Sharon Carraway brings message of “lively hope”

Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.

On Thursday morning, Dec. 1, the Monticello Community Prayer Breakfast was hosted by St. Margaret Catholic Church in their fellowship hall, which was decorated for the Christmas season with garlands, an abundance of flowers and a manger scene.
Gary Wright opened by reading a portion of Benjamin Franklin's Constitutional Convention Address on Prayer, originally delivered on June 28, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pa.:
“...[W]hen we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the Divine Protection. -- Our prayers were heard, and they were graciously answered. … [H]ave we now forgotten that powerful friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance. I have lived a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth – that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without [H]is notice, is it possible that an empire can rise without [H]is aid?”
Wright commented on the sentiment expressed in this speech, saying that the power of prayer was the reason he established the Monticello Community Prayer Breakfast back in the summer of 1994.
Max Bilinski welcomed everyone and gave the blessing for the meal, and a bountiful buffet was enjoyed by all.
The program then resumed with the Pledge of Allegiance and singing, led by Mike Grisham of Gideon's International, of “Joy to the World” and “Silent Night,” with the voices of around 75 people in attendance joining together with uplifting harmonies.
Retired minister Ron Cichon offered up the prayer to “touch, lift and heal” the sick and distressed, including both those whose names had been collected on a notepad as well as those unnamed but held in people's hearts.
Sharon Carraway, executive director for the Capital Area Red Cross chapter, then shared some of her faith experience.
“It's not about me,” began Carraway. “So whether I'm talking about Red Cross or if I'm talking about my personal relationship with Jesus, it's not about me.”
She referenced the old hymn that says, “This is my story, this is my song, praising my savior all the day long,” which has been given a modern variation that says, “If I told you my story, you would hear grace, you would hear hope, you would hear life.”
These lyrics provided an introduction to Carrawy's message about the peace and lively hope she has found in her faith.
“When God lets me know I am doing the right thing, I have peace,” she said. “My life has not been easy. I lost my daddy [at age] 14, mother when I was 37. I lost my son about 16 years ago... My marriage imploded. Through all the things that have happened, God has been there. He has provided a way, when I did not think there was a way.”
At one point in her life, Carraway moved back to North Florida after having been away for many years, not really knowing what she would do but nevertheless wanting to be home.
“Within two weeks, God opened a door, ” she recalled, explaining that she had been an executive director with a Red Cross branch in Texas, and after she moved back to Tallahassee, the same position opened up at the Capital Area Red Cross.
“God has done that over and over, and provided that peace that I was exactly where I was supposed to be.”
For many years afterwards, Carraway said she was content with her professional and personal life.
She remembered thinking, “I'm single. I'm happy. I'm good to go. I don't need a man in my life. I've got my children. I've got my sisters, my family, my friends. I really was at another place. I was at peace with it.”
Then her life path took a turn she didn't expect. While looking for a Red Cross volunteer in Jefferson County, which is part of the Capital Area chapter, an old high school friend reentered her life: Edward Carraway.
“It only took two times of us meeting together for me to know, like OK, God might have other plans for me. If you know this gentle giant, you know what a heart he has. I saw his heart immediately and what kind of man he is.”
Sharon and Edward became a couple and, eventually, married. She shared then that about two years ago Edward was diagnosed with Glioblastoma, a incurable type of brain cancer.
“He's doing amazing,” she said of his condition, “but he's doing amazing because God has truly blessed him and is showing us day by day that he is the God of possible.”
The Carraways, she shared, decided right at the beginning of their journey with this cancer that it was going to be mission possible, not like the Mission Impossible TV show they'd grown up with.
“It was not going to be something that defined us or defeated us,” she said. “It was going to be something that God would work through and use. And He's done just that... [Edward] has already beat all his odds.”
A song that came out about a year ago has come to have special meaning for them now: “In Jesus' Name (God of Possible)” by Katie Nichole. Carraway shared segments of the lyrics from memory that are especially relevant for her:
“…I pray for your healing / That circumstances would change / I pray miracles over your life in Jesus name / I pray that the fear inside would flee in Jesus name / I pray that a breakthrough would happen today, in Jesus name / He's the God of possible.”
Carraway then read to the gathered group the daily verse she had read that morning, which was 1 Peter 1: 3 (New Living Translation). “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus from the dead. We now live with great expectation.” Carraway pointed out that in the King James version, the end of this verse reads, “which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
“I love that 'lively hope,'” commented Carraway. “So we have hope. We have that eternal hope. Whether it's hope here on Earth that things will work out the way we want them to or the way we expect them to, we still have that eternal hope, to know that this is not the end, that there is more.”
Carraway encouraged listeners to see their life as a beautiful tapestry, the way God sees it.
“We're down here, and all we see are the knots and the broken strings, the colors that don't seem to go together. But in the end, when we get to see that tapestry, it will be a beautiful tapestry. It will be all of our dreams woven together, all of our pain woven together, the tears thrown in there, the goodness thrown in there, and it will be beautiful.”
In conclusion, Carraway said, “There's a task ahead of us... to show the younger generations that there is hope and there is peace in Christ.”
The prayer breakfast program ended with special holiday music presented by Rev. Stephen Pessah of Christ Episcopal Church, who played his acoustic guitar and sang “Mary, Did You Know?” (lyrics by Mark Lowry; music by Buddy Greene).
The next Community Prayer Breakfast will take place on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, at Memorial Missionary Baptist Church, and all in the community are invited to attend.
The Monticello Community Prayer Breakfast is not affiliated with any church. It is a spiritual idea that continues to survive the challenges of today's society because of its community support and individual participation. For more information, contact Gary Wright at (850) 933-5567 or Lgwright39@embarqmail.com.