November Partner Letter 2015

Dear Partner,
As believers, we often need to remind ourselves of how utterly important it is to see things in light of eternal realities.  Day-to-day life tries to ‘trick’ us into thinking that walking and living by faith is really not making much of a difference in the world around us.  But God has a way of taking something that looks insignificant and causing greatness to come out of it!  Remember when Jesus fed the 5,000 with just 5 loaves and 2 fishes?  It didn’t look like much, but that little boy’s lunch became the very thing that helped turn a day of ‘great need’ into a day of ‘greater supply’!
This is a true story which took place many years ago with a friend of Ray’s at a car dealership in Georgia…
It was a stiflingly hot and humid day as a taxi cab pulled up to the Valdosta Cadillac dealership, and a somewhat feeble older lady got out.  Given the floor-to-ceiling windows in the showroom, all the staff salesmen plainly saw her, and probably pegged her as merely a window-shopper or tire-kicker.  And so, though it was not his turn in the sales rotation, one of the veteran salesmen told Eric, the rookie, “You go ahead and take this one – you’re new here, and it’ll be good experience for you.”  Eric was only 19, and had only recently taken the sales job as an interim position, as he was a fledgling professional musician looking to ‘fill the gap’ between tours.

So Eric, energetic, fresh-faced, and grateful for the opportunity, thoroughly and happily showcased for the lady all the fabulous features of the 1975 Cadillac line, spending well over an hour with her.  He then dutifully asked if she’d like to take one for a test drive, and she replied “Oh no, honey – I’m sold.”  Eric jokingly asked, “How many would you like?”  The lady replied “I’m going to need 12 of them – I’d like a fleet deal.”  As it turned out, the little old lady turned out to be a very savvy businesswoman who owned a dozen nursing homes, and was purchasing a new Cadillac for each one of them!

We all have tasks and obligations in life that seem inconsequential, and maybe even a waste of time to the natural eye, but when you add faith in God to the mix, they can be turned into golden opportunities!  God is faithful, and His promises are based in the rock-solid reality of His faithfulness.
As 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 says in the NLT: ‘for our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!  So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever!’
How we thank you for sowing into the work of God, and for seeing the eternal value of your contribution.  We know your heart, and we sense you with us as we minister, sharing the Word of Truth and seeing people forever changed as they become more keenly aware of God’s purpose and plan for their lives.   Together, we are making a difference!

Forever Grateful,
Cindy, Lois and Ray