I always knew that Bill dreamed of owning his own company. Since he was in the field of construction and built our first two homes, I always assumed he would be a general contractor one day although his strength and expertise in this field was the heavy-equipment, excavating and digging utilities. As he dreamed of being on his own, I was always more comfortable with the liability being on someone else's shoulders and I was comfortable with both of us working for someone else.
God doesn't always like for us to be in our comfort zones.
Late this past winter, the construction work scarcity finally hit middle TN. For a couple of weeks, Bill was getting fewer and fewer hours from his boss, who owned his small construction company that built higher-end homes. Just as Bill was filling out unemployment papers and applying to Home Depot just to keep a job, the Lord turned a chapter in our lives.
One morning, my devotion was on 2 Kings 3:16-17:
"Then [Elisha] said, "This is what the LORD says: 'Dig ditch after ditch in this stream.' For the LORD says, 'You will not see wind or rain, but the stream will be filled with water, and you will drink - you and your cattle and your animals.' This is easy in the LORD's sight. He will also hand Moab over to you."
The devotion spoke more on spiritual blessings. I hid the truths in my heart that morning. Memorizing the verse as best as I could and promising myself to expect the unexpected in my spiritual life that day.
As I was driving to work, Bill called me. Just that morning, his boss had approached him about purchasing the excavating equipment (a dump truck, dozier, backhoe, skid steer and misc. equipment) and going out on his own.
I know the next few minutes were nothing of what Bill expected. I chuckled in the phone and recited in my mind the verses I had just memorized this morning (dig ditch after ditch [excavating is digging ditches]...you'll neither see the wind nor the rain [this is a very hard economic time...it didn't make sense to go into business for ourselves], but the streams will be filled...this is easy in the sight of the LORD).
Bill was astonished by my reaction and the words that I told him about 2 Kings. He is a man of great faith and believes God will do the impossible, despite a hardening economy, despite the downturn in the housing industry. So Bill had been praying, unbeknownst to me, for some time that God would provide us with an opportunity to start our own excavating business. However, he knew his first prayer would need to be that his wife (that's me!) would be open to the idea!
We were amazed at how both of us, the dreamer and the realist, were both on the same spiritual page. We were going to have to go against conventional wisdom and do this. Everything in our day and times told us purchasing heavy construction equipment and going out on our own was foolish. We had been dreaming of me coming home from work soon, and were in the midst of making some adjustments to our 2 income lifestyle. Adding this equipment debt would not accomplish those goals as soon as we thought, but we both knew that all of our dreams were easy in the sight of the LORD!
It hasn't been a cake-walk these first few months of being a small business owner. The flood hit Nashville and knocked us off the grid for a couple of weeks, but then God provided work in helping people re-build after the flood. I often re-read that devotion. One portion says, "It is not the part of faith to question, but to obey. The ditches were made, and the water came pouring in from some supernatural source."
"Oh, for that faith that can act by faith and not by sight, and expect God to work although we see no wind or rain." --A.B. Simpson
4 comments:
Amy first of all let me just say it was so nice meeting you this past weekend at LPL in Richmond. I was working the will call booth. Thanks for taking part in my crazy photo moment :)
I started my own business 4 years ago and as you stated its hard taking on that initial business debt and 4 years later we are still working ours off but God is awesome. The bills are getting paid and we get paid too! But the best part is I do closed capitoning for religious broadcasting. In 2006 the FCC made captioning a requirement by law so religious programs were getting pulled off the air. This is when he gave me and my mother in law the vision for the business. Through what we do we are able to help churches get their message out there and keep them on the air!
Blessing to you and your husband in your new adventure. I'll be praying for you! And how awesome is it that you are both on the same page! That is so key!
~Amanda
Hi Amy ~ I hopped over here from Twitter & was blessed by the scripture you shared & the faithful, trusting obedience you and your husband are choosing. God will honor Himself in and through your lives because of that, & will bless your family in unimaginable ways as you keep digging those literal & spiritual ditches.
May He strengthen & bless you today and overflow tour trenches...
Jennifer Walker
Bill's testimony Sunday night was such a blessing. The example the 2 of you are living sets the bar high and inspires me to live a life of faithfulness and trust. Thank you for reminding me that God is good and that He can make a way where there seems to be no way.
Amy,
Your name and face is so familiar. I'm a Mayfield gal too. A friend sent me a link to your blog because my husband, Michael - who I believe knows your family) is buying a backhoe business. God used you (and her) to get those words to me when I needed to hear them most. Our situation is almost identical. God, no doubt, want us to take that road too. Now, if only I can find out how to work for Beth Moore too. She is the mentor in my life that I've never met. You are so blessed! But, until then I'll continue on with my ever exciting middle school students at Graves County. Thank you for your words. -Tiffany Williams
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