Category: Pic and a Prayer

It was exactly 3 years ago, on Friday May 14, 2010 that God woke a woman up at 6am & gave her simple instructions that she should contact me and ask if she could come over that morning. I remember reading her email at 7:00 am that morning and thinking, “Maybe she needs prayer or just needs someone to talk to”. She didn’t say why she wanted to come over.  We had become friends recently but we didn’t know each other well and it would be the first time she came to my home.

Later that morning my friend arrived & we walked through my house into the kitchen to get some coffee, played with my cat and did basic chit-chat. We walked back to my office and she took a seat in my famous cozy rocking chair as I finished up something I was working on before she arrived. I’m not even sure what I was talking about but rather mid-sentence, my friend stopped me and asked, “Vanessa, how much money do you need to pay your bills?”

What a loaded question for me, particularly on that day.

Just two weeks earlier my financial life came to a screaming halt.  My business, which had been slowing and changing during the previous 2 years, had slowed to a stop and I still had outstanding operational bills. The contract work that I do on the side was minimal.  I had a large outstanding bill due to one of my main vendors in my business and also owed some money to the State of Tennessee in connection to my business.  It was Friday, April 30th, 2010 and I sat down at my desk and after balancing my accounts and counting everything to the penny, I needed $500 just to cover the rent and utilities that were coming up on Monday.  My mother let me borrow the money and as I sat at my desk, I pulled out a sheet of paper, listed my bills, totaled them, wrote $6500, circled it and then wrote at the top “Jesus – Things to Do List”. I stuck that piece of paper on the drawer right under my computer at my desk.

The next day brought devastation to Nashville that no one had seen for 100 years. It rained… and rained… and rained… and my neighbors and I watched Mill Creek take over the field in our backyards. It washed away parts of the main road used to get out of our neighborhood. Our homes were spared but the floods of May 1-2, 2010 devastated the entire city.

Monday morning I got up and did my best to find a way out of my neighborhood and to the offices at Christ Church to volunteer.  That day a small group of volunteers jumped in and started answering calls, making calls, forming a response team and planning the relief effort that swelled through Nashville as quickly as the floods came.  By day’s end, I went to the grocery store (first time in a month at that point) and then home to rest before a long day volunteering yet ahead.n for 100 years. It rained… and rained… and rained… and my neighbors and I watched Mill Creek take over the field in our backyards. It washed away parts of the main road used to get out of our neighborhood.  Our homes were spared but the floods of May 1-2, 2010 devastated the entire city.

Tuesday was filled with emotion.  So many needs… so many kind people volunteering their time… so much devastation… so much hope.  At 4:30 the office team of volunteers met to plan the course for the next day. Sitting in that meeting, I received a text from my bank that my account was at a $0 balance. A minute later… another text. My business account was at a $0 balance. Panic. Worry.  I left the meeting to call my bank. I couldn’t stop the tears when I heard them say that the state had put a lien on my accounts and everything was drafted out (plus fees, of course).  I had bills that were already setup to be paid with that money.  If I didn’t do something THAT DAY, payments would be bouncing.  I walked back into the meeting. I’m not even sure what I said. What I do remember clearly is that one of my precious friends left the room and returned with a check for $200, and I cried more.  All of Nashville was under water, and I was too.

I went home and cancelled every online payment that was scheduled.  Because my account had the lien on it and more money was still owed, I couldn’t use my bank accounts for anything.  I went to my friends bank the next day to cash her check.  The clerk initially said there would be a fee to cash the check. I think he saw the tears swelling in my eyes when he decided to waive that fee. I took that money and discovered that week that you can pay your utility bills at the grocery store! Who knew?  That was enough to keep the water on and pay the gas bill. I headed back to the Christ Church flood relief offices and kept working.

I should mention here that one of my main sources of income for the past 10 years has been wholesale custom t-shirt  sales. The moment the floods came, people were creating t-shirts to show their support of the people in Nashville. This was the only thing being printed in shops all over town BUT everything printed was being donated to flood relief.  I couldn’t even do the one thing that was in my hands to make money because nothing was being done at that time to actually MAKE money… it was to GIVE money.  My hands were tied, even in my own business.

