Week of March 1
It was my junior year of college and I was studying abroad in Strasbourg, France. My roommate was another American student.One evening she realized she had misplaced her keys. She began frantically searching the room, growing more frustrated and angry with each place she looked and not finding her keys.
I have a habit (as silly as it may seem) when I lose something to ask the Lord for guidance as to where it may be. My roommate was not a Christian so I left the room and walked down the hallway toward the floor bathroom.
I prayed, “Lord, Elizabeth doesn’t know You as I do, and she doesn’t know to ask You where her keys are. But I know she’s very upset and worked up, so Lord, I am asking You for her that You might help her find her keys.”
When I returned to the room, a calmer Elizabeth said, “You’ll never believe it! Shortly after you left, I looked under my mattress and there’s my keys.”
Why am I not surprised.
Marybeth Henry
Arlington, Virginia
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Choices
At a very young age, I started to dabble in drugs and found it as an escape. I continued to live that life style into my high school years. I left home at 15 and moved in with older people. I did not finish school and continued to live the party life not knowing who I was or taking responsibility.
I had many relationships with fellas. Then I met Jay, a fabulous guy, and I got pregnant. I still didn’t
Do anything about my drug addiction. Jay and I were married and I had the baby. My life continued to spiral downward and I was thinking I needed the party scene and not marriage and children.
Jay and I stayed married for about a year with me not participating in the relationship at all. Then I moved in with a fella who was an after hours bar tender and left my baby with Jay. This was probably the worst time of my life. I felt horrible.
One day I was at a party and had taken the baby with me, when Jay came and pounded on the door.
When I finally opened it, he said, “Give me James.”
I went and bundled up the baby and handed him to Jay who said, “Christy come with us.”
I said, “No, I’m staying here,” and Jay walked away with my son for the last time.
It got bad after that. I could see James but only under supervision. It was a horrible way to live and a horrible way to feel.
I moved from Philadelphia to Florida to get away and to start over. It was a crazy thing to do because moving away never works. I ended up in Venice with my parents. Eventually I entered rehab because I wanted my baby back. In the rehab, they talked about a “higher power.” They did not identify what that higher power was and told us we can choose what we wanted to as a higher power... Without arrogance or inappropriateness, I picked the character Alf from the television show. I really did not understand then, and it is amazing to think back on that, but I really didn’t understand what a higher power was or what it truly meant.
I didn’t take any of the suggestions truly in that rehab so I was destined to fail anyway. From the moment, I picked Alf and the lack of follow thru on any of the suggestions. They told us to stay out of relationships while we were there. I thought I was fooling everyone by the performance I displayed while I was there, I was president of the halfway house and I walked the corridors as if I knew exactly what I was doing. However, I was only fooling myself.
I entered a relationship with a man at that program.
Let me tell you to stay out of relationships. I was drinking on weekends and coming back on Sunday. It was just a game and they dropped me from the program.
We moved with his parents. His mother was disabled. Our lifestyle was insane; we traveled and wrote back checks on his brother’s account without ever thinking there would be any repercussions. I had never really been in trouble with the law except for some minor things. We also began to pawn some guns from his parent’s weapons collection for the money always thinking we would get them back out somehow. How insane.
When we were caught, I was charged with 21 counts of dealing with stolen firearms and two forged instruments over $50,000. I had no idea
how I had gotten there.
I went to jail and the judge released me to the custody of my parent’s house. However, I didn't stay put and was returned to jail and placed in the same rehab again. I jumped the fence, which is crazy because the gate was not locked. I ended up in jail again this time without bond so there was no way of getting out.
I started going to different things just to get out of my cell. I attended the Bible study there at the Sarasota County jail. I would sit in the back and I would talk. Sue Taylor, the Bible teacher at that time, would say would you be quiet, I’ll give you time afterwards to talk. At that time God started to work on me through what Susan was teaching. She had the ability to bring the Bible to real life today.
