Nothing Is Lost

PART TWO of the Following Jesus Birthday Adventure.

The wide-open door of the purple building seemed like a warm, welcoming gesture. Two black benches adorned with perky yellow pillows flanked the entrance. So what if there was no signage outside, my friend and I were curious to discover the purpose of this darling establishment.

Stepping inside was magical. Bright white floors, shiplap walls, and soaring ceiling planks enveloped us in peace. Light emanated from the space. An artful display of leather journals, meaningful jewelry, wooden signs, gorgeous clothing, and other goodies filled the store. 

Eye AND soul candy—what can be better?

A dark-haired woman steaming just unpacked blouses greeted us warmly. We quickly fell into a conversation that unfolded more than I ever imagined. 

This lovely employee told us there had been a fire several years earlier that destroyed the original building. After telling me the wondrous tale, she grabbed the last photograph of their miracle and handed it to me. “You can take it,” she said with a smile.  

Years ago, Sheri, the store owner, sensed the Lord telling her to place hearts and pens outside her shop before she went on vacation. When she returned, people had written prayers on the hearts and tied them to the tree next to her shop.

Sheri questioned, “What do you want me to do, Lord?” She discerned Him telling her to buy cards—lots of them. And that is exactly what she did.

People came, wrote their prayer requests on a card, then tied them to the tree.

When the fire happened, 13,000 prayers were hanging next to the shop. And the miracle? Not one prayer was lost in the fire. 

After fellowshipping with this precious employee and sister in Christ, we exchanged prayer requests, hugged, then headed out the door full of praise for our God. 

As God would have it, once outside, Sheri arrived and graciously shared her heart about what she called a holy fire. She said the fire took everything man-made, while the prayers remained untouched. 

“We didn’t lose anything,” she declared with gentle confidence.  

Her brilliant faith and love of God perfumed every part of her story. Even the hardships she endured because of the fire, were humbly accepted by this precious soul. 

Like many things in life, the destructive inferno was just the prelude to a bigger story. After the fire, the fence, the benches, vines, anywhere and everywhere you could hang a card in the little prayer garden held a request. 

Before the city required her to remove the cards, 44,000 hopeful requests blanketed the prayer garden outside her shop.

How do we know there were 44,000 prayers? Stay tuned. Next week I hope to share another part of this incredible story.

God’s thoughts are not like our thoughts, His ways are much higher than ours. God is always good. No matter what. And sometimes what we consider loss is merely a transition, a comma, in the story God is writing.

You can read about the fire and watch a news report here:

https://www.wbtv.com/2019/06/26/blowing-rock-business-known-popular-prayer-garden-heavily-damaged-by-fire/

“And the same faith brings joy and peace because it sets right our relations with other people, and with all externals. If I am living in an atmosphere of trust, then sorrow will never be absolute, nor have exclusive monopoly and possession of my spirit. But there will be the paradox, and the blessedness, of Christian experience, ‘as sorrowful yet always rejoicing.’ For the joy of the Christian life has its source far away beyond the swamps from which the sour drops of sorrow may trickle, and it is possible that, like the fabled fire that burned under water, the joy of the Lord may be bright in my heart, even when it is drenched in floods of calamity and distress.”

 MacLaren’s Exposition