend kept going on about euthanasia, so my friend quoted what the Lord told me.  The man laughed and laughed!  From that day on he started turning towards the better in mental and physical health, PTL.   

  So, where are your blessings in the challenges?  Sometimes you need to uncover a lot of dirt in the challenge to find the blessings, but they are there! Look up to Jesus, dear friend!                                   

The Cheesecake Miracle

  We have lately been under tremendous attack by the enemy of this world.  Often it is by recalling the great things the Lord has done, which helps not only encourage us but others as well. Friends have recommended that we speak of some of these.  Here is one today...

  Years ago, while in college, one of my friends wanted to host a surprise birthday party for her finance'.  A number of us offered to help, including B who offered to take care of the food.  Many of us had also offered to bake cakes or whatever, but B kept assuring us it was all taken care of & under control.

  The day came for the party.  The place was decorated, guests started arriving and arriving and arriving. The hostess popped in & said, "Oh good, it looks like most of the people are coming!"

  We looked out from behind the serving area & thought, "Wow, that's a lot of people!" (Anytime you have free food w/ college students there will be extras).  So, we counted... 150 people.  "Hey B, when does the cake get here?"  B looked at us, and said, "Well, I thought you were all going to be bringing some too.  I brought two Jello cheesecakes. What did you bring?"  We looked at each other & said, "You said it was taken care of & we didn't need to bring anything."  Everyone looked at the two 9" cheesecakes, and at the growing crowd.  B was starting to feel quite hostile towards us.

   Meanwhile Birthday Boy entered & was so surprised we thought he was going to pass out. Everyone was laughing and having a great time, except for those of us behind the curtain...

   I was thinking, Lord, please help this whole situation work out well.  Then I spoke up, "Well B, let's pray.  We have been wanting to put our faith to work lately, so now's the time.  You said it was all taken care of. Maybe He has taken care of it!"  We prayed, reminding God of the feeding of the 5000, & asking Him to intervene in the lives of some hungry & not wealthy college students.

  B was recommended to start serving the cheesecake, since she had brought it.  Fairly large pieces were cut & served. We made sure the first pieces went to the Birthday Boy & his girlfriend, the hostess.  While B was serving up the pieces, I started asking people around what some of the faith builders were that they had experienced lately.  We were having so much fun hearing about "God-incidences",  joys, struggles during the weeks past which ended in victories and humorous things that happened, we forgot about what we were doing until someone came back and said, "Well, we only need two more pieces!"

  At this point, we all looked down & watched B cut another large piece of cheesecake, serve it up on a plate & get ready to cut again when she yelled, "It's NOT getting ANY smaller!!!" There was panic in her voice and joy & laughter in our shouts!  Another friend came back who was helping to serve with extra pieces in her hands.  God had met our needs and our faith!

  Do you need to recall times God has miraculously helped you? If you have not seen the miracles, you may want to pray for your "blinders" to be taken off!  We would love to hear some of your "God-incidences"!  Blessings to you.