I started looking forward to going to Bible study and asking questions. I one point I asked her, “How do you get this thing?” She looked me in the eye and asked, “Do you like the way you are living?”
I didn’t like the way I was living. It was horrid.
She said, “There is another way- a new way of life.”
“How do I get this new way of life?”
She said I had to repent and accept Jesus Christ as my savior and if I believed he died on the cross for my sins and that he rose again three days later that I would be saved. She said I needed to go back to my cell and ask Christ into my life.
I went to my cell and all I could muster were the words, “Please help me.” That’s it. That was the catalyst that changed my life.
I returned to Bible study with a fresh look and eagerness to learn. I sat up front and I’m sure I was driving her crazy but I wanted a new way to live. In retrospect I’m sure that is when the Holy Spirit came into my life.
No kidding, I was prompted to stop swearing. I had a very inappropriate vocabulary. God was working on my heart. It was a slow process but amazing to me at the time. I continued to progress but I didn’t understand what I was reading. My Bible teacher said you are a baby in Christ so you are going to be reading mush for awhile but regardless the Holy Spirit and God would work though these times of mush and to read the word was feeding me no matter what.
I was facing eleven years in prison for the 21 counts of dealing in stolen firearms. As my sentencing came closer I asked my Bible teacher if we could pray that I don’t go to prison.
She said “You know Christy; this isn’t about a lifestyle change that you don’t go to prison. This is about a lifestyle change because you believe in Jesus Christ.”
I said I get it.
She said, “Whether you go to prison or not, you need to be a believer either way.”
So when we said the prayer for my court date it was in earnest that whatever God’s will was is what is best for me.
God’s will for me was to release me to a 12-step program called choices. I also was given seven years house arrest and five years probation and I had to pay $20,000 restitution.
I was released with a faith I could not lose. I had Jesus Christ. I started each day on my knees in prayer and I did everything in that program that they suggested.
I got a job and began paying my restitution. Each step I felt a little bit better and my self-esteem began to build. It was scary but I successfully made it through that program and I went back before the judge and actually got my sentence reduced. The authorities saw what was happening when you believe in Jesus, although I’m sure they didn’t view it like that but that I was doing well in the program
Life started to become a wonderful thing. I rented a little apartment and I acquired a kitty of my own. I was going to AA meetings and I was going to church and to Bible study. Actually when I was under house arrest The Bible study teacher starting coming to my home. Things were getting a little bit better each day.
Fast Forward----I met Patrick and we started going to churches. We had both been sober for sometime.
One Baptist church said we shouldn’t be living together. I guess they were sticking to their values and we hadn’t risen to that level of values yet. At this point God was working on me to be celibate. We had worked hard to acquire a house and. Patrick didn’t want to rip that apart. It was a struggle but I was certain that was what God wanted.
.Patrick said, “I am going to honor you if that is what God is calling you to do.”
Patrick stopped going to church. He said they were trying to rip us apart. I t was very hard because I knew my faith, and what I stood for and I knew I had to have a husband who had those values. It became a big struggle in our lives.
But God is in control (no surprise there) He had us go to friends wedding and Pastor Jeff Wilson did the ceremony. He chatted with us afterwards in a friendly manner and invited Patrick that Saturday evening. to attend South Shore Community Church, where Jeff was the pastor. What a blessing.
We loved the church but we didn’t really feel we fit right in because we were both recovering drug addicts and didn’t do church before. We were put in a small group with the Aung-Dins, Penetecosts and the Taylors. Two of the homes we met in were enormous…three times the size of our house. We really didn’t fit but they welcomed us, made us feel comfortable and took us under their wing.
Patrick and I have been married now for nine years and we are leading a small group. There has been a
miraculous transformation in my relationship with James, Jay and his wife who is a wonderful Christian lady. James lives with his dad and step mom most of the year but stays with Patrick and me during summer school vacation.
