JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Dr. Karia Bunting, author of Daddy’s Delight: Embracing Your Divine Design
(Lift Every Voice Publishing)

In Daddy’s Delight, Karia Bunting reminds women that they are God’s workmanship, His masterpiece, His “poema”. That God has intricately woven together every fiber of their being and created each one special and unique. That God, having completed His work of art, gave her to mankind as a gift.

Evident in this great care God took in fashioning woman is the importance and value of each one. So why do so many women struggle with God’s design, wishing they could change just this or that one thing about themselves?

Bunting challenges each reader to accept and embrace the fact that, in whatever season of life, she is God’s masterpiece-not her own work of art. When God sees her, He sees His beautiful creation. A creation that yes, has some wrinkles needing to be smoothed out and yet, is one in whom is His delight to love to perfection.

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write Daddy’s Delight: Embracing Your Divine Design?

Dr. Karia Bunting: I live among women who encounter every obstacle in life, and I have had quite a few obstacles to overcome as well. But my real inspiration is the Word of God. There I have found a reason to celebrate who I am and who God is.

Weekly, I teach His Word to the women at my home church, Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, TX, and I have found His Word effective at changing lives. I want Him to do that for more people through this book.

JP: What sets Daddy’s Delight: Embracing Your Divine Design apart from other books in its genre?

KB: I am an expositional communicator of the Bible. My passion is applying the Word of God to life. My opinions are worthless, I am dirt and will return to dirt. But God’s Word will never fail to accomplish its’ purpose, and it’s purpose is to bring people into an intimate relationship with Him and make them all that they can be.

So this book reflects that mindset, that worldview. I make it real, because I am a real, live woman who has lived a real life. But the daily ins and outs of life are not where true life is found. True life is found when you know the truth about where you are in life, and know the Word of God about where you are in life and are able to put the two together so you maximize your life. And it works, I know.

So this book puts the two together: our lives at every stage – unmarried, divorced, married, caretaker, mom, businesswoman, career woman, minister – all of it, and melds it with the Word of God in really practical heartfelt ways and through experience, and brings it to the reader so the reader’s life can be changed. This is not just a book. Reading it, for most people I know, has been a life-changing experience.

JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that lead to Daddy’s Delight: Embracing Your Divine Design getting out to the public?

KB: Another God thing, I’ll tell you. I had been working on this project for years, but never really expected anything to happen with it. And one day, I decided to present it, went through the process of editing it and when it got to the publisher, it was accepted! I was encouraged, helped, and evaluated along the way by some wonderful people whom I love dearly.

God seems to surprise me in life. A young lady at a recent bible study which I taught came up and asked me the question, “How do I get where you are?” I provided her an answer that surprised her, I know. “Personal righteousness”, I responded. Why? Because when you are walking intimately with God, you hear Him. When you know His voice and hear Him, you obey Him – even when it doesn’t make sense.

Sometimes you end up doing things that don’t make sense to you. Going out on limbs because He told you to – that kind of thing. Then you find yourself prepared for your next blessing just because you were willing to obey yourself out of your comfort zone.

Then when He blesses you, you blink your eyes and say, “Who, me?” Well, yes, because He chose you and called you. The same thing happened with the television broadcast the Lord has given my ministry Focused Forward with Dr. Karia Bunting aired on DirectTV 378, Sky Angel 126 at 10:30 CST, 11:30 EST.

I couldn’t have been more surprised than anyone when the station called me and asked me to broadcast with them – that they were looking for a female expository Bible teacher. The same thing with teaching women internationally that God loves them. The same thing with conference and church speaking. Who knows what He will do when you trust Him and obey Him?

JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take for you to start and finish Daddy’s Delight: Embracing Your Divine Design?

KB: I start by talking to the Lord about the subject. When I have the subject He wants to talk about, I look at it from various angles. Like, this book is about a woman’s life at every stage. So, what are the stages? Being unmarried. Being a widow. Being a career woman. Being a minister. Dealing with temptation. Being a Caretaker – etc. That’s what we deal with in real life.

So the next thing is, what does God have to say about that stage? What are His instructions? In order to answer that question from every angle, I review the relevant scripture for than life stage. (In my doctoral program in theology, I had to write a commentary of the Bible in draft form, so this kind of analysis is something I trained for…it is fun for me! I am weird like that!

I exegete several passages of scripture related to that subject. I choose the passage/passages that seem to be most relevant. I prepare an outline that is basically the same kind of exegetical outline that would be used to prepare a message for a conference, retreat or a Sunday service. I add in personal experience as illustrations of the points that the scripture makes about how to live. I edit.

That’s pretty much it. That’s why, when people read it, it changes their life. Scripture has a way of doing that. It has nothing really to do with me. I am His vessel. I have lived His Word, so I know that it is true – I know it really works. That is what I am happy about.

JP: What is next for Dr. Karia Bunting?

KB: Friend, I’ll tell you, I don’t know why in the world people say they want to get in front of the Lord, because I have a hard enough time keeping up with Him! But I love Him, and I am so thankful, unbelievably thankful, for what He (and He alone) is choosing to do in my life.

We are working on a study guide to go along with Daddy’s Delight, so readers can integrate the principles into their life. In September, I will start teaching the Word again at Life on Life again, a Bible study of about 150 women that meet at my home church, Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, TX. We do not gather in the summer, so I am looking forward to seeing them in September.

I will continue to develop the television broadcast. It is my prayer that the Lord will expand my conference and retreat speaking ministry, because I love talking about Jesus! And we are beginning to do a lot of work in Africa and Haiti for women there who desperately need Bible Study materials.

My television program is recorded and sent to the women leaders in churches in those countries, along with a study guide so they can minister to their villages and communities. We believe the Lord is moving us into radio, so please, for you pray-ers out there, pray for that!

And we have started on the manuscript for the second book, so pray about that as well. But I am prayerful that God would release and free women through this current book, Daddy’s Delight: Embracing Your Divine Design. Your readers can check out our website at http://www.focusedforwardministries.org/ to see what God is doing through this servant down in Dallas, TX.

Facebook: Dr. Karia Bunting

[include file=current-advertisers.html]