Timing is Everything

I love a story. For some reason God has made my brain to work in a way that may not be normal. Give me some details and I will soon forget them. Tell me a story and I may remember it for life. I have a feeling there are some other folks that have the same kind of genetic make up because Jesus surely told a few good ones in the form of parables, made up stories that had a moral….and the people remembered them!
Paul wasn’t so much of a parable-teller as he was willing and excited about telling HIS story. And that also was a good one, so much so that he kept the attention of some mighty powerful men. The thing about Paul’s story was that is was true and yet as fabulous, exciting, dramatic and interesting as any great piece of fiction.
 

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We knew that testimonies were powerful. We had witnessed it ourselves as we listened to the stories from the people God brought to us. But sometimes we had a difficult time finding the person God had chosen, though in time He always revealed it to us.

One evening I was doing the dishes and my Beloved called from the other room asking for a telephone number from my address book. I dried my hands and was paging through the pages looking for the “B’s which would have brought me to the number he needed.

As I cast my eyes down the page they landed on Jane Bateman’s name and in a millisecond I knew she would have the perfect story for the book of Luke.

Jane had come across my path years before when I was directing the Women’s Fellowship. I had asked her to teach a series after hearing from several women in the area about the excellence of her teaching and communication skills. But after getting to know her and hearing her story I was so impressed with the courage and faith of the woman and I became her fan.

But soon after the friendship began to grow she moved, and then moved again and I lost contact for several years.

So looking at my address book I decided to take a chance and call the only number I had. It was late at night, far past most people’s bedtime but for some reason I felt an urgency.

She answered the phone and I was elated. I told her I would so love to film her story and she seemed delighted to do so. I told her I was so glad that I was able to reach her and her reply reminded me that God was in control!

“I am moving tomorrow to another city and the phone will be disconnected. If you had waited a few hours you would not have gotten me.”

Had I only hesitated I would not have been able to find her. But then if I had not looked up a number in the address book I would not have been reminded of her story.

A few weeks later our film crew arrived in Greenville, South Carolina and we were able to get her incredible story on film for the Amazing Collection so that millions of women could be encouraged and inspired by her life.

“For you have made me glad by what you have done. I will sing for joy at the works of Thy hands. How great are Thy works!”

Psalm 92:4

The Times They Are A Changing

It is a chore to keep up with the trends. Every season I am reminded that I am behind the times. As soon as I lengthen my skirts the style goes up. Once I manage to get big hair the styles change to straight and flat. But the good thing about being older is that I have reached a point that I just don’t care! I LIKE my skirts longer. My hair IS flat, and I don’t care if every one in the world has a tattoo I simply will not.

But when it comes to technology and business, that is something entirely different. We MUST care or be run over by the tech changes that will outdate us in a heart beat!

We had ordered the first several sets of the Amazing Collection in the standard VHS because that was the newest and the best. They took up large amounts of room in our warehouse. They were beautifully boxed in even larger containers that took up even more space. But it was the best and the newest and we were grateful to have them.

I was in Blockbuster one day, that super store of home movie-dom when I noticed something peculiar. It was a DVD…sleek, small and NEW! They carried a small selection of movies in this new format. I was curious but not interested.

A month later I again visited my local Blockbuster and to my horror the employees were working feverishly taking down every VHS and replacing it with a DVD! Not one VHS was left in its place. “The future is here” the clerk said to me. “But I’m not ready for it!” I replied. “Well, I guess we don’t have a choice.” He said with a sigh.

No choice! I thought about all our VHS in the warehouse. I thought about how they would all look in a dumpster. I thought about the incredible waste of money. And then I thought about Blockbuster. Really, we had no choice.

We have always struggled with the reality of the cost of doing business and the responsibility of good stewardship. Our donors trust us and the way we spend money and in return we do everything we can to be as financial astute as possible.

So, we did what we always do…we went to the Lord and asked direction. Every board member felt we had no choice. Soon after making the decision to go to DVD we received a gift of $50,000. So we ordered the Amazing Collection in DVD and cleared out the warehouse of VHS, giving as many away as we could and the rest went into the dumpster.

I look at all of the DVDs in the warehouse today and wonder, what will be next? For faster than I like, the times they are a changing.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

To everything there is a season ,

A time for every purpose under heaven.

Where is the Comfort Zone?

The first day of any new experience is always the worst as it takes us totally out of our comfort zone.

The first day in kindergarten is horrific. Who are those people and why do I have to sit in my seat at this desk? No comfort on that day!

The first day of high school is terrible. Where is my locker and why do we have to change classes? No comfort then!

The first day of college is confusing. What do you mean I have to change not only classes but whole buildings that are blocks away from each other? Definitely no comfort!