Footnote. About a year after I was released from prison I went into the jail with Sue Berger the Bible teacher to share my experience. Every Wednesday night for two or three hours I co-lead this Bible study. I have been teaching Bible study in county jail now for ten years. I get a call from the Chaplain. He wanted me to know that this month, February; (2007) they are having an honorary breakfast for the volunteer of the year for Sarasota County Jail. And yeah it is me. Go Figure.
I was an inmate, a non believer of Jesus and facing 11 years in prison. And now fast forward 12 years and I’m being honored not only as a volunteer but as a Bible study teacher. You see God takes wretches and makes them into people who are useful. It is amazing. It is so God.
Christy Smith
Sarasota, Fl.
I had many relationships with fellas. Then I met Jay, a fabulous guy, and I got pregnant. I still didn’t
Do anything about my drug addiction. Jay and I were married and I had the baby. My life continued to spiral downward and I was thinking I needed the party scene and not marriage and children.
Jay and I stayed married for about a year with me not participating in the relationship at all. Then I moved in with a fella who was an after hours bar tender and left my baby with Jay. This was probably the worst time of my life. I felt horrible.
One day I was at a party and had taken the baby with me, when Jay came and pounded on the door.
When I finally opened it, he said, “Give me James.”
I went and bundled up the baby and handed him to Jay who said, “Christy come with us.”
I said, “No, I’m staying here,” and Jay walked away with my son for the last time.
It got bad after that. I could see James but only under supervision. It was a horrible way to live and a horrible way to feel.
I moved from Philadelphia to Florida to get away and to start over. It was a crazy thing to do because moving away never works. I ended up in Venice with my parents. Eventually I entered rehab because I wanted my baby back. In the rehab, they talked about a “higher power.” They did not identify what that higher power was and told us we can choose what we wanted to as a higher power... Without arrogance or inappropriateness, I picked the character Alf from the television show. I really did not understand then, and it is amazing to think back on that, but I really didn’t understand what a higher power was or what it truly meant.
I didn’t take any of the suggestions truly in that rehab so I was destined to fail anyway. From the moment, I picked Alf and the lack of follow thru on any of the suggestions. They told us to stay out of relationships while we were there. I thought I was fooling everyone by the performance I displayed while I was there, I was president of the halfway house and I walked the corridors as if I knew exactly what I was doing. However, I was only fooling myself.
I entered a relationship with a man at that program.
Let me tell you to stay out of relationships. I was drinking on weekends and coming back on Sunday. It was just a game and they dropped me from the program.
We moved with his parents. His mother was disabled. Our lifestyle was insane; we traveled and wrote back checks on his brother’s account without ever thinking there would be any repercussions. I had never really been in trouble with the law except for some minor things. We also began to pawn some guns from his parent’s weapons collection for the money always thinking we would get them back out somehow. How insane.
When we were caught, I was charged with 21 counts of dealing with stolen firearms and two forged instruments over $50,000. I had no idea
how I had gotten there.
I went to jail and the judge released me to the custody of my parent’s house. However, I didn't stay put and was returned to jail and placed in the same rehab again. I jumped the fence, which is crazy because the gate was not locked. I ended up in jail again this time without bond so there was no way of getting out.
I started going to different things just to get out of my cell. I attended the Bible study there at the Sarasota County jail. I would sit in the back and I would talk. Sue Taylor, the Bible teacher at that time, would say would you be quiet, I’ll give you time afterwards to talk. At that time God started to work on me through what Susan was teaching. She had the ability to bring the Bible to real life today.
I started looking forward to going to Bible study and asking questions. I one point I asked her, “How do you get this thing?” She looked me in the eye and asked, “Do you like the way you are living?”
I didn’t like the way I was living. It was horrid.
She said, “There is another way- a new way of life.”
“How do I get this new way of life?”
She said I had to repent and accept Jesus Christ as my savior and if I believed he died on the cross for my sins and that he rose again three days later that I would be saved. She said I needed to go back to my cell and ask Christ into my life.
