Do you believe that there are still miracles today? Do you believe that the impossible can become possible?
After reading this post, I hope you can answer the two questions with a resounding „Yes!“!
How it all began
The story began a year ago at the ASi conference (ASi is the abbreviation for „Adventist Self-Supporting Institutions, Enterprises and Mission Groups“). There I was given a few stickers with English Bible verses in a beautiful hand lettering style. In conversation with the giver, we realized that apparently there were no such stickers in German. So I had an idea in my head. I wanted to create stickers with German Bible texts. The first design was based on one of the English stickers. The text comes from 2 Corinthians 12:9, where it says: „My grace is sufficient for you!“
Buttons, magnets & key rings
I printed this first design myself on sticker paper to see if it could really work. I took these first test prints to my church the following Sabbath and showed it there. A week later, I was surprised. My sticker was no longer a sticker, but I was given a button instead. Two lovely women from our group had distributed these self-made badges with messages for peace and freedom to the participants of the demos during the corona demos. Now Corona was over and they no longer had any use for the badges. So they decided to give me their two machines and lots of raw material. They were of the opinion that all of this would be better off with me for God's work. It was an overwhelming gift for me! I was given immense values just like that!
I started experimenting with the machines and the buttons. I quickly developed a passion for it. But so far I only had one design. I wanted another one that would speak directly to people and grab their attention. So I started praying that God would give me another design. Just a few minutes after this prayer, I saw a glowing yellow smiley in my mind's eye. A Bible text popped into my head: „Rejoice in the Lord always!“ This text comes from Philippians 4:4. In one evening, the design was born.
Many people don't know much about buttons. So I also started making magnets and key rings. Over the last six months, we have translated the design with the smiley into Czech and Sorbian. Here are a few figures: In Czech, we have had 1250 stickers printed so far, as well as 210 buttons, 200 magnets and 136 key rings. In Sorbian there are 250 stickers, 110 buttons, 116 magnets and 65 key rings. The German figures will follow later. 😊
So much for the background. Now let's see what God did at this year's ASi conference!
Putting God to the test
Every year, the ASi conference brings together a wide variety of institutions, projects and entrepreneurs who want to promote the cause of God together. Every year there are many stands where you can find out more about the various projects. Last year I had my very first stand there. I didn't have that much on offer back then. Just my Poster of the „wide and narrow path“, two Postcards and the Picture with Jim Elliot's saying „Lose to win“. My stand looked completely different this year! On the left you can see my stand from last year and on the right the one from this year.
Before the conference, I had asked God for a certain amount of income that I wanted to achieve in order to cover the costs of my small art business. I was frustrated for the first few days. My first day's income amounted to just €9. So I thought I would make a deal with God. I promised him that I would donate my daily income from Friday's collection on the Sabbath to support the ASi projects. In return, I asked him to pay me back double or triple the money in some way. I asked God for a special experience to strengthen my faith. Right now I am in a very challenging professional situation and need many miracles from God. Through my gift and prayer, I wanted to express my faith to God and train my trust.
However, I didn't expect God to answer this prayer so quickly! I actually had the highest daily income on Friday. It was exactly the minimum amount I had planned to give to God. Without hesitation, I gave this gift on the Sabbath, not yet realizing what great things God was already planning in the background.
The lost car key
There was a special call to prayer on the Sabbath evening. Someone had lost their car key and had been looking for it for a while. The car key had a special feature: it had a key fob with a yellow smiley face on it. The whole congregation (roughly 600 people) prayed in groups of two or three that the key would turn up again.
Sales at my stand on the Sabbath evening were rather slow. I drove back to my accommodation that evening, feeling a little sad. The next morning, I handed my worries over to God and asked him for forgiveness for my unbelief. I also prayed for the lost car key. I felt very sorry for the owners of the car. The car was even broken into by the ADAC to see if the key was perhaps in the car. The departure was planned for Sunday. It's hard to leave with your car without the keys. So I prayed for a miracle.
While I was still sitting at breakfast, I suddenly received a phone call. A man I didn't know was on the phone and asked when I would be at my stand. He needed me urgently. I still had no idea what to expect. But I quickly packed my things and drove to the conference hall. I was already expected at the entrance to the hall. It was the owner of the lost car key. He explained to me that I was the second person to find out: the key had turned up again! Apparently it had fallen out of his jacket pocket into the handbag of a lady sitting behind him during an event. On Sunday morning, the astonished lady found the strange key in her handbag.
What followed still fills me with awe when I think about it. The grateful key owner asked me if he could buy all the key rings and badges I still had. He wanted to give each participant a pin or pendant as a thank you for their prayers and help and as a reminder of the miracle. Unfortunately, there were only 22 key rings, 27 small badges and over 30 larger badges. But what is that for a congress with several hundred participants?
