Sometimes, God Just Blows You Away...

First of all, thank you all so much for your much needed prayer support. It is extremely obvious that enormous amounts of prayers have been sent up for our family. And I would personally like to briefly share with you JUST HOW your prayers...and our prayers have begun to be answered.

This past Friday, a pending offer on Dad's Place was removed from the table. I cannot tell you just how I felt in the pit of my stomach. I had honestly felt all week that 'this was the real deal'. I was so wrong. The 'last minute-ness' of this situation was overwhelming. This meant that on Saturday, the very next day, I was going to have to remove all of the furnishings and equipment from Dad's Place and put it into storage (not to mention all of the other details that went along with it). Late into the evening, I was on the phone with people who had expressed an interest in purchasing the business, but all to no avail...until the very last phone call. And would you believe that we agreed to terms in the 'literal' 11:00pm hour! Amazing how God allows us to actually get to the end of our ropes...and the rope has begun to unravel...and THEN He steps in!

After numerous conversations late into the evening, negotiating this and discussing that, we were blessed with a contingency offer from an incredible family to purchase Dad's Place. Prayerfully, this will be final in a few days to a couple of weeks. This will mean that I will have to be back in Arkansas for a couple of days to complete this business deal and to train the new owners.

You absolutely have no idea what kind of a burden was lifted off of me.

I headed back to Ohio on Saturday morning to stay until the offer is ready to be finalized. But not until God wanted to bless us again. Before I could leave Arkansas, an incredible young family wanted to give to our ministry...a gift of almost $700. This was for travel expenses, meals, and for two weeks rent on our temporary home in Ohio. You know who you are...and we thank you and love you so very much!

I arrived home at 2:30am Sunday morning...call it road lag or jet lag, I was exhausted. Physically...mentally...emotionally...and even spiritually...I was a train wreck. Being back with one's family after days of seperation has a means of reviving one's well being. For those of you who know me, you KNOW just how much I love my family, and being with them means so much to me.

Sunday also brought two great messages from our pastor, here in Ohio. Even though I probably looked like a zombie setting in the sanctuary, I was able to absorb every word. Thank you Bro. Jerry for speaking to 'me'.

Today, brought more blessings. We were presented with a check from three groups of people who have been led to financially support our ministry. One family in Arkansas gave us a one-time gift of $30. Another family in Arkansas gave us a gift of $100 and committed to sending $100 per month for one year. To both families...may God's richest blessings fall on you. Then we were absolutely blown-away with a one time gift of $1000 from a local association of churches in eastern Ohio. Our support check today totalled $1130.00! "Thank you God so very much for providing for our family! Please bless each and every one that has lifted us up in prayer and has given financially to our ministry. May Your richest blessings be theirs."

Please continue your prayers for our family as we push forward for His Kingdom.

Yesterday and today, I have been making a few changes in my blogs. After today, this blog, I Espresso'd Myself, will go back to my regular devotions and short stories. Writing is such a big part of my ministry, and I appreciate each of you for dropping by and sharing your comments with me. Dad's Daily Grind is a new blog that I've started to share about our personal ministry and what's going on with our family. Kind of a personal journal in a way, where I'll be listing prayer requests, ministry needs, personal needs, etc. Please make sure you stop over at 'the Grind to stay up with the Whaley family.

I have also launched a new blog for our collegiate ministry in Ohio. h2o...for all who thirst will be used strictly as a ministry tool on campus. You are more than welcome to dive in the h20 as often as you like to see what's happening on campus. Thank you again for your faithfulness. Please make sure you check out the new blogs.

Until...

Jim