I went to my cell and all I could muster were the words, “Please help me.” That’s it. That was the catalyst that changed my life.
I returned to Bible study with a fresh look and eagerness to learn. I sat up front and I’m sure I was driving her crazy but I wanted a new way to live. In retrospect I’m sure that is when the Holy Spirit came into my life.
No kidding, I was prompted to stop swearing. I had a very inappropriate vocabulary. God was working on my heart. It was a slow process but amazing to me at the time. I continued to progress but I didn’t understand what I was reading. My Bible teacher said you are a baby in Christ so you are going to be reading mush for awhile but regardless the Holy Spirit and God would work though these times of mush and to read the word was feeding me no matter what.
I was facing eleven years in prison for the 21 counts of dealing in stolen firearms. As my sentencing came closer I asked my Bible teacher if we could pray that I don’t go to prison.
She said “You know Christy; this isn’t about a lifestyle change that you don’t go to prison. This is about a lifestyle change because you believe in Jesus Christ.”
I said I get it.
She said, “Whether you go to prison or not, you need to be a believer either way.”
So when we said the prayer for my court date it was in earnest that whatever God’s will was is what is best for me.
God’s will for me was to release me to a 12-step program called choices. I also was given seven years house arrest and five years probation and I had to pay $20,000 restitution.
I was released with a faith I could not lose. I had Jesus Christ. I started each day on my knees in prayer and I did everything in that program that they suggested.
I got a job and began paying my restitution. Each step I felt a little bit better and my self-esteem began to build. It was scary but I successfully made it through that program and I went back before the judge and actually got my sentence reduced. The authorities saw what was happening when you believe in Jesus, although I’m sure they didn’t view it like that but that I was doing well in the program
Life started to become a wonderful thing. I rented a little apartment and I acquired a kitty of my own. I was going to AA meetings and I was going to church and to Bible study. Actually when I was under house arrest The Bible study teacher starting coming to my home. Things were getting a little bit better each day.
Fast Forward----I met Patrick and we started going to churches. We had both been sober for sometime.
One Baptist church said we shouldn’t be living together. I guess they were sticking to their values and we hadn’t risen to that level of values yet. At this point God was working on me to be celibate. We had worked hard to acquire a house and. Patrick didn’t want to rip that apart. It was a struggle but I was certain that was what God wanted.
.Patrick said, “I am going to honor you if that is what God is calling you to do.”
Patrick stopped going to church. He said they were trying to rip us apart. I t was very hard because I knew my faith, and what I stood for and I knew I had to have a husband who had those values. It became a big struggle in our lives.
But God is in control (no surprise there) He had us go to friends wedding and Pastor Jeff Wilson did the ceremony. He chatted with us afterwards in a friendly manner and invited Patrick that Saturday evening. to attend South Shore Community Church, where Jeff was the pastor. What a blessing.
We loved the church but we didn’t really feel we fit right in because we were both recovering drug addicts and didn’t do church before. We were put in a small group with the Aung-Dins, Penetecosts and the Taylors. Two of the homes we met in were enormous…three times the size of our house. We really didn’t fit but they welcomed us, made us feel comfortable and took us under their wing.
Patrick and I have been married now for nine years and we are leading a small group. There has been a
miraculous transformation in my relationship with James, Jay and his wife who is a wonderful Christian lady. James lives with his dad and step mom most of the year but stays with Patrick and me during summer school vacation.
Footnote. About a year after I was released from prison I went into the jail with Sue Berger the Bible teacher to share my experience. Every Wednesday night for two or three hours I co-lead this Bible study. I have been teaching Bible study in county jail now for ten years. I get a call from the Chaplain. He wanted me to know that this month, February; (2007) they are having an honorary breakfast for the volunteer of the year for Sarasota County Jail. And yeah it is me. Go Figure.