The first day of a new job is awkward. Will I like these people? Am I capable of doing the work and will I ever be able to fit in and be a part of a team? By now we should be use to it but…well…admit it, it just is NOT comfortable!

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And so in February 2003 Eleanor, Robin, Linda, Margie and I loaded up two vans and headed towards a new experience for all of us that took us totally out of that zone we love…comfort. We were on our way to our first ever convention, The National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. We were excited and we were nervous. We had no idea what to expect except that we felt confident God Himself was sending us there and there was a plan and we needed to fit into it.

Five women who do not know what they are doing, moving their booth and accompanying stuff into a convention center is quite a sight to witness. First we couldn’t find the loading dock. Margie saw some men standing by the place we thought was the right one so she got out of her van and asked direction. Margie is charm personified so they not only told us where to park the vans for unloading but also showed us the very spot, directed the vans as we backed into the dock and helped us unload! God provided just what we needed.

We hauled all the equipment and boxes to our assigned spot with the help of some very strong and gracious men, but as soon as they left we saw we had a problem. The “booth” was in two round containers. We opened them up and sat looking at the contents not even beginning to know where to begin. Just about that time God sent another angel in the form of a young man who just happened to be from Eleanor’s alma mater, Penn State. They became fast “college buddies” and not surprisingly he knew exactly how to set up the booth. Before long we had it all in place and decorated. As we stood back and looked, I have to say we were all enormously pleased with the results! God had indeed provided in every way.

The next day was the opening day. It began with a fabulous worship service that included Michael W. Smith, David Phelps, and several other top vocalists. We were awed to say the least! Allistair Begg gave the message and although he was a new name to us I don’t think we will ever forget him or his message. There was such power in every word and we left feeling that indeed God had met us there and had blessed us beyond anything we could have imagined.

But it was only the beginning. During the next two days we realized that God was pouring out blessing upon blessing on us. Our booth had more traffic than almost any other. The response was so positive and we made many wonderful contacts. Then as if that was not enough a couple of our dear girlfriends, Genie Brady and Jan Butler from Roswell, showed up unexpectedly to surprise us! To make that visit even more enjoyable it began to snow so they could not go home until the next day. Their presence was like strong arms under us and we knew for sure that they did not just COME…they had been SENT!

To top it all off, it was announced that President George Bush would be making an appearance to address those at the conference. Simply put, seven ladies went from basking in a place outside their comfort zone to experiencing the love, provision and comfort of their God.

Psalm 119:76

Let, I pray, Your merciful kindness be for my comfort,

According to your word to Your servant.

Convention Issues

We had taken a step and signed up for a convention. It wasn’t just any convention but the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in February 2003 that was held in Nashville, Tennessee at the Opryland Convention Center. We had decided, I am sure one evening at a late night meeting when none of us were thinking clearly, to not only attend but to actually have a Big Dream Ministries, Inc booth.

All of this sounds great of course unless you were the Big Dream Board made up of women who had never been to a convention nor had ever even seen a booth!

By late December we were beginning to wonder what in the world had we gotten ourselves into and how could we get out. The convention board had sent us a large notebook with all of the instructions and rules and suddenly we were face to face with that horrible thing called reality! However, we HAD paid the convention fee and could think of several really good reasons why we should be there.

So on Thursday evening December 5, 2002 we did the only thing we knew how to do. We met and prayed. We had specific prayer needs.

1. Help us make sense of the convention notebook!
2. Help us to be able to have a booth that was attractive and informative.

Later that week I was talking to a friend who had helped us with various things in the past. I told him my problem and he said, “Oh you must talk to my friend Tom!” I called Tom and left a message with what we needed and asked if he could meet with me the following week.

I hung up and went back to working on my computer when the phone rang. It was Tom.

“I have some good news and some bad news”, he said.

I asked for the good first and he then began to rattle off several great suggestions for a booth.

1. Keep it simple
2. Have large pictures of the four teachers to hang on the back wall along with the company logo
3. Stack the product up from the floor up at the base of the booth.
4. Give away Georgia peanuts
5. Have a small TV on the table with a looped VHS of the promo
6. Have the ladies behind the booth all wear something that stands out, like bright colored sweaters
7. Have take- home copies of the promo to give to anyone who is interested
8. Have plenty of business cards

The bad news? He couldn’t meet the following week. But then he no longer needed to as we had our plan for the booth. Robin ordered bright, shocking pink sweaters for each one of us and we had the photos taken along with the logo designed and mounted The peanuts were ordered from the Georgia peanut association all in little individual bags with Georgia written on them. The booth was donated to us and the carpet was ordered and the sweaters monogrammed with the Amazing Collection logo.

As if designed by God Himself, everything came together and we were ready to embark on yet another adventure: Conventions!