And so when we received an invitation to his home for dinner, I received the news with some hesitation. I know who I am (as well as one can really know one’s self). I know that on more occasions than I can remember I have said something stupid or spilt my water glass all over the table, or broken the hostess’s fine crystal glass. I can do those things without even trying, so if they knew the truth I felt certain the invitation would be withdrawn!
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Sally Shriver and I were absolutely beyond ourselves as we boarded the plane for Colorado Springs, Colorado on December 8, 2003. We had accepted an invitation to meet with the Vice President of Navpress, along with their Marketing VP, and several other important people. We still had to pinch ourselves that such an invitation had come at the most opportune time: they were actually interested (very) in The Amazing Collection and wanted to talk about a contract and marketing plan.We rented a cute sporty car in Denver and began the beautiful trip to Colorado Springs. It was a heady moment, and would have been perfect if I did not have in the back of my mind a sense of unrest. What if this great “dream” did not come true? What if these great men of business found out that indeed behind Big Dream Ministries were homemakers, Bible teachers, mothers, who had never done anything like this in their lives, and who had very little business experience? What if they found out that all that God had done was a total surprise and wonderment to us and we were all still reeling from His mighty miracles on our behalf.
I comforted myself with the fact that Sally was not only a board member but also our business GURU. She constantly astounded us with her business acumen and her accounting skills. I had to keep reminding myself that she had my back covered not to mention the fact that she was a fabulous and fun traveling companion.
That night as we tried to get some much needed rest before the big meeting, I kept going over and over in my mind the many things that could go wrong. We did have a dream and it involved taking the Amazing Collection all around the world and reaching thousands of women in America through teaching them every book in God’s Word and we had asked God to open impossible doors. In fact we asked Him to use The Amazing Collection to bring about a spiritual revival in this country as more and more people learned every book in the Bible. In other words we had asked God for a lot, and we did dream big, but we did so because our God was showing us that we could not dream “bigger” than He could perform! Nothing was impossible for Him! At last I came to this wonderful, freeing conclusion. God was in control. His will would be accomplished. We were His servants and it was our job to listen, to obey and to work for His glory. All else was up to Him.
That is a very freeing thought for the moment. I did not know how the meeting would turn out but I did know I had nothing to worry about.
The next day we walked into the conference room. Sitting around the table were several VP’s and many talented, brilliant people. At once all fear of intimidation left as hands were extended and warm welcomes were given all around. Over the next two days the truth about our great lack of business experience was clearly revealed but it did not seem to matter. They loved what God had done. And from that meeting came a contract and a wonderful year in partnership with Navpress.
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The dinner with the insurance company’s VP also turned out to be a gift. We were new in town and new to the company. His wife was warm and loving and asked me back for tea and then became a dear friend. I still would spill the water or say something stupid but it did not seem to matter. It was all about relationship like my encounter with the first VIP and also with our new partners, Navpress.
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