I was an inmate, a non believer of Jesus and facing 11 years in prison. And now fast forward 12 years and I’m being honored not only as a volunteer but as a Bible study teacher. You see God takes wretches and makes them into people who are useful. It is amazing. It is so God.
Christy Smith
Sarasota, Fl.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Do Not Be Afraid
Week of February 15
Several years ago I was going through a tough time and feeling a great deal of anxiety. Something happened that has been a source of comfort and courage ever since.
I need to say, right up front, that I have never practiced, nor do I agree with, what has sometimes been called “Bible roulette.” This is the technique
of seeking guidance from God by letting the Bible fall open at random, putting your finger on the page, and trying to interpret as a directive from God the verse thus identified. On the other hand, in my personal devotions I will often select a passage to read as I feel led, or because I feel a need.
I must also say that the Bible I usually use for my devotional reading was, at the time I am referring to, still fairly new. It was not dog-eared from
use, nor did it naturally fall open to any particular passages.
The event is recorded in my journal. But it need not be, for it stands out in my mind with crystal clarity.
I was alone and feeling agitated. There seemed no end to my anxiety. I cried out, “O God, I am so tired of being afraid!” It wasn’t a formal prayer. It was a cry from the heart.
At that moment I felt an urge, an invitation, a desire to turn to Scripture. As I reached for my Bible, I felt a definite inclination to turn to the Old Testament. But nothing more specific had yet come to mind. I opened the Bible somewhere around the middle. The very first words my eyes fell upon were these: “...do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God...”
I was awestruck. I tried to reproduce the event, but it was soon obvious that my Bible was not automatically opening to Isaiah 41:10.
The skeptic may call it coincidence. But I am convinced that God was in that event, speaking precisely to my anguish through those words of Scripture. Thanks be to God.
Persh Parker
Helena, Montana
Copyright Thanks Be, First Church of Christ, Wethersfield, Connecticut.Repreinted with permission.
Several years ago I was going through a tough time and feeling a great deal of anxiety. Something happened that has been a source of comfort and courage ever since.
I need to say, right up front, that I have never practiced, nor do I agree with, what has sometimes been called “Bible roulette.” This is the technique
of seeking guidance from God by letting the Bible fall open at random, putting your finger on the page, and trying to interpret as a directive from God the verse thus identified. On the other hand, in my personal devotions I will often select a passage to read as I feel led, or because I feel a need.
I must also say that the Bible I usually use for my devotional reading was, at the time I am referring to, still fairly new. It was not dog-eared from
use, nor did it naturally fall open to any particular passages.
The event is recorded in my journal. But it need not be, for it stands out in my mind with crystal clarity.
I was alone and feeling agitated. There seemed no end to my anxiety. I cried out, “O God, I am so tired of being afraid!” It wasn’t a formal prayer. It was a cry from the heart.
At that moment I felt an urge, an invitation, a desire to turn to Scripture. As I reached for my Bible, I felt a definite inclination to turn to the Old Testament. But nothing more specific had yet come to mind. I opened the Bible somewhere around the middle. The very first words my eyes fell upon were these: “...do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God...”
I was awestruck. I tried to reproduce the event, but it was soon obvious that my Bible was not automatically opening to Isaiah 41:10.
The skeptic may call it coincidence. But I am convinced that God was in that event, speaking precisely to my anguish through those words of Scripture. Thanks be to God.
Persh Parker
Helena, Montana
Copyright Thanks Be, First Church of Christ, Wethersfield, Connecticut.Repreinted with permission.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Hope Haulers
Week of February 8
I’m a salesman and a part time chaplain to the trucking industry. This is a true story.
Three days after 9//11, 2001 I was on my way to Destin Fl. for the annual convention of the Tennessee Trucking Association where I planned to launch Hope Haulers, a family of services to and through the trucking industry. Upon arrival I wasn’t surprised to find everyone talking about 9/11. When I spoke with the association president he asked me if I would deliver the opening prayer. I said I would.
