It was a warm and sunny morning on the island of Hawaii. There was a gentle breeze coming in from the ocean. It was a picture perfect setting for tranquility and beauty.

The house was located on an island inlet in one of the poorest and oldest neighborhood. However, it had a beautiful view of the ocean and beaches. This made a perfect setting for a new housing development; and it started right next to a well-kept but deteriorating property owned by a widow.

When the construction on the new house was finished, the widow’s new neighbor moved into his luxurious home. As it turns out, he was a retired CEO, and wealthy.

Even though she was quiet and respected his privacy, it did not take long before he began to resent living next to “That Woman”, as he put it.

It was her daily routine that he had a problem with; every morning she quietly walk to her front porch. Even though she is very poor, she would always, in a meek manor lift her eyes to heaven and give thanks to God for taking care of all her daily needs. She would do so even though life for her was a harsh struggle.

Having, enough food to eat was perhaps her biggest daily need. There were times when she would go without eating because she just did not have enough food. In spite of this, she was always very thankful for what she had.

This angered him that she would openly praise God, (even though she did so in a quiet manner). His anger burned toward her, he would heckle, harass and taunt her every morning. Sometimes he will even throw rocks while cursing her. Undeterred, she would from her heart, every morning give thanks to God.

Months passed and the harassment just never stopped! He would viciously curse her and spit in her direction. The name-calling, the spitting, and the verbal abuse was endless. The neighbor, being an atheist hated God. He took great pride in attempting to intimidate the widow….his efforts were in vain. Her faith and courage was stronger than his resolve to discourage her. She was a fearless and a determined widow who would not stop thanking God.

One morning, as usual, she walks to her front porch. Then she stops abruptly, looks, and her eyes widen with amazement. Slowly tears begin to well up in her eyes and fall gently down her weathered face. There on her porch, to her amazement, were several bags of groceries, they were full and overflowing with wholesome and nutritious food!

Many thoughts raced through her mind, how, when…and most of all who, who would be so kind and so generous? She took a moment to gather her thoughts; without hesitation she lifted her eyes toward heaven and thanked God for taking care of her and her daily needs……

Then it happened….before she could finish, out from the tall bushes her nasty neighbor jumped and landed right in front of her. Now staring at her eye to eye, angrily he told her God did not provide anything for her; he bought the groceries. God had nothing to do with it! He just stood there and glared at her.

A little shocked, as you might well expect, her jaw dropped, she looked at the groceries, then at her neighbor who had a smug look on his face, then once again at the groceries. She smiled, then lifted her eyes toward heaven and very thankfully and emotionally said, “Thank you God for taking care of all my daily needs…and thank you for getting the Devil to pay for it!”

This time, the neighbor’s jaw dropped. Now for the first time he had absolutely nothing to say. He was speechless! That was the last time he ever confronted or taunted her.

Faith and courage when placed in God is a powerful combination. I am sure He smiled that day at the widow and her trust in Him.

 

I have always felt a need to serve the church membership I loved. Therefore, when I became aware that there was a need to help, I did not hesitate.

Spiritual Widows?  The ministers, if they discovered a married couple where one of them was previously married and divorced, and their former mates were still alive; the church doctrine was that they must separate.  The church considered this living in a state of adultery. Their minister would inform the couple of the absolute need to separate, or the consequences for refusal; they burn in the lake of fire.

They tagged these women with the title of “Spiritual Widows”.

Even with the threat of eternal damnation, the husband was not always willing just to say goodbye and end a relationship with a wife he dearly loved. It was heart breaking! Especially when the advice came from irrational whims of carnal men who thought, they were speaking for God. Sometimes the husband could be downright difficult, if not impossible to deal with. I attribute no blame or fault to them whatever. They were simply innocent victims of an unholy and unrighteous system.

It is not the purpose of this story to discuss church’s doctrine of “Divorce and Remarriage”, but just to make you aware that it existed, and the heartache and emotional distress it caused. However, because of this teaching a need developed.  The spiritual widows needed move to another home.

It was a bit bizarre because neither the church nor college was willing to help these unfortunate women move, which in itself is an oxymoron…a church that preached absolute necessity of helping widows but actually offered no help or assistance.

For these now single moms it was not the ordinary move across town, in almost every case it was a crisis move. These unfortunate women, and children, were under extreme stress and the move was generally an emergency.

I find it interesting and even a bit strange that the ministry would break up a family then just walk away, leaving it up to the couple to work things out. They were especially swift to move away if it looked as though there was going to be any trouble. So very often, the wife and children were the ones that were hurt most. These women were often left without a source of help. The church would spiritually beat up the couple then when their victims needed emotional help and support the most; the arrogant minister would back out, leaving the wife to fend for herself. To my knowledge, no attempts were made to help. Now I am not saying that every case was like that, but far too many were, far too many!

It was rather ironic because one of the churches leading evangelists gave a very passionate sermon about the need to help these unfortunate women. This prompted me to come up with a plan to help. So to begin with I solicited the help of three other young people (one of which I married) that I knew cared and could be trusted. The four of us decided we would find a way to help. We would have to do so unofficially without the direct help of the church or college.

The biggest problem, and the most difficult to overcome, was not working around the ministry; actually that was the easy part, it was where do we get a truck and the necessary equipment to move the furniture and belongings of those in need?

Praise God for miracles! As it turned out the college had just purchased a new truck with an 18-foot box, perfect! Now, the question became, how were we going to get the use of it? My job and status, being on the bottom of the food chain, as one person very adequately put it, left me without any influence or power to persuade those in authority to let us use the truck. It would never have worked to explain the desperate need. In reality, it would have been easier to talk the devil out of his horns than to get the help of the ministry. I tried it previously; it was an object lesson in futility. They were not interested in allowing me or anyone else, regardless of their ability to handle the truck (this type of truck I drove every day on my previous job), to use the churches or colleges assets to help someone move.

After carefully studying the situation, I finally came up with what I thought was the perfect plan of action. If all went well we would get the use of the new truck, and if it did not go well, I alone would be invited to a barbecue where my goose would be cooked!

All four of us were genuinely excited about the opportunity to serve those in need. When the question came up, and I knew it would, about getting the equipment. I told them I had found the perfect truck and equipment. And it was not going to cost us anything to use! They were excited as none of us had any money; we all were just barely getting by. Therefore, the prospect of getting to use the equipment without cost was a big relief. If it had cost us, this group of valiant young people would have sacrificed all they could to make it work. It was an unfortunate reality that even if we pooled all our resources together we would not have been able to meet the expenses involved. They had a willing heart, one of a true servant.

