By: Kacie Starr Long
"And God remembered...." Genesis 30:22a
I run a sewing shop in a suburb about 40 minutes outside of downtown St. Louis. Our sewing shop is part of a non-profit led by me and my husband and a board of directors. The shop is called, the Sew Hope Community Sewing Room.
Like many non-profits we depend heavily on donations and the charitable gifts of others.
Recently, God has answered long-standing prayers by gifting us with two major donations. These donations of equipment and machinery were so significant, that I felt compelled to share a little backstory and hopefully encourage you to remain steadfast in your praying and receiving.
Before launching Sew Hope, I hosted a vision casting. The purpose of this vision casting was to give an opportunity for the community to learn about Sew Hope, what we planned to do, and how they could get involved.
It was hosted in December, so the vision casting was Christmas themed, and I even included a "wish list" at the suggestion of one of my mentors.
Wish list items ranged from the mundane to printer ink, toilet paper, paper towels, sewing machines and......a long arm quilting machine!
For those who may not know, a long-arm quilting machine is a speciality machine used by very serious quilters to quilt large pieces of fabric together. Access is often limited to these machines, due to the cost. A brand new quilting machine, can easily run the same cost of a small car.
The idea of asking someone to donate the equivalent of a small car, to my new burgeoning non-profit, actually made my mentor scoff.
For a moment, I was a bit intimidated. Perhaps, I should just stick to requesting toilet paper and scratch the long-arm machine, but I disregarded this thought and proceeded onward.
In 2021, the request for the long-arm quilting machine was made. It was made through our paper wish list and distributed during the vision casting, and also posted on our website. Additionally, when asked to speak at local quilt guilds, I always mentioned the desire for a long arm quilting machine.
Having this type of machine would allow us to provide this service to the community, that is not currently offered easily in the zip codes served by our shop; and in addition to serving as another revenue source for our non-profit, it would also allow us to do charity quilts for non-profits more efficiently.
Early this year, someone donated a long arm quilting machine to our sewing shop. While very appreciative of the donation, we realized that this particular long-arm was small and unable to meet our shop's long-term needs. The decision was made to sell that machine and ultimately it found a new home. (The selling of the machine turned out to be a major blessing for us, because the revenue earned from that sale was unexpected).
While I continued to believe God for a long-arm quilting machine for Sew Hope, I also began to put my faith toward a 10-needle embroidery machine. Both the long-arm quilting machine and embroidery machine are very expensive pieces of equipment that could generate more streams of income for our organization.
I wrote grants for both machines to no avail, however I continued to pray and so many others continued to pray for Sew Hope. While these prayers weren't specifically for these two machines, prayers continued to abound for increase, favor and finances for the non-profit.
Within the past ten days we have received both machines -- a long arm quilting machine that includes a long throat plate, efficient for us to serve our customers; and a 10-needle embroidery machine.
I share this testimony, because God remembered.
He heard every prayer.
He remembered us at Sew Hope. He saw the need, and He saw the opportunity, and He touched the hearts to two different strangers to extravagantly bless Sew Hope.
Regarding the long-arm quilting donor, God sent them to Florissant, Missouri all the way from Texas. When I asked the donor how did she hear about Sew Hope, she stated she was searching the internet, and came across our website and wish list.
When asked by her friends, why she decided to donate such an expensive piece of equipment to a charity in another state, and not one in her town in Texas, she responded with: "Well, they asked."
That's right, we asked.
We asked for the items on our wish list, God heard our asks and He remembered.
Just this past week, our 10-needle embroidery machine arrived. This donor decided they could no longer use the embroidery machine and wanted it to go to a place where people would be helped.
I want to encourage you today --- whether you've been praying for your business, finances, your children, or your future --- God will remember you.
Keep praying.
Prayers take time, sometimes.
God remembers.
PS: This year I really want to fall in love with God's word. Therefore, I am committing to memorize scripture each week. I invite you to join me on this journey, where I will email you the scripture for the week along with a short devotional. To receive these emails, please subscribe to my blog and receive an email from me each week. Let's go deeper into God's Word this year!
Hi, my name is Kacie Starr Long. I am an author, and speaker and I love to use my voice to point people to Jesus. When I'm not writing, I'm either working out at Orange Theory Fitness or sewing. God delivered me from food addiction and I have a sewing ministry, called the Sew Hope Community Sewing Room. I am the proud wife of Alfred T. Long, Sr and together we lead a non-profit that serves prisoners and their families. Connect with me at www.InspiredOverflow.com and via my YouTube page for Christian teachings and encouragement.
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