When I stood up in front of the convention, and I hadn’t planned this, I said, “looking out at your faces I see some of you are wondering what is going on in the world and others of you look worried. I might feel the same way if it wasn’t for my faith and knowing my destiny. I believe God has us all here for a reason and if any of you have uncertainty in your life and are anxious see me before you leave this conference.”
Two hundred and fifty people came up to talk with me over the next three days.
Shortly after returning to Nashville I went to the chapel at the truck stop in Antioch to pick up some tools that I left there before going to Florida and to
talk with Chaplain Doug. A young man came in and started asking the chaplain questions. The nature of the questions told me I should retreat to the chaplain’s quarters and pray for Doug while he talks with the man. I could hear the chaplain making progress when a lady truck driver comes in and interrupts the conversation. I came out and suggested that the lady and I go next door to the restaurant.
She is angry with God and unloads on me. We talk for more than an hour and she calms down. I realize I have to leave and I give her my cell number and head back to the chapel to pickup my tools.
The chapel is empty and I wonder how Doug made out with the young man. As I walk out of the chapel with my tools I notice a truck waiting to pull up to the fuel isle but there is no truck in front of it. The driver is just staring straight ahead.
I yell, “hey trucker you can move up.” No response, the driver stares straight ahead.
I walk over and jump up on his rail. “You ok?”
The driver slowly moves his head and says he is waiting for his wife who is in the restaurant. Then he adds, “I’m a mess.”
I tell him to pull around and park and to meet me in the chapel. I drop my tools in my truck and I spot Doug in the restaurant. He tells me he had a good talk with the young man and has scheduled a follow up tomorrow. Together we go into the chapel and
pray for the man in the truck.
After a few minutes, he comes into the chapel. “You have something heavy weighing you down?” He nods. I ask, “are you a Christian?”
“Sorta.”
“Did you ever accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?”
“Sorta.”
“Let’s address sorta. What do you mean by sorta?”
He tells me that he was kicked out of his house when he was 15, moved into the home of a pastor and his wife. He lived in the basement for a few years and that is when he “sorta” heard about the Lord.
.
“I find a good starting point is getting right with the Lord, would you like to do that,” I ask?
“OK, how do I do that?”
“Go for it! Just start praying.”
There is a long silence. He starts to sweat.
I say, “Tracey there is a battle going on right now over you. If it is alright with you I’ll put my hands on you and I’ll pray over your body. Are you comfortable with this?” He says, “Yeah.”
After two minutes of prayer he opens up and there is a stream of confession, repentance and acceptance of Jesus as his Lord and Savior. We all rejoice. He tells us that the gal waiting in his truck is not his wife but his live in girlfriend.
“I need to get right with that. When she came out of the restaurant with our food she wanted to leave. I told her I had to go to the chapel. She said I’ll wait here.” He looks at me and says, “When I saw you go into the chapel I wondered if you were the chaplain. When I saw you come out I hoped you would come over. When you spoke I couldn’t move my head it was like it was frozen.”
Then he says, “I’m an owner operator. I’ve lost my job, I’m behind in my payments and I’m broke, I had a spot all picked out one and half hours up the road where I was going to drive off and end it all. Then you jumped up on my truck.”
Chuck Sonn
Nashville, Tennessee
I’m a salesman and a part time chaplain to the trucking industry. This is a true story.
Three days after 9//11, 2001 I was on my way to Destin Fl. for the annual convention of the Tennessee Trucking Association where I planned to launch Hope Haulers, a family of services to and through the trucking industry. Upon arrival I wasn’t surprised to find everyone talking about 9/11. When I spoke with the association president he asked me if I would deliver the opening prayer. I said I would.
When I stood up in front of the convention, and I hadn’t planned this, I said, “looking out at your faces I see some of you are wondering what is going on in the world and others of you look worried. I might feel the same way if it wasn’t for my faith and knowing my destiny. I believe God has us all here for a reason and if any of you have uncertainty in your life and are anxious see me before you leave this conference.”