Thursday came and drove to a friends house to pick up another check. I had agreed to cater a graduation party that Sunday (Mother’s Day) and I needed to do the grocery shopping for the party. Clearly, I didn’t have the money to wait until after the party to be reimbursed so I was happy to get that money!  Once again, I had to go to the same bank to get the check cashed.  This time the teller didn’t have mercy on my and I had to pay the fee.  As I walked back to my car that day, I stopped in the middle of the parking lot.  It was as if there was a wall in front of me and I couldn’t take another step. Just paralyzed.  I remembered something I had read by Beth Moore just a few weeks earlier. She said,(my paraphrase) “When you are facing a decision or a situation where you don’t know what to do, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to fill you completely and then look at that decision/situation through His eyes.”  I prayed right there in that parking lot for the Holy Spirit to fill me completely in that moment. I needed something supernatural to help me keep walking.  I needed to see this through His eyes.  In that moment, He was there.  I took a deep breath and walked on to my car.

Throughout the next week there were little miracles every day.  I called them “happy handshakes” when people would pass me in the hallway and shake my hand as they gave me cash.  Twenty dollars, two-hundred dollars… every time it was just enough to meet the need I had that day.  The following Thursday, a dear friend came by the house to give me $100 and pray with me.  I needed $80 that day to pay a bill.  I was exhausted from the stress of the past 2 weeks but thankful for the help and prayers. I called another prayer-warrior friend of mine down in Texas and asked her to tell me her story again of how God provided for her in a time of financial crisis. I needed to hear a testimony that day.  She testified and we cried and praised God all over again for what He’s done and how good He is, always.  When I set the phone down that day, I remember saying, “I’m done.”  I refused to let the circumstances overtake me. The situation was completely out of my hands and impossible for me to remedy on my own but I knew with confidence that God would take care of me.  I had NO idea just how quickly He would come to my rescue.

6:00am. God speaks.  A woman listens and trust Him as she makes her way to my home, not knowing why she is coming. She walks in my house and is secretly thankful that I haven’t asked her WHY she asked to come to my house.  I’m walking her through my home and preparing coffee and she’s hearing the Holy Spirit tell her, “You are going to give her some money today.”  I keep talking.  She is asking, “How much money Lord?”  She hears “$6500.” She’s seated in the rocking chair and I’m at my desk….

“Vanessa, how much money do you need to pay your bills?”

She stunned me. How do you answer a question like that?  How could I possibly begin to answer?

I slid the drawer out from under my computer and picked up the list of “Jesus- Things to do” and said, “Actually, I need $6500.”

That was Friday morning, May 14, 2010.  By noon that day, she transferred $8700 into my account. By 5:00pm that day, every bill was paid and there was money in the bank to breathe again.  I called so many people that afternoon and somehow through the tears I was able to tell them what God had done.  My sweet mother called several times that day. She was as elated and overwhelmed as I was.  Every time she called she would say, “Did this really just happen?”

God rescued me that day and changed my life! I have always said that I live my life wholely, fully, completely leaning and trusting in Jesus and Him alone. That confidence in Him was put to the test and I’m so humbled and grateful that I can say, He is all that He says He is.

My friend, my angel sent from God, asked that I not tell people her name.  If I could, I would shout it to the rooftops!  I want to trust God like she did that day. I want to listen to His voice like she did and be willing to go to someone’s house and just trust God as He speaks to me.  All that I have is God’s. I would give any and everything away if He asked me to. The only reason I wouldn’t give something away is if I was afraid that He would not provide for my own needs.  I don’t want to live in fear… I want to be a giver and trust that God provides what I need as I allow him to use me to bless others.

I am so grateful… thank you Jesus.

*written on May 14, 2011

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My precious benefactor knew that prior to my series of losses that month, I had been planning all year to go to Florida with some girlfriends for a vacation at the end of May. When my life fell apart, so did my plans for that vacation. The day she put that money in my account she told me “And you still need to go on that vacation. You have enough money now to do that.”

God cares about our needs…. and then goes even above and beyond that!