Do you know the story of how Jesus fed thousands of people with 5 loaves of bread and two fish? (If you haven't heard it yet, you can read here!) Something similar, perhaps not quite as big, happened here!
Mass production
As I didn't know how many key rings I would be selling at the conference, I had printed out lots of smileys before the congress. But some of them hadn't been cut out yet, let alone made into key rings. But I had my button maker with me. Because anyone who wanted to could make their own button, keyring or magnet at the conference. I had wisely brought enough raw material with me.
But I had a problem: the stamp for the small 25mm buttons was jammed. That sometimes happens if you're not careful. It happened to a child once when I wasn't paying attention. I didn't have any tools with me to fix the problem. Now I had raw material for over 140 more small key rings, but couldn't use it because of the defective stamp.
A small miracle happened here: the owner of the recovered key tried to repair the stamp. He said he wasn't that skilled with his hands. But it didn't take too long and somehow he managed to get the stamp working again. He found the necessary tools. In the end, the stamp worked better than before. So I started producing more key rings during the closing speech.
When I had 60 key rings ready, I initially stopped production. Somewhat naively, we thought that these key rings with the buttons and the additional 250 or so stickers would be enough for everyone.
At the end of the closing speech, the miracle of the found car key was told. A picture of the key with my little smiley was shown. The participants of the event were invited to take one of these free tags, buttons or stickers to share this great experience with others.
But even though the event wasn't over yet, the key rings were completely sold out within a few minutes. We realized that the tags would never be enough. So I quickly got to work. I churned out as many pendants as I could. At the end of the event, crowds of people gathered around my stand. Everyone wanted one of these key rings! We couldn't keep up with production!
At some point, the small key fob templates were completely used up. But the demand was still immense. I still had 40 templates for the 45mm keyrings. Without further ado, we decided to make these too. In total, we were able to pass on around 240 key rings and buttons plus around 250 stickers in this short time.
We were thus able to send out almost 500 witnesses and reminders of God's miracle-working power into the world! Every participant who saw this smiley face on Sunday morning will be reminded of the greatness of God when they see it again. I also hope that everyone who has read this story here will also be reminded of the miracle every time they see this small, simple smiley.
But this amazing experience does not end here!
When God pours out his blessing
The lucky owner of the recovered key bought all the Smileys I had left. He literally gave me the last euro he had in his wallet! When we realized that wouldn't be enough, he promised to transfer the rest of the money to me.
When I counted up all the day's takings at home that evening and saw the total, I was in tears. Through the cash receipts alone, God had repaid me four times the amount I had given him on the Sabbath. In the following days, a few more transfers followed, so that it was even five times the amount! Isn't that a brilliant God?
What I have learned from this experience
This experience was a very important lesson for me. I realized once again in a completely new and vivid way what happens when you put a little trust in God and give him what little you have.
The first sacrifice was made by the two women who simply gave me the button makers, including the raw materials, worth several hundred euros. When the car key disappeared, many made a sacrifice by diligently helping with the search and praying. Next, there was an open heart that was ready to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God. The car key owner was so grateful to God and the helpers that he wanted to share his joy and gratitude with them. He was prepared to make a financial sacrifice in order to pass on the blessing he had received. I myself brought my highest daily income as a sacrifice to further God's work. In addition, I made all my resources available to God, regardless of whether the costs would have been covered in the end or not.
Everyone's focus was not on their own advantage, but on glorifying God and supporting their fellow human beings. God took these willing hearts and made something great out of them.
If the two women hadn't given me the button makers, I would never have made key fobs and the key fob would never have been on the car key. If the key had not been lost and if so many dear people had not searched and prayed for this key with all their hearts, the owner would never have had the idea of making this pendant available to all participants of the conference free of charge.
Sometimes we wonder if our small everyday sacrifices and selfless acts make any difference at all. We often fail to see the significance of even the smallest act of love. However, I have been able to experience so many times recently how God makes something big out of our small gift that we place at his disposal.
We often consider our gifts and abilities to be too small and insignificant. Our powers are limited, our efforts too weak. We ask ourselves what difference a small person can make in this world. But I decided a long time ago to make my time, skills and money fully available to God. When I started this blog five years ago, I never dreamed that I would be where I am today. Before I built the website, I got down on my knees and gave this site to God. It was to glorify His name alone and encourage people. Over these years, not only my art and this site have developed. My faith has also grown. I trust God more now. The more I trust God, the greater the experiences I have with Him.
