We felt inspired with an idea.
It turned into a vision.
We then moved to a blank piece of paper on the front of a white pad.
Now, in a little over a year, our "My Legacy Quilt" is ready to share with the Body of Christ.
We started this journey with this question in our mind, "If you could share Christ with your family and friends . . . from the other side . . . would you want to?"
Our answer was yes. But we weren't sure how to do it. After much prayer, research and a series of events, we decided on a product that is still made using old-world artisan techniques . . . quilting.
As we pursued this idea we created a new design. A large 3D cross for the middle and four framed panels at the bottom, each containing a message sharing what we would say to our family and friends from the other side.
AFTER OVER 40 YEARS OF MINISTRY AND BEING LED OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TO VISIT OVER 70 COUNTRIES FOR BOTH MINISTRY AND BUSINESS I THOUGHT ONE WOULD HAVE FIGURED OUT ALL THE WAYS THE HOLY SPIRIT CAN LEAD.
Recently I went to another funeral and except for the singing and the minister speaking I decided that there was no tangible way to share the reality of what had just happened.
The minister and singers had done a great job. That was not the problem. I was left feeling that this was not what the believer, who had just passed away, would say. For some time, I just couldn’t get it out of my mind. I reflected on all the funerals I had spoken at and the ones I just attended. They were all the same style.
I researched other church organizations. Some were more quiet and respectful and others were more old-time camp meeting style. However, most everyone used the same approach. Then, one day in prayer, praying about this unsettled feeling I had about this question, these softly spoken words came into my mind. “Speak for them about me”.
To be totally honest, my reaction was not with great faith that could move mountains. It was more like Zacharias when the angel told Zacharias that he and Elisabeth would have a child, even though they yet had none and were well past the years of child-bearing. I simply thought, “How can this be?”.
Days went by.
As usual, our work days are full to capacity, but, even in the busiest times these words kept coming back to me, “Speak for them about me”.
A Coincidence?
Our family has a ministry that assists individuals with mild to severe mental health issues. We were endeavoring to open an activity center with the goal of assisting them to achieve the greatest quality of life possible. We needed some chairs. So, my wife and my daughter went to a small town to look at some chairs they had seen advertised for sale. While there, they visited a quilting shop next door. That night she was telling me about it. I knew nothing about quilting. I had slept under some quilts my grandmother had made when I was a child visiting her. Could this be a coincidence or was the Holy Spirit trying to lead us in a way we had never experienced before?
What happened next when we began “The Search” is just glorious.
