On Good Friday, 2000, I drove to my parents’ acreage west of Knoxville from that prison. My, “just go with it as if it’s the Lord” approach to life really wasn’t put to the test. I knew. I’m glad I had been “practicing” hearing His voice and following His leading for the previous two years. It would serve me well (or rather, it would allow me to serve Him) for the next six years.
I pulled into my parents’ driveway and came into a house full of commotion. The boys were 8, 6, 4, and 8 months respectively. Amy was trying to get them presentable before the Good Friday service at my parents’ church. In the midst of it all Amy looked across the room and said, “Well?” Our eyes locked and I saw all the color drain out of her face. She knew.
I made a lot of presumptions. Even though there was no current job for me at IFI, I knew I would be there. I saw that my previous couple years in Columbia were preparing me to leave. I had to have some distance from KDS to be able to move on. I had to have some doors close in very definitive ways for me to ever leave Tennessee. To this day (12 years later) I consistently miss being there. But I had an assurance in my Spirit that I was headed to an assignment, and not just a, “Anyone with ‘X’ type of qualifications and ‘Y’ set of skills and experience could come in and do this job.” I felt I was called and specifically placed in an assignment. It was the very situation I had longed for, and God was now causing it to happen.
Sam and I kept in communication over the weeks. IFI was also short one counselor and there was a man at New Life, Gene Feagan, who had experience as a Pastor and as a Probation and Parole officer. I connected Sam and Gene and soon it was apparent he would be coming on-board as well.
In the Summer of 2000 I told the leadership at New Life I would be leaving for Prison Fellowship in Iowa. I think they were relieved. Things were unraveling and the budget was not what was projected. There had been some pretty brutal break-ups at New Life the previous year and I didn’t want to add to some of the heartache. I asked if Amy and I could be sent-out from the church in a positive way. Not that we would be financially supported, but that New Life would be extending the Kingdom through us. The Elders were more than happy to do so. They even went so far as wanting to ordain me as a Minister and Pastor.
Our last Sunday, near the beginning of August 2000 was a joyous occasion. We had many close friends there at New Life and in the community. There were many tears and hugs. The Church gave us a “Money Tree” with a lot of cash. Pastor Larry made a statement to me during my ordination he said, “From now on, as a Minister of the Gospel, you will be dependent on the generosity of others for your livelihood.” That was a sobering statement. Then he gave me what he called, “The last Bible you’ll ever own.” A genuine leather bound, New American Standard, Greek Keyword Study Bible. And he was right. I have loved that Bible for the last 12 years.
So we sold our wonderful house on Wahella Way in Columbia to some friends from church. I found a large enough rental in Newton, and we headed to Iowa.
chris
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