This experience at the conference was very important for me. I had been on sick leave for six weeks beforehand. I wanted to give everything for God and didn't respect the limits of his natural laws. As a result, I became exhausted. God worked a lot on me during those six weeks. He showed me many things in my heart. It was a painful but healing purification process. I understood more deeply what it means to trust God completely and to give Him control. Although I am currently in the midst of a storm full of uncertainties and an unclear future, there is peace in my heart.
The experience at the ASi conference was another very important confirmation for me that God has everything in his hands. He doesn't want us to work ourselves up for him, but simply to make our limited resources available to him. He takes it and makes something brilliant out of it.
A few weeks before the ASi conference, I had already prayed that God would work a miracle in my life in which HE would be glorified. Nobody should be able to say what great things Sophie has done. Instead, everyone should say: „Look at the God of Sophie! What kind of a great God is this who works so powerfully for her?“ This prayer was inspired by this brilliant speech by Christopher Kramp.
For me, this experience was already a first answer to prayer. But in the next few weeks I need a much bigger miracle than that! I want to set up a small health center. The road there is rocky and steep. But the miracle with the car key helps me not to give up, but to trust God. So far, God has cleared every obstacle out of the way. I'm very excited to see how he wants to overcome the next hurdles too!
Have you experienced God up close like this?
What about your trust in God's omnipotence? Have you already experienced God's miracle-working power in your life?
If not, then ask God for it! I invite you to make agreements with God! You can test him to see if he keeps his promises. Consecrate yourself to him and his service. Depending on what he puts on your heart, offer him some of your time, your money or your talents. You are guaranteed not to suffer a loss! God will reimburse you for every sacrifice at least twice or three times over!
When a few people realized that the owner of the car key was financing the distribution of the key fobs himself, some of them willingly made a donation. One evangelist even covered half of the total cost. So here too, God provided, so that in the end no one was left wanting!
Even if we sometimes don't receive the blessing back immediately, we will see in eternity at the latest what a great impact our humble sacrifice has had! The next time you ask yourself whether it is worth giving something to God, look at the smiley! If you don't have it yet, you can find it in order in my online store. You can use it as Stickers on your phone, to your Car, on your bathroom mirror or on packages. As Fridge magnet it reminds you of this story every time you open the fridge. If you use it as a Pendant on the key you will automatically be reminded of this story. Or you can wear it as Badge on your backpack. Maybe someone will talk to you about it and you'll get the chance to tell the person's story!
The little smiley is something inconspicuous, but God used it to write a great story.
Finally, here are the promised figures for the German Smileys: Within the last six months, almost 500 smiley stickers, 330 key rings, 170 badges and 80 magnets have been distributed.
Mit den tschechischen und sorbischen Materialien wurden bisher (Stand November 2025) 2000 Sticker (wobei noch einmal 1000 deutsche Sticker gerade nachgedruckt werden), 400 Anstecker, 400 Magneten und über 550 Schlüsselanhänger hergestellt. Und das alles innerhalb eines halben Jahres! Das allein ist schon ein Wunder für sich.
I'm curious to see what other stories I'll hear with this little smiley... 😊
Bonus: Genau zu der Tagung wurde ein neuer Scripture Song (ein Lied, dessen Text ein Bibeltext ist) mit dem selben Vers aus Philipper 4,4 vorgestellt. Gottes Timing ist wie immer genial! 🙂
Als die Erfahrung des verlorenen Autoschlüssels erzählt wurde, durften wir ein zweites Mal dieses tolle Lied hören! Scripture Songs sind dazu da, um Bibeltexte auswendig zu lernen.
Hier ist eine Challenge für dich: Höre dir das Lied so oft an, bis du es auswendig kannst! Ich bin mir sicher, dass dieser Text dir in schweren Zeiten oft ein Trost sein wird!
Hier kannst du dir das Lied anhören:
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Praise the lord! 🙏🏽
Dear Sophie I usually never have a cell phone on my bedside table. On sabbad I was also invited to beate's wunderhonig lecture with an overnight stay. Incidentally, I wanted the key ring (from you) that was hanging on her wall. I was distracted by the dreadful foggy, drizzly, rainy, disgusting weather and continued to walk outside. Chickens had to be fed, cat sneaked around, dog chased after us and enjoyed life with his little stick. The old horse was taken out of the fence and led to another large meadow or grassy lane. Bordered by bushes and trees. Through tall wet grass. And uneven paths we walked with the 20 year old horse? T
happy. That this animal, independent and healthy, immediately started eating green! I just wanted to say that I am now praying in the morning? After the prayer. I came across your blog through Johannes Hertel. Which of course took a very long time to read, but ultimately brought wonderful facts to light. Through Beate I got to know hiob; I realize that you can do everything and nothing you set out to do is too difficult. Your Renate
I'm glad you made it through this long post! You are right: I am weak and can do nothing, but with God all things are possible!
I already have this technique:-(