It’s the hard times when I’m feeling alone and discouraged
that I find myself going back to the past, when you have no doubt that God
brought you through a hard time. This helps me feel safe, secure and it even
helps me refocus, it even boosts my faith that God is bigger than anything I
will ever face.
One of those memories I cherish is when Chrissy and I
started out on this journey of serving God full-time.
Side Note: I know now that we had no clue as to the price we
would pay for this calling that we had chosen to answer. This isn’t a bad thing,
we just didn’t have any idea what our life was going to be like.
To start this new adventure, we asked God to help us pay off
all our bills. With one tax rebate check, He made this happen to the dollar. We
proceeded to pack up all of our belongings from our mobile home into a small
moving truck. We loaded our two young
children and one Dalmatian puppy into the car. With one last look at our small,
safe world, we left our family, friends, and any support systems we had grown
up with.
We traveled 9 hours away to the most southern part of West Virginia
to one of what they call the Twin Cities, Bluefield, WV. It was nestled in a
valley of the Appalachian Mountains. Just across the state line in Virginia was
another city called Bluefield, VA. Thus the twin cities nickname.
We moved here to go to Bible collage because, if you wanted
to be successful in ministry, this is just what you do. As I had mentioned, we
really had no clue what we were doing. I just believed that God was telling me
to come follow Him and lead his people. So, since this college was the only one
we knew about at the time, we signed up there.
Side Note: At this time, we didn’t have access to the Internet
or even a computers, which would have helped us research this better. As it
was, we went off of the word of a school recruiter, and trusted that God would
provide the rest.
And that is how I became a student enrolled in Bible college.
Unbeknownst to us, this college was one of the most conservative, legalistic
schools on the east coast for the Church of Christ/Christian Churches. The very
contemporary church that we were
coming from was a Christian church. So, we figured this should be good. We
didn’t know how wrong we could be. We didn’t even understand the difference
between contemporary and traditional church styles. We assumed they were all
like our great church.
Back in the 90’s, I only wore a button-up shirt and tie with
dress pants at three places. One was when I worked as a professional
photographer for a large corporation, and it was required. Two was a wedding
and thirdly a funeral, where it was expected.
I tell you this because this is what I called “dressing up”. When I had
gone to Penn State, I could wear whatever I rolled out of bed in. Not that I
did, but I could have. Believe me, no
one in the photo dark room cared what I looked like.
Not so with this place. Every day, in every class, I was
expected to be wearing dress clothes. That is how conservative this college is.
It didn’t take us long to figure out that we didn’t fit well, and many of the
promises made to us to help us decide to come by the recruiter were
unfulfilled. But that would not stop me I had a call from God, and I was sure
of it.
One thing I failed to mention is that Chrissy was pregnant
with our Jonah. So, on moving here we needed some support to help us get
acclimated and get settled. Unfortunately, none of that happened. I was told
that I could work at the school and that there were plenty of youth ministry
positions at local churches that embraced the students of the school. Well, I
did work for the school but they applied all of that money to my tuition for
school. There were no loans or grants not even scholarships, because as we
discovered, this school was not accredited. You paid as you went, and they made
sure they received their payments.
We did have a few people and our home church who believed in
what we were doing and us. The gifts that came in helped us put gas in the car
and some food on the table.
After a few months of classes and trying to fit in, with still
no real steady income, Christmas was coming and along with it, the time for Chrissy
to give birth. Things were pretty discouraging, but I had faith that God would
see us through.
Side note: Remember the puppy we took with us? Well, on
arriving we were told no dogs. You need to find it a home. This puppy was a
birthday gift for Ben, he loved the movie 101
Dalmatians. So we found a temporary home for her with one of the off campus
students. We though it was a good home. To make a long story short, within
weeks of her going to her new home she was hit by a car and broke her leg. The
vet helped us fix her up. He told her that she was fine. A few weeks later, in
spite of her vet’s bill of good health, we got a voicemail message from the
other student saying, “Your dog is dead and I buried her in the yard.” Click.
Wow! Not a good day.
So, at this point, I almost had it but I decide that I would
do whatever I could to bring a few bucks in, and hopefully this would help us
and make things better.
I also thought that whatever I made a little would go to
taking the kids out for some fun. So we went to McDonalds a few times and bought the kids Happy meals.
It was late November, and 101 Dalmatians was the surprise toys in the Happy
Meals. So, I had the brilliant idea that we would secretly remove the toys and
keep them for Christmas gift for the kids.
The closer we got to Christmas, our Happy Meal toy stash was
growing. We hoped that somehow we would be able to buy a few real gifts for the
kids, but it didn’t look good.
The grandparents were going to send some things; we knew
that, but it’s just not the same as providing for your family. So, we prayed
that God would provide. This is when we received a card in our mail on the same
day we also received a discouraging anonymous piece of hate mail in the box
too. (That is another story.)
In that card was a note saying, “I wish I could do what you
are doing. Merry Christmas!” with a cash
gift enclosed. It wasn’t much but enough for Chrissy and I to get the kids a
few gifts. And we still wrapped the happy meal toys and gave them to the kids.
After 20 years our grandkids play with these little toys and
the Christmas ones are on display every Christmas as a reminder to us of God’s faithfulness.
His Will, will always be done. Even if those around you are coming against you,
and things look hopeless, if you place your trust in Jesus and stay faithful to
what His Word says and what He has called you to, He will see you through.
It was a skinny Christmas, but it bound our family together
and made us stronger. It actually taught our kids and us how to love and put
others before ourselves. Look for opportunities to encourage anyone you can and
let people know authentically that you appreciate them without expecting
anything in return, even if you don’t understand why God has laid them on your
heart. If you watch, God will show up and beautiful things will happen.
As I said this was a hard time, but looking back brings joy
and hope to me as I hope it stirs up in your soul the same.