Two hundred and fifty people came up to talk with me over the next three days.
Shortly after returning to Nashville I went to the chapel at the truck stop in Antioch to pick up some tools that I left there before going to Florida and to
talk with Chaplain Doug. A young man came in and started asking the chaplain questions. The nature of the questions told me I should retreat to the chaplain’s quarters and pray for Doug while he talks with the man. I could hear the chaplain making progress when a lady truck driver comes in and interrupts the conversation. I came out and suggested that the lady and I go next door to the restaurant.
She is angry with God and unloads on me. We talk for more than an hour and she calms down. I realize I have to leave and I give her my cell number and head back to the chapel to pickup my tools.
The chapel is empty and I wonder how Doug made out with the young man. As I walk out of the chapel with my tools I notice a truck waiting to pull up to the fuel isle but there is no truck in front of it. The driver is just staring straight ahead.
I yell, “hey trucker you can move up.” No response, the driver stares straight ahead.
I walk over and jump up on his rail. “You ok?”
The driver slowly moves his head and says he is waiting for his wife who is in the restaurant. Then he adds, “I’m a mess.”
I tell him to pull around and park and to meet me in the chapel. I drop my tools in my truck and I spot Doug in the restaurant. He tells me he had a good talk with the young man and has scheduled a follow up tomorrow. Together we go into the chapel and
pray for the man in the truck.
After a few minutes, he comes into the chapel. “You have something heavy weighing you down?” He nods. I ask, “are you a Christian?”
“Sorta.”
“Did you ever accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?”
“Sorta.”
“Let’s address sorta. What do you mean by sorta?”
He tells me that he was kicked out of his house when he was 15, moved into the home of a pastor and his wife. He lived in the basement for a few years and that is when he “sorta” heard about the Lord.
.
“I find a good starting point is getting right with the Lord, would you like to do that,” I ask?
“OK, how do I do that?”
“Go for it! Just start praying.”
There is a long silence. He starts to sweat.
I say, “Tracey there is a battle going on right now over you. If it is alright with you I’ll put my hands on you and I’ll pray over your body. Are you comfortable with this?” He says, “Yeah.”
After two minutes of prayer he opens up and there is a stream of confession, repentance and acceptance of Jesus as his Lord and Savior. We all rejoice. He tells us that the gal waiting in his truck is not his wife but his live in girlfriend.
“I need to get right with that. When she came out of the restaurant with our food she wanted to leave. I told her I had to go to the chapel. She said I’ll wait here.” He looks at me and says, “When I saw you go into the chapel I wondered if you were the chaplain. When I saw you come out I hoped you would come over. When you spoke I couldn’t move my head it was like it was frozen.”
Then he says, “I’m an owner operator. I’ve lost my job, I’m behind in my payments and I’m broke, I had a spot all picked out one and half hours up the road where I was going to drive off and end it all. Then you jumped up on my truck.”
Chuck Sonn
Nashville, Tennessee
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Ran Out of Gas
Week of February 1
I had gone to the mall for a job interview. I spotted a man pushing a broom when I entered and I figured he must know where the main office is located. He was very pleasant and appeared to know a lot about this mall.
During my interview for a management position I mentioned the nice man I encountered pushing the broom. Guess I thought I would put in a good word for him since he showed kindness to me. After I described him they smiled and said, “ Oh that’s Jeff, he owns this mall. That is one of the ways he gets to talk with the customers.”
I was hired as a manager of that mall.
After that Jeff and I kept bumping in to each other. He was always cordial and we would have friendly albeit brief conversations. Several months went by and then I learned that Jeff had sold this mall for something around $29,000,000. Shortly after this the new owners gave me an envelope to deliver to Jeff’s home.
