Sustain me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be disappointed in my hope. Hold me up, and I shall be safe, and my delight shall be ever in your statutes.
- Psalm 119: 116, 117
In March of 1996, I was getting really frustrated about my architectural practice. I had “beaten the bushes” leafless and nothing was turning up. I was angry, worried and actually afraid for my family. Deep depression set in and was affecting everyone in the family. I prayed for the first time in a long time. I did not pray for commissions and new projects. I just prayed to the Lord that I would be able to receive His guidance. “Dear Lord, I can’t seem to continue anymore, it’s all in your hands. What do you want me to do?”.
A day later, I received a call from a former client requesting a proposal to upgrade a heart catheterization lab. “Yes! There is a God!”, I thought to myself. The client then informed me that they were also requesting “design-build” proposals from other companies. Bang! Down came the balloon no sooner than it was launched. “Lord, what are you doing?” No answer came. I did my best to complete the proposal in one day. Two days later, I received a phone call from a contractor in Mississippi. He had heard that I had experience in designing medical facilities and wanted to know if I was interested in working with him on a heart catheterization lab for the same hospital. I informed him that I had already completed my own proposal for the same project. ...(5 seconds of dead silence).... “Well, would you like one or two chances of getting the project? “, he asked. I quickly answered, “Two!” To make a long story short, we got the project as a design build team. Jerry and I soon became good friends. I came to know him as a very devout Christian, well versed in scriptures, who viewed his medical construction projects as a mission to help ease the suffering of mankind. Financial success was not a goal, but a by-product of that belief. I was chasing money while he was on a mission. What was most astounding was that he and his primary electrical subcontractor had actually been praying together to find an architect, with just such a medical background.
Throughout my life, I have been witness to “little miracles” resulting from prayer and faith in the Lord. This occurrence however, was the most powerful I had ever experienced, the result being an even deeper conviction. I had laid it out before Christ asking nothing but His intervention and my ability to hear Him. For this I give thanks to the Lord.
Musical Reflection - Here I Am, Lord - White's Chapel UMC
