Carey's Come To Jesus Meeting

Carey and daughters, Glynis Carpenter and Lexy She

Since my relatively late-in-life commitment to Christ at the age of 51 (I am now 56), I am asked my testimony. How did I meet Christ? The short story is… I was broken. I needed to be overwhelmed by brokenness, because I considered myself overwhelmingly capable.

For the longer story, read on…

For many years, I was the good CEO of my own little empire: AMTC and my family—unfortunately in that order. I was a hard worker, and AMTC was a thriving business for 24 years. However, underneath the fanfare and parade of famous faces was a constant rumble.

Some of AMTC’s partnering companies began suffering from recession. Gossip, greed and betrayal bit into the ranks of patrons and clients. Friends became enemies, and the business I loved no longer seemed to love me.

Meanwhile, at home, war ruled behind closed doors. My physician-husband was unhappy with his career and our family. Surely, my ceaseless devotion to AMTC was part of the problem. Who wants a wife who is married to her job?

After 29 years of marriage, he left. I found myself living alone in a cabin on a mountain. Our daughters were grown, my assistant retired, the AMTC company was shaking, and I was coming apart. Yet in a forsaken place, I met Jesus.

He was there from the start, but I didn’t know it. Our courtship was a long one, 40 years in a wilderness—starting in puberty and ending with the worst and best midlife crisis imaginable.

Did I need to be broken? Yes. Could I find forgiveness, purpose, and joy with the Son of God? Yes!

The result of brokenness is a miracle available to every unhappy person on this earth. It is redemption. It is new life. My failures and inabilities were replaced by the great ‘I am’ and the Godly ‘I can’ – through Him.

As every redeemed Christian knows in stories that fill the libraries of Heaven, God’s saving grace awaits us eagerly. Whether we are prodigals or professors, criminals or CEO’s, hitting the limits of our power in a head-on collision is a blessing. I received that blessing of brokenness. I was rescued by no less than a King, and I am forever thankful.

As an epilogue to my story, my daughters and son-in-law have been baptized as committed Christians. AMTC is a born-again company rebuilt from the foundation up. 2012 is our 30th anniversary. I get to work with my children and a team of Spirit-filled believers.

I feel like Moses standing on the far side of the Jordan River looking over at the Promised Land of Hollywood–where actors, models, and talent for Christ are headed. Some are already there. As Jesus would have it, they do not come in war, but in love and excellence.

Life with Jesus is a more amazing adventure than I ever could have written for myself. So God would have it for each of His beloved children.