Jobless in San Antonio

Following the collapse of Zippity, I unsuccessfully secured employment after circulating hundreds of copies of my resume. It seemed I was being rejected even faster than I could apply. I even applied with the government for work in Iraq. I was that desperate. Then, Cora got me a job interview with a friend that managed a Christian book store. I reconciled with God that I out of humility would accept the job, I could have done as a teenager. It seemed I had come full circle in life. I was offered the job initially, then the offer was withdrawn when I wouldn’t agree to a long term contract. I knew God had a plan for me. How could I obligate myself in a way that might limit God’s handiwork in my life?

I thought I was pretty much at the bottom of the job opportunities, only for God to point out the job as janitor at Grace Point. He asked if I was willing to be a janitor. As a career path, I considered it pretty much the bottom rung. It didn’t quite fit in with Physicist, Research Scientist, President or CEO. Humbled and on my face before God, I agreed to be obedient and submit to God’s authority and claimed His best on my life. Jamye offered me the job of janitor. I enthusiastically accepted the job. Before I could start work, I was promoted to Facility Manager and then introduced as Director of Facilities. This is God’s perfect job for me and His abundance on my life.

“You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat”. Matt 5:6

A Good Friend Finds Christ in Seattle

Upon the closing of Compdata, Cora and I were faced with the need for employment. My dad and uncle had worked as a civil servants and they thought this would be the perfect route for me to go. I filled out the extensive job application to work as a physcist. We had to select where I would be willing to work. We decided we would move anywhere but Oklahoma or Seattle. Oklahoma had bad memories and Seattle always rained. I was offered the job in Oklahoma and immediately transferred to Seattle. Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor?

I was working as a civil servant for the Department of Defense on the cruise missile program and transferred to Seattle for school. My classmates and I were all staying at the same extended living motel. I knew God was prompting me to tell a friend about Christ. I walked across the parking lot and shared in his apartment that God loved him and wanted him to have eternal life. We prayed together and he found new life. He stayed faithful in his walk for years after.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,^[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. John 3:16

What are the odds?

I was driving through Columbia, SC and stopped for lunch. I walked into a restaurant and much to my surprise, I discovered our previous pastor from OKC dining there. Dr. Wendell Estep invited me to his church and showed me around the facility. I had served as deacon to Pastor Wendell during our stay in OKC. What are the odds that I would stumble across my pastor in a small restaurant thousands of miles away? This was a God sighting. I’m not sure for what purpose, but the uniqueness of the event seems to indicate God’s hand at work.

Do You Know Jesus?

Cora and I were eating at a Chinese fast food restaurant when I spotted a man in a wheel chair struggling to get his take home food inside a pocket behind his wheel chair. I asked if I could help. He said, ‘Sure! Do you know Jesus?’. He said there was not much time left and it was important I tell others about Jesus. I asked if I could help him get to where he was going. I pushed him across multiple parking lots to get him through busy traffic and made him comfortable at Target. I nearly dumped him out of his wheel chair in the middle of the busy street when I dropped off the curb. We both had a great laugh.

Drenched Wet in Atlanta

I was driving through a rain storm near Atlanta, Georgia when I spotted a couple standing at a corner with no obvious means of transportation. I picked them up and provided a blanket for them to wrap up in. They traveled with me to a location further down the road. While in my Suburban, I had the opportunity to share with them about Christ and how He was the answer to voices the young man had in his head.

Too Cold to Sleep in Idaho

I was traveling in the winter time across the northern part of Idaho. There was snow everywhere and the roads were slick. It was late at night and into the early morning hours. I climbed into my sleeping bag and curled up in the back seat. I tried to sleep, but it was too cold. I started up the Suburban and continued my drive. In the early morning hours at day break, I drove up on a car stalled on the side of the road. There was a family inside. The children were already turning blue.

Flat Busted and Truck Locked up in Shop

Cora and I were broke and looking for God’s active intervention in our life. My pickup stalled in the middle of traffic and it was towed to a local automotive repair shop. The cost of repair was about $800. We didn’t have money for lunch much less a repair job. We began to pray. We refused to borrow the money and prayed some more. We sold Cora’s collector edition 30-30 Winchester rifle to her father to keep us right side up financially. After about 30 days, we got a call from the shop that some one had gone by and paid the truck repair bill in full. God showed his power and honored our commitment to not borrow money.

Thanksgiving is a Bad Time to have a Tooth Ache

Cora and I have made a commitment to “neither a lender or borrower be”. This was a God inspired commitment on our life. We fully expected the decision would be a challenge, but didn’t imagine the risk would take on this twist.

Pastor John asked the question, “Are you living your life in a way that is worth telling stories about?” I am afraid of needles. No, that’s not right. I am afraid of the pain that needles bring. When I was young, I got real sick. My mother took me to the doctor and he said, ‘this shot may hurt a little‘. It was bad. It was real bad. It really hurt. It was one of those shots where you see the pain in the face of the nurse giving it. So, I carry that fear with me. The anticipation of the pain the needle is going to bring me.

