It's Amazing How Quickly Life Can Be Re-arranged

Proverbs 16:9 says, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps."

It was almost two years ago that David and I made the decision to take our ministry full time. It was a huge step to take. But as we grew to rely more and more upon God and His provision for our NEEDS (not necessarily our wants), the foundation of our faith has grown stronger and stronger. We could fill pages describing the times that God came through with His provision at the last minute. David sometimes kids that if there weren't that 60th minute in an hour, we'd never hear from God!

While we know that God has indeed called us to this ministry, and we still have a roof over our head, a vehicle to travel in, and food to eat, it has been a huge burden financially to make ends meet. We continue to see God reach people through our ministry, and it is our faithful desire to continue to serve Him until He calls us home, either through death or by catching us up in the Rapture.

We've constantly sought ways over the past two years to decrease our financial obligations and live as frugally as possible, and I think we've done a pretty good job in cutting expenses, but despite our strongest efforts to increase our monthly income, we've continue to fall behind.

We made the decision to sell our house based upon several factors, some of those being - 1) Finding someplace to rent for significantly less than what we pay in our mortgage would help us cut even more expense, and 2) Putting ourselves in a position of becoming more "mobile" - freer to pick up and go where God wants us to go.

We've gotten rid of our car and replaced it with a used van, eliminating a monthly car payment.

And we've made the decision to move to the Kansas City area where we can be more "centralized" for our ministry, being able to reach much of Missouri, Kansas and Iowa within a three to four hour drive. This location will also allow us the ability to present ministry events at more than twice as many Awana clubs (the mainstay for our ministry) than where we are now, not to mention more churches and Christian schools.

Several weeks ago, we were down in Kansas City to teach some creative ministry workshops at an Awana Leadership Conference. We went down a day early just to look around the area and see if this was truly where God was leading us. We decided to go and visit a church that David had once attended in Raytown (a suburb) many years ago, and so we headed down that way. As we were driving along in a residential area near the church, I happened to look to my right and I saw a house down a side street with a "For Rent" sign. David turned around and we drove up to the house to take a look. A ranch style house with a two car garage in a nice quiet neighborhood looked rather appealing.

David called the number on the For Rent sign. I was able to hear both sides of the conversation as David began explaining to the woman on the other end of the line (Barbara) who we were and that we were interested in renting their house. As the conversation progressed, we found out that this couple was Christian and attended the church that we were going to look at (charter members in fact!). I heard Barbara tell David that she and her husband had just been praying the evening before that God would lead a Christian couple to that house to rent it. When I heard this, my heart just lept! I hadn't told David this yet, but on our drive down to KC that morning, I had quietly been praying in my heart that if God wanted us to move down to the KC area, that He would lead us to a house, that it would be owned by Christians, and, wouldn't it be such a neat thing if we could be the answer to their prayer. God is so cool in the way He answers prayer.

So we arranged with Barbara and Jerry to see the house later that afternoon. After spending the afternoon exploring the area, we met with them at the house and they showed it to us. It seemed like it would work, price was right, and timing for availability was right.

The folks we met the next day at the Awana Conference from various churches in Kansas and Missouri were all extremely positive about our potentially moving down to the area. As a matter of fact, the Awana missionary for that area said that he already had a place for us on his ministry team if we moved down. After a couple of days of praying and talking about it, we let Barbara and Jerry know that we wanted to rent their house, and the final decision was made that we would move down to Raytown on November 1st.

This past weekend, we were to drive to Newton, Kansas, for another Awana Conference, so to break up the trip, we went as far as Kansas City again a day early. During our previous trip (as with most of our trips to Kansas City), we stopped at U.S. Toy Company which has a large magic shop in the back. David once worked there for a few weeks many, many years ago, so he knew one of the owners who was still there. Just on a whim, David asked Phillip if there were any part time positions available in the magic shop. Phillip told him no, but they were looking for a full time manager for both the magic shop and the adjoining costume shop. Initially, David didn't give it much thought because we were still not considering full time employment to be an option for us. But just for "grins and giggles," he did go online and fill out an employment application.

