Little did I know going to a women’s Bible Conference would lead to a turn in my journey with God. You know that God’s Word teaches that He has a plan for each of our lives. I had been following God’s leadership for many years and had surmised from some of my times reading the Bible a

Little did I know going to a women’s Bible Conference would lead to a turn in my journey with God. You know that God’s Word teaches that He has a plan for each of our lives. I had been following God’s leadership for many years and had surmised from some of my times reading the Bible and my walk thus far that His way was considerably better than whatever I could plan and think up. This might be an argument for some, but I have settled it for me and His way is better.

Psalms 139, has always been a good scripture to help me understand how much God loves me and has designed me with purpose and meaning. Read a few of these verses.

“Where can I go from Thy Spirit? Or where can I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend to heaven, Thou art there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Thy hand will lead me, and Thy right hand will lay hold of me.” Verses 7-10

After attending a Friday night session, the ladies that I went to the conference with all congregated in one of the rooms for some fun, gab, and prayer. Somehow the conversation turned to talking about sacrificing. I am not sure how we got into that conversation, but one of the ladies looked at me and made the comment that I had sure sacrificed a lot to get the Christian campground known as “Higher Ground Retreat and Conference Center” up and going. These ladies and others from their church had volunteered time at the campground to help with clearing trees and building buildings. They knew the beginnings as my family had lived in an army tent and struggled each day to develop 68 acres of unimproved land.

After the ladies went to bed and as I was falling asleep, I asked the Lord, “Had I really sacrificed all?” The next morning, rising early to spend time in the word, I was walking into this morning session thoroughly bathed in spiritual strength. What I mean by that is my heart was full from my quiet time that morning, I was attending a conference with Christian ladies in a Christian atmosphere to a conference session at Bellevue Baptist Church, and guest speaker was Anne Graham Lotts. I am sure the Lord must have been moving me into a position to receive the message that morning because as the special music had finished and she began reading from the Bible the passage she would be speaking on, I began to cry. The silent tears became uncontrollable to the point I had to get up and go to the restroom. I realized in that moment that God was asking me to give up the dream of opening up another Charlotte’s Web. I had not sacrificed that desire to once again have a shop. Was I crying because the scripture touched my heart personally or the special music had overwhelmed me, or the discussion with the ladies the night before was on my mind, or was it the introspective quiet time? I suspect it was all of the above that God used to bring me to the knowledge that He had something great ahead.

Background on my shop, it was where I spent every day but Sunday sewing and selling items designed and produced by either myself or other ladies in my church. It was a fun place to be and it gave me an opportunity to talk to people about the Lord that normally would not come to the church. When not assisting customers or demonstrating sewing machines, I enjoyed sitting down at the sewing machine sewing and making household items such as quilts, pillows, Priscilla curtains, baby ensembles for nurseries and kitchen items. Customers could watch us make the items. Sometimes, we would custom write their names on a purchased item. There was also a fabric room where materials could be bought for home projects or a place to view fabrics for in-house custom designs at their requests. In addition to that, the store was a distributor for an expensive line of sewing machines. Like I said, it was a fun place to be.

The shop had been located in Arkansas in a town where my husband served as pastor of a Baptist church in Arkansas. We moved when my husband accepted a position as Associate Pastor of a church in Knoxville, Tennessee. Although I still made a lot of items to ship back to the store and had a manager as well as loyal seamstresses, it soon became an impossible situation to manage long distance. There were several reasons why this didn’t work out. With my leaving the community, people were leery of purchasing expensive sewing machines without a convenient opportunity for service. Another reason was the in-home custom decorating was one of the things that I did, which of course, would no longer be available. I had to let it go. I had always hoped the Lord would allow me to have another store one day. I felt I had given up an enjoyable part of my life in order for my husband to fulfill a position in a church that he felt was the right move and place of service. While I agreed with him that it was a place where God would use our family, I still couldn’t help but feel that one day I would have the opportunity to again have a shop.

Like I said this story has many twists and turns. I know you will agree that as you look back on your life, you can see how God has moved you along as you mature in your understanding of Him, and as you become aware of being obedient to all that you understand He is asking of you. So, another step in this story of holding onto the idea of another shop has to do with a step in maturing in God’s plan. Some 15 years earlier than the church in Arkansas, I was a single lady, secretary in a large corporation and poised to move up the ladder. However, I also believed in seeking God’s will at that young adult age and was asking what God wanted me to do.