When they asked how it was all going to work, I explained how the plan to gain the use of the truck. After hearing the proposal they very politely said I was nuts!

The plan required to work around the ministerial hierarchy of the church. Make no mistake about it; these were powerful men within the organization. Messing with their authority was very risky and potentially dangerous. It would be worth it all just to help relieve some of the stress and feeling of overwhelming despair that a new widow had to face. Her choice was quite simple, either she comply with church policy or be kicked out of the church and burn in the lake of fire. I have seen couples cry bitterly because the ministry destroyed their lives, and worst of all their hope for the future. Some few had ended it all by committing suicide. It was a horrible situation.

Working at the church’s college, it sometimes helped to be just a little nuts, not too much mind you, just a little. It also helped to ignore all the possible consequences and to be willing to put faith into action and step out. Most, not all men feared the ministry. I did not, although I knew I had to tread carefully. It was somewhat like dealing with a poisonous viper. Needed to be very careful how you approached it. It took skill and finesse to grab the sucker by the tail and snap it like a whip so the head would pop off, thus rendering it harmless. To solve unusual problems like this one often took an unusual and unexpected approach.

At the first opportunity to help a widow move, I put the plan to work. Within twenty minutes to everyone’s amazement and shock, I arrived with the truck fully gassed up with moving equipment loaded and ready to do some serious moving.

All four of us piled into the cab and away we went to help this young widow in her time of need.

We completed the move within three hours because as a team we worked fast and hard. We were well organized and efficient…. I was able to return the truck just slightly before midnight….

Now, how did I accomplish the seemingly impossible task of securing the truck? Here is what I did; I waited until about 8:30 pm which is well after the dinner hour. It was also the time a particular evangelist was getting ready for bed. He had mentioned this several times in sermons about how important is was to get to bed early.

Knowing this was a vital part of the plan.

9:00pm, I knew the brand new truck was at the Transportation Department, it had been delivered to the college the day before. I simply told the supervisor on duty that Mr. Evangelist, who is well known and I might add highly feared, said we need to help widows move. I was here to pick up the truck. I did not lie about the woman in need of help, and I just implied that the top ranking, (rank is a bad odor), minister gave me the okay to use the truck. When he hesitated, and I knew he would, I told him he could call the evangelist at home. I also mentioned that the call would probably get him out of bed, and he might be a little cranky. The supervisor decided it would not be in his best interest to call (I used fear and intimidation to my advantage). He gave me the keys; the plan worked just as slick as I had hoped! It is amazing the amount of respect and fear one can generate just by forcibly and confidently using a name.

Yes, I was bluffing, big time. Had he made the phone call, which I was certain he would not; no one in his right mind would take the risk of disturbing such a powerful and feared evangelist!  However, had he called, the plan would have failed. The resulting consequences would have been very painful.

This arrangement worked well for almost a year. Three or four times a month, as the need arose, we used the truck. It became such a routine that all I needed to do was show up before 9:00 pm and the supervisor would check the checkout sheet, then almost automatically hand me the keys to the truck. The plan was working perfectly!

One evening, the unexpected happened. Midnight Madness struck down our use of the truck. It came to a rather sudden, abrupt and unexpected end, but not for the reasons you might think. That order came from Herbert Armstrong himself, no use of the college truck unless he personally approved.

This strange chain of events leading up to the truck no longer being available started when we arrived to move a widow. First thing we ran into was, she was not ready for us. The dishes were still in the cupboards, the clothes in the closets, nothing, absolutely nothing was ready or packed. She was so upset that she became sick. Obviously, upset about having to leave the love of her life that she just could not face packing up her belongings. This delay required a lot of hustling, be we finally got her moved. In spite of the obstacles, everything went rather smoothly.

It did however delay getting the truck back by midnight. Here is where the problem really started. It was well after 1:00 am before I drove the truck into the Transportation Facility. That is when the situation became weirdly interesting and somewhat complicated. Someone was there waiting for the truck. A local church elder was glaring in a sinister way as I drove in. I knew there was going to be trouble.

He demanded to know where I had been with HIS truck! His tone of voice reflected how agitated and annoyed he really was. He was just short of yelling, he was downright nasty and hateful! Actually, it was not his truck, but being a minister (he was all too typical), he was very possessive of the churches assets treating them as his own. It seemed he had planned to use the truck that evening to move some personal items. I really messed up his plans and now he was going to have my head.

His name was not on the schedule or checkout sheet for that evening which was rather strange. The supervisor on duty always checked the schedule sheet before allowing the truck to leave the facility. He did so to be sure it was available, and not reserved. Puzzling, this minister was not on the schedule.

In almost a year this was the first time there was a conflict, and such a strange one at that.

The elder was extremely angry and appeared highly agitated. His ranting did not scare or intimidate me in the least. I simply followed the plan. I told him that Mr. Evangelist said we needed to help the widow’s move. I told him, if he had any questions or concerns, to direct them to Mr. Evangelist. I was forceful and very dramatic in my statement. Amazingly, his countenance changed. His voice quickly became friendly and he began to apologize for assuming I was not authorized (his assumption) to use the truck and for being so harsh. Beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. He seemed nervous and a bit shaken when I mentioned the feared name of the evangelist. He said he would consider it a personal favor if I did not mention this situation to Mr. Evangelist. I assured him I would not say anything. I gave him the keys and left. Thinking for sure this elder was one brick short of a full load. He was really acting weird, even for an elder.

It was not until several days later that I indirectly found out why he became so friendly and did not want me to say anything about his using the truck. To my amazement, and now probably yours, he was using it at midnight to steal furnishings and other assets from the church’s warehouse. That is right; this sinister minister was using a church asset to steal church assets, now that is bazaar!

He was smart and well organized in the manner in which he operated his scheme to steal the assets. He would take the junk furniture from his house or other places, such as Goodwill, and switch it with the excessively expensive furniture from the warehouse. By switching them, the inventory would always show that all items accounted for, at least in number.

Then it happened; campus security caught him red-handed in the early morning hours, the very morning I encountered him, with a truckload of stolen goods. His midnight madness ended abruptly! As an unfortunate consequence, all equipment usage (including the truck), except for college ordained projects were to be discontinued. Without the use of a truck, our project had to cease. At this point, it was far too dangerous to use Mr. Evangelist’s name.

This elder had stolen tens of thousands of dollars in furniture, paintings, fine crystal, silver, and other accessories. They really had no idea of all that he stole. As it turned out, he performed the inventory since it was his job to oversee and run the warehouse. He did it in such a haphazard, sloppy and very unprofessional manner, that there was no way the church officials could tell what was really missing. No wonder he was able to get away with his stealing the churches assets for as long as he did.

