<img src="my-image.jpg" data-no-lazy="1" alt="" width="100" height="100" />

Joni@ImmanuelQuiltMinistry.com

Annie’s Story

Annie’s Story

Jul 27, 2024 | God-Incident

On this date last year, through Facebook Messenger, I received an interesting message from a woman in Florida about a post I had made to the Immanuel Quilt Ministry Facebook page. You might remember the post. It was a picture of me with the Grandma Puppet and a write-up that we had gone with my friend Annie to serve the homeless.

Every month Annie takes wagon loads of essentials to hand out to the homeless. I went hoping Grandma Puppet could bring a few smiles to the downtrodden, but mostly, I wanted to go and observe Annie at work. The experience left me feeling overwhelmed and humbled. So, I wrote about it and posted it on the Immanuel Quilt Ministry Facebook page on November 8, 2022, tagging Annie in the post. (Post is pictured below.)

Then, eight months later, July 2023, I get this message:

Hi Joni! My name is Pam Mc and I live in Florida. I saw your page on Facebook and read about your ministry. On one of your posts, you mentioned Annie’s ministry to the homeless and to contact you as to how one can reach out to donate. I’d like to find out what types of things she needs monthly so I could physically buy things and send them to her.

I’ve thought long and hard about this and have prayed about reaching out. Annette is not only a sister in Christ but is my first cousin. Once I saw your post about her ministry, I knew I needed to reach out to you.

Immediately, I called Annie to relay the message. She didn’t know the woman, nor did she having any knowledge of having any cousins!

As I would soon find out, Pam wasn’t looing for the Immanuel Quilt, she stumbled upon the ministry page looking for Annie!

I don’t think we will ever fully fathom how choices made today power the events of tomorrow.

It just so happened that two weeks before receiving the message from Pam, I had asked Annie about her father at Bible Study. In the ten years I have known Annie she has often spoken fondly of her momma. But her daddy—never a word about him.

I believe God allowed my bluntly asked question to be a precursor to prepare Annie for what was coming in her life, for that afternoon she went home and thought about her father for the first time in a very long time. Incredibly, two weeks later she wasn’t just connected to a long-lost cousin that she didn’t know existed, but—a sister, too!

Blessed Beyond Measure

Over the last year, Annie, Pam, and Julie have drawn very close. Julie and Pam have been able to fill in the missing gaps in Annie’s memories of her father. Other than one time visiting her father at the age of ten, she had had no contact with her father since she was five years old.

While Annie had been hiding memories in the depths of her hope chest, never to be looked at again, her father held her close to his heart.

Through Julie and Pam, Annie has learned that her father surrendered his life to the Lord, that he became a good, godly man. Not the same abusive man her momma knew. Julie was able to live her life witnessing her father at his bedside praying on bended knee. Mr. Lane became a respected police officer; a man with a heart for serving the homeless—just like Annie.

Undeniably, the most touching and freeing thing that Annie has learned is that she had a father who never forgot her. He kept her photo prominently displayed on the coffee table for all to see. Annie, age 76, a giver of blessings—was delivered a blessing straight from heaven above. Experiencing the overwhelming love of God upon her, Annie was able to release past hurts and forgive her father.

I don’t know why God chose to use the Immanuel Quilt Ministry as a conduit to reunite Annie with her family, but I am grateful He did, and once again, I am in awe at what He has done.

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” -Luke 6:38

“Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD, and He will repay the lender.” -Proverbs 19:17

“You show love to thousands but bring the punishment for the parents sins into the laps of their children after them. Great and mighty God, who name is the LORD Almighty, great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds. Your eyes are open to the ways of all mankind; you reward each person according to their conduct and as their deeds deserve.” -Jeremiah 32:18-19

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” -James 1:17

It’s interesting that the original post put on Facebook has mysteriously disappeared, however, it remained long enough to do what God intended it to do.

God is so good!

Original Facebook Post November 8, 2022

 

 

 

Gone in A Flash

Gone in A Flash

Jul 29, 2023 | God-Incident

The purple thumb drive that stores almost all of the Immanuel Quilt Ministry files—died. The book manuscript, the photos of the quilt, the curriculum, the pattern, the Bingo game, the presentation notes, and the PowerPoint files were gone. And they were saved in no other place.

At the first inkling the thumb drive was about to die, Tom copied the files from the drive onto his work computer and also onto not one, but two, external hard drives. When copying the files, and seeing the folders had been copied we thought all was good. However, after the thumb drive died, and I went to retrieve my files from any of the three locations they had been copied, all that was there were EMPTY folders. It was one of those moments when you cry out to God and remind Him is in the restoration and redeeming business. He was the only hope for bringing the lost back.

I  put the dead thumb drive into the computer and took the liberty to remind God that by His breath life is given. I asked that He allow the breath of His Spirit to well up in me, so that I could blow life back into the drive, at least long enough, to get the files secured on a brand new drive.

God heard my prayer and He answered. The thumb drive opened long enough for me to copy every file. Once the task was finished, the purple drive–died again. At that point, it didn’t matter. I was already shouting praises to the Lord for restoring the files back to me. But, the story doesn’t end here.

