Perfect Timing

We had lived in our first home in South Portland, Maine less then a year when I was awakened out of a sound sleep at three in the morning by someone pounding on our door and lights flashing through the windows. My first thought was that our house was on fire and that seemed to be confirmed when we threw open the door to find two firemen standing there. But it was not our house but our neighbors. A small fire had begun in the kitchen but they had all been sleeping and by the time they were awakened by the smoke it was too late and they lost almost everything.

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And so in June 2005 we had a warehouse full to the brim with thousands of workbooks and DVD sets. We had been careful to secure it as best as we could and were simply basking in the fact that everything had fit into the space perfectly. On June 16th, Jodie and Rosemary headed for the warehouse early in the morning to take inventory and organize the boxes in a systematic way.

They arrived at 7:00 AM. It was already getting hot outside, after all this is Georgia in the summertime, but inside the warehouse was cool because of the new air conditioner that had just been installed days before. A half hour into the morning it began to warm up inside the warehouse and by eight o’clock it was unusually hot. Rosemary went to inspect the air conditioner only to find it was smoking and a small fire had started. They were able to quickly unplug the air conditioner and douse the fire with the bottle of water Rosemary had brought along.

The fire department came and checked everything out. The air conditioner was defective we were told but other than that everything else looked fine. We soon had a new air conditioner installed and have had no more trouble with the warehouse since that time.

It would be easy to say it all was just a coincidence that somehow we just got lucky. It was just a coincidence that Rosemary and Jodie just happened to be at the warehouse so early in the morning on that particular day. It was just coincidence that they noticed the change in temperature, that the air conditioner had stopped working. It was just a coincidence that Rosemary checked the air conditioner and just a coincidence the she had a bottle of water and just a coincidence there was enough water to put the fire out.

And yet there was no space for error. If they would have arrived at nine instead of seven it would have been too late and we would have lost everything. If the room had remained cool but the fire continued it may have advanced too far for a bottle of water to put it out and the whole warehouse would have burned down, in fact the exact amount of water was important. No, the timing had to be perfect and it was. In this case timing was everything.

Coincidence? I call it a God-incident. He was in control and He protected us once again.

Psalm 31:14-5

But as for me I trust in Thee O Lord,

I say, “Thou art my God.

My times are in Thy hands.

Space & Weather

I know all about space. For instance, when I was getting ready to travel to Mexico recently to speak at a women’s conference, I was told I could take one suitcase, one small carry-on and a purse. But the area in Mexico I would be staying can have tropical weather that could sometimes turn to freezing temperatures. And so I piled all of my neatly folded clothes on the bed, clothes that would fit the bill for a five or six day trip to such a climate. But then I also needed my hairdryer and electric curlers and makeup appropriate for a sixty-five year old. Soon all of my spaces had been packed and …well…there were still many items that would not fit! So the important things stayed in the suitcases: makeup, hairdryer and rollers. Much of everything stayed behind! Suitcases are uncompromising!

Space can be even more personal. I have some jeans. I like desserts. When I gain an extra ten pounds my jeans refuse to accommodate my expanded body and something has to give. So I don’t wear jeans until I loose the extra weight. You see with space, there is NO COMPROMISING!

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In June 2005, we were preparing to receive the many pallets of product back from Navpress. They had a huge warehouse and at that point we had none. We had scoured the town and found nothing available that we could afford. Then one day Jodie said she had passed a farm house about a mile from the office and there had been a sign that said “Warehouse for rent”. We immediately contacted the number on the sign only to find out it was owned by Jeffrey, a fabulous young pastor and his family! They called us back with their asking price: $100 a month!

We were ecstatic! The warehouse was the exact size of a two car garage. We had no idea how much space the workbooks and DVDs would take up but surely this would be enough room! We were told there would be forty pallets coming but truthfully none of us women had any idea how large a pallet could be yet we were confident we would have enough space!

We purchased enough shelving to go all around the sides of the room and assembled them one afternoon. There was no insulation so our friend Paul came and insulated the room, added a heater and air conditioner and sealed the floors. It looked great to our eyes.

The following day the inventory was suppose to arrive in two semi trucks at 1:00 sharp. Our new warehouse manager, Rosemary Nelson, my husband Chuck and I were there waiting at 12:45. We had rented a fork lift to move the pallets off the trucks and into place while Chuck had agreed to stay until 2:00 and to operate it. But the truck didn’t show up at 1:00 nor was it there by 1:55. We were panicked as Chuck had to leave but he called Paul who graciously drove across town to take over the fork lift responsibilities.