The church maintains a very high-end inventory of furnishings. They used them to furnish an apartment for a visiting dignitaries or head of state. They wanted to make the visitor feel more comfortable, the furnishings were in a style appropriate of the visitor’s country and culture. Therefore, the inventory was huge; it nearly filled the warehouse, which was larger than 30,000 square feet.

No public disclosure was ever made of the elder’s criminal activity. Church officials quietly swept the whole situation under the rug. Moreover, of all things, they promoted the elder and made him a church pastor. Then they assigned him a congregation to oversee. Now, how is that for a paradox? The sinister minister now preaching and teaching righteousness.

It is sad, the ministry could have accomplished so much good; instead, their interest was in making themselves look good, and securing their future. What an unfortunate paradox we financed through our three tithes plus offerings!

Interesting enough, when Herbert Armstrong died in 1986 his whole organization collapsed and self-destructed internally. All the efforts of the minister to gain power and authority for their personal use came to nothing. His powerful organization is gone, the ministry scattered into more than 500 separate organizations. Each continues to teach their own brand of living under the law, and spreading fear and tyranny.

One final comment: You should know that using the college’s truck was a miracle in action. There were numerous checks and balances put in place, so much so that it is impossible that my using the truck during that year was not detected, or at least should have been detected. Security should have stopped me and taken me to the highest-ranking official to be fired and kicked out of the church. Nevertheless, none of that happened, I was, along with my co-workers, able to provide a valuable service to those unfortunate women in need. The only feasible explanation is that God, for His own reasons, wanted those women helped and used us to take care of their need. He saw to it that we were never discovered or challenged, as impossible as that was. The only logical answer, it was a miracle. And yes I do believe in miracles.

END

 

Herbert W. Armstrong, the founder of Ambassador College and The Worldwide Church of God, once said, “If after I die, (which he did in 1986) and this work fails then you will know that it is the work of a man (referring to himself), and not a Work of God.” He was right, after his death his entire work, his empire failed miserably. Bitter rivalries and disputes arose within the leadership of the church and colleges. The once powerful organization collapsed internally. The result, they are no longer in operation or existence; his work like him is dead!

However, during the heyday of its operation the church maintained three college campuses. The main one was in Pasadena, California. They also maintained a campus in Bricket Wood, England and one in Big Sandy, Texas.

Their one primary goal was to train young men to become ministers. In addition, the women received training to be their wives. Their curriculum focused on ruling their congregations rather than serving them. After 4 years of college training, the student felt god had handpicked him. This delusion of feeling handpicked and divinely inspired led to falsely believing he was ready to lead, correct, teach and reprove his flock. He would then fashion and shape his new church environment, and made it after his image. The young minister ruled and the women were submissive and obedient wives. This is important to keep in mind as you read on.

The Campus in Big Sandy, Texas, unlike the Pasadena or England campuses was less rigid, formal and sophisticated. It had a full-scale farm that grew all the produce and produced meat for the two campuses in the US.

Its ambiance definitely had a relaxed and laid-back country atmosphere.

That does not mean that the students were any less serious about their studies. It just means the atmosphere in Texas was less formal and a lot more casual. Since they were all religious based colleges, each campus was alive with excitement, adventure and dreams of young men who would someday take their place as rulers within the church.

Due to circumstances, which I will not go into now, I found my employment transferred from Pasadena to the college in Texas. There I learned to appreciate the less sophisticated life style of Big Sandy. I guess I liked it so much because in many respects I am independent and adventurous, and a bit of a rebel.

Since I grew up in the greater Los Angeles area, this new environment was very amazing to me, it was so open and free, it was great! I quickly adapted.

During orientation to receive my work assignment, the Director of Buildings and Grounds sternly warned me not to socialize or even talk with any of the women students. No there was nothing wrong with me personally, I was just an employee and not a student and therefore was forbidden to socialize with the students. The church had a monetary investment in them. As a result, the administration did not want me or any other single male worker to screw up their investment by getting involved with one of their beautiful co-eds. Therefore, it was a cardinal sin to talk to the young ladies. I know it is a bit bazaar, but that was the way it was. By working there, I accepted and agreed to their standards, did not mean I personally approved of their policy, because I did not.

There was something unique about the Big Sandy campus. It had a lake, which I really learned to enjoy. It not only provided a place of recreation but also was a place where some very unusual and strange things took place…

I want to digress for just a moment, and then I will get back to the lake.

Senior students would often look for and loved to find a freshman sleeping on the job during the heat of the Texas day. They had a simple solution to assure this kind of lazy behavior would never happen again. They would very quietly slither up on the sleeping student and very (not wanting to wake their victim) carefully smear chicken manure on the unsuspecting loafer’s index finger. Then they would gently tickle his nose with a feather. You can imagine what happened next. The sleepy student would rub his tickled nose vigorously with his finger. Eyes would widen and water, shortness of breath would occur as he jumped to his feet. The shock and surprise was something to behold! It was one way that guaranteed there would be no more sleeping on the job.

Now back to the lake…

It was a hot and humid summer afternoon, the temperature must have been in the high 90’s, and the humidity seemed equally as high, just cannot seem to get comfortable. Therefore, for a break I found a relatively cool place in an open tool shed that was about 100 feet from the lake. It was moderately cool there because a big Oak tree shaded it. The open part of the shed faced the lake.

I was just getting comfortable when I noticed some rather strange activity going on close to the shore of the lake. What is this, what was going on?

There were four or five male students; they were seniors that transferred from the sophisticated Pasadena campus. These men were near the edge of the lake, and they were waving their arms, making faces and being very vocal. My first thought was that they were rehearsing for a speech class. Powerful gestures and facial expressions was important to develop, and to be able to project a deep resonate voice. In the early years, all the young men wanted to be like one of the renowned church ministers, Garner Ted Armstrong.

As they were going through their routine, it seemed a bit off and odd. As I was soon to see, it was not quite, as it appeared to be. It almost looked like some sort of a strange ritual was taking place. It just did not look quite right. Then what happen next was unrealistically strange and perhaps even a little bizarre. No, it was just plain bizarre!

By this time, other students had noticed the commotion and stopped to see what the entire hubbub was about.

Suddenly the young men became very vocal and animated as they danced about. You would have thought that the devil himself tried to reach out and grab them from the lake. That was not the case. So what was causing all the commotion and their macho barking and arm waving, some sort of a new rite of passage? No, a snake, a rather large snake had emerged from the lake! I do not know about you but that is enough to make me a little uncomfortable.