I wasn’t surprised to find that his home was a mansion right on the water but I was surprised when I pressed the front door bell and it was Jeff who opened the door. He greeted me warmly and invited me into his home. He opened the envelope and
told me that it was a sizeable check representing his part of the commission of the sale of the mall. He or someone in his family was a licensed real estate broker. Then he shared with me that his family foundation was inundated by requests for money. He said he was really looking “to find something to give to that is making a difference.” Since I didn’t immediately respond he said, “If you run into any, let me know.” I said I would.
A couple of years went by and I was going down a back road near the coast when I see a guy standing by his car on the side of the road. It is Jeff. He has run out of gas and I offer to take him to the nearest filling station. It turns out to be some distance before we reach a station. We chat.
I ask him if he is still looking for an organization to give to that is making a difference. He asks what I have in mind? I tell him about a new organization called Gifts From God, which is feeding the hungry and helping families needing furniture or providing a car free to struggling single moms. By the time we are back to his car with a can of gasoline he has agreed to come to my office and meet with Mike Butterfield, the president of Gifts from God. From that meeting came a much needed seed grant from Jeff’s family foundation.
A year later I am driving on Laurel Road in Venice and I am rounding a curve and there is Jeff standing by his car on the side of the road. Yep! He was out of gas again.
“You have come to my rescue again, it must be time for another grant to Gifts From God,” he grins.
It was. Mike had called me a few days ago with a bleak financial report for Gifts from God and said we need another grant from Jeff’s foundation. And here God puts Jeff and I together again. Who else could orchestrate such timely chance meetings like this?
We received the second grant which I call truly a gift from God.
Lloyd Keith
Osprey, Florida
I had gone to the mall for a job interview. I spotted a man pushing a broom when I entered and I figured he must know where the main office is located. He was very pleasant and appeared to know a lot about this mall.
During my interview for a management position I mentioned the nice man I encountered pushing the broom. Guess I thought I would put in a good word for him since he showed kindness to me. After I described him they smiled and said, “ Oh that’s Jeff, he owns this mall. That is one of the ways he gets to talk with the customers.”
I was hired as a manager of that mall.
After that Jeff and I kept bumping in to each other. He was always cordial and we would have friendly albeit brief conversations. Several months went by and then I learned that Jeff had sold this mall for something around $29,000,000. Shortly after this the new owners gave me an envelope to deliver to Jeff’s home.
I wasn’t surprised to find that his home was a mansion right on the water but I was surprised when I pressed the front door bell and it was Jeff who opened the door. He greeted me warmly and invited me into his home. He opened the envelope and
told me that it was a sizeable check representing his part of the commission of the sale of the mall. He or someone in his family was a licensed real estate broker. Then he shared with me that his family foundation was inundated by requests for money. He said he was really looking “to find something to give to that is making a difference.” Since I didn’t immediately respond he said, “If you run into any, let me know.” I said I would.
A couple of years went by and I was going down a back road near the coast when I see a guy standing by his car on the side of the road. It is Jeff. He has run out of gas and I offer to take him to the nearest filling station. It turns out to be some distance before we reach a station. We chat.
I ask him if he is still looking for an organization to give to that is making a difference. He asks what I have in mind? I tell him about a new organization called Gifts From God, which is feeding the hungry and helping families needing furniture or providing a car free to struggling single moms. By the time we are back to his car with a can of gasoline he has agreed to come to my office and meet with Mike Butterfield, the president of Gifts from God. From that meeting came a much needed seed grant from Jeff’s family foundation.
A year later I am driving on Laurel Road in Venice and I am rounding a curve and there is Jeff standing by his car on the side of the road. Yep! He was out of gas again.
“You have come to my rescue again, it must be time for another grant to Gifts From God,” he grins.
It was. Mike had called me a few days ago with a bleak financial report for Gifts from God and said we need another grant from Jeff’s foundation. And here God puts Jeff and I together again. Who else could orchestrate such timely chance meetings like this?
We received the second grant which I call truly a gift from God.
Lloyd Keith
Osprey, Florida
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