Carol The Book Store Lady: A Lady Of Faith Love And Prayer

By Carey Hetrick

When God told Carey and Carol Hetrick to close down their bar and open a Christian bookstore in 1982, we had no idea what that journey would entail. Here we are, thirty-four years later. In a time when Christian bookstores are struggling and many closing their doors, we are still thriving. The only thing we can explain is, it is by the grace of God. We made God CEO, and have always done our best to heed His commands. The Christian Book, Music, & Supply store is a ministry. A light in the dark to reach the hurting people of our community and surrounding areas. It still amazes me the people we meet, the people we have helped, all because we obeyed God. Carol's faith is what kept it going. She impacted our lives through her example. We learned to believe God, to hear His voice, and to obey. This book is to fulfill Carol's wish to someday write a book describing this journey. Though she is not with us, she was called home to be with the Lord in 2012. Her legacy continues through her husband and daughters. It pleases us to be able to keep her dream alive and to share with others how her unwavering faith made it possible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 29, 2017
• ISBN: 9781635755527

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Carol the Bookstore Lady:

A Lady of Love, Faith, and Prayer

Carey Hetrick

ISBN 978-1-63575-551-0 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63575-552-7 (Digital)

Copyright © 2017 by Carey Hetrick

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

296 Chestnut Street

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Christian Book, Music, & Supply was started in March 1, 1982, by Carey and Carol Hetrick in Cherokee, Iowa. It is essentially small town, USA, a little town with a population of 5,300. It has been in business for thirty-two years. Carol ran it until she went home to be with Jesus on June 16, 2012. It is still open, continued by her husband Carey and their oldest daughter Tina.

This story is primarily about Carol, the bookstore lady.

Carol E. Hetrick

Life with a Purpose

Biography of a Faithful Steward

Born June 13, 1947

Died June 16, 2012

This is a true account that was written by my mother, Carol Hetrick. Because she was called to be with the Lord before she was able to finish it, her family and friends have continued it in loving memory of her to demonstrate her unwavering faith.

Christian Book, Music, & Supply opened for business in March 1, 1982. Carey & I were so excited to be bringing the things of God to Cherokee and the surrounding area. I had been at home raising children for five years, and our youngest was starting kindergarten. Carey owned and operated Carey’s Café, Steakhouse, and Carey’s Lounge. He had become a Christian in 1979 and operating the bar was weighing heavily on his heart. He had told me in 1979 that he couldn’t read the Bible. It’s so hard to read those big words and I don’t understand them anyway. I knew that in order for us both to grow in the Lord, we had to read the Bible, pray, and go to church. One day, we received a paper advertising the Bible on cassette and I knew that’s what I had to get for Carey. They came in the mail and he was very pleased and immediately started listening to them. He divided it all out so that he was listening to the entire new testament once a week. It took us a while to absorb the word to where we were, slowly but surely changing our words, deeds, and thought process. As I said earlier, by 1982, Carey could no longer operate the bar knowing how he was contributing to the self-destruction of others. He had been praying and seeking the Lord as to what we should do. In January of the new year, he was praying and again asking God what he wanted him to do about the bar. He said he clearly heard God say, Close it down and put in a Christian bookstore. He came home and announced to me what we were to do. Neither of us had any idea how to begin or who to talk to. I had the address of some Christian publishers from books that we owned, so I began writing letters. God sent a lady from Gilmore City to talk to us about Christian books, and she told me about the Christian Booksellers Association in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I got ahold of them and they helped by sending me a packet of material about Christian bookstores and the addresses of a couple of distributors that handled material for all of the publishers. Just what we needed to begin, and one of them was located right here in Iowa, not more than three hours away from us. We didn’t have much money saved up, so we cashed in our life insurance policies and began sending for items, especially Bibles, books, and music to stock our store. It was such an exciting time! God sent people to help us get the building ready. My brother-in-law did electrical work, my sister did painting. Another sister helped me log in the new books as they began arriving. A store in Cherokee went out of business, and they told Carey he could have all their old racks if we wanted them. Of course, we wanted them. We hadn’t even thought of racks! God was removing mountains for us that we didn’t even realize were there. New carpet and wallpaper were installed and we were ready to move in. Somehow, when all the boxes were unpacked, it looked like a store. I was so amazed at how it all seemed to blend together. I was so nervous about being with the public again that I talked my sister into coming and working with me for the first six months. The Sunday before we opened, we gathered