Now these big city boys were running back and forth somewhere between panic and hysteria not knowing what to do, so with their positive hand gestures, they tried to shoo shoo the snake back into the lake. The snake was not cooperating. Personally, I would simply have walked away and left the critter alone. Not these guys, their manhood was at stake (remember now, men rulers and women were submissive) and the situation demanded that they take action to demonstrate their manliness.

The spectacle was about to take an interesting, if not downright weird turn. From the group of students that were gathered and amongst the confusion came this beautiful, blond and innocent looking co-ed. She now quietly entered the scene. To look at her you would think her incapable of hurting a fly much less taking on a very large snake. Without hesitation, she walked over to this slithery, slimy critter, and snatched the snake by the tail and immediately sapped it like a whip. Since snakes are jointed at the head, there was an audible pop and the head of the snake flew off just as slick as can be. She then threw the carcass into the lake. Without losing her composure, she dusted her hands off, straightened her dress, smiled at the boys, and walked off. She never said a word to them, just simply smiled and walked away. I just wondered if she perhaps was doing all she could to keep from laughing aloud at their antics (to do so would not be very submissive). It really was very kind and merciful of her not to have laughed, that would have devastated and embarrassed the already humiliated young men even more.

What fool has said that a woman cannot be decisive and act with courage and still not be a lady? Yet it was the Worldwide Church of God’s attitude that a woman could never be anything more than be a good mother and housekeeper (do not misunderstand, those qualities are very important but they should not limit a woman’s abilities.)…how could we have been so stupid as to let such insane ideals rule our lives? This false premise applied, in some cases ruined family values and destroyed lives.

Only one regret, I did not have a camera handy. The look on the boy’s faces was one of complete astonishment and total disbelief. They could not help but wonder, as I did, if they really had seen what they thought they saw.

Actually, I find that many of the churches ministers use tactics like a snake in the grass. They slither up and get you when you least expect it. They were always looking for the member’s secret sins…I wonder if they were grabbed and cracked like a whip if their heads would pop off…just a thought.

The true ministers of Christ will reflect His attitude. That is one of kindness, patient, and longsuffering toward their congregations. Sadly, we find too many ministers are more concerned about status, numbers and revenue of their congregations and equally important to them, power over the lives of their flock.

It is interesting to note that, Jesus himself asked a rhetorical question, “When the son of man (referring to Himself) returns, will He find (the) faith on earth?” The answer sadly seems to imply there will be very little faith in Him when He returns. Looking at the average church and the world in general, one begins to understand what He was getting at.

I know it is not always easy, but do not get caught up in church policies or politics, it is a dead-end with disastrous results. Avoid this trap, learn more about our Savior and allow Him to live His life in and through you. Then and only then will your life be secure, joyful and you will find true and lasting peace.

Next month another true story from Comedy Campus

 

Working for a small college is difficult, working for a small religious college provided special challenges.

The college administration, which was mostly comprised of the church ministry, took great pride in the quality of students that they allowed into their select world of future ministers and future ministerial wives. This was not necessarily a bad thing, but for a single non-student bachelor working on the campus it provided some challenges and unique problems.

First off, non-student males, regardless of the situation, were forbidden to interact or talk to female college students, period! I know, it was a dumb rule, but it was college policy.

The following story is one situation where I found myself, through no fault of my own, in a very difficult and awkward place.

It was summer and the campus was beautiful. In fact, for many years it won the Most Beautiful National Campus award.

Being outside you could smell the jasmine and lilac as they began bloom; it filled the air with its wonderful aroma. It was just the perfect environment to cultivate an atmosphere of excellence, which in many cases reflected in the student body and their striving for academic distinction

On this particular day, it was unusually clear, even for Pasadena. There was very little smog and the sun was bright and warm. A perfect day for a romantic encounter…

Being young and single, just barely past my teenage years, the young co-eds were a temptation I dare not contemplate. With all those beautiful young women everywhere, it was like a young kid in a candy store with endless delightful choices before me. Unfortunately, I was not able to have any. It was truly unsettling and a bummer.

You talk about wanting to sit down and cry, this was one of those situations. Since I did not want to find myself fired, I restrained myself from socializing with the young women. I was just beginning to enjoy my job; I did not intend to get myself into a situation where I could be fired! So I had the situation completely under control until that one fateful afternoon….

To understand and appreciate what was about to happen, I need to help you understand the setting, as well as the layout of that particular part of the campus where this strange drama would unfold.

One of the main walkways for students going from one end of the campus, north to south was just east of Terrace Villa and Mayfair, women’s dorms. The walk way was about eight feet wide or wider, plenty of room for several students to walk side by side. Directly west of the walkway was the sloping lawn, which went all the way down toward what would eventually become the Student Center and Auditorium. The lawn area was about four or five feet below the walkway, and rolled down with an elevation drop of 40 or so feet to its lowest point. At the upper edge of the walkway, there was about a 4 foot drop to the lawn area below. Students did need to be somewhat careful not to ramble over the edge. However, I do not ever recall anyone ever misjudging their step and going over the edge.

I was down near the lower end of the sloping lawn area, while my supervisor was working at the upper end of the lawn area. Any students walking by would have had to look down, over the edge of the sidewalk to have seen him. For the most part, he was completely out of sight unless he stood up. Since he was working on the irrigation system close to the wall, with the sidewalk above him, he was completely out of sight to those passing by.

Down at the other end of the lawn I ran into a problem. I was trying to locate what is known as a “hide-a-way valve”. It is a pipe in the ground with a flip up cap. When the cap was up it was possible to screw in another pipe with a faucet on the other end to water that specific area. When finished watering it was once again removed leaving the area free from any obstructions. This allowed a mower to go over the area without breaking the pipe, or seriously damaging the mowers blades. It was a novel idea that worked incredibly well. The only problem was trying to locate the valve. It was hidden away below the level of the grass. Because of this, I was having trouble locating it.

Here is where the situation got just a little complicated, all right, it got extremely complicated as you are about to read. I could not locate the valve; it had seemingly disappeared from off the face of the earth. Therefore, I did the next best thing. As loud as I could yell, I shouted to my supervisor at the upper end of the lawn. Since he was very familiar with the location of the valves, he would be able to point to its exact location. I yelled, “Where is your hide-a-way?” I honestly did not notice the female student’s walking by on the elevated sidewalk, honest. It was at that instant that I yelled that my eyes met theirs. They were three of the most beautiful female students on the face of the earth. My heart melted like wax and I became limp. The three young angels stopped, looked at me and smiled. They gave me a very friendly wave. I had a sheepish look on my face, could not resist and waved back, and then they walked on. I thought I had died and gone to heaven, because I just saw paradise….only the pair of dice I saw was not real, it was about to roll up craps. The heaven I envisioned was about to turn into an all to realistic hell.

