Gloria Curtis started this amazing ball rolling when she gave her friend, Kim Curtis, some sturdy drapery scraps several years ago. This past October Kim put these scraps to good use making fabric pumpkins for her family. Realizing that she had plenty of remaining fabric, she felt prompted to make fabric pumpkins for the staff of the church and school where her husband pastors in Indianapolis. She was in the thick of wedding plans for her daughter and argued within herself, “I don’t have time to make 22 of these pumpkins for the staff!” But God seemed to be guiding her to make time for this gift, which she did. Kim tells her story:
I set The pumpkins out on a table where the teachers could see them and pick out which one they wanted. I put a little card with each one that said, “If you were a pumpkin, then we’d pick you. Thank you for your faithful service to God! We love and appreciate you! ~ Pastor & Kim” The teachers seemed to really appreciate them, and I was glad I had followed through. It was time to get back to wedding planning!
One of the school moms loved the pumpkins and was wishing for one. She ended up coming in the school office the one time each week when Kim is in the office. She and Kim had a wonderful conversation that got down to the soul level. This ended by Kim inviting her to church and helping her realize it wasn’t necessary to have her act together before coming to church.
“We all have issues. That’s what church is for – to help and encourage each other!”
She did visit church and found not only a wonderful welcome, but one of the pastors suggested that she do a four-week Bible study. She jumped at the suggestion and asked to do it with Kim. Completing the study took 6 weeks due to all sorts of issues including a dead battery and Thanksgiving holiday.
“The second lesson on judgment seemed to really be a sobering thought to Danielle. She readily admitted that she was a sinner and would go to hell if she died. Our final week was on Wednesday, December 12th. We got to the end of the 4th lesson and I noticed that she had already written quite a bit in the blanks with the prayer to God. I asked her about it and she said she had prayed on Monday morning! The lesson mentions that if you pray this, you should let your Bible study leader know. I asked her why she hadn’t called or texted me, and she said, “It was five o’clock in the morning!” She couldn’t sleep because and decided finish up the Bible study so she would be ready for Wednesday. It was great to see how God drew her to himself through all of this. One of our ladies has already had her over for a couple of play dates with their children and plans to disciple her starting in the new year.”
God sometimes uses a team and some pretty interesting circumstances to accomplish His purposes. Gloria donated fabric. Kim made fabric pumpkins. John, one of the pastors, encouraged Danielle to do the Bible study with Kim, and John’s wife, Abbie, is discipling her. What a powerful reminder to be part of God’s plan to reach people, whether it be listening to His prompting to donate fabric to a pastor’s wife or actually doing a Bible study with an unbeliever. GOD WANTS TO USE YOU!