Monday, October 4, 2010

Port St. Lucie to Hot Springs

On October 4, 2007, three years ago today I was laid off from a very good job as The Director of Commercial Real Estate in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. Our life had been in chaos for some time at this point and we were trying to find God's direction in it all. We knew what God had said to us and what we were called to do, but were not sure if that would be a reality again or not.



Within a week of that transition Deidre and I received a call from her mom, Dianne Bates in Hot Springs, AR, with an invitation to work with The Master's Table and begin a mission in this soup kitchen on Sundays to the down and out in Hot Springs. The problem was we were still in South Florida and Hot Springs was a long way away. So we did what we knew to do, we prayed and asked God for His direction. We had some very big issues that needed to be addressed, so I put out a "fleece" to God and said this is what has to happen for me to know it is your will for us to move to Hot Springs; 1. I needed a job there. 2. We had a house in Port St. Lucie, FL to sale in a pretty bad economy. 3. We did not have a place to live and no money to rent it if we did. 4. We did not have the means to make the move 21 hours across the country.



In late October, the 29th, I decided to come on out to Hot Springs for a few days to just check everything out. The day before I was scheduled to fly out I received a call from a national head-hunter I had contacted that said I have a potential job for you in, of all places, Little Rock. She said the only problem was I had to interview there immediately. I told her I was flying into Little Rock the next day and so the meeting was set. I was driven from the airport to the McCain Mall in North Little Rock, met with the mall manager, and in less than an hour I had the job. I left there with the first obstacle checked off.



That night I met with Doug & Lain Rodgers, the founders of the Master's Table. We hit it off and went to the facility the next day. We served 486 people that day, then had 30 return on Sunday for a mission service in which I spoke. By the time this was done I was sold. I called Deidre and told her we were moving to AR. I still did not have a place to live, our house sold, nor did we have money to move, but I had a word from God.



When I returned to Port St. Lucie we decided to go to dinner at Bennigan's. On the way home from dinner my car was rear-ended by a Ford F150. It did a good deal of damage and put me seeing a chiropractor for a couple of weeks. What Iwe did not know was that God was using this event to "give seed to the sower". We settled with the insurance company with all bills paid and $500.00 in cash for pain & suffering. Now we have been around long enough to know that "if it's not big enough to meet your need it must be your seed". We decided to sow that $500.00 in Pastor Clint Brown in Orlando. He was a great mentor and had been our covering pastor for over 5 years.



Within just a few days things started heating up. We had a couple of Hispanic men come to our front door at 9PM and asked to come in and see the house. They said they liked it and wanted to make an offer on it. We showed them around, against my better judgment at that hour, and sure to their word, they made an acceptable offer and bought the house; 2 down, 2 to go!



We then received a phone call from a lady in Hot Springs, she said, "We really feel this is a God thing. We will have signed a lease on a house for 6 months for you, we are going to pay for it and all you have to do it move in." 3 down! Then we received a call from a man who said he wanted to pay for our entire move; gas, hotel, food, everything. He sent me his credit card and that was that. On November 13th, 15 days form the time I flew to Hot Springs I was in a truck with my nephew Andrew and the Twins, Mikayla & Mariah, headed to Hot Springs, AR.



I wish I could say that it has been easy the whole time, but that would be a lie. But I can say, thanks to an initial $500 seed, and many since that, we have been able to walk into the purpose and destiny God has designed for us. My challenge to you is to step out in faith, sow into the ministry God has attached you to, watch God move on your behalf, oh yea go to http://www.facebook.com/note.php?created&¬e_id=100692326663310&id=151781231524220#!/pages/Tell-Us-Your-Story/151781231524220 and let us hear YOUR story.

1 comment:

  1. Wow, James! I hadn't heard that story. That is incredible. Thanks for sharing it.

    Steve Hersey

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