Now my supervisor, which I still hate to this day, who was at the other end of the lawn could have stood up and yelled and pointed to the valves location which was about two feet from where I stood. But noooo, he saw what was happening, stayed hidden completely out of sight and put his hand over his mouth to laugh. He may have thought it was funny but there would be a price to pay for my innocent mistake.

You might say so what, what is the big deal? It was not so much being embarrassed, because I was not, it is just that I knew what was about to happen and it would not be pleasant. For in less than an hour later one of the other supervisors walked up and informed me that I was to report to the office of the Building and Grounds Superintendent IMMEDIATELY! No explanation was given, but I knew what was about to take place.

It was my unfortunate luck the young women were not alone on the walkway. Several male students accompanied them. It was obvious from the expression on their faces that they did not appreciate my flirting with their women. One of the men apparently complained to the Dean of Students. He in turn raised all kinds of hell with the head of buildings and grounds. Now it was his turn to chew on me for a while.

When I got to the office, I told the secretary who I was, that I was expected. She said, Oooooh, I heard about you, one moment please. I sat there for probably ten minutes before the office door finally opened and I was motioned to come in. I noticed the carpet was soft and quite spongy, I thought I could bounce pretty good on this stuff as I was being tossed out. Then I noticed of all things a barbecue going on, only thing, it was my goose that was about to be cooked! Well, at least I did not have to worry about being bounced on the carpet….I listened to him rant and rave for what seemed to be forever talking about the virtues of being a responsible single male employee on the AC campus. He also very clearly outlined what would happen if he ever saw me again in his office for this type of violation concerning college policy. My goose would not only be barbecued, it would be flamed to a burning cinder. He asked me if I understood, then gave me about 15 seconds to explain… about four seconds into my explanation he looked at his watch, then hurriedly said he had another appointment and I needed to leave. Did he believe me, not very likely; he never listened to what I had to say. That was OK because I knew where I stood with my God. This other little tin god’s opinion really did not matter.

You see, it was not important at the college if you were guilty or not, it was simply a matter of how well you took the abuse, I mean loving correction. It’s not that I was afraid to speak up, he never stopped talking long enough for me to do so. I was always taught never to interrupt a minister when he is on a roll.

Life on campus was always full of interesting twists and turns, and at times it made us feel like pretzels: we were always being twisted by bad administrative decisions; at times we were a bit salty because of how we were treated; and someone was always chewing on us for not living up to their standard.

If you are reading this and are one of the college women in this story, I am still smiling. If you are one of the guys, go suck an egg!

Next time more comedy campus.

Remembrance, what a wonderful thing it is! This story is a remembrance, more than 60 year ago. It actually started when I read Marlie Rowell’s book “Sparkle Always”, a fascinating book that stimulated the imagination to remember events in my past childhood. This is such a tender time of life when we are barely getting started on our life’s journey. So the following story is about one of those special and miraculous times in my life. It is looking at a very special moment and event. One that had a profound effect on my faith as a child and even now as an adult.

In 1952, I was 8 years old. It was that very year my parents became involved with a religious cult. Like all cults, they were exclusive; it was either their way or to hell you would go. They controlled every facet of our lives; how we dressed, the foods we ate, the friends we had, they even controlled the type of education we could pursue.  They used fear and intimidation as a tool of power over our lives. And they were experts at it. To say this ungodly environment changed our lives would be an understatement. We became isolated and withdrawn from a healthy social interaction.

I lost budding friendships, but I think the hardest of all, we were not allowed to celebrate Christmas, as well as other religious holidays. These were special days that little children really enjoy and look forward too.

I was forced to drop Little League baseball, something I thoroughly enjoyed. I resigned from the Cub Scouts…and the list goes on.

Before I go further, I want you to understand, I do not feel sorry for what happened. For at that time I believed with my whole heart that what my parents were doing was right in the eyes of God. I believed and trusted my parents. The faith of a child can be very strong, and mine was such. I did not understand but I did believe. As you will see, God honored that child like faith in a most amazing way.

As I mentioned earlier, Christmas was a BIG taboo. The church so hated and fiercely opposed its celebration to the extent that individuals that continued to celebrate it were, and still are today, forcibly removed from the cult. They taught that continuing in these celebrations would result in salvation lost and eternal damnation. You can imagine that for an adult this was a horrifying dilemma. It was even more so for a young child of eight

Now Christmas was approaching and my tension and fears began to slowly mount. At school, there would be a Christmas party. Attendance was mandatory, the teacher made it clear there would be no exceptions. She had carefully planned the party and told us that all classmates were to draw a name out of a hat and buy a gift for that student. Then at the party, we would exchange gifts. I think you can imagine, I am not asking you to agree, what a problem that presented for me. No, I would not get any help from my parents. My mom told me  that I needed to resolve this problem on my own and I needed to stand firm and not let the teacher talk me into participating in the Christmas party and exchange of gifts.

I want you to understand this was extremely difficult and scary for a little boy who wanted to do the right thing, but did not know what to do. I was very confused and bewildered. In addition, I sure did not want to go to Hell.

One week before Christmas the teacher explained that there would be a Christmas party the following Friday. OK, not so bad for I knew I could stay home that day. So I felt relieved, until she explained about the top hat she had placed on her desk. She proceeded to tell us that she was placing 28 cards in the hat; each card had the name of a student. She would then take the hat around to each student and each would draw a name from the hat. And some time that week, we were to buy and gift wrap a present for that student. Then at the Christmas party, a gift exchange would take place.

Now suddenly the situation became complicated, and for this little boy, very complicated. I could feel the fires of hell beginning to heat up.

What to do! What to do! Quite frankly, I was scared and there was no way out! I did not want to draw a name. At the same time, I did not want a fellow student not to get a gift and face an embarrassing situation at the party.

My teacher arranged our seating so it would be alphabetical. This meant the hat would start at the other side of the room. Since my last name started with a “W” I would be the second from the last to draw a name. I sat there and watched as one by one, 26 other students drew a name.

Not knowing what to do…I remember exactly what I did, and the results were, to me, astonishing. As each student drew a name, I would occasionally hear, “OH NO! Not him!” My mind would flash with the thought, “They drew my name”. My heart just sank. I faced a paradox that had no discernible solution. It was like the children of Israel at the Red Sea. There was no way out and certain death facing them.

The hat was now two students ahead of me…I remember silently saying, “Please God, I want to do what is right, please help me”. I said that as honestly and sincerely as I knew how.

