On Friday, Mar. 4, Moody Bible Institute Alumni Patti Hummel came to the Chicago campus and shared her testimony with students and staff. Her story is a true testament to the fact that God does not waste anything. Public Relations Intern Krystallin Baker shares her perspective on Patti’s story.
By Krystallin Baker, Public Relations intern
Tucked away in an odd corner on the fourth floor of Fitzwater Hall is a small classroom on Moody Bible Institute’s Chicago campus where I recently heard an incredible testimony from a woman named Patti Hummel. It was a Friday afternoon, and I was admittedly tired and ready for my weekend to begin. But testimonies have a way of drawing me out of even the most stressful of weeks. Perhaps it’s my overactive imagination or my love of people, but wherever I go and whoever I meet, my mind explodes with thoughts about their lives and their stories. Everyone has a story, a beautiful, broken story, just waiting to be redeemed by Christ. So, though I knew it was another hour of my schedule gone, I was eager to hear Patti’s story.
Patti comes from a very humble background. She grew up in the Deep South to parents who were very poor. I sat enthralled as she told us about the way her mother used to sew together flour bags to make curtains, table cloths and even their clothes. Although my parents were always able to provide clothing and food for my siblings and me, my heart resonated with a less than wealthy childhood. I pondered my own memories of hand me down clothes and used toys and furniture from gracious people in our church.
As Patti painted the hard realities of her past, she did so with a grace and a joy that I knew were accredited to the Lord. No resentment tinged her voice as she recalled being mocked and taunted by teachers and treated as if she were a stupid, lazy child.
Patti suffers from severe dyslexia which was undiagnosed her entire childhood. She suffered through school barely passing because, in her words, “I was good with my hands.” She knew how to make beautiful things because of her mother’s own creativity.
As she continued her life story, telling us about meeting her husband, his incredible love for her and his desire to see her learn, she always came back to the mantra, “God doesn’t waste anything!” She repeated this statement again and again as she explained how God has taken her from illiteracy to be an author of 17 books and president of a publishing consultaning group. Though the world has told her she was worthless, God has told her she is worthy of being used in mighty ways. And, use her He has!
Part of Patti’s journey was Moody. Because of her husband’s diligent work in helping her learn to read, write and think well, she was able to complete a program at Moody. She is yet another incredible person who has added to the legacy of Moody and continues to do so through her work.
I am convinced God knew many of us, myself included, needed to hear the truth Patti has learned about God and His talent for using insignificant people to do significant things. I came into a small corner room of Fitzwater stressed, overwhelmed and feeling incredibly inadequate. Graduation in May loomed like a dark tower before me, and I have been facing it with doubts about my own significance and ability to do anything great for God.
Patti Hummel’s story was a much needed wake up call. God can take us from small, humble beginnings to do wonderful things beyond our imagination. Patti’s words make me think of 2 Corinthians 4:7 which states, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” Yes, as I face graduation, and as we each face tomorrow, we are but weak, un-incredible jars of clay. But, God redeems our stories and fills our jars of clay with treasure as a demonstration of His all-surpassing power.
Tucked away in an odd corner on the fourth floor of Fitzwater Hall is a small classroom on Moody Bible Institute’s Chicago campus where I recently heard an incredible testimony from a woman named Patti Hummel. It was a Friday afternoon, and I was admittedly tired and ready for my weekend to begin. But testimonies have a way of drawing me out of even the most stressful of weeks. Perhaps it’s my overactive imagination or my love of people, but wherever I go and whoever I meet, my mind explodes with thoughts about their lives and their stories. Everyone has a story, a beautiful, broken story, just waiting to be redeemed by Christ. So, though I knew it was another hour of my schedule gone, I was eager to hear Patti’s story.
Patti comes from a very humble background. She grew up in the Deep South to parents who were very poor. I sat enthralled as she told us about the way her mother used to sew together flour bags to make curtains, table cloths and even their clothes. Although my parents were always able to provide clothing and food for my siblings and me, my heart resonated with a less than wealthy childhood. I pondered my own memories of hand me down clothes and used toys and furniture from gracious people in our church.
As Patti painted the hard realities of her past, she did so with a grace and a joy that I knew were accredited to the Lord. No resentment tinged her voice as she recalled being mocked and taunted by teachers and treated as if she were a stupid, lazy child.
Patti suffers from severe dyslexia which was undiagnosed her entire childhood. She suffered through school barely passing because, in her words, “I was good with my hands.” She knew how to make beautiful things because of her mother’s own creativity.
As she continued her life story, telling us about meeting her husband, his incredible love for her and his desire to see her learn, she always came back to the mantra, “God doesn’t waste anything!” She repeated this statement again and again as she explained how God has taken her from illiteracy to be an author of 17 books and president of a publishing consultaning group. Though the world has told her she was worthless, God has told her she is worthy of being used in mighty ways. And, use her He has!
Part of Patti’s journey was Moody. Because of her husband’s diligent work in helping her learn to read, write and think well, she was able to complete a program at Moody. She is yet another incredible person who has added to the legacy of Moody and continues to do so through her work.
I am convinced God knew many of us, myself included, needed to hear the truth Patti has learned about God and His talent for using insignificant people to do significant things. I came into a small corner room of Fitzwater stressed, overwhelmed and feeling incredibly inadequate. Graduation in May loomed like a dark tower before me, and I have been facing it with doubts about my own significance and ability to do anything great for God.
Patti Hummel’s story was a much needed wake up call. God can take us from small, humble beginnings to do wonderful things beyond our imagination. Patti’s words make me think of 2 Corinthians 4:7 which states, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” Yes, as I face graduation, and as we each face tomorrow, we are but weak, un-incredible jars of clay. But, God redeems our stories and fills our jars of clay with treasure as a demonstration of His all-surpassing power.
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