The following morning, when inserting the new thumb drive into the computer a message popped up on my screen telling me the drive was corrupted. I couldn’t even open the drive! Five-plus years of work gone in a flash—gone in a flash of a flash drive.

I called on my prayer warrior friends and asked them to join me in praying for a resurrection.

I blew into the dead thumb drive, as I had done the day before hoping that God would again bring it back to life. God again answered me with favor. We got it to open only on Tom’s work computer, where we saved every file, opening each to make sure it was saved. We not only copied the files to his work computer, but to his Cloud, two external hard drives, and to two thumb drives!

God retrieved that which was lost.

We prefer these types of incidents not to happen. However, I am grateful we have a God who hears and answers our prayers. That He is the One who rescues, restores, salvages, and revives the dead…with the breath of His Spirit.

The rescue, revival, and resurrection are to bring us back into the intimate presence of God. Hallelujah and Amen.

“The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” –Luke 19:10

A Path Lit with Rubies

A Path Lit with Rubies

Apr 14, 2022 | God-Incident

 

When I received the invitation to attend the Decatur Quilter’s Festival, A Ruby Celebration, I declined the invite. The dates conflicted with a retreat I planned to attend. However, in short time, God seemed to show me that declining the invitation was a mistake.

The day after declining the invite I was at the grocery store and heard a mother call her child—Ruby.

The next day reading my Bible, I came across a Scripture with the word—rubies.

The following day, having a playful conversation with my husband and reminding him we have not yet taken the trip he promised for our 40th Wedding Anniversary, with a grin I added, “And, I never received the customary 40th Anniversary gift from you.” Clueless, he asked, “What gift is that?” “Rubies!” I answered.

Next day, reading my Bible, I read the word rubies again in another passage. I wasn’t looking for rubies. They just kept showing up. It’s not exactly a common everyday word.

“Lord,” I asked, “Are you trying to tell me that you want me to go and speak at the Ruby Celebration?”

Opening my Bible and trying to connect rubies to Jesus, in less than twenty minutes I’d found a connection. In the Bible wherever rubies are mentioned, it is in association with beauty or wisdom.

Isaiah 54:12 I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.

Ezekiel 28:12-13 “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and beryl.”

Even the twelve gems listed as mounted into the breastplates worn by high priests—the first stone mentioned is a ruby (Exodus 39:10 NASB 1995). As far as wisdom goes the Bible tells us that wisdom is better than rubies (Proverbs 8:11 KJV), and that the price of wisdom is beyond rubies (Job 28:18). And then of course, I had to consider Jesus’ Names; Altogether Lovely (Song of Solomon 5:16 NIV), and Only Wise God (Jude 1:25 KJV).

When John was taken up in the Spirit and saw the throne of heaven, he saw the one sitting on the throne as having the appearance of jasper and ruby. Who is at the throne? God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit (Revelation 4:3, 5; 5:6).

Wikipedia describes a ruby as a pink-ish red to blood-red colored gemstone. Pink represents humans and red represents Christ. Jesus was God in the flesh who came to shed His blood for us.

It appeared God was wanting me to go to the Ruby Celebration to tell His Story. However, since I already had plans for that weekend and knew it would be difficult to find someone to go with me for two days, I pulled a Gideon and put out a fleece. (Judges 6:33-40)

I asked God to let me hear, or see, the word rubies one more time if it was His will that I go to Decatur. The next day scrolling through Facebook News headlines, I read, “Queen’s Ruby Tiara—the true meaning behind it.” There was no mistaking God’s plan was that I go to Decatur and share His Story.

The ruby signs didn’t stop, they kept coming. Watching a movie, the main character’s name was Ruby. In another movie, a ruby stone had special powers. Plus, I started seeing ads for rubies.

Going to get a haircut I walked into the salon and found a woman getting her hair colored—red. The woman was dressed to the hilt wearing a black leather skirt, black sweater, black leather tights, and black patten shoes with glitter. What caught my attention the most though, were her ruby earrings.

After complimenting the woman’s style and studs, she told me she is eighty-four years old. She asked that I come closer. When I did, out from under the neck of her sweater she pulled out a tear-drop ruby! The gem was a gift from her husband, a gift she has never taken off, and she added, “My husband has been gone for twenty-one years.”

Instantly my thoughts went to the gift each of us are given—the precious ruby red blood of Christ. I knew in that moment that my purpose for being sent to a quilt festival a week before Passover, and the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, was to prepare hearts to receive the ruby-red blood of Jesus Christ—the Gift of God.

Intrigued by the woman in black, I asked about her life. She told me how she went through eight years of school to become a doctor, then she said, “You probably won’t believe this, but God spoke to me and changed the direction of my life.”

“Oh, I believe it,” I said, “Right now God is speaking to me, through your rubies!”

As if that wasn’t enough confirmation of God redirecting my plans, the next client walked into the salon and the stylist said, “Take a seat, Ruby…”

God is an Awesome God!

Click here to read the details about my trip to Decatur and the Ruby Red Celebration.