Carole Joy Seid
What makes Carole Wildly Capable?
What makes you feel proud?
How Godly my son is. How smart he is and how amazing and Godly his children are. He and his wife are the most intentional, discerning, loving parents.
Who is the biggest influence in your life? Why?
First is my pastor, Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel in California. He taught me every word of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, doing Bible expository teaching that brought the Gospel alive for me. The second person is the founder of the homeschool movement, Dr. Raymond Moore. I have built my life around the teachings of both these mentors.
One year from today, how do you hope you’re different?
I hope I will be kinder. That is the area where the Lord is really working in my life, just walking in kindness and gentleness.
What’s the single biggest problem you’d like to solve in your community?
The lack of a public swimming pool in my hometown, Guthrie. I am completely sold out on this. I will do all I can to raise the $2 million to get this done. This is my assignment from God. I cannot rest until the children in Guthrie have this.
What’s been the biggest obstacle in your life so far?
Being raised in a non-Christian home that just wasn’t a very joyful place. My parents had never received nurture themselves so they didn’t know how to nurture others. It really held me back, especially in spiritual development. How do you believe God loves you or others love you when you don’t have that foundation? I ask God every day to heal my soul. When a child is raised in that kind of a vacuum, it affects everything. When I was 21 I was very heavily involved in the hippie culture. I was at a meditation center and a man knocked on my door and asked to talk to me. He asked me what I was reading and if I’d ever read a Bible. I told him I thought that was folklore. Later that night, as I was reading a Zen book, I became frustrated and thought, “why not? I’ve tried everything else.” I picked up a Bible for the first time, and in its pages I found the truth I had been looking for my entire life.
What advice do you wish you could give your younger self? How might it have changed your course?
I would have said to little Carole that people in your life don’t know how to give you the blessing, but I want you to stop looking for the blessing from people. I want you to rest in God’s love. People are going to let you down but God’s love never fails.