I can remember sitting at my desk one day, thinking what is it God wants me to do because what I wanted to do was be a fashion designer. I had always enjoyed working with fabric and designing personal items. So, to follow through with that idea, what would be needed to follow that dream? Well, first I realized I would have to move to a larger city perhaps New York to go to a design school and be available for the type position I wanted. However, the more I planned, the more I prayed, the more I realized that that environment for me may not be the environment to continue my Christian walk. But more importantly, was this where God wanted me?

The conclusion after several weeks with that idea in my thoughts and prayers, soon went by the wayside because I came to believe that it wasn’t where God wanted me. But if you fast forward that 15 years and sit with me as I sew in my shop, you would have understood an eye-opening event. I was so happy, I was married to a Christian who was a Baptist preacher, I had a church full of friends I loved, I had a shop I went to every day and created items out of fabric, I was privileged to visit and meet many people to talk to about the Lord. That day it was as though the Lord tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Now how do you like your life?” So, you see, I hadn’t given up anything to do it God’s way, He had ushered me into a direction with more fulfillment and blessings than I could ever have imagined.

So, if we go back to the conference and what God was doing in my heart at that time, you will see that deep in my heart was the desire to have my shop again. But staying in touch with God helped me to realize at that conference that God had a better plan and my secret dream was hindering me from moving ahead with a direction that the Lord knew would be just as much fun but in a different way. You know God has a sense of humor, He is not the big “step on your dreams and make their life miserable” God. He loves each of us beyond our ability to understand apart from the Holy Spirit, and His Word and Jesus.

Yes, I told you this story had twists and turns. That day, in that restroom, at the ladies’ conference at Bellevue was another time in which God asked me to give up an area of my life, but filled with a completely different direction and thought. Now don’t laugh when I tell you I believed God was wanting me to write. I had no formal education for that. Why in the world would that come into my mind? I cannot explain, but what I can tell you is how God has used my obedience for His purposes. I can tell you how fulfilled I feel for having followed Him. I can tell you how peaceful my heart is with God. I can tell you I have spent 40 years serving Him and have never regretted one year. During those 40 years, much study material has been produced for ladies’ retreats, conferences, children’s, camps, youth camps, Bible classes and now this book.

As you read the stories on this blog site, I struggle to put personal life on paper simply because it sounds prideful to me. Yet, it should not be considered prideful because God has taken me in directions and down paths that I never ever would have gone on my own. The book is a conviction of my heart based on this scripture.

“We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah, and His strength, and His wondrous works that He hath done. For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children; That the generation to come might know, even the children that should be born; Who should arise and tell them to their children that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments.”
Psalms 78:4-7

nd my walk thus far that His way was considerably better than whatever I could plan and think up. This might be an argument for some, but I have settled it for me and His way is better.

Psalms 139, has always been a good scripture to help me understand how much God loves me and has designed me with purpose and meaning. Read a few of these verses.

“Where can I go from Thy Spirit? Or where can I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend to heaven, Thou art there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Thy hand will lead me, and Thy right hand will lay hold of me.” Verses 7-10

After attending a Friday night session, the ladies that I went to the conference with all congregated in one of the rooms for some fun, gab, and prayer. Somehow the conversation turned to talking about sacrificing. I am not sure how we got into that conversation, but one of the ladies looked at me and made the comment that I had sure sacrificed a lot to get the Christian campground known as “Higher Ground Retreat and Conference Center” up and going. These ladies and others from their church had volunteered time at the campground to help with clearing trees and building buildings. They knew the beginnings as my family had lived in an army tent and struggled each day to develop 68 acres of unimproved land.

After the ladies went to bed and as I was falling asleep, I asked the Lord, “Had I really sacrificed all?” The next morning, rising early to spend time in the word, I was walking into this morning session thoroughly bathed in spiritual strength. What I mean by that is my heart was full from my quiet time that morning, I was attending a conference with Christian ladies in a Christian atmosphere to a conference session at Bellevue Baptist Church, and guest speaker was Anne Graham Lotts. I am sure the Lord must have been moving me into a position to receive the message that morning because as the special music had finished and she began reading from the Bible the passage she would be speaking on, I began to cry. The silent tears became uncontrollable to the point I had to get up and go to the restroom. I realized in that moment that God was asking me to give up the dream of opening up another Charlotte’s Web. I had not sacrificed that desire to once again have a shop. Was I crying because the scripture touched my heart personally or the special music had overwhelmed me, or the discussion with the ladies the night before was on my mind, or was it the introspective quiet time? I suspect it was all of the above that God used to bring me to the knowledge that He had something great ahead.

