Make Your Life Count
This is a week that allows and, indeed, encourages nostalgia. We remember our nation’s birth, our Founders, great documents, and great leaders. Today, I want to use some thoughts and writings from a great contemporary leader and author, Quin Sherrer.
Quin is a true mother in the faith, and one to whom I owe a great debt of honor. Had it not been for her efforts, it is quite possible that I would not be writing GH15 posts today, and that I would not have written any of my 20-plus books. Quin says of her Holy Spirit inspired “goading” of me to write: “It was my privilege to encourage Dutch to finish [the] book he had gone to Colorado to write. I’d give him notebooks all the time – one for his car, one for his nightstand, one for his pocket, one for his office, one to take to the mountain cabin hideaway. I prayed diligently for his book to come forth and encouraged him to finish.”(1)
“Encourage” is a nice way of saying it. When Quin has heard from the Lord regarding something, she grabs it like a bulldog with a bone. I had attempted to write a few times and failed miserably; it wasn’t time, and God had not yet awakened the gift. This caused me to doubt my abilities. However, Quin believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. And she not only encouraged me - with 500 notebooks! - she took me on as a prayer assignment. Thank God for Quin Sherrer.
Quin was born in 1933, the worst year of the Great Depression, when unemployment was 25%, food shortages abounded, and wage earners averaged about $20 weekly. In her amazing book, Pondering My Journey, Quin said of that year, “You could rent a house for $18 a month…bread cost seven cents, and a gallon of gas ten cents.” (She’s OLD!) “Franklin D. Roosevelt had become president of the United States, and Adolf Hitler, the chancellor of Germany, opened the first concentration camp in Dachau.”(2)
In this wonderful book filled with pearls of wisdom, Quin enlightens us with many lessons from her 90 years on earth. She speaks of miracles she has either witnessed or experienced, what God has taught her in both the good times and the bad, and of perspectives for life that come from a life well lived. Here’s the story of Quin receiving her first miracle, which will encourage your faith for a miracle:
“At age 16, I had no idea that God’s miracle gifts mentioned in the gospels were still available for Christians. But the Lord had a big surprise for me, though I did not know I would be the recipient of one of His blessings.
“That summer after I finished tenth grade, I attended my church’s youth retreat held at a large beach house sitting right on the sand dunes beside the Gulf of Mexico - about an hour from our home.
“On the third day, I was feeling sick and running a fever. Mother came and took me home. Our small town did not have a hospital. The doctor said I had malaria, and he ordered quinine for me, but that did not seem to help much. I lay in bed for four more days. I guess I went in and out of consciousness, as I did not seem to respond to anyone…
“We lived in the small hotel that my mother managed. She had a great kitchen staff who cooked for our boarders and guests. One day, the head “Cook” — we called her that— told Mother about a “Holy Ghost Revival” she was attending at night. She said that the visiting “faith healers” even prayed for sick people, and they were healed.
“Since I had not shown improvement, Mother asked her to see if the evangelists holding the meetings would come to pray over me.
“One afternoon, as I lay semi-conscious on my bed in the hotel, I suddenly opened my eyes. A Black man and woman, both dressed in all white clothing, were leaning over me, shouting, ‘Be healed in Jesus’ name! In Jesus’ name, be healed and get up!’ Were they angels? I certainly thought I had died and gone to heaven.
“Suddenly, I was fully awake. Lying in my bed. Healed. Surprised. Recognizing things around me. They had anointed my head with oil and prayed some Scripture prayers of faith aloud, I later learned…
“While my introduction to a miracle healing happened when I was 16, too many years passed before I fully recognized that God still performs wonders and miracles…
“Years later, I attended large healing crusades and saw people miraculously healed. I even went to two packed-out meetings conducted by Kathryn Kuhlman and saw miracles for myself when she prayed for Jesus to touch them. One of my Houston friends attended one of Miss Kuhlman’s meetings. At 45, she was given a few weeks to live due to cervical cancer, but Jesus healed her, and she lived another 53 years! She recently stepped into glory just a few weeks shy of age 99.”(3)
Quin was always ready to share her faith and pray, even on airplanes:
“Another time, while waiting to board an airplane, I had a lively conversation about the Lord with a professional basketball player sitting beside me. He kept talking enthusiastically about his praying grandmother. I gave him one of my books on prayer as we began to make our way onto the plane.
“I took my aisle seat while he made his way further back. We’d been in the air a while when the airline attendant serving snacks whispered to me, ‘When I am through serving, would you pray for me?’
“‘Of course I will. Be glad to. But why did you ask me specifically?’ I replied.
“‘The man sitting back there is engrossed reading a book. When I asked what he was reading, he said it was about prayer and that you wrote it.’
“Later she came back and knelt in the aisle beside me. It only looked like we were talking to each other - but I was talking to God, asking Him to solve her difficult situation.”(4)
That’s Quin. You may want to read this powerful book and others authored by this amazing lady. You’ll be glad if you do. But I share these thoughts today not just to honor a great lady, but to remind you to make your life count. You may never write a book, but your life is writing a story. Make sure to dot your i’s and cross your t’s.
Pray with me (from Quin’s book):
Lord, thank You for seeing us through uncertain times - for protecting us and for opening doors of opportunities for us to use our skills. We are grateful for those who defend our nation and grateful too, when wars end. We thank You for the way You have guided us through our many decisions. Thank You that You have plans for our individual lives and You will help us accomplish them.
Father, thank You for arranging encounters with some people with whom our lives have connected but are often unplanned. When these amazing events happen, I am surprised but most grateful. I praise You for such serendipities in my life.
And Lord, thank You for sustaining us from our birth to our eventual passing - all those in-between years we have been privileged to live. Help us run our race well. Thank You for the crown of righteousness that awaits us when we meet You. Help us leave footprints of faith for our descendants to follow.
We pray all these things in the name of Jesus, our Savior. Amen.
Our decree:
We decree that we will live life well, and leave a legacy of faith in God and love for humankind.
Click on the link below to watch the full video.
Portions of today’s post were taken from Quin’s recent book and memoir Pondering My Journey. Quin has written MANY books, including A Woman’s Guide to Spiritual Warfare, How to Pray for Your Children, and Praying Prodigals Home. You can find out more about Quin Sherrer at QuinSherrer.com.
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Quin Sherrer, Pondering My Journey, (independently published: quinsherrer.com), pp. 77-78.
Ibid., pp. 3-4.
Ibid., pp. 21-22.
Ibid., pp. 153-154.
I just want to share something I saw several weeks ago. It was a quick picture ofof men in suits escorting President Biden out of the oval office. It was done quietly and without all the military expedition they sent to Trump's residence in Florida.
IIEver so often I see things... when I'm not thinking about anything, but just going about my day. What do you think?