Recently, I have been very busy moving and restructuring my work space. It was a direct result of God answering my question, “Does God see what I am doing, does He care, and how will I know that for certain?” It wasn’t that the business or the ministry was failing, or even going downhill. I just needed a bit of affirmation.
So, let me tell you a God Story.
One of my Crafters for Christ ladies called me two weeks ago with the sad news that she would no longer be attending our meetings. She has been in a very severe depression for quite awhile, and nothing I could say or do seemed to perk her up. I finally came to the place where I gave up–and gave over–my obsession with taking care of her. The Lord is the only One who can help her; and wise choices have to be made by her for her life. I had to make a choice to let go, which was hard for me to do. This particular day she was telling me that she would no longer attend Crafters meetings because she was afraid of my basement stairway, that she would fall and injure herself. This is a valid fear, of course, for an 85 year old lady who has sustained several severe injuries due to falls in the past. I was so saddened by this, but I knew there was nothing I could do. There was no obvious solution. We would lose Mary. I was sad.
The following meeting day arrived, and my friend Mary did not come. As the others began to gather and share the things they had brought to add to our stash of goods ready to give, someone produced a handful of pretty buttons she had found in her sewing stuff, which opened a conversation about Grandmas’ and Mothers’ button tins. I said I had acquired my mom’s button tin when she passed on, and had used those buttons to attach the quilted wall-hanging I had made to display her beautiful variety of needlework. (This is the wall hanging pictured on the home page of this website.) Some of the ladies had not seen it, so I marched them all upstairs to my sewing room to show them. While we were going back downstairs, I brought up the rear, and said, “Sometimes I wish I had one of those stair chair lifts, so that I wouldn’t have to worry about people hurting themselves using my stairs.” Laurie, the lady below me on the stairs said, “You want a chair lift? I have one out in the shed which you can have. My husband wanted to install one, and we bought it on Craig’s List, but then he had his stroke and can no longer install it. We decided quite a while ago that if we found someone who needed or wanted it, we would give it away!” I was astounded! I had not yet told the others about the reason for Mary’s absence! When I told Laurie that the reason Mary was not there was because of the stairs, we all broke out in a joyful praise to the Lord, Who knew all about it and was orchestrating something special. I was just speechless. Even if the stair lift doesn’t fit our home’s measurements or this doesn’t work out, the way things unfolded was just too much to be coincidence. It had to be God showing His care, and His desire for Mary to continue being part of the group she loves.
When I called Mary to tell her about this, she erupted with tears and praise, saying, “This is just precious to me. I know God cares about me.”
This event started off a whole new joyful and confident outlook and anticipation in me as the leader of the group. I had already felt that this ministry group was better than a dream come true for me, and I loved it. Suddenly the Lord began to download all kinds of ideas and plans in my spirit! The first thing to take place was that I had moved my sewing room down to the basement level, so that everything could be in our large room which was not being used. I now have work space (sewing machines, ironing board, cutting table, storage) on one side, and a nice sitting area for meetings and fellowships with a work table in the middle. I am excited! As much as I loved my sewing room with the garden view, I love this even more because of how it is all coming together. There will be no more running up and down the steps to get things that are needed in the Crafters meetings because everything is in one place. My husband and I have reclaimed the upstairs room as a bedroom, and are very happy with it.
Recently, two more new ladies have expressed interest in joining us. Also our group is going on an outing to help a missionary prepare for a short term trip. We will help her make and pack gift bags. That’s another first for us. We have donated tote bags and salvation bracelets to this cause already, but to go have hands-on time assisting to outfit the trip–that is special.
As a bonus, the Lord has brought me two new large orders for memory bears at Art by Rhea. A percentage of the proceeds from this will go right back into the ministry of Crafters for Christ.
So, upstairs or downstairs, the ministry is thriving! God is in charge!
Art by Rhea 