Background on my shop, it was where I spent every day but Sunday sewing and selling items designed and produced by either myself or other ladies in my church. It was a fun place to be and it gave me an opportunity to talk to people about the Lord that normally would not come to the church. When not assisting customers or demonstrating sewing machines, I enjoyed sitting down at the sewing machine sewing and making household items such as quilts, pillows, Priscilla curtains, baby ensembles for nurseries and kitchen items. Customers could watch us make the items. Sometimes, we would custom write their names on a purchased item. There was also a fabric room where materials could be bought for home projects or a place to view fabrics for in-house custom designs at their requests. In addition to that, the store was a distributor for an expensive line of sewing machines. Like I said, it was a fun place to be.

The shop had been located in Arkansas in a town where my husband served as pastor of a Baptist church in Arkansas. We moved when my husband accepted a position as Associate Pastor of a church in Knoxville, Tennessee. Although I still made a lot of items to ship back to the store and had a manager as well as loyal seamstresses, it soon became an impossible situation to manage long distance. There were several reasons why this didn’t work out. With my leaving the community, people were leery of purchasing expensive sewing machines without a convenient opportunity for service. Another reason was the in-home custom decorating was one of the things that I did, which of course, would no longer be available. I had to let it go. I had always hoped the Lord would allow me to have another store one day. I felt I had given up an enjoyable part of my life in order for my husband to fulfill a position in a church that he felt was the right move and place of service. While I agreed with him that it was a place where God would use our family, I still couldn’t help but feel that one day I would have the opportunity to again have a shop.

Like I said this story has many twists and turns. I know you will agree that as you look back on your life, you can see how God has moved you along as you mature in your understanding of Him, and as you become aware of being obedient to all that you understand He is asking of you. So, another step in this story of holding onto the idea of another shop has to do with a step in maturing in God’s plan. Some 15 years earlier than the church in Arkansas, I was a single lady, secretary in a large corporation and poised to move up the ladder. However, I also believed in seeking God’s will at that young adult age and was asking what God wanted me to do.

I can remember sitting at my desk one day, thinking what is it God wants me to do because what I wanted to do was be a fashion designer. I had always enjoyed working with fabric and designing personal items. So, to follow through with that idea, what would be needed to follow that dream? Well, first I realized I would have to move to a larger city perhaps New York to go to a design school and be available for the type position I wanted. However, the more I planned, the more I prayed, the more I realized that that environment for me may not be the environment to continue my Christian walk. But more importantly, was this where God wanted me?

The conclusion after several weeks with that idea in my thoughts and prayers, soon went by the wayside because I came to believe that it wasn’t where God wanted me. But if you fast forward that 15 years and sit with me as I sew in my shop, you would have understood an eye-opening event. I was so happy, I was married to a Christian who was a Baptist preacher, I had a church full of friends I loved, I had a shop I went to every day and created items out of fabric, I was privileged to visit and meet many people to talk to about the Lord. That day it was as though the Lord tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Now how do you like your life?” So, you see, I hadn’t given up anything to do it God’s way, He had ushered me into a direction with more fulfillment and blessings than I could ever have imagined.

So, if we go back to the conference and what God was doing in my heart at that time, you will see that deep in my heart was the desire to have my shop again. But staying in touch with God helped me to realize at that conference that God had a better plan and my secret dream was hindering me from moving ahead with a direction that the Lord knew would be just as much fun but in a different way. You know God has a sense of humor, He is not the big “step on your dreams and make their life miserable” God. He loves each of us beyond our ability to understand apart from the Holy Spirit, and His Word and Jesus.

Yes, I told you this story had twists and turns. That day, in that restroom, at the ladies’ conference at Bellevue was another time in which God asked me to give up an area of my life, but filled with a completely different direction and thought. Now don’t laugh when I tell you I believed God was wanting me to write. I had no formal education for that. Why in the world would that come into my mind? I cannot explain, but what I can tell you is how God has used my obedience for His purposes. I can tell you how fulfilled I feel for having followed Him. I can tell you how peaceful my heart is with God. I can tell you I have spent 40 years serving Him and have never regretted one year. During those 40 years, much study material has been produced for ladies’ retreats, conferences, children’s, camps, youth camps, Bible classes and now this book.

As you read the stories on this blog site, I struggle to put personal life on paper simply because it sounds prideful to me. Yet, it should not be considered prideful because God has taken me in directions and down paths that I never ever would have gone on my own. The book is a conviction of my heart based on this scripture.

“We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah, and His strength, and His wondrous works that He hath done. For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children; That the generation to come might know, even the children that should be born; Who should arise and tell them to their children that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments.”
Psalms 78:4-7