How it happened. (part 2 of 3)

If you haven’t already done so, read part 1 of the story.

During the last four months of 2003, I printed the following Bible verse and put it on my refrigerator:

“God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld His love from me!” (Psalm 66:16-20)

I repeated that verse over and over again during those months. With our new house almost ready to move into, it seemed crazy to think we could move back to Destin instead. But every time doubt came into my mind, I would pray that verse again. I really believed God would make a way.

We moved into our new house in Saint Augustine in January 2004. The following month we hosted a small group in our home that was part of the “The Purpose Driven Life,” which our entire chuch was doing. About halfway through the 40-day study, I remember sitting in our family room with Andy discussing the study and the impact it was making on both our small group and the entire church. Seemingly out of nowhere, we looked at each other and both said, “I think we’re supposed to start a church in Destin.”

How could that be? Neither of us was a pastor. Neither of us had been to Bible college. Yet, we both had the overwhelming feeling this was meant to be.

The following Sunday, we approached our pastor after church. We told him the news. He explained that the church was actually in the process of going multi-site. Although they hadn’t looked into opening a campus more than an hour from the church, that didn’t mean it couldn’t be done.

In March, we heard of a job opening in Destin in Andy’s field of work. He called on a Friday, drove to Destin on Sunday, interviewed on Monday, and accepted the job offer. He was scheduled to start the first week of April. Our dream was coming true and everything seemed to be falling into place.