Written by: Linda Dodds
Sometimes when I’m praying, my heart is so overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit that I make pledges to God that I have not thought through. I pledge to do whatever He would have me do. I have learned that you must be careful when you do that; because He is listening, and takes our pledges seriously.
In the year 1999 God placed upon my heart His desire to reach children who have been abused and abandoned. He told me there are many children who have only heard His name in a profane way. He wanted them to know that He loves them; in fact, that their names are written on His hand. (Isaiah 49:16)
For the next few months, I tried to reason with Him. I told Him I lived in an obscure town in the middle of nowhere, and besides I ran a business that took all my time, (like He didn’t know that).
I had at that time owned and run a flower shop for about nineteen years. I thought I knew everyone in town. I was not aware of any children like He had told me about. And anyway, what could I do to teach those children; how could I reach them?
I’m sure you are thinking that it was presumptuous of me to argue with God. You would be right. But really, I didn’t know where or how to begin. He wasn’t forthcoming with that part of it either. He kept repeating what He wanted; not a word about how I was to go about doing it.
Little by little I thought about the ‘How”. I have enjoyed working with my hands for as long as I have memory, one of my very favorite things is hand-sewing, everyone loves quilts when they are sad. So I made the Grand Pledge: ‘Ok, I will make five quilts but I assure You, no one is going to want them, and as I have said before I don’t know who to give them to.’ And so it began!
I called women from my church and asked them if they would help me tie five quilts, which would be given to abused children. They agreed on a time and date, and would come to my flower shop. It then dawned on me I didn’t know how I was going to get the message on the quilt. If I wrote it on, washing would fade the letters away. After more contemplation I decided to cross-stitch the words “JESUS LOVES YOU” on the back of each of the five quilts. By the end of the fourth night I had picked the lettering of the first word, “JESUS” out five times; it was crooked everytime I did it. How was I going to do this? Frustration was setting in. This was not simple – the message was – but the work was not going to be. I realized this would take forever by hand and what if He wanted my than Five! I complained to a friend who promptly told me I was going about it all wrong. The quilts should be embroidered on a machine, then they would all be the same, and done so much faster. Why hadn’t I thought of that?
The problem was, I didn’t have one of these machines, and I didn’t know anyone who did Where could I get one real quick? She had an answer for that also. One of the ladies at our church happened to have and ‘embroidery machine’. My friend was sure that all I had to do was ask. I did. The “embroidery lady’ had twenty questions that I had not considered yet. This was getting harder and harder, but I had promised to do five quilts. I would persevere.
There was the question of color, the size of letters, and then what about a picture to match the front material. As we sorted through patterns, JoAnne became satisfied about what she felt I expected and away she went. Two days later she brought the finished pieces to my shop. They were beautiful. She had placed “JESUS LOVES YOU” in the upper left hand corner of each quilt, with a little embroidered picture that matched the front of the material. I cried.
On the appointed date the ladies came to my store and we tied five quilts with matching yarn. They were so pretty. One of the ladies asked if I had considered a Bible to go with the quilts. I hadn’t, but said I would pray about that part. And then another lady said we ought to put in toiletries for the children because they are usually taken out of their homes with only the clothes they are wearing. I felt good about the quilts, but now there were all these other ideas; and they were good ideas.
The quilts were done, but I didn’t know who should receive them. I called a friend who worked for the Police department. I asked if she knew of any foster children in town and explained why I was inquiring. She laughed like I had asked a really dumb question and assured me that she knew children who would be happy to receive the quilts. I told her what was on the back of them and asked if that would be a problem. She said she didn’t think so, and that I should bring them over the next day.
The following day before taking the quilts to the Police department I stopped at the bookstore and found a Toddler Bible for the three younger children’s quilts and a Comic Book Bible for the two older children’s quilts. I also purchased toiletries for all the quilts and colorful large bags that didn’t look to birthdayish. They looked so cute and I felt really good about what we had done. I was rather euphoric actually.
When I arrived at the Police department Chotta wasn’t there and I gave them to the person at the front desk for her. All that evening as I thought about the wording on the quilts and the Bibles, I began worrying. All the next day at work I just knew Chotta was going to call and tell me there was an issue because of the wording and the Bibles, but she didn’t call not that day or the day after, I got so excited and thanked God for this wonderful opportunity to help some of His children. I told Him how repentant I was for doubting what He had wanted and promised to do more, (There’s that pledging, again).
In my excitement I ran out and bought more material, delivered it to JoAnne to be embroidered and set a date for everyone to tie more quilts. The evening arrived. No one came to help, I thought up excuses for everyone and set another date, put it in the church bulletin and waited for the day to arrive. No one came. This happened four times.
Now I began to question if I had really heard from God. Did I just think He had spoken to me? I became depressed and started adding up how much money I had spent then rationalized that I didn’t have the funds or time to do this. Maybe God hadn’t really asked me after all, because if He had it would have worked. Right?
One Saturday evening, after closing the store, I sat on the floor behind one of the trees in the shop. I told the Lord how sorry I was that it hadn’t worked. I gave Him all the excuses again. I felt so bad that it had failed. After my initiaL ARGUING, I truly had wanted the project to work. I wanted what He wanted – to reach the children and show them His love. I sobbed heart-felt tears for a long time.
Sunday morning I sat alone at church, feeling like I had let God down. I was desolate. During the announcements, a high school girl came forward. She told about a concert that was being given at the high school by 30 students. THe year before they had raised $500 for the Breast Cancer Walk. They were hoping to raise $750 at this concert, and they had unanimously decided to give the donations to Linda’s Quilts for Kids. I couldn’t talk; tears streamed down my face. It was His work. He had heard my prayer and I had heard Him.
The concert was scheduled to be in three days. There were no quilts made. I called the same women again. This time they came. The next day our pastor’s wife called me and asked if I had a name for what I was doing. I didn’t. She said if I could think of one, a small poster could be made to go with the quilts and I should have a mission statement.
All day I prayed, I asked, and begged Him to give me a name, The word I kept hearing was “cuddle”. I continued asking for a name. Around 7:00 PM I finally said, “Father, this is your project, You have to give me a name for it.” Once again I heard “cuddle”. I said, “That’s great, that’s what they will do with them, but I need a name.” Again “ciuddle”. I said, “OK, what does it mean?”
Very clearly I heard, “Children Under Duress Divinely Loved Everywhere”! I am learning to be humble, just not as fast as I need to. The poster was made, C.U.D.D.L.E. Outreach was done in crayon colors. We have a mission statement which He also gave us. The concert took place, but not many people knew about it; the attendance was poor. I left feeling sad and disappointed for the kids who had worked so hard to make it a success.
In fact, I felt so badly about it that I didn’t open the flower shop that next day. There was a knock on my door at home., When I opened it, there stood the young girl who had planned the concert. I told her how sorry I was that it hadn’t been a success, and how I appreciated her heart and help. She gave me a surprised look and handed me an envelope. “Linda”, she said, “this contains the money we raised last night, $800.00. And people are calling for the CD’s. We are going to give you that money as well.”
Remember, Trust, Faith and Humility? I’m trying!
The very next day, I received requests for more quilts from Child Protective Services, and Chotta at the Police department. That was 18 years ago. To date we have produced over 14000 C.U.D.D.L.E. Wellness Kits. I would like to say I have learned to listen for God and His direction at every turn; but I get ahead of Him much to often. What I know is this, the work of God is done through people, He searches out those who will hear His message, and then follow through. I feel totally humble that He chose me to carry out one part of His important work. I love being a Vessel for Him.