Our featured lady this month, Catherine Ware, is sharing from her heart in letter form. Catherine (Cathie) and her husband, Pastor John, are new to the area and to Sugar Grove Church. What a blessing they have been already!
Greetings to the Women of Worth of Sugar Grove Church!
It is wonderful to be with you and to get to know you. Thank you for all of your love and support these first couple of months of our life in Indiana! As I look forward to continuing to learn about you, here are a few facts about our family and me.
John and I have two lovely adult daughters and two great sons-in-love. We have four grandsons and a little granddaughter on the way. Our children live in California and Oklahoma. Our daughters and their husbands are dynamic Christians, and all of them are serving in ministries. We are very fortunate to have a strong, Christ-centered family. Two of our grandsons have received Christ! This is quite an amazing thing, since we were the first couple on either side of the family to establish a Christ-centered marriage. It was very challenging for us when we began our life together, since we knew nothing about how to do this! It has been quite a process. God has blessed us with more believers on both sides of our family.
Because of the influence of several Christian friends, God began to do a work in my life as a young adult. One of my friends began to pray for me and invited me to several Christian concerts and events. She included me in a Bible study and also encouraged me to go to a summer retreat in New Mexico. I had no idea that I needed Jesus in my life. I only knew that "something" was missing.
During this camp, the Lord connected me with a young woman who had grown up in Africa. She explained the love of Christ so simply, and I learned it was possible to have a relationship with Jesus. I can still remember the incredible peace I felt after I prayed my first personal prayer to God.
Learning that Jesus was pursuing me and asking me to fall in love with Him was and always will be one of the sweetest moments of my life. He was so gracious to accept me, and to this day I can still recall the way it felt not to have Him with me. My first prayer as a new Christian was to have the opportunity to share Christ with my family and see God raise up a new generation of godly people. Little did I know that He was going to bring a special person into my life to start this new generation! This was quite a surprise to me!
There are many interesting details too numerous to write, but I was introduced to John within 24 hours of my decision to begin a relationship with Jesus. New Mexico was the perfect place to fall in love with Jesus and meet John because I love the beauty of the mountains and being outdoors. We enjoyed riding horses and hiking and doing lots of talking! John was the first to realize he was in love. It took me another month! He asked me to marry him and we were engaged and married 15 months later.
Within three years, Jesus became my Lord, John became my husband, and I became a mother. This was also surprising for me since I had planned to marry and have children at a much later stage in life. John was in grad school and I was finishing undergrad when I became pregnant with our first baby girl. Following grad school for John and my graduation from college we moved to Florida with our first baby girl and began our first ministry. I knew nothing about ministry as a new Christian. My husband discipled me and taught me the basics of the Christian life. We learned how to disciple our little girls and began the greatest adventure of our lives. There are many challenging things that happened and we experienced severe stresses and some serious problems. God has gloriously seen us through painful conflicts, miraculous healings, incredible opportunities and hurtful circumstances that only He could have redeemed. I am looking forward to sharing some of those stories with you at a future time. Our God is truly able to do more than we can think or imagine (a truth from Ephesians 3:20!).
I love reading scripture and studying. The Old Testament book of Proverbs is very special and He speaks to me regularly there. One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 3:3,4, "Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart so you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and man." Proverbs is so inspiring and encouraging. God has given me a verse for my life and it happens to be Philippians 4:6-7. He has also given me verses which have become themes for my husband, children and grandchildren. My favorite devotional guide is My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers.
Some of my favorite things to do are hiking, biking, power walking, and sailing. I absolutely love being outdoors, walking on the beach, and swimming in the ocean.
From the time I was a little girl I have been fascinated with people of other cultures and their languages. Working with people from different countries and spending time with my family and friends are what I cherish! I am a people person and love relationships!
My hobbies are sailing, reading, and cooking. I also enjoy art history and visiting museums and presidential libraries. John and I enjoy the theater and all types of concerts together.
God has given me a passion to see His glory through a new generation of godly people. He started with my own family, friends in churches and communities, university students, and people in other countries. He has given me the privilege of sharing His truth in many places. I want to make Him famous wherever He asks me to go. He deserves to be exalted and I owe it to Him to do so! Can you tell I have a passion and calling for missions? :)
My favorite mission trip so far was to Africa. It was a sad time to travel because John had just lost his mom. He preached her funeral, and a week later we left for Africa. While waiting for our flight, my cell phone rang, and my brother-in-law called to tell me that after John's mom died, he and my sister-in-law decided to attend church, where he heard about Jesus from a friend. He wanted to call before we left for Africa to tell us he had decided to give his life to Jesus! This was the beginning of another great adventure, and he has become a mighty man of God.
When we arrived in Africa, we were so excited to share this news with our mission team. While there, I met a wonderful African named Joseph. He was the first person to greet me at our guest house there. In the course of our conversation, he told me his wife was expecting and due to have their baby any day.
Two days later he excitedly shared the news about the birth of their precious baby girl. He beamed with joy as he described his little treasure. Then he smiled and said, "You know we have a custom that the first traveler we meet after a baby is born has the privilege of choosing the name. You are the first traveler I have met, so will you please choose our baby girl's name?"
Without hesitation and with tears in my eyes, I said, "Her name will be Esther, just like Queen Esther in the Bible, and also my husband's mother who recently went to heaven to live forever with Jesus. Your baby has the name of two very wonderful women!"
Joseph and I stood still and thought about the blessing of new life and the way God allowed our paths to cross. When I shared this experience with John, he was so delighted in the midst of his grieving and God encouraged both of us to continue His work with new strength and enthusiasm. He always has a way of giving us something beautiful in the midst of great difficulty. "To comfort all who mourn, to grant all those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting, so they will be called the oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified." (Isaiah 61:3)
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