At last the first truck arrived but in coming in the driveway ripped an electrical line down. We found out later that it was one that was no longer in use but at the moment it was not a happy sight! The truck driver parked the truck and opened the back doors and remarked with confidence “there wasn’t a chance in &*%$ that all of that stuff would go into that small space!”

Just about the time Paul started moving the pallets off the truck with the fork lift the sky grew extremely dark. It looked like it would open up at any minute and pour buckets of rain! We didn’t know what to do so we prayed, begging God to hold off the rain and help expand the space to make room for our entire product! It was a fervent, frantic prayer turning to the only One who controlled space and weather!

We had twenty-four pallets loaded into the space and it looked just about completely full. The second semi arrived and we continued to work as fast as we could while storm clouds threatened. After about two hours of working frantically the last pallet was moved into place and we all stood back and looked in amazement. There was not an extra inch of space left but there had been a place for all forty pallets….. and the moment we shut the door to the warehouse it began pouring rain!

The immense power of God toward those He loves is incredible. I praised God all of the way home as I am sure Rosemary did also. We had felt like we were in a battle and yet God, our great defender, had provided everything we needed and proved Himself Lord of weather and space. Indeed, Lord of all!

 

Job 5: 8, 9, 10

But as for me I would seek God…

Who does great things and unsearchable,

Marvelous things without number.

One Step at a Time

I made a birthday cake for my granddaughter this past week. I found a recipe in one of the magazines that said it was the only cake recipe I ever needed. I decided it was worth a try and so bought all of the ingredients. There were numerous steps. The flour and baking powder and salt had to be sifted and set aside. Then the eggs and butter needed to be beaten until smooth and creamy. Step by step I progressed until the batter was poured into the parchment covered pans. Then all went into the oven and 45 minutes later out came three beautiful layers of yellow cake. Chocolate frosting completed the job and wha-la! Birthday cake! And yes it really is the only cake recipe I will ever need!

Most great projects are accomplished step by step. A cake is a fairly simple project, but producing and filming sixty-six DVDs and eleven workbooks was not.

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By October 2004 all of the teaching had been filmed and the Old Testament books completed. But this was just a little more than half of the steps that were needed to complete the total project! We still had twenty-seven New Testament books to produce. Every DVD needed a special opener, something that would grab the attention of the viewer. Kelle and Shane would have a tremendous amount of work to do in order to come up with ideas for twenty-seven creative “grabbers’, and then produce them. Plus we wanted a new theme song and video clip that would introduce the New Testament.

And then there was the music. Twenty-seven music videos had to be produced. Vocalists needed to be found, music chosen and sets arranged. Much of the background music needed to be replayed and recorded, and some even needed to be written! Licenses for each selection needed to be obtained and some of the music required more than one license.

We did not have one testimony filmed for the New Testament books. In the beginning it was really quite easy to find the right story because we knew personally many women who had great testimonies but as we progressed, that became more difficult.

About that time Navpress told us they wanted the entire collection completed by June 2005. We had about eight months to finish the work. It was a massive undertaking and of course always there was the question of money. Would God continue to provide? Could Soteria come up with the creativity needed? Could we find the right music and testimonies? And could we possibly take on such an enormous undertaking and complete it in such a short period of time? There were many steps ahead of us and with each step an unforeseen outcome.

One thing for sure, God’s ways are not our ways and He alone orders our steps. By June 2005 our partnership with Navpress had terminated when sales did not reach the numbers they had hoped. In a very short period of time we had to completely organize and establish a sales/marketing company along with the continued work of production. We prayed and followed hard the steps that God laid before us. And quickly a company began to emerge called Big Dream Ministries which included a Customer Care Director (Dorinda Hathaway), an Office Manager/web site coordinator (Jodie Mannion), a Board of Directors (Sally Shriver, Linda Sweeney, Eleanor Lewis, Robin Rosebrough and myself), a Warehouse Manager (Rosemary Nelson) and a Product Assembly Director ( Franna Luther). As for finishing the entire sixty-six book collection? It would take another year. The last set of DVDs arrived in the warehouse on June 23, 2006.

All projects require one step at a time. But as one follows hard after God, those steps must first be His. We seldom know where He is going but it is His steps we follow, one step at a time, and those steps prove to be the very best!