Last week I cracked a tooth. Have you ever tried to keep smiling with the pain from a cracked tooth always present in the forefront of everything you are doing? Smiles aren’t cheap. They cost when the pain from a bad tooth is making the whole side of your face hurt. The solution is easy. Right? Just run to the dentist and get the problem taken care of. You might not have the ready cash to spend, but it is necessary so it makes sense to just whip out the credit card and make the pain go away. But there was a problem….

I had made a decision earlier in the year to take the Bible verse literally, “Neither a lender or borrower be“. Cora agreed that would be a good thing. Well I didn’t have the money for a dentist, so I (friends and family, also) began praying. I don’t know what others prayed, but I prayed for God to heal my tooth. After 3 days of incredible pain. God did not heal my tooth and my prayer changed to, “God it hurts too bad to know what to pray. Please help me to pray such that I experience your abundance in this painful situation“. I was in the pit with a lion on a snowy day and I wasn’t coming out until God saved me. This was appropriately on Thanksgiving Day. I believe this to be in the humor of God.

So Wednesday Pastor Dave feeling compassion on me, gives me a name of guy who is a dentist and his personal cell number. I called him from the church on Friday and left a message. I’m not sure exactly what I said. But, it contained the information that I had little money and a big tooth ache. Maybe he could help? I prayed a bit and continued working while thinking I’d really wanted God to heal my tooth, because I am chasing God. I believe God is the same today as He was thousands of years ago and we serve a miraculous God. I want that God to be a part of my life and I don’t want to miss anything. But, I am beginning to wonder if the lion will be the one climbing out of the pit on a snowy day.

Dentist Rob picked up my message and in God’s humor immediately pushed the erase button on his cell phone. Then, I guess thought, “whoops”! So he surfed to the Grace Point website and found my email address and shot me a message that he wanted to talk. He thought he might be able to help. I got the message and gave him a call. Have you ever called a doctor or dentist and said you didn’t have any money and would they treat you? I didn’t expect the conversation to last very long. At this point in the adventure I don’t know who Rob is and frankly my expectations are not very high, but the lion is breathing down my neck.

Paraphrased, I tell Dentist Rob on the phone, that I don’t know where his beliefs are when it comes to God, but I am on a quest. I want to see God at work. I’ve prayed for healing and the tooth still hurts. Finally, I figure out who Rob is and his faithful walk with God. What an encouragement that was. God was at work! Rob asked me where was I? I said I was at the church and he said good. He would pack up his stuff and come right over. Do what? Yep! He said he would pick up the stuff he needed and come right over. Get the picture? I bet he’s bringing needles, also. Ha!

I set up a chair in the hallway behind the stage and borrowed a spot light and mic stand to hold it. Dentist Rob showed up with a hand full of sterile tools, needles and whatever. He borrowed some rubber gloves and said he thought the stage spot light was a great idea. He said it’d be about a ten minute process and I’d be done. Awesome. I sat down. Tilted my head back and he shot me up with deadener. I lost count how many times, but I can tell you I was praying. I was praying for God’s grace and an easy tooth extraction. After about an hour and in God’s humor, Dentist Surgeon Rob says, “well it’s time to go to the hospital. If I had a hammer and chisel I could get it out, but will need the air drills at the hospital. Let’s go.” Did I mention, I had little money and refused to borrow my way out of the problem?

So back to the pit with the lion on a snowy day. I made a choice to live debt free, regardless of the cost. In the pit, the cost seemed high. I had plenty of time to pray in the pit as Rob wrestled with the Lion. I wonder if he knew he was in the pit?

Before the extraction, I prayed over and over again, “God this really hurts. Thank you for the times when the pain subsides. God, please heal my tooth. But God if you choose not to, I understand you are God and whether you heal my tooth or not, I know and am confident you can. So God, please don’t let me miss the truth that I will learn from this experience. God please help me to pray the prayers that will be a blessing to others.”

And you know what? God is faithful. Rob and I came out of the pit and share the coat of a lion on a cold day…….

God the Provider – Gold Run, CA

I grew up a pastor’s kid in a small mountain community in the Sierra Nevada mountains called Gold Run. My dad supplemented his preaching income by driving his VW up the mountain warning upcoming traffic there was a ‘wide load’ tractor trailer rig following. It was not unusual to pray for a pilot opportunity to make $20 to buy groceries when there weren’t any.

I can remember in snow storms, dad would work the chain gang. He would catch cars going up the mountain that needed their tire chains installed. He would work until he was too cold to work any longer and come home to hang his $1 bills out to dry over the furnace. God was always faithful. It was the best childhood a person could have.

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus”. Philippians 4:19