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FAITH NOT FEAR 

 Faith Not Fear has been our family motto since 2013. It was a saying my mother-in-law, Carol, would speak to us and over us while she was undergoing cancer treatments. “She said no matter what happens she knew God had her.”  Honestly, I think Faith not Fear was more for the people around her than for her. She knew Jesus and she trusted in Him with all her heart. Her friends and family around her were scared, scared of the unknown, but she still preached everyday about not letting the fear in. She told us to remember God’s promises to us all. God keeps His promises, and He is faithful even if our circumstances look differently than we expect.

      Her faith was contagious, and she knew that whether she stayed here on this side of heaven or God called her home, she trusted God.  Her life was faith in action. She had such confidence that whatever the Lord had her go through, she was trusting Him fully with the outcome. She had more faith than anyone I knew. Faith Not Fear is her actual handwriting and is still a reminder to our family every day. Though she physically isn’t here, her ministry is still alive. Those three little words have such powerful meaning as the world keeps getting crazier and crazier.  Carol gave us a little piece of herself when she passed not knowing those words Faith Not Fear would help her family get through some rough days ahead and was an encouragement for the future. She did not know but God knew what He was doing.

  She lost her battle to cancer in November of 2013.  I know there was a huge party going on upon her arrival. I know Jesus said well done my faithful servant. I could just see it! I was fortunate enough that I got four great years with her until it was her time to be with the Lord.

     Not shortly after Carol passed away, I had a dream. It was so vivid. The dream was all in black and white except for a single red cardinal flying around. Carol loved cardinals! In the dream the cardinal was flying around my husband and my German Shephard as they were walking around the woods, and which was a foreshadowing of the home we purchased two years after she passed away. Then all of a sudden in my dream I found myself in a solid bright white room with a single old phone hanging on the wall, one of those old dial up phones with the same red cardinal flying around! Then all of a sudden, the phone rings and I pick it up and it’s Carol! In the happiest voice she said, ” Hi, it’s me!! Oh, please tell everyone it’s so wonderful here and not to worry! I will see everyone soon!” Then she hung up!

It’s crazy how God communicates with us about our loved ones.

     When I met Carol, she was a house parent at the Tennessee Baptist Children’s Home and fostering 10 children in her home at one time. Over the course of her life, she had fostered over 275 children in her 26 years of ministry!  Fostering and helping children were her passion and Jesus shined so bright in her.

     As I got to see “Mrs. D” (whom the kids called her) in her element, I realized there was something different about her. She had a supernatural patience about her. Patience that can’t exist without the Holy Spirit. A love that was so unconditional and a selflessness that resembled Jesus so much. I loved that cottage and the way I felt when I walked in there. Some of the best years I had where in that home. I loved walking in and seeing everyone from every background.  It was a reminder that hurt, pain and loneliness doesn’t discriminate by gender, ethnicity or age. Actually, I had felt more at home there in that little cottage than I had felt in my own home growing up and for once I didn’t feel alone.

It’s crazy how God has perfect timing. I became a part of that cottage when I needed it the most.  I felt like I was going through the same things these kids were going through. Losing my parents and trying to take care of my little brother. She helped me so much by giving me advice on my brother and sister dynamic and it was also a reminder that in a world of pain there is so much love from God. He shows His love by bringing people in our lives to help us. Carol was that helper that God brought to me.

   A person that loves God and loves Jesus can easily love people. You can sense it and its in everything they do.  Mrs. D was that person. She loved you unconditionally. She loved you in the hard times, the good times, the messy times and the dark times. I remember so many times after she had gotten all the kids down for bed, she would walk over to me and then be like, “and how are you doing?”  I would always be like…”lady, go to bed… you got to be exhausted,” but she always took the time out for everyone. She didn’t have to sit there hours on end and talk to me about me and my problems, but she did. She was always wanting to help. She utterly amazed me by her selflessness.

    Another great quality she had was she wasn’t afraid to tell you how it was, but you knew she loved you none the less. She sure didn’t sugar coat anything and gave it to you straight.  She was the first person that I really encountered that I believed was a true follower of Christ. She not only talked about Jesus, preached Jesus but she took up her cross every day and walked it out. She obeyed God and her calling on her life and walked out her faith every day. It’s one thing to talk about God but to walk it out is a whole other ball game. It’s the REAL relationship we have with God that makes all the difference.

 NO FEAR IN JESUS

Jesus used Mrs. D to show me who HE was. Boldness in her for Jesus was amazing and it was contagious for me.  The Jesus in her has led me to my own boldness in my faith. Never underestimate what God can do through a person. Just as God used Mrs. D to show me whom He was, God can use you to bring people to Christ. Live out your life in fearlessness for Christ. Live out your life in Faith not fear for Jesus. Tell people the good news! This world is not getting any better and people need to hear who Jesus is! Don’t be afraid to talk about Jesus!

My name is Candace Dyer and I am fortunate to be married to Carol’s son, Jon. He is just like her. Patience of a saint and faith that is unwavering. Knowing God, His character and promises I can see my life so much clearer. I have personally seen in my own life where He has made something beautiful out of my ashes (brokenness). I have gone through much sorrow and just as Isaiah 61:3 says, ” For God provides for those who grieve in Zion- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.”

     I look back now and see where God intertwined my life to bring me to where I am now. I can now see the reason why things didn’t work out and why there were closed doors. I can also see where God has answered my prayers. It has been far better than I had imagined for myself.  I have found peace in that and know each step I take He is with me from here on out in my life even if it might not be what I expect. I have so much confidence in Him.  He truly is a great storyteller, and the story keeps going….

“I’m just as ordinary as everybody else. But I have developed my skills and I take my calling from God very responsibly. That doesn’t make be special. That makes God special.” – Mrs. D