Two and half years ago while in Kansas City, Missouri I heard God say, "Watch Louisiana." Minutes later, I found on the road, a white paper bag that said Louisiana Kitchen. A sign? I thought so, but what did it mean?
At the end of August, 2011 I received a phone call from a Pastor friend of mine. He invited me to pray about the possibility of being a part of a new church plant in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Shortly after, I was reminded about what God had said two years prior in Kansas City, Missouri, " Watch Louisiana." Was this a divine ambush?
As Jessica and I prayed about this invite and the word God gave 2 years earlier, confirmations began to pop up everywhere.
The following day after I received the call from my Pastor friend I was in a conversation and the person I was talking to brought up Louisiana randomly, or maybe not randomly. Hmmm? The whole time we were in Wyoming I don't recall anyone talking about Louisiana, but the day after the invite I did. The very next day at work, I was in a conversation with a totally different person and guess what he began to talk about? That's right, Louisiana!
I received a typical, weekend, I love you call from my dad in September. During the conversation he told me that while he was talking to my uncle Stan, he said, "You will never guess where Cody and Jessica are thinking about going?"
Immediately, my Uncle Stan blurted out, "Where? Louisiana?"
My dad inquired, "How did you know that?"
Uncle Stan said, " I don't know, it just came out."
By this time Jessica and I were confident about moving the family to Baton Rouge, but we wanted wise counsel and a sure path before us. We wanted to hear what our current Pastors thought about the situation. We wanted to know if they had any wisdom or warnings to share with us. We scheduled a time to meet and they took us out to lunch. We did not know where they were going to take us, but come to find out the owner of the restaurant we went to is originally from Baton Rouge. What are the odds? It seemed like another confirmation from God. If that was not enough, the little league playoffs, on ESPN, were playing on a t.v. at the restaurant. You will never guess what teams were playing? The Billings, Montana team was playing Louisiana. It just so happens that Billings, Montana is the closest major city to Cody, Wyoming. Wow! We were blown away.
We had crossed one major hurdle, knowing that God was calling us to Louisiana, but another one lay ahead. The financial hurdle. It was going to cost over $3,500 to move our family half way across the U.S. and we were making income enough to live comfortably, but not save too much. To save $3,500 might take us a couple of years on only my salary.
One Sunday afternoon we were making our way out to lunch when Jessica ran into our former landlord who we had not seen for a couple of months. As they visited, Cindy told Jessica that God had told her to give our family $500.00. She did not know why and was not even sure if we were still in Wyoming. She told God that He would have to bring us to Cindy, and that is exactly what He did that Sunday.
Over the course of about two months we received a little less than $3,300. 00 We never once asked for any money but believed that God would provide if He was indeed calling us to Louisiana. God used 12 different people who financially sowed into our lives in order for us to comfortably make the journey from Cody, Wyoming to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Shortly after money started coming in towards our big move another blessing was released to us. I landed a job painting, which is what I was doing in Cody. The wonderful thing is I did not have to even look for a job but one was virtually given to me. Not only did I get the job, but the owner of the company is also a pastor of church and come to find out, is an incredible man. Favor! Favor! Favor! There is untold favor stored up for Gods children.
In summary, God supernaturally revealed His will for us to make the move to Baton Rouge. We supernaturally were supplied about $3,300. And I was presented with a job without even searching. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. The apartment that we were scheduled to lease told us there was a deposit, but when we came they told us we didn't have to pay for some reason. That was a huge blessing and we didn't make any squabbles about that.
Thank you Jesus for your incredible kindness and heart of adventure. We wouldn't want to be anywhere else but in the center of your will.
Watching Curious George on the way to New Orleans.
