The Idea Was Preparation

"The idea was preparation."

I had been living in a place of constant change. It was, however, still a little surprising when I started feeling led to go to film-acting school. As I started walking toward this leading from the Lord I began to realize that this new direction wasn't all that unique from the leading the Lord had given me years earlier to go to New Zealand for missions, or to university, or to become a youth pastor. The Lord had led me into all sorts of things. Now the call was to go "Out west." I needed to keep trusting Him, and keep going with Him.

After that initial inquiry email was sent I began the process of filling out paper work, getting health exams, and doing all of those mundane tasks that needed to be done if I wanted to keep walking in the path of the Lord's leading. With the completion of forms and the receiving of references came a growing sense of the huge new direction in which I was about to go... and it was exciting. 

I completed and sent in the last parts of my application for YWAM's School of Acting for the Screen while visiting family in Georgia. That trip was another part of the preparation process.

I was believing that I'd be in Hawaii for a minimum of 3 months, so I wanted to see some of these out-of-state family and friends before going. I was also hoping to work some construction jobs with my dad in order to pay for the schooling.

The application had been sent in and I was waiting to hear if I had been accepted. It was now late March and the school began April 7th. I needed acceptance for the school and funds for both the school and airfare (it's a long swim to Hawaii).

With a lack of construction work came a lot of praying. I reminded the Lord that I needed money in order to go to the school that I sensed He had been leading me toward. I needed work in order to get money. I began to wonder if God understood this- haha- or maybe I heard wrongly about the new direction. As I asked the Lord about finances He spoke clearly that I should enjoy my time there with my family and friends, that He is my provider.

I remember after one particular day of going over my needs with the Lord, and my worries about Him providing for the life I feel He's calling me to live, I received a phone call. The person said that the Lord had given them a sum of money recently and they wanted to make a large donation to help me get to where He was leading me. Wow! Hours after the Lord speaking rest over me, came His provision! He is so good and faithful!

The gift was both kind and sizable, but only a bit more than a quarter of what I needed for the next three months. What would the Lord do next to surprise me with His goodness and His involvement in my life, and particularly His involvement in this next adventure?

The time for the beginning of the school was drawing near and I still hadn't heard confirmation about my acceptance to the program. Finally, a week and a half before the start date I got word that I would be a student in the acting school. Still needing thousands of dollars, the news was both exciting and sobering. Now there was a very imminent deadline by which I would need provision. Thinking back over all the Lord had done up to this point kept me confident that He would indeed come through. The question in my heart became, "How will He come through?"

Having returned back to Illinois to spend time with friends and prepare for Kona, I now had a lot on my plate. I had been planning to move to California before going to Hawaii, then going from Cali to Kona. Now that time was so short and finances were tight, I needed the Lord to help me know the best route, the best thing to do at this point.

One day I went to have lunch with some local pastor friends of mine with whom I had worked closely for the past several years. I shared with them my dilemma. "Move first, or go right to Hawaii from Chicago???" They unanimously agreed that I should sell all I own and plan to leave from Chicago. "Ok, Lord, I really need you to help me sell my stuff." Departure day was a week away.

That same night I would be hosting a group of close friends for what had been called "Tea Time-" a time for sharing life together and inviting Jesus to amaze us. This group had been through both great and difficult times together. Many of us had moved in the past year and I was the next on a long list to move out into a new place the Lord was leading. I shared with them my need to sell all my belongings. By the end of the week all the items I needed to sell (everything I couldn't fit in my SUV) had been purchased by that group of friends. I find it miraculous that out of a non-wealthy group of young adults everything I needed to sell was something that someone in that group both needed and could afford to purchase. Wow, God! You are ridiculous!!

A few other donations and the amount I was able to make working in GA began to add up. The sale of the furniture put me even closer to my need. The Lord was really working this out!!

So the preparation continued...