Our story begins in 1986 a few days before we moved to Tulsa to study at ORU for the purpose of serving God full time, my wife, Barbara, was planning on getting a job and I was thinking I could work part time if needed, then God spoke to me and told me that neither one of us were supposed to work. For the next several years, God provided. Our last Sunday before we moved, our church in Texas said good bye and handed us a card with enough money inside to cover the cost of our U-haul truck. (God was just starting to bless us.) Yes, it was a blessing to have Barbara not working so she could type my papers while I was in school. The first year, I would panic when they said I had to write a three page paper. By the second year, when I was assigned a 15 page paper, I would be getting permission to write 25 or 30 pages. And then she typed the book God told me to write and many rewrites of my Masters Thesis. Literally my wife was going through school with me and learning with me. An even bigger blessing was that we finished school debt free. I had many friends who finished school with very large debts from student loans. I could not have started Jesus Center, if I owed large debts from school.

1988 - In November, a few days after Barbara and I had discussed that we might not have enough money that year to buy a turkey for Thanksgiving, we received a note that in a couple of days we would receive a complete thanksgiving dinner including a turkey and all the trimmings. We had not shared with anyone our situation. God provided with some precious undergraduate students at ORU, who were reaching out. Yes, in those days we were still tithing, which we had been doing since the early 70's. When you receive $10, you know that the first dollar belongs to God.

1990 - My oldest son, Paul, graduated from High School and received enough academic scholarships to the University of Oklahoma that it supported him all the way through school, with excess on which he had to pay taxes.

1991 - In November of that year, with my share of inheritance from my mother's estate, we had just enough to make a down payment on a home and had a 30 year mortgage. With God's help, we paid off the 30 year mortgage in April of 1995. (for a little over a year, I had an outside job as a youth counselor for a runaway shelter - it was at night and I was able to get some rest and still Pastor during the day - we were able to put all that money on our house, after our tithe) Note: Since April of 1995 we have been debt free as a family

1992 - Early that summer, finally after 6 years (it back up to a railroad track) we sold the home we left in Texas to go serve God full time and had just enough money, after our tithe, to buy my wife a new Plymouth Aclaim and me a new Dodge Van (7 passengers, which was great for our Church).

1992 - In the fall, my youngest son, Mark, started college at the University of Oklahoma with enough academic scholarships to support him all the way through school, with excess on which he had to pay taxes. When I hear people complain about how expensive it is to send their children to college, I just smile and silently praise God that He took care of both of my sons.

2000 - I was given a 1995 Jeep wrangler with only 17,000 miles that had belonged to my brother-in-law, who had died.

2002 - We built a new house so my mother-in-law, Virginia, could move in with us (she helped financially). After selling her house in Dallas and our house in Tulsa, we were able to pay off our new house. Our new home may be one of the smallest in the neighborhood, but it is the nicest and largest home we we have ever had and it is paid for. There is a private road out front that goes around between the homes and is prefect for running or cycling. (three times around is 1 mile) Jesus says, "Everyone who has left his home ... for Me and for the Good News will get ... more than he left". Mk 10:29-30 (IC)

2003 - Virginia had trouble getting in and out of my Jeep, so we bought a new 7 passenger Acura. It is the nicest car I had ever driven.

2005 - After wearing glasses for over 46 years and after praying for over 25 years, God healed my eyes and the State of Oklahoma removed the restriction for wearing glasses from my Drivers License. God's provisions are awesome

God has used many ways and many people to provide for me and my family, in more ways that I could have ever imagined. As a family, we have remained faithful in our tithing (10%) and God said in Malachi that He would bless us tremendously for tithing and He surely has. As I give of my time and efforts serving Jesus Center, and observe the blessings God has given us, I am reminded how Jesus tells us in Luke 6:38 to "give" and you will be given back more. I will not say "end of story" as I am looking forward to the next blessing from God, as Jeremiah wrote in Lamentations 3:23 "they are new ever morning...".

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