He received a phone call early last week from the HR director and was asked if he'd be willing to be interviewed for the position. Because we were heading back down that direction, David said that he would be available on Thursday to come in for an interview. The day after the interview, David was offered the full-time salaried managerial position for the magic/costume division, with full benefits and enough flexibility that will allow us to continue to book our ministry events on Sundays and Wednesdays (which is when most of the Awana clubs take place anyway). They will also allow David the time off necessary for our missions trip to India in January. This job seems like a "natural" for David. He has the experience to manage the inventory and employees, plus he has the love and talent for magic to be able to demonstrate the products for customers.

Initially, I struggled with the decision of David taking on a full time job because I thought it was telling God that we didn't trust Him any more for our provision. However, I'm coming to see this as a way of God providing for us and still allowing us to continue effectively serving Him. As a matter of fact, in looking at most of our contemporaries who are doing what we do, at least one spouse has a full-time job or other source of steady income. I'm reminded on the story of the man sitting on the roof of his house in the midst of a massive flood believing that God was going to save him. To shorten the story, after rejecting two boats and a helicopter attempting to rescue him, he dies and goes to heaven. "Why didn't you save me?" the man cried to God. "I tried," God said. "Didn't you see the two boats and the helicopter I sent?" I guess I now see this job opportunity for David as one of those vehicles that God has sent to us to help us in our ministry. He may chose to send another type of "vehicle" again down the road.

We will still be able to maintain our ministry, but with the financial pressure being taken off, we will be in a position to run our ministry more for ministry sake than for having to make this payment or that payment.

As for what I'll be doing when David is working at the magic shop??? I think I'm going to be busier than ever! I am still planning on doing preschool shows by myself during the day, and I've developed a whole new character for those performances - her name is "Miss Trixie Pockets." I've got several different show ideas in mind, and with the experience David and I have had doing the preschool shows together this year, I know that I'll be able to put something together that the kids and teachers will enjoy.

I will be working on writing - I have three very distinct outlines for books in mind already. I also want to continue developing opportunities for speaking to women's groups, as well.

Seeing how God directed us to a new home and a new job, we are looking forward to Him directing us to our new church home. It is going to be difficult to leave Olivet. We've developed some very special relationships with our church family, and our ministry was "birthed" (commissioned) there. We've received such incredible support, both through prayerfully and financially, from our church family over the past several years. But the goodbye will not be forever. After we return from our missions trip to India, we plan on making arrangements with Olivet to be able to make a presentation to our church family. We want to be able to share with those who have supported us in this endeavor what God was able to do in us and through us. We are so looking forward to that.

We will also miss being so close to my family here in the Des Moines area. It's been such a blessing to have been able to be a part of their lives in such a close way for the past seven years. And we will definitely miss being a part of the regular Saturday morning breakfasts. But we know we will be returning on a fairly regular basis for ministry events and other performances, as well as special family events. It's really not that long of a drive between here and Kansas City.

So that, dear family and friends, is what is happening in our lives these days. Sometimes it is hard keeping all of the details straight. I know that I have not been sleeping well over the past couple of nights just because my mind won't slow down with all of the planning and organizing that needs to be done. But we are excited about the fact that God is in this. These kinds of "coincidences" cannot be random happenings.

So, if you are so inclinded to pray for us, here are our specific prayer requests...

1) David begins his job next week, and so he will be commuting between KC and here for a couple of weeks (coming back on weekends and for performance events). Pray for travel safety for him as he goes back and forth and for the van to stay in good running condition.

2) Our move date has been changed from November 1st to October 15th because of David beginning his new job. There's much to be done in the next few weeks to be ready for this move. Pray that the details would come together to make this move as smooth as possible.

3) With this new job, we will be able to save up the rest of the financing we need for our trip to India. We are so thankful that David's new bosses are allowing him the time off (of course, this was non-negotiable, but we appreciate their cooperation all the same). Once we get moved, we will start the process for our visas. Pray that this will go without any hitches.

4) Pray for us as we seek a new church home. This is such an important step. We want to go where we can be used of God and where we can be drawn closer to God.

If you made it to the bottom of this loooong post, THANK YOU! We appreciate you and love you as dear friends and family.