My Monthly Miracle Memory

I've been trying to write at least "a miracle a month" and tell about some of the good things that God has done for our family over the years. I have a burden to encourage people in general with Gods great love, mercy and abundance that He wants to heap upon His children (if we will let Him). This month I'm going to tell you about how we started our business.

We came from quite meager beginnings. Two rebellious teenagers trying to get through community college classes with food stamps and financial aid with already a kid in tow. After that, we spent about 6 1/2 years traveling with a ministry and living by faith. Nothing about our beginning encouraged any type of financial surplus. The first house we bought was a small, unfinished repossession. We wanted house payments as cheap as possible because we had other priorities. That was years after we'd been married and lived in many cheap rentals. We battled credit card and student loan payments for many years. It really wasn't until the summer of miracles that our physical prosperity ever manifested.

It all started when I felt like the Lord was saying to me "I'm going to pay off all your credit cards". That would have taken years. Was it wishful thinking? I didn't think so. I was pretty sure it was God. I said "thank you". Not many months from then, by a series of miracles, our largest debt credit card was paid in full. I knew it had been an act of God.

The next spring, my husband began building some home made fire fighting equipment. It was done cheaply with some stuff he'd thrown together. When Forest fires broke out in Washington, Kevin and another man decided to go out and see if they could get their equipment hired. The forest service wouldn't even let them in the doors of the building. They literally laughed them out. After driving all that way, they decided they would at least stop by the fire camp and offer their services to the person in charge.

He took one look at my husbands equipment picture and said "these are a dime a dozen, I'm sorry, I can' t use them." Then he looked at the other mans picture. He said "I'll take up to five of them." He had tried to get them, but had been told they weren't available. The man had only one, but knew where another one was. He let my husband go after it, and go after it he did.

My husband called me up and said "I need ten thousand dollars by tomorrow." I knew he didn't have a gambling problem and that he wasn't insane either. The request, however, was crazy. Some years, ten thousand dollars was 6 months or a years income for us. Something about the conversation jumped inside my heart. I knew it was God. I could feel it on the inside of me. I called up everybody I knew (who thought I was crazy). Nobody wanted to loan (or had) that kind of money. I called up every credit card company we had and asked what our cash advances were.

Meanwhile my husband came back by train. He had one day to raise the money. He had already ordered the heavy equipment to be delivered to Washington by faith that the money would come through. He had already ordered a welding shop to begin construction on a massive water tank. He was a man on fire, feeling that he had heard Gods voice. His window of opportunity was now.

That day we visited every bank in the city. None of them would loan us the money. At the end of the day, we visited the last bank. A kind woman listened to our story. She told us that if we could match the loan ($5000), they would come up with the other half. I hurried across to the other bank to get the full amount of cash advances off of every credit card we had. They almost wouldn't give it to me because I had a late payment. I had to argue with the worker by phone and demand 3 times to speak with the manager. Just as the bank was closing, I was able to produce the money and secure the ten grand!

On the way home, we looked at each other wondering if we should stop this huge risk we were taking. We knew we couldn't, it was God. When we got home there was a message on the answering machine. It said "whatever you do, don't answer the phone. They are cancelling your heavy equipment order. If you acknowledge the cancel, your done. If you show up, they will have to pay you at least one days wages."

After my husband returned to Washington, he was horrified to discover that his water tank was only half built and the shop was closed. I called all over trying to find somebody to open it up. So did he. The machinery had to be at the fire that next morning in order to secure the order. I went out into my field by the river and prayed. Suddenly laughter overwhelmed me. Though I knew there was a spiritual fight, I knew God was in control and wouldn't let us down. Miraculously, a worker was found and opened the shop, welding late into the night. The shop even caught on fire from the welding and the fire had to be put out.

As dawn arose, the tank had been placed on the machinery and was being delivered to the location of the fire camp. My husband had never even operated this type of machinery. The summer before had been his first year ever of fighting fires and that was with a small fire truck. Amazingly, they kept him for the duration of the fire. That job paid for the machine and the next job paid for the tank that was built. He even received a commendation of safety for excellent operating skills. This is how our business was born.

You may think that how you live now determines your life in the future. If your poor, you'll always be poor. If you sick, you'll always be sick. Because you didn't get a good start in life, you'll never realize your dreams. But I'm here to tell you that it's a lie you have been believing. It isn't true. If you love God, and trust Him, crazy miracles can happen for you too. I don't encourage anybody to use credit cards or high interest loans to try and make money. Please don't misunderstand me. All I want you to understand is, is that there are no limits with God. If you give your life to Him wholly and trust Him, He will move Heaven and Earth to bless you, the child in whom He delights.