Uphold my steps in Your paths,

That my footsteps may not slip.

Psalm 17:5

Birthing the “Baby”

She had taken thirty some hours to come into the world and then at last, she came screaming into the doctors waiting hands. She was bathed and swathed and brought to me and I looked at that baby in my arms and one of the first things I thought was “I wonder who you will grow up to be?” I think most mothers experience some of this same kind of feeling. I was enjoying the present (I was still numb!) but I already had an eye to the future. After all no one has a baby so they can keep it a baby. They have a baby so it might become an adult …and in some ways move from baby to child to…well…friend!
And if all of our hopes and dreams are realized we mothers pray that our children’s lives will amount to something that really makes a difference for the world! Birth is hard but it is only the beginning and with it comes an eye to the future.

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August 2004
Our contract with Navpress was signed and now the work began. We sent all of the VHS masters to them for reproduction along with the manuscripts for the eleven workbooks. I received six possible designs for the workbook covers but after looking at them I found I liked a portion of four of them. I talked to the design man and told him what I liked and about an hour later he sent me a compilation of those four designs and it was beautiful! We were all thrilled with the cover design and so one more detail and decision was made.

Navpress designed a marketing packet, along with the packaging for the product. A date was asset to send out 50,000 marketing packets to churches and individuals across America. The baby was ready to come into the world!

But while we waited for the birthing we found we were having trouble with the delivery. We were out of money and we owed $16,000.

We can understand how those Israelites complained in the wilderness even after God had done so many wonderful things for them. They simply forgot. A couple of days pass and I am convinced the human mind can forget even extravagant answers to prayer. And so we all began to get nervous as we cried out to God.

While we were in this time of grave concern (I could use the term panicked anxiety but I do not want to sound so unspiritual), I had lunch with my friend Darlene. After lunch she had to go to a luggage store to buy a new rolling suitcase and asked me to come with her. She made her purchase and as we were leaving she stopped, went back to the cashier and returned rolling a second suitcase, the most wonderful deluxe suitcase I had ever seen. “You need this”, she said, and handed it to me. I protested but she stood firm. She wanted to buy it for me because she KNEW I needed it. The truth is I DID but it was not in the budget. “For you, she said, “From God”. How she was aware of this need I do not know but it was a fabulous gift and such a generous act but more than that it was assurance that God knew what we needed and could provide.

The next day, once again the mailbox was empty…no checks from donors, nothing. I wrote “We are standing on shifting sand when we want to stand on the Rock!” Two days later we received a check form $6000. Later that week we received $1800 from a foundation and then Navpress called and said they were freeing up $8000 and with that we had all we needed. Soon after the baby was birthed, the marketing packets were sent on their way and the completed product arrived at the warehouse! The baby was here and now we waited to see what it would “grow up to be”.

Isaiah 66:9

Shall I bring to the time of birth and not cause delivery? Says the Lord

Power!

Sometimes I think we Christians throw out the word “pray” like we have no idea the great power that is behind it. And so we are quick to say, “Would you pray for my neighbor’s dog”, or “Would you pray I have a good day” or whatever. If we have prayer requests in church or small group, we feel like we have to come up with something even if it is absolutely inane and we ourselves don’t find it important enough to pray for it because it makes us appear spiritual. But the truth is, prayer is power. It is engaging the God of the universe to move on behalf of what we are asking for.

I have become very careful about what I ask people to pray for and if I am not fervently praying for something I don’t ask any one else to pray for that either. But if I do have a prayer need, then I go to people I am convinced understand that power and will approach the task as the “holy occupation” that it really is.

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And so in May 2004, I had a huge prayer request and I knew exactly who to approach. Julie Lord is probably the most dynamic prayer warrior I have ever known. Now in her seventies she has the mind and body of a thirty year old and a heart for God that seems ageless. She and her husband Bob have managed to raise five extraordinary children who are devoted to God and serving him greatly in various areas. Now her grandchildren are following the same path and great grandchildren, though still young, I feel certain will follow Christ with the same fervency as the previous generations.

Julie had been on my prayer teams since the beginning of our Big Dream. Every week she would show up to pray and she kept a journal of those prayers and the powerful way God had answered them. So now we needed that power to help us finish the filming for The Amazing Collection. We had twenty two books left to film and we had decided that it would be financially astute to do them all within a week’s time.

