A Tale of Two Cities and One Hillbilly

I grew up in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains just 7 miles north of Dogpatch U.S.A. So I guess that makes me an official Hillbilly. I wasn't content with staying in the hills so after a proper raisin and schoolin I landed a job that allowed me the privilege of travelling throughout the United States. I have travelled by bus, car, plane, train and boat. I have seen small towns and large cities. I have seen such wondrous sites as the Rockie Mountains (Colorado), Smokey Mountains(Tennessee), Blue Ridge Mountains(North Carolina), and the Ozark Mountains(Arkansas/Missouri). I have seen the Mississippi Delta, the plains of Oklahoma, the Texas Pan Handle, and the Desert in Arizona and Nevada. I have felt the warm Florida sun and bitter cold of a Minnesota winter. I have been to places like Boston and Washington D.C. where the founding fathers of our great nation once lived. I have seen the fall in New England (New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts) and wine country in California. I have been to the hills of Kentucky and Tennessee where my childhood hero's Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett fought with Indians and wrestled bears. I have been to the top of the Arch in St. Louis, the Gateway to the West. I've been to the "Windy City" of Chicago. I have seen where the Little Rock Nine went to school and the streets of Birmingham Alabama where so many stood strong for civil rights. I've seen the rebuilt Atlanta after Sherman burned it down in the war between the states. I have had "brats and beer" in Milwaukee and eaten boiled peanuts in South Carolina. I went to boot camp at Fort Knox (where they keep all the gold). I have driven down the highway that passes the Louisiana State Penitentiary where I saw the guards on horseback with loaded guns supervising a chain gang of prisoners. I have toured the Naval Academy in Annapolis Maryland where many of our nations great military leader attended. I have literally been from sea to shining sea.

Yep, I have been truly blessed to see a lot of this great country. There are still several places I haven't been and look forward to seeing one day but there are two places I have been that will forever stand out most in my mind. New York City and San Fransisco. Why these places? Is it because of the deep rooted history in each of these cities? Is it because each of these cities hold a romantic lure? Is it because of all the tall buildings and sites to see? No, none of those things. The reason I find these two cities so interesting are the people who live in them. Okay, I know what you're thinking....."Something ain't right with him". "SF is home of the Presidio, Fisherman's Wharf, Cable Cars, The Gold Rush of 1849, The Golden Gate Bridge, Dirty Harry Movies where filmed there, and NY is home of the Empire State building, Museums, The Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Plaza, The Today Show, Broadway, Times Square" and so on. And you're right all of those things are very interesting to see but to me not as interesting as watching the people in these two great cities.

If you ever get the chance to visit either or both of these cities try to see all the sites you can. All the ones you have read about or seen on the travel channel. But while you are busy seeing all the sites take time to just stop and park yourself at an outdoor cafe or bench and just watch the people for a while. It is amazing. If you watch long enough and pay close attention you will see which ones God is talking to. Yes, that's right. I said you will be able to recognize which ones God is talking to. Okay, it took me a while to figure this out myself. So let me tell you what to look for.

Eventually, you will see a guy walking down the street in tattered clothes, hair unkempt, may or may not be pushing a shopping cart. He will be totally oblivious to everyone around him. It will seem like he is talking to himself and sometimes maybe even arguing with himself. But naa naa. Pay attention and listen a little closer to what he is saying. I saw a guy just as I described walking down the street in NY and he kept saying out loud (as if he were arguing) "NO! But I can't do that! NO! Leave me alone"! At this point most people are trying desperately to avoid him. They will not make eye contact with him and are moving quickly to get away from him. That's when it hit me. What if he is NOT talking to himself? What if God is saying something like "Bill, you are my chosen one to do a great work". Only Bill is saying "NO! But I can't do that"! And God says "but I need you Bill, only you can do this". Bill's reply "Leave me alone"!

Don't get me wrong. I am not saying God only talks to people in NY and SF. And I am not making fun of those in these cities who are down on their luck and may have serious mental issues. This is my light hearted attempt to point out that sometimes we are too quick to judge others based on a quick glance. What we may quickly dismiss as strange behavior may actually be something divine. In many cases God does not call the equipped, He equips the ones He calls. How many of us today would think Moses was crazy? I mean come on he claimed a burning bush was talking to him. Saul a man who killed Christians for a living was called by God to do great things. Why would God choose a man who was a murderer? David who committed adultery and murder was called by God to lead a nation. Why choose David who broke God's commandments? We have all sinned. God tells us in the New Testament that He did not come for the righteous but has come here so the unrighteous can be saved, not by works or the law, but by grace.

