Courageous Woman: Casting Cares Upon Jesus

Aug 14, 2025
5 min read

By Carmen K. Maendel

Hello friend, my name is Carmen K. Maendel and I am a child of God. I have reflected time and time again, “Why did I write this book, Courageous Woman: Casting Cares Upon Jesus?” The short answer is felt led to write a book that honored God and brought glory to Him. The unabridged version of the answer to this question has to be looked at through several deepening levels. I have borrowed and adopted an idea from Dean Graziosi that I want to share with you about the 7 Layers of “Why”. The way this works is you ask yourself seven layers deep why you are doing something in your life. An example of this is the following: 1) Why am I passionate about health and fitness? Because I like to have more energy for the things I love in life 2) Why do I like to have more energy for the things I love in life? Because then I have more quality time with our family 3) Why do I want to have more quality time with our family? Because this brings more unity to our family 4) Why is more unity in our family important? Because we have more peace and quality of life together 5) Why is it important to have more peace and quality of life together? Because honoring your father and mother is biblical and the right thing to do 6) Why is honoring your father and mother important? Because when our son honors his dad and me, he also honors God 7) Why is it important to honor God? Because we are made in His image for the specific purpose of honoring, worshiping, and praising Him. This is my seven levels of “why.”

God has taught me many lessons. I have learned to love and trust God with everything that occurs in my life; the good, the bad, and the ugly. I have learned to not trust my own heart, and that it can be desperately wicked and deceive me without even knowing it. I have learned that God is omnipotent and omnipresent, and knows things are going to happen before I do. Thus, trying to hide anything from God is completely senseless and futile on my behalf.

If God closes a door there is a reason for it, and He has something much better in mind for me. I have learned to have reverence and respect for my husband, and not ever take for granted everything that he does for me and our son. I have learned to hold loosely everything and everyone that God has blessed me with in life. It all belongs to Him in the first place. I have learned from Jesus’s example that the best leaders are servant leaders that lead by example and serve others. The way to succeed in life is through helping and serving others, and placing their needs before my own. I have learned about mercy, grace, and forgiveness, and how important it is to quickly forgive and not hold onto grudges in my life. I have learned that the only prisoner is myself, thrown into bitterness and grief, when I do not forgive others. I have learned that the tables can turn very quickly, and the golden rule applies; “Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you.” I have watched God remove people that I love dearly, heal some in miraculous ways, and allow very difficult and painful scenarios to occur in their lives and my own. I have learned to surrender it all over to Jesus, and trust fully that He knows better than I do what I truly need in my life. This means that I have a lot of unanswered prayers, emotional heartache, and even physically painful moments or trials occurring throughout the span of my lifetime. I embrace them all and I am thankful for them all, including the hard times. This is my opportunity to experience a minute amount of pain that Jesus must have experienced Himself when He died on the cross for our sins. He took the punishment all upon Himself dying on the cross and defeated death, so that we could have eternal life and the gift of the Holy Spirit guiding and directing us along the way. I have learned that no matter what I have accomplished in life, I need to point that all back to Jesus. I am nothing without Him and He deserves all the accolades, praise, and adoration; not me. I know that God has my back and places a hedge of protection around me every day of my life.

Romans 8:28

“God works all things for the good of those who love Him, according to His purpose.”

This book is important for anyone that feels tossed around in this crazy fallen world we live in today. It can help encourage and inspire people as God takes a situation that appears negative and turns it around for His glory. I thought it would be important to share some of these life experiences I have had personally with Jesus in both my personal and business life. Likewise, I know there are many that will be able to relate to and resonate with my stories, and also the other ladies story testimonies of how God has shown up and completely transformed their lives as well.

This book has the ability to help people that are struggling with a variety of life’s unimaginable trials and challenges. It is a source of encouragement and hope; a place of oasis filled with spiritual peace that readers can dive into and receive God’s guidance along the way. The tools and reflection questions are meant to be a sounding board to help you begin discovering God’s promises and goodness in your life. The weaving together of various stories illuminate God’s transformative power and amazing grace.

These women in this book are not merely survivors; they thrive as courageous women and warriors of faith. As you progress through these pages, I hope you are reminded that regardless of your current circumstances, you are never alone in your struggles. God does not promise that bad things won’t occur in our lives, however He does promise to be right there with us, when they do, to help us through them. Remember when you look down and see only one set of footprints in the sand; that was when God picked you up and carried you.

Psalm 91: 11-12

"For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways;

they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike

your foot against a stone."

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