So now, there she was towering over me with the hat. She smiled, and said “Robert, it is your turn to draw a card from the hat”. With only two cards left, I slowly and cautiously reached in and pulled out a folded card. I just did not know what else to do.

A sudden flush of calmness came over me like a soft and gentle summer breeze. I was no longer stressed or afraid. I cautiously opened the card to read the students name. And there it was, my eyes widened with almost total disbelief. I closed the card and opened it again. The name was still there, and it was…it was my name. The card said “Robert Weyand”.  I remember saying, “Thank You Father”. I remember being so very excited, I am sure God looked down and smiled that day.

The odds of my drawing my own name on the second to last draw are far greater than a million to one. Time and chance you may think. Just so, you know, this happened two years in a row! No, it was a miracle, one of many that would fashion and mold me into a believer, not in the cults teaching but in the power, might and love of my God.

Reflecting on such moments can be a wonderful thing. It helps us to strengthen faith and prepare us for events and difficulties yet to come.

Many thanks to Marlie for writing “Sparkle Always”.  Now I have so many more pleasant memories that were lost. She has brought a smile to my face and a mischievous sparkle to my eyes.

Some of life’s lessons can bring us to face to face with some very harsh realities. Sometimes the emotional stress is almost overwhelming. If we are willing when the full force of these problems come we can learn some important lessons.

Christians are not guaranteed a happy life filled with smiles and sunshine. But we are guaranteed we can live a joyful life. And sometimes that depends upon learning the lessons of faith and trust. We are assured that God will work out for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Our responsibility is to do the best we can and trust Him for the rest.

The following story, along with the previous ones, demonstrates Gods’ compassion and love. And HIs love for us is not based upon anything we do but solely upon His grace. This is true even if and after we make some or bad decisions.

After the disaster of a bad partnership. we were left financially ruined. It all but destroyed our dream of owning our own home. The partnership was a bad decision on my part. The results of that choice left little, very little hope of ever being in able to buy a home. So what do we do? Quitting was never an option. Actually, I was too scared to quit. Because once you cross that line, you have nothing. I was not going to become a victim of the welfare system. So the only option was to step out in faith and push ahead….but to what I was not sure.

Not quitting we began to consider our options. The obstacles before us were major and almost overwhelming. Could we actually find a home, and if we did how could it possibly be financed?  Unbeknownst to us, one of the greatest adventures of our life’s journey was about to unfold.

After all, the dust and legal formalities had finally settled down. We realized our business was doing well, and for the most part, we were too. We were beaten but not conquered. In spite of what had happened, there was, however, a strong desire on our part to move from the rental property. It was a townhouse with far less desirable neighbors. It was in our interest and that of our three daughters that we move. Finding this place was a blessing at the time, the rent was cheap and the place was clean. It provided us with a home when we desperately need one. But it was time to move on.

Even though we knew we had no real perceived chance of accomplishing our hope of actually finding and buying a home, we began the long process of looking and dreaming.

There were several obstacles to overcome. The primary one was threefold. One, my previous partnership totally destroyed our credit rating. There was zero hope of getting a mortgage. Secondly, we were self-employed, the business was too new to have any real credibility. And thirdly, we had no money for a down payment. Other than that we were doing well.

Then there was another obstacle, we wanted to find a home in our current area so our girls would not have to change schools.

With so much going against us, why would we even try to find a home? I guess it all relates to faith.  There was an honest need, so in faith, we began to look, and look and look……I lost count how many times we were rejected either by our offer or by the banks’ rejection of our loan application.

The situation seemed utterly hopeless, yet we continued, sporadically, to look. The rejection was not on my list of fun things to receive. But neither was quitting.

So many times we found a house, and so many times it would blow-up in our faces.

Then one afternoon in late July of 1987, seven years after we started to look,  we came to a house at 885 Welcome Way. At first, we drove past because we thought there was little hope of even trying. But we finally decided to stop in and talk to the owners who were selling the house themselves.

Nice young couple. His job transferred him to Southern California and they needed to sell their home. It had been on the market for over six months with no interest generated. So they were interested in talking to us was a big plus.

Just when it looked like failure and disappointment knocking at the door, several amazing things happened.  The first was somewhat expected. They dropped the asking price. But by $20,000.00!  Now that was a lot more than what I expected! In addition, they were willing to give us the impound account (the bank used this account to pay property taxes and insurance) which was about $20000.00. Now that just left the bank to deal with. I felt like I had the job of a dragon slayer, only in this case I had a pocket knife and not a sword! I strongly felt this was a real problem……

But what was this? To my amazement, the loan I discovered was a non-qualifying assumable loan. Do you know what this means? I did! It meant the bank MUST accept our loan application as long as the sellers agreed! All of a sudden, the bank was not the one in charge we were! What an amazing advantage, and a wonderful miracle! While these loans existed in 1987 they were extremely rare. So to find a home with one, in the area we desired, with a loan amount we could handle, well the odds were next to impossible. Yet in spite of the odds, we found exactly what we needed and where we needed it. And at a monthly cost not much more than we were paying for rent.

If you have purchased a home you know what a horrific amount of paperwork is necessary. It seemed as though hundreds, well maybe not that many, of applications, verification and endless stuff he needed filled out and signed…..So I smiled at the banker. Put my name at the top of the application, along with the date. Signed the application at the bottom and left everything else blank! Handed it to him and smiled. What aren’t you going to fill out the rest, he inquired? NOPE! I firmly replied! This is a non-qualifying loan, the only thing you need and are going to get, is my signature accepting the terms of the loan. Needless to say, he was not happy, but he had no choice. For once the financial laws that governed this type of loan was on our side. And I did not hesitate for an instant to take full advantage of this wonderful blessing and opportunity.

We needed a small amount of cash to close the deal. So Barbara’s dad was kind and gracious, he loaned us the money, and he did so without charging us interest. WOW!

I had done my homework, I knew the banker, by law, had to accept the application, along with the down payment. As I handed it to him. He mumbled something then stamped the application approved. And just like that, we had bought a home!

It was less than a month from the first time we contacted the owners until we took possession of the home and moved in.

When God decides to move a project forward, He doesn’t wait around He does it swiftly and with grace. So before we had a chance to realize what had happened, we were moving in!

The house was in the perfect area, our girls could continue to go to the same schools, which was what we had hoped for.

It was a 4 bedroom, one for each of us, 1 1/2 bathrooms, with three girls, four including Barbara that 1/2 bath was necessary for my survival, it also had a nice family room with a stone fireplace. This was our new home, and here we would live there for the next 27 years.

Sometimes miracles happen when you least expect them. But they never will happen if you just do nothing. Our part was not to accept defeat and not to give up. It is always to move forward and trust in God for the rest. So far He has never failed, and actually, He never will, of that I am sure.