The point is, is that God can use any of us if we are willing. Even a Hillbilly like me! Is He calling you to do something? Has he called you in the past? What was your answer? Did you answer by saying "NO! I can't do that" NO! Leave me alone"? or Did you follow His calling? Remember to be aware of where you are if you choose to have your conversation with God using your outside voice. You never know who might be watching.......

Who am I? Why am I here?

I remember the first time anyone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I was in the eighth grade. My vice principal called me into his office to discuss my grades. I was an average student. I was also involved in athletics. Truthfully, I spent more time working on my jump shot than I did hitting the books. Academics were boring to me at the time. So when he asked me “What do you want to do when you grow up” I never thought twice about my answer. I said, “I am going to play professional basketball”. He smiled and replied, “What is your backup plan”. I was confused by this reply. I remember thinking to myself; Backup plan? Why do I need a backup plan man? I am going to play in the NBA. He knew some things I didn’t at the time. He didn’t discourage me, don’t get me wrong. He just knew that only a handful of the best players ever make it to play professionally. He knew that any number of things could happen to my initial plan and I would need something else to fall back on. He was trying to get me to think. Think about my future.

God knew before I was placed in the womb “who” He wanted me to be and “why” He created me. So, why has it been so hard for me to figure it out? Things happen in life to cause you to move in different directions. Sometimes God is in them and sometimes not. God gave all of us “free-will” to make our own choices. When we decide to move in one direction or another we also decide if we are going to “choose” to involve God in those decisions. The reason it has been so hard for me to understand God’s plan for my life is because at many decision points in my life I chose NOT to seek His guidance or direction. I made my choices based on my feelings at the time and did not consider future consequences. It may take weeks, months or years before you realize the consequences of not seeking God’s guidance. In my life, every time I made choices without seeking God’s will, they have all and I mean all brought about negative consequences. My decisions without God took me away from His plan for my life.

God can take those negative consequences and use them to teach us discipline, faith, and obedience. We can learn from our mistakes. We can learn if we are willing to ask for forgiveness for not seeking His will in the first place and ask Him to bring us back into His perfect plan. God wants us to live happy, healthy, productive lives. He also wants us to seek Him in everything we do. (Before we do it). So how did my NBA career turn out? Well, I never made it to the NBA. I also did not have a backup plan. You see after my meeting with my vice principal in eighth grade I did not make one. As a matter of fact I never thought about our conversation again until recently. It makes sense to me now. God placed this vice principal in my path at a point in my life where the decisions I made began to count. They would set the course of my later years. I didn’t understand that then. It was in high school when I first realized I would not be going to the NBA. Even after it was clear to me that I would not fulfill my dream of playing professional sports I still did not seek God’s guidance or put a plan “B” in place. It was at this point that I just began to float through life. I chose to handle life all on my own without a plan. I called all the shots. I made all the decisions. Life became a series of one bad decision after another.

As I look back over my life I see the blessings now. Things I took for granted over the years. Things I thought I did on my own. Now I realize God was right there all the time. He has been faithful to me even when I have not been to Him. He was providing and meeting my needs through every bad decision. Times when I thought I was all alone, He was there to comfort me. While I was busy complaining, He was busy providing. God got my attention this past year when I suddenly lost my job and almost everything else.

About a year before I lost my job I started rebuilding my relationship with God. This was no accident. For the first time in my life I prayed on a consistent basis. I was asking God to help me understand His plan for my life. I began reading my Bible. I found a church home. He quietly began answering my prayers and was gradually pulling me back in line in preparation for His future plans for my life. Part of His future plan for my life was meeting my wife. You see at the same time I was praying God help me understand His plan for my life I was also praying and seeking His guidance regarding a wife. I told God if I were supposed to be alone then so be it, but if I am to meet someone then He choose that person. He answered this prayer when I least expected it. I met, courted, and married my beautiful wife in the same year prior to losing my job. I was feeling pretty good about things. This getting my life right with God thing isn’t such a big deal after all. I have a beautiful wife, new car, new house on the golf course, a relationship with God, a church home, heck I am all set. Wrong!

