A Candle and a Conversation

From the Archives: 2010

Written by Cyndi Ziegler

I have been making candles for 25 years. For 17 of those years, I have lived in Boone. Larry and I have three grown children and one adorable grandson. I own and operate High Country Candles in downtown Blowing Rock.

I cannot remember a time in my life when I didn’t believe in and know Jesus. I have loved Him my whole life. But I remember a major moment when God won me over. I was determined to do this whole God thing the “right way.” I kept focusing on not messing up and following the rules. I held such high expectations that I put on myself. About ten years ago, my ‘religion’ walls came crashing down.

Embracing God’s Forgiveness

One day, I sat down in frustration and said, “I am so sick of me.” Then there was a knock on the door. My son came in crying and apologizing for doing something wrong. I said, “I forgive you.” He asked me how I could forgive him. I told him, “I’m your mother.

It’s my pleasure to forgive you.”

As I said these words, I was blown away by the forgiveness of God. I had heard about God’s forgiveness my whole life but had never experienced the feeling that comes when you embrace it. I understood more fully what it means to crawl in God’s lap and have Him hold me. His love for me is so much more powerful than what I can do for myself.

Ministry Outside the Church Walls

Several years ago, I realized I had several false assumptions about Him specifically related to what it meant to be in His ministry. For the longest time, I assumed that the only place where ministry happened was in a church building or at least at an official church-sanctioned setting.

The Lord has been teaching me that ministry can and does occur every day of my life. He has taught me that I don’t just sell candles. He desires for me to serve people. He has appointed me to the role of listening to people’s stories. He has made the candle shop into a ministry that attempts to love and serve people from all walks of life.

I am so blessed to be able to serve in this way. People come in and share about joyous times and deep wounds. Many times, this leads to times of prayer together. I can ask God for HIS blessing for their lives. There are so many people that come in, many of them live hours away. They have come back months later to update me on their situations, and it is always such an amazing blessing to hear what God has done.

They let me know how our short interaction and time of prayer affected them, and I got the opportunity to let them know the same. I am so blessed by their openness and by their willingness to share. One woman even
told mew that before coming to the shop, she had decided to take her own life. After hearing about the grace of God, she changed her mind. God is amazing!

We spend most of our time outside of an official church setting, so we can assume that most of God’s ministry through us is also done outside of that setting. I am looking forward to seeing what else he has for me to do in this ministry he has given me.