 

The pest control treatment we did for the Emporium gave us both the emotional and financial boost we needed at the time. Even though the job was done on trade, it still filled a big financial void. Slowly the work began to come in. And although things were still tight and difficult, it none the less gave us the encouragement to press on.

There was no real evidence that the situation would continue to improve. But so far the miracles we experienced proved to be a great source of strength and internal peace.

Now looking back over the past 36 years of being in the pest control business I can see clearly that there were sequences of events, strange and wonderful events that can only be explained as nothing less than miracles. Our steps were clearly being directed along a specific path. Our destiny was not ours to make. But it was clearly ours to enjoy. Having such wonderful events happen in our lives doesn’t make us special, or more important than anyone else, it just makes us very blessed.

But in the beginning of our business, it was difficult, very difficult. There were several times that it looked totally hopeless and that we would be forced to give up. But then something wonderful and awe-inspiring would happen. I think the illusion was that we were in control, and that probably puts a smile on our Creators face.

So here we were again. The financial situation was getting difficult, just short of impossible. Then the phone rings. Mike the co-owner of a substantial property management company called to see if we would be interested in doing some work for him. Looking back on this particular situation I realize several things were taking place. For one thing, Mike never called anyone, let alone an unknown company, to do work for him. He was continually hounded by all kinds of contractors, including pest control, that wanted work from him. So he really didn’t need to call us at all, and yet he did.

Secondly, to be honest, he was not a very nice person. So I couldn’t help but wonder what his real motives were. But then again my trust was not in him but in the God who was making things happen for us. It was He that was turning the impossible and improbable into reality. So I did not let Mike’s ruthless business dealing intimidate me. I approached the situation with honesty and integrity, which was the most I could do. I trusted my God to do the rest.

The first job Mike had for us was an apartment complex consisting of 24 of the most disgusting, dirty and foul-smelling living accommodations you could imagine. No, I doubt you can really imagine how totally nasty they were. Some of them were so bad that I had to spray them with an odor neutralizer before I could even treat them. Treat them for what you might ask? Cockroaches, cockroaches, millions of cockroaches. If that were not enough there were rats everywhere.

This was going to be a real learning experience. If I could come through this without getting sick, that would be another miracle. That’s how bad it was. If it were that bad, and it was, well why didn’t I just walk away? Simple, Mike was going to pay me $9000.00 (nine thousand) for one week’s work! When you are hungry, as we were, you take everything that comes to you. God promises us help, He doesn’t guarantee it will always be pleasant. After all, this is not His world.

As I started the treatments a serious problem developed with one group of tenants, four apartments. First of all, they didn’t speak English, and secondly, I didn’t speak their Asian language. So there was a communications barrier that proved difficult, not impossible, to get around. The tenants were very accommodating in allowing me to do my job. But there was a problem, I could not get them to understand that I was poisoning the roaches and rats and they should NOT eat them. As disgusting it is to us, for them this was considered a delicacy, I guess they liked the crunchiness of the deep-fried cockroaches. As you can imagine, it was a serious problem because, at that time, the materials I was using could cause some serious intestinal problems if ingested, not fatal just very uncomfortable. So I asked Mike if he would take care of the communication problem, somehow he was able to get them to understand not to eat the roaches and rats.

I worked hard and I worked fast. The first phase and most important part of the job took about four nauseating days to completely treat all 24 units. You can imagine I sighed a big sigh of relief when that last apartment was treated and the job was done.

Upon completion Mike, as promised, wrote me a check for $9,000.00. Which was unusual for several reasons. First of all, John was well known for paying his contractors (in this respect he was honest), but it normally took him 120 days after completion to pay the bill. So for him to pay in full was highly unusual. Secondly, he didn’t ask for a 10% kickback.

Completing this job was the turning point for our fledgling business. It gave us the revenue that we so desperately needed. We were now ready to move forward. We had finally reached a point, after more than two years, of financial stability.

Our customer base had grown to where it was able to sustain us very comfortably. We now had the resources to take care of all our needs with a little left over, and that is always nice.

Next time I want to talk about “The Miracle Home”.

The miracle of the bicycle provided an anchor. Up and until that point I actually felt somewhat lost and overwhelmed at trying to build a business with so many obstacles in my path. This one event showed me that God really cared, it gave me the courage, emotional strength, and will to press on. Deep within I knew that somehow and in some way, everything would work out and we would be OK. This was something I could not explain but just felt.

As It turned out this was just a moment of calm before the next storm. But it was a moment that I desperately needed. Now I was energized and ready to meet the next challenge.

I did not have to wait long. Once again there was a sudden course of events that turned sideways. And I had no idea at this point, not even a clue what to do or even how to resolve the problem.

My three girls needed some new clothes for school. Not that unusual or unexpected. However, we were depending on our state income tax refund (slightly more than $200.00 dollars) to buy their clothes. In 1980 that amount was barely enough to get the job done. While this might seem like a small amount, if you don’t have it, which we didn’t, it was a huge amount. So we were looking forward to our refund.

When it finally arrived instead of a refund there was a letter notifying us that the state was keeping the refund and applying it to taxes owed. And that took the sparkle out of our eyes.

Why did they keep the refund? Well, my former partner in our previous business did not pay the state or federal taxes for our employees. Even though I was not technically liable the state took our refund anyway. That part of the story is much more complex. Maybe sometime I will write about it because it is fascinating.

Needless to say that losing that $200.00 refund really hurt. It was time for another miracle. But how would it come? And how would it change our current circumstance?

I was not naive, I didn’t think clothes would magically appear. But I did know we were powerless to do anything about the situation. What was to follow in the days to come surprised and awed me.

Once again a cloud of despair began to overshadow me. Once again the situation looks bleak, no, actually it was bleak! But remembering the bicycle and the miracle, somehow I knew we would be OK. I did not have a clue about what to do next. So I did what I could, I waited, watched and prayed, and went about the daily task of building a business.

It seems like it was only a few days or maybe a week later when a call came in from the Emporium Clothing store. They were having a serious flea problem in their fur coat section that was beginning to spread to other parts of the store. That was a highly unusual and unlikely problem.  For all fur coats were by law at that time fumigated by the manufacturer before they were shipped to various retail outlets. So yes, it was unusual for the Emporium to be having such an influx of fleas.