I thought I had done everything I was supposed to do and I was on auto-pilot when everything around me seemed to start falling apart. Even though I invited Christ back into my life again, I never activated my faith. I never claimed God’s promises for my life. I never thought that in order for me to fulfill God’s plan for my life I would have to sacrifice everything material. Foolishly, I thought I was ready to begin (and fully expected to do so) receiving blessing upon blessing just because I asked God to show me His will for my life. Wrong again! In the past year I lost my job, my car, my house and I almost lost the love of my life. It took some time for me to understand that all my material possessions had to be removed from my life so that I had no distractions from God and His plans for my future. During the time it took for me to come to that understanding I reverted back to my old ways and made some bad decisions. Instead of falling to my knees and thanking God for what was happening I became angry. I chose to deal with my losses by pulling away from my wife. She remained steadfast and continued to pray for me constantly. At times it was almost more than she could bear. But she remained faithful. Faithful to God and me. In time we began praying together again and I began to realize God had to tear me down completely in order to rebuild me and equip me to carry out His plan for my life.

I found myself asking “Who am I” and “Why am I here”. Without realizing it over the years I allowed all the wrong things define who I had become. Since I had no real plan to begin with all those years ago and I did not choose to seek God in any of my decisions (until this past year) I had to be torn down and rebuilt. Not to date myself but it was sort of like the old television show “The Six Million Dollar Man”. Remember the intro where the narrator says “We can rebuild him. Make him stronger, faster than he was”. Well that is exactly what God had to do with me. Once I began seeking his plan, He began to make it known. I had to learn that jobs and material possessions did not define me. The Bible says “Where your heart is, your treasure is also”. I had to decide where my heart was. If my heart is with God then that is where my treasure will be. So I chose God. He is always there.

One final thought in closing. If you are going through a similar situation or know someone who is and either you or they are struggling with questioning God’s plan, I want to assure you God is real and He is a loving God. My wife and I went from a six figure yearly income, living in a nice home on the golf course, driving a new vehicle to being jobless, carless and homeless. We had so sell every piece of furniture, appliances, etc. We had no great reserves of money saved. I received a small severance package that is now depleted. My unemployment benefits are now depleted. When we lost the house and all our possessions we prayed about what to do next. We acquired an older model car which we packed with just the clothes that would fit and our two dogs and hit the road. We allowed God to lead us. Our plan was to go where God wanted us to be. Many nights we did not know where we would lay our heads. God faithfully provided a place every night. Most of the time we never stayed in the same place more than one night. We met some incredibly generous people along the way. Not only did we not know where we would sleep, we did not know where our meals would come from. God faithfully provided. We also had the dogs to consider. God again faithfully provided for their needs. When possible we would stay with family as we traveled across the country. We continued to pray diligently that God show us where he wanted us. We were led to a place where we did not know anyone or have any prospects of employment. Our prayers became more specific as we felt God calling us to this place. We prayed that if this is truly where He wanted us that doors begin opening. Again, God was faithful. He opened the doors we needed to find housing. Soon after we settled in He led us to a church home where we have met and continue to meet some amazing people. This story is now really just beginning as this blog entry is ending. We have started a new chapter in our life and our walk with God.

It has been an amazing journey over the past year to say the least. We have experienced God’s provision in a way that would never have been possible if we had played it safe and chose not to follow His calling on our lives. By stepping out in faith and trusting Him completely and not leaning on our own understanding God is giving us a tremendous story to share.

Isaiah 60:1 (TLB) “Arise, My people! Let your light shine for all the world to see! For the glory of the Lord illuminates from you.”

Inaugural Post

This is my inaugural blog post. For the last couple of months I have been exploring the idea of starting something that promotes a message of hope and encouragement. My wife suggested that I start a blog. So here I am.

This blog is intended to open dialog about hope and encouragement through the sharing of some of my real-life experiences, inspirational stories of others lives, and hopefully some humor along the way.

Everyone has a story. Everyone has a purpose. Some of us are called to share our stories in order to fulfill our purpose on this earth. Lately, I have felt that calling. Sometimes it helps us to read about someone elses experiences in life. It's kind of like going to the movies. The actors we watch on the big screen are acting out a story. If you are like me (depending on the movie) you sometimes can associate personally and emotionally with the story being acted out. It's as if the writer followed you around then wrote a movie about your life or a particular season in your life. While the stories I share in my blog will probably never be turned into movies they are intended to make a connection on some level with you (the reader) in such a way as to inspire hope.

I would like to say "Thank You" to my wife for giving me the courage to start this blog. You are my inspiration and my best friend. Happy Birthday Baby!!!!!!!