Each Season Brings a Gift

At this point, I have entered a new season of opportunity and would not have dreamed it possible a few years ago.

by Carol McNew

I would like to introduce myself. My name is Carol McNew and I am now 70 years old. That is hard to swallow when you have always been the baby in the family!! I am eager to share, however, that my journey in the last four years has been so different than I expected.

At this point, I have entered a new season of opportunity and would not have dreamed it possible a few years ago. My husband and I were married almost 44 years when he passed away from brain cancer in July of 2013. My life has always centered around my husband and two daughters, our grandchildren and the wonderful church we have attended since 1974.

Raising two girls, being supportive of my husband’s career, doing volunteering and part time substitute teaching, teaching aerobics, etc. made for a very full and wonderful life. As we approached the empty nest I became more involved at the Little Light House and at my church.

Those seasons were a blessing and taught me so much about what it is to serve the Lord with gladness. It was also challenging to always have the right attitude and heart when life became demanding.

Now with three grandchildren who are growing up very fast and my daughters and their families committed to the path the Lord is showing them, I could have easily become isolated without my husband at my side. The Lord, however, has pulled me close to His heart and revealed to me that I can share my dreams with Him. He loves to listen to my thoughts as I worship and pray, journal, and dream. 

As a result I am gaining courage and have found opportunities which have astounded me with adventures beyond the scope of my wildest dreams. In 2014, I was able to go to North Africa and support a family in mission there for a short term visit.

Because the short trip seemed helpful but lacked the depth of commitment I was seeking, I stepped back and sought the Lord about purging my heart for the lost and what it would mean to carry the Gospel as in Acts.

This strong leading came as a result of an in depth study of the Book of Acts in a Precepts Bible study that I was involved in in 2015. After seeking the Lord for quite some time He connected me with Iris Global Mission in Mozambique, Africa. I applied and was accepted at a Mission School which I attended during the summer of 2016. At this school I connected with a young woman who has a ministry to children who live in the trash dump in Managua, Nicaragua. So, in a few weeks, I am going to visit her, observe her ministry, Beauty for Ashes, and see how the Lord leads from there.

This is certainly a path I was not necessarily expecting, however, I am eager to follow—and on the path—find that all of God’s resources are available to us when we pursue the Great Commission in Matthew 28.

I do not think we have to travel to Africa or Central America to carry the Gospel.

We can do that every day wherever the Lord positions us. For me, however, these adventures have been extraordinary gifts from a Saviour who is far from distant, who loves us and desires for us to follow after Him. The Kingdom of God is near.

Carol McNew has lived in Tulsa since 1974. She and her husband, Russ, raised their two daughters in South Tulsa. Russ passed away in 2013. Since then Carol has acquired a very special Goldendoodle, Jodi Cupcakes, downsized into a small home in Brookside, continued to be involved in her church, and traveled in the mission field and to spend time with her daughters and their families who live in other states.