New Church Life July/Aug 2014 | Page 52

n e w c h u r c h l i f e : j u ly / au g u s t 2 0 1 4 being. The Lord just had to make me think it was my own idea to make some life changes, and that took some time. It is true, as the Writings say, that you can only see providence in hindsight. I certainly see it now. For the most part my life has been pretty unremarkable. Dad had found the Writings as a young man, and moved his young family to Bryn Athyn to be part of the New Church. I was one when we moved from Texas to Bryn Athyn, and had no family in the New Church. I went through almost all the New Church education possible – elementary school, high school and an AA degree from Bryn Athyn College. My grades were probably a little above average, my athletic ability was probably a bit below average, and I managed to get myself into an average amount of trouble. But I loved cars. Even now it still amazes me that the Lord got me from the auto industry to the ministry. I left Bryn Athyn College to take a year off to save some money to finish my education, and also to take a break from school. It was great. I worked at a car dealership in the parts department. Then I went to Auburn University and got my degree in marketing. A few months before graduating I managed to get a job with a company that was big in the drag racing scene. Seemed like a perfect fit. It was, and I stayed for just short of 10 years. Yet during my time there I started to get promptings for change. There were the obvious promptings that my wife would give me, and then there were the ones the Lord was giving me. It seemed He would enlist my friends, family and my employer to send me into the ministry. It would be a surprise to all of us, but clearly a necessity if the “dishes” were ever going to be done properly. It was February 2005 when my mother passed away. This rekindled my interest in the afterlife, and got me reading a book that Dad gave me, Messages from the Open Door. It really started putting into perspective what was important. The common theme throughout the different accounts in the book was: I wish I had known before what I know now. These people were telling me to rearrange my priorities. Deep down I knew that I needed some change. I thought I’d done a fair job of appearing like a decent person, but I was aware of some of the thoughts and ideas that lay hidden beneath. These were the things that I was now seeing as rather embarrassing – because I thought now my Mom could see the person I really was, which wasn’t who I really wanted to be. Daily contact with the Word was making a profound impact on my attitudes, desires and behaviors – and that’s what really got me thinking about the ministry. 344