Let's take a walk...On the WILD side!!

So I have an awesome job!! I work at Harley-Davidson in Tifton and LOVE it. I actually look forward to work. My co-workers rawk!! My boss Julie has become a personal friend!! My big boss (Keith) is about the best guy I have ever met with a heart as big as a mountain!! Seriously...this place is incredible!!

However...over the last few weeks, I have felt drawn to give more to God and to work for Him. But, what can a uneducated, ex-con, fledgling do???

Not to mention the fact that I feel obligated to my friends at work...I "need" a paycheck...I "need" security...etc.

So basically it's: Worldly Existence VS The Walk!!

So I went to work on Tuesday with all of this heavier on heart than normal. What to do?? I know...I'll pray!! So I went to the bathroom and got down on my knees and prayed...YES...public bathroom and knees...BUT I feel like praying silently has become way too common place. So I like old school prayer!

Anyway...I basically said "God...I don't NEED a sign, but I sure do WANT a sign. If it's Your will, please show me."

I walked out and received a phone call moments later from a guy in Palatka that had stopped in the shop with his wife the week before. We had all "recharged the God batteries" while they were there...exchanged info...and went on our merry ways. He was calling to ask me to join in the prison ministry that he was a part of in Lake Park! He was asking me...even though I have a record and the prisons generally frown on that!

So when he told me that the date was the 21st, I responded (without thinking) that we had a big tent event on that day at Harley...of course I had to smile at the irony (which is God's sense of humor in my mind!).

So I let Ed know that I would be back in touch...and started to wonder. Was that a sign?? Could it have been?? In all honesty I had never asked for a sign and had no idea what to expect!! I had no idea...

Well...I decided to confide in a work friend. His response was to pray. I, of course, told him that I HAD prayed! He calmly looked at me and said to pray again!

So I go back into the restroom and kneel and pray...AGAIN!! "Umm...God? Umm...Uhhh...I really hate to do this...But I think there might have been static on the lines earlier...Umm...could I get a mulligan?? A do-over?? One more??"

So I walked out and about an hour later I'm sitting at my desk when this guy, who I had missed walking in, comes into view looking at motorcycles in the shop. I heard him say that he was waiting on Derrick (other sales guy).

Now...In sales...you don't waste time usually. If someone is dealing with another sales guy...you don't jump in a mess it up! So I had NO reason to talk to this guy...at all!

But I did...I got up and we started talking about riding and the area and stuff. We knew a lot of the same people and I eventually asked him his name after about 30 minutes. I recognized the last name and asked him if he knew a girl named Dena. He responded that she was his younger second cousin and we laughed about a few stories of she and I dating YEARS ago.

As the conversation came to a close, he asked for my card so he could remember my name and tell her hello. I reached and grabbed a Sinner's Church card for some reason...instead of my normal HD card. Once he read it, he began asking me questions! Keep in mind that this is the ONLY God talk we had at all up until this point!!

After a few minutes, Derrick (the friend I had confided in) came in from his lunch and joined us. Right about then, the man looked at me and said:

"I feel very led to ask you a question..." and I was like Uh-oh!!

He continued: "Have you ever thought about going into Youth Ministry? Cause I am the head of deacons at our little church and while you are nothing like what we have been looking for, I feel like there is something here."

BOOM!!!! I felt like God had come along and laid The Smackdown on me!!

I looked over at Derrick and he was just simply staring at me like "Ummm...you hear Him now?"

So we talked a little more and I told him that I would consider it and we could talk later...but that he had just played a HUGE role in God's plan that day!

The next day I came to work and gave my two-week notice. No...I have no plans other than chasing and serving God!! Yes...I am both nervous and excited!!

A few days later it hit me...hard!! Imagine the massive string of "coincidences" and "random events" that had to transpire for that day to occur...

1 - I had to pray (the first time).
2 - Ed had to decide to take a chance on me being an ex-con with his group.
3 - Ed had to call me and invite me.
4 - The date had to be the 21st (or else I would definitely not seen it as a sign)
5 - I had to discuss with Derrick (not a normal thing)
6 - He had to tell me about Gideon and to pray again.
7 - I had to pray again
(here's where it gets freaky)
8 - The customer had to come shopping for bikes in the pouring rain (which he admitted later he really was not looking for a bike and this was the worst day to drop by in his mind)
9 - I had to decide to get up and talk to him (even though he was someone else’s customer)
10 - We had to click on riding spots and stuff.
11 - I had to have dated his second cousin over 15 years earlier.
12 - I had to remember her name!!!
13 - He had to ask for my card to tell her hello (most people would have just walked and forgot all about it).
14 - I had to grab a Sinner's Church card instead of my normal Harley card.
15 - He had to ask about it...
16 - I had to tell him (Let's face it...Witnessing can be scary)
17 - Derrick had to walk up (not a necessity but very cool)
18 - He had to be a head deacon.
19 - He had to follow his urge and ask me about being a youth minister!!
20 - I'm filling this in because my OCD couldn't end on 19.

That's a lot!! That's crazy!! If you think the universe is random and that there is no grand plan or designer...then I should've played the lotto that night!! WOW!!!

Anyway...that's my testimony of recent events. I know it seems crazy, but I am going FULL-TIME FOR GOD!!! :)

Remember: Love your neighbor as yourself!!