It was a huge undertaking for the teachers and placed a great amount of pressure on each one of us. All four of us were feeling like we were under constant attack as we were being hit in different areas (our weakest area!) and were reeling from the stress. Preparation for four or five teaching sessions demanded every waking hour. So I decided it was time to bring in the BIG GUN. I called Julie.

And so on filming day, Julie was by our side, encouraging, praying, and bringing our minds back to the truth of Scripture. Then as each one of us stepped on the platform to teach, Julie went into a nearby room all alone and came before the God of All and brought us to the Throne of Grace.

So then what happened? God answered. As each teacher took her place, the Lord began to speak through her. Eleanor. Linda. Margie. Me. Calm, mind sharp, words flowing, cameras running….and then before we knew it the week was over and the last teaching session was complete.

My journal records, “We have completed all of the filming and it has gone smoothly, the best we have ever done. God heard Julie’s cries for us! I am so grateful to God for her!”

The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man

makes tremendous power available (dynamic in its working).

James 5:16

Amplified Bible

It’s Not All In The Details

I love the way God is able to use all of His children for some work that He has in mind. He gives each one of us certain talents and then finds the need and fits that person into service. I have seen this over and over again. It is also fascinating how very different we are all wired and these are the ones that make up the citizens of the Kingdom of God.

I don’t do details. Everyone who knows me understands that I don’t see, think, feel, taste or work small. But then there are those who have a most uncanny ability to pick up the smallest minutia and delight in doing complicated, detailed work. Jodie Mannion our accountant who works for us is gifted with details as is Betsy Jenks our book keeper. We couldn’t do business without them!

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But then I think every project has a need for those detailed folks. In April 2004, we had completed the eleven workbooks, thanks to our wonderful authors, Art VanderVeen and Carrie Ott. The contract with Navpress was signed and we were on our way to a great partnership. But as we sat in a meeting with the publishing pros they suggested that we hire a project editor and a proof reader. I had never heard of the former but they explained it was someone who can make sure the entire work holds together. In other words, because the Amazing Collection was such a large project it was important that all of the parts were in harmony and that there were no contradictions. It sounded good as we wanted every workbook to be perfect, so we agreed.

They suggested two women: Leigh McElroy from Houston Texas, an author in her own right and an excellent project editor. Leigh is one of those gifted women who think in a different way than the masses. She was able to bring such a unity and perfection to the completed work that we were unable to do. She was and is to this day a gift to this ministry.

Kathy Mosier was from Colorado Springs and she would take over the proof reading once Leigh was done with her work. Kathy was still in her twenties and newly married when she joined our project. She had done a lot of work for Navpress and they trusted her. And so she took on the arduous job of proof reading every word looking for grammar and punctuation mistakes.

But before we moved forward they wanted these two women to meet with the Big Dream Ministries team including the teachers and Art and Carrie and the board. They wanted them to get to know everyone and also get a feel for the project. And so they arrived on Monday in April and after three days they were totally “plugged in” as team members. Everyone was crazy about these two detail specialists and within a short period of time they became part of the team, all of us working together for one purpose: God’s glory!

When we open the Bible to Corinthians we find that God never intended one person to know it all, or one person to have all the gifts, or one person to run the show by him/herself. God works in the awesome community of heaven. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit along with a myriad of angles and heavenly beings all work together to bring about the will of God. They work perfectly together, no conflict, no jealousy, and no usurper trying to do everything and take credit for it all. And it seems to me that this is a fabulous design. For one thing there is an expanse of relationships. Leigh and Kathy were total strangers living in different parts of the country and then overnight they were not only sisters, but an integral part of the work we were trying to do. And because of them, our lives became richer and the project became more excellent.

That is what I so love about this work that God has given us to do. He has miraculously brought together a huge body of men and women and through His Spirit allowed us the privilege of working on such a BIG DREAM that we all can stand in awe of His power but also in awe of His love that brought us one another. Some of us are good at organization, some at teaching, some at creating. It is not “all in the details”, but they certainly are an important part.

And so the workbooks were completed, checked and rechecked by those two detail gurus, lovely ladies, once strangers, and now sisters.

First Corinthians 12: 4-5, 7

Now there are a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are a variety of ministries but the same Lord. …But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

The Truth Revealed

I remember the time I met my first VIP. It was twenty years ago and the person was my husband’s first boss and the Vice President of a large insurance company. He was rich and lived in a great house. He drove a big car. He had all the perks and could hire and fire at a moment’s notice. I was impressed and intimidated.

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.