Moving to Florida (1994)

As God was working in my life, I accepted the challenge and fasted for 24 hours. That was rough but my prayer was for God to do work in my life. My prayer was very generic but I wanted more spiritually. My church was having a mid-week three day conference and even though I worked nights driving for my second job, I made it each night. On Wed. night, I felt God tell me to quit my job at Walgreens. I had just started my new department manager job on Monday. I told Lee and Faye and they encouraged me to obey God’s voice and that I could do it on Friday. I said, “no, I need to do it tomorrow or I might not do it.” I walked in Thursday and put in my two week notice. I didn’t tell my boss but I told others that I quit because God told me to. I kept working my night job of driving for Execucar.

At some point I decided that I should go back to college. About a year and a half earlier I had gone with my mother to drop my sister off at Pensacola Christian College (PCC) where she a student. I remember liking the campus and I wanted to go somewhere new. My thought was that I need to put myself into a strict environment where I’ll be forced to do what’s right so that I can get back on track with God. On Easter Sunday, I went to Lee and Faye’s house for dinner and told that what I was thinking. They encouraged me by saying, “God can’t direct your paths unless you’re moving your feet.” I decided to move my feet toward Pensacola in hopes of attending college there in the future.

A few weeks later I packed my old Oldsmobile with everything I could and with $200 headed across the country. On the way I’d find a spot to park my car and sleep. During one stretch of the road I saw a car with someone changing the tire and I started to move over and ended up running over a piece of metal that gave me an instant flat tire. I’m guessing that’s how he had a flat. By the time I pulled into Pensacola, FL I had about $25 in my pocket. I had a friend who lived in the area that knew I was coming. I hadn’t planned on it but they insisted that I stay with them for a little bit. I owe Joel and Kim and huge debt of gratitude for opening their doors to me. At the time, they had two little ones.

I knew that God wanted me there. I didn’t know how God would provide but I wasn’t worried. I found a part-time job and a guy who was renting a room. Later on, I ended up working at Toys R Us and Radio Shack. I was used to working two jobs at a time. When Fall came, I wasn’t able to start school yet but that was ok. I was nearby and going to the Campus Church and making friends.