Barb was sitting at her desk doing her usual paperwork when a call came in from the Emporiums’  VP of operations. Since we were a very small and insignificant company we were both surprised by the call.  He explained what the specific problem was, fleas, lots of fleas! Once he was sure we understood the problem he asked if I would be interested in submitting a bid to take care of their pest problem. He also let me know that we would be one of four companies to submit a bid

Knowing who my competitors were, I knew I did not have a chance to win the bid. I say that because my competitors all had the right business connections, they belonged to the right clubs and organizations, and we did not. So why he even called me was puzzling because in the business community here I was unknown, a virtual nobody. Now that is not negative, it is realistic. I had not been in business long enough to establish myself. So his calling was in itself very unusual.

Then a thought came to mind, so I asked him if he would be interested in doing a trade, pest control service for a store credit? There was a rather long and uncomfortable pause.

His reply, he thought it was an excellent idea. A trade would work out very well. So I told him the charge would be $800.00 and that would include servicing once a month for a year. I told him I could start the service the next evening after they closed. He said he would immediately contact the manager and let them know when I would be there. He also said he would set up a credit account with the store in the amount of $800.00. I thanked him for his business and the call ended.

I sat there for the longest time, not quite sure what had just taken place. At first, it was almost as if I were stunned. Then I realized what had just happened.

WOW! Now that was awesome! As it turned out we not only had enough credit to buy our three girls clothes, we were also able to help out some other families that needed similar assistance.

Miracles are really cool! In this case, I think it was meant to be shared. So that is what we did.

Most commercial stores like the Emporium have a huge influx of new clothing and goods so having a pest control service is quite normal. Because of that at the end of the year and our service agreement, I called the VP to see if he would like to renew for another year.

His reply somewhat stunned me, he said, absolutely not! So I asked him if I did something wrong. No, on the contrary, we are very pleased with your service and the results you obtained. But we are not going to renew for another year. So I thanked him for his business and told him I would be available if they had a need for a service in the future. The call was ended graciously and in a  positive way.

After I ended the call, I sat at my desk, and once again pondered what had just taken place. To begin with, a year earlier we desperately needed help, we needed a miracle. God through His abundant graciousness provided what we needed and so much more. A battle we could not fight and a victory we could not win. He was there and intervened on our behalf.

There was absolutely no reason for them not to renew. But they chose not to. To me, that was very puzzling. Especially since they were very satisfied with the work I had done. I truly believe that at this point God wanted to make it clear, so there would be no doubt, it was He that provided for us. Getting the job was not because of my good salesmanship, or anything that I said or did. It was because of His power and might, and love that we were blessed.

With the third miracle, He made abundantly clear that He was there for us. This third miracle gave us the financial boost and the stability that we needed.

Next month the job from hell, with divine results.

It is now 1980 and American Pest Control was born. After two failed partnerships and a loss of 12 million dollars Barbara and I decided no more partnerships, we had enough. So the two of us, a bit battered and scraped and with almost no capital to start with began our new venture.

It was not easy starting with almost nothing. As a result of three months working the new business, it was not going well, it looked as though we would have to give up.

Give up and do what, go where? We had not place to go, no one to turn to for help. I was faced with the worst possible scenario, no work, almost no money, and worst of all the flame of hope was now like the flickering of a candle that was about to go out.

While we were generating barely enough income to survive. And I do mean barely! Something amazing happened. Out of the darkness and gloom of what looked like impending disaster, a bright sparkle of light shimmered. Suddenly within a few hours, hope was re-ignited.

For three strangely wonderful events began to unfold.

The first began while I was sitting outside in the warmth of the early summer. It was the kind of warmth that made me feel a deep inner peace, at least for the moment. I trying to figure out what I could do to get enough money to pay the upcoming rent. We were close but still short. If you have ever been in that position you know how draining and emotionally upsetting it can be.

While sitting there my youngest daughter came to me and it was obvious there was something on her mind, she wanted something. So I asked her what was on her mind. I remember this as if it were yesterday. Daddy, she said,  Please may I have (we have always taught our children to say, Please may I have, or I would like. They were not allowed to say, buy me, or I want), so she said please may I have a purple, 24 inch 10-speed bike? She went on to explain that her sister’s 27-inch bike is too big for her to reach the peddles. I smiled as best I could, but inside a tremendous turmoil began to brew. I wanted to yes, absolutely, but it was not possible, no way was it going to happen. Not because of will or desire but because there was absolutely no money for such a luxury. I did the only thing I could think of at the moment. I told her, not right now but to go and pray about it. So she happily skipped off. It bothered me a great deal, I had failed my family and it began to eat away at the very core of my being. At that point in my life, I desperately needed something positive, even if it were small, anything, just something to give me hope.

Later that same week I made a call to what I hoped to be a new customer. He had a problem with Sugar Ants. At that time the cost for the treatment was $84.95. He seemed uncertain and was wavering as to whether he could afford it or not. There was a great deal of uncertainty and it looked as though it was not going to turn out to be a job. But none the less I remained positive and reassured him that I could take care of his ant problem.

I had done a pest inspection, which involved inspecting all the rooms, garage, and exterior of his house. There were a couple of interesting items I noticed. First of all, it was a three bedroom home. But none of the bedrooms had any indication of children living there. Secondly, there was a child’s bike in the garage. Interesting but not all that unusual. So I went back into the house and explained the type of treatment I would provide and the cost involved. He still seemed very hesitant. It was then a rather strange, an unexpected thought came to mind….I asked him, would you be interested in trading pest control services for the bike in your garage?

His response was equally unexpected. He told me that they bought that bike for their daughter eight years ago. He said she rode it twice and decided she didn’t like it and never rode it again. That was eight years ago and for some unknown reason, they still had the bike. He went on to tell me that during those eight years he and his family, children now grown and on their own, have moved six times. As it turned out, each time they brought the bicycle with them. He said he would be pleased to do a trade with me because they were having some financial struggles, he had been out of work for several months, and doing a trade would really help them out. Seems as though his wife really hated ants!

The bicycle? It was in almost new condition, and would you believe it was a purple 24 inch, 10 speed. Now that put a smile on my face! It was nothing short of a miracle. There were 35 (I remember the number) pest control companies in the area. We were nowhere near the biggest or even, at that time, the best. So the chances of him calling my specific company were not good at all. And what if I had not been prompted to ask the question regarding the trade, I would have left with nothing, and never had known what a miracle was about to take place.. The bicycle itself, 24-inch purple 10 speed. It was not just close it was EXACTLY what my daughter politely asked for. On top of that, since it was a trade, our actual cost for materials used on the job was less than a dollar. A coincidence that all this happened, at just the right time? Now way. It was a miraculous gift and one that sparked hope and a renewed sense of purpose

The bicycle and the way it came about gave me a sense of awe, and it put a big smile on the face of my daughter.

Next month, the second most amazing miracle took place.