TODAY A LONG TIME CHRISTIAN BROTHER, Tony Andaya, sent me a Facebook Message containing a short video from the Facebook group page: "Gods411." The video was about a dream visit to God's Prayer Reception Center - and how many prayer requests God receives and answers - and how few answered prayers are followed up with a "Thank You" prayer to God. I wanted to forward it, but could not - so I went the Gods411 page and among the many videos on that page, I could not find that specific one to forward.
However, another short video caught my attention. It is titled "You Are Where God Wants You To Be." It is about people who survived the 9-11 attacks - and most often for what would have been mundane reasons. Or were they? Did that little distraction happen for a reason?
The title "You Are Where God Wants You To Be" gave me a flash-back in my own personal life. I spent most of my adult life working in the computer industry - as a Technician, Field Engineer, Instructor, Seminar Presenter, Sales Engineer, Marketing, Sales Management - and I met and worked with a lot of very successful people who became very wealthy in the computer industry. Some you may know - names like Bill Gates and Paul Allen, whom I worked with at the small company MITS which was based in Albuquerque.
Others whose names you may not recognize, such as Paul Terrell who, after I talked him into being an independent manufacturers' representative for MITS, took that to the next level and started the Byte Shop computer stores selling microcomputer products. He turned that into the first retail computer store franchise chain, also called the Byte Shop - and retired wealthy at an early age. And there are many more such people who have touched my life - or whose lives I touched during my long career in the computer industry.
So, what is the flash-back? Glad you asked. My wife and I are in the backside of life now - and we are not wealthy, we no longer have a big home nor take luxurious vacations. And once in a while Dory will, jokingly, ask me, "How did you work with so many very rich people - and you are not rich?"
And I have always answered her, "Today I am right where God wants me to be. And I am rich. I may not have financial wealth, but I am rich. I have God, my Christian faith, a blessed Christian family, a loving Christian fellowship family, and a Christian writing ministry given to me by God. I am indeed a very rich man."
I may not have earthly financial wealth - but knowing that, once in a while something I have written touched another, helped another - that is wealth untold. About twenty years ago a Christian sister was going through a difficult time and thought she may have to send her daughter to live with family in the Philippines. She asked me what she should do - and, believe it or not, that very week I was already writing a newsletter about knowing the will of God.
I sent her an early copy, believing it would help her make that decision. She did not send her daughter to the Philippines - and I know she enjoyed a full Christian life with that daughter afterwards. Was it because of my newsletter? I don't know. I leave such things to God - and just keep on writing.
Circa 1998 I was working for a systems integrator computer company. About 4:00 PM one Friday evening I received a call from a man in Houston who had one of our systems and was having problems. I told him, "I can help you until 5:00 PM, but then I must leave for tonight is our Bible study." That brought a smile to his voice and he asked, "Are you a Christian?" As it turned out, he was also.
When I told him about my newsletter, "The Good News" he asked to be on my mail list - and two weeks later I did another monthly mailing. The following week he called again, telling me, "Bill, I got your newsletter. It came just in time."
Because others were in my office I could not ask what he meant - and the following week I left the company. So I never knew what he meant by, "It came just in time." In this life I will never know - but I have to feel that God had a reason for our interaction. Many times we just have to leave things in God's hands and just keep on keeping on, doing the ministry He has given us.
Dory is still working hard as a Real Estate Broker. But about twenty years ago, after seeing dramatic changes in the computer industry I had long called home, I went for a long period of time unemployed. It seemed to me that God was calling me into a full time writing ministry, a non-profit ministry.
No, not a 501(c)(3) type non-profit - just a plain old "no money coming in" type of ministry. And I will say that for a while we had a pretty rough time financially - and we thank God for our daughter, Lana, who was always there for us. Things got better when we could draw Social Security and with Dory's real estate business we get by. God is good!
During the earlier years I did have a wee bit of help. Almost thirty years ago when I was doing my initial snail-mail Christian Newsletter "The Good News" - a Christian sister in our Fil-Am Church of Irvine, Bless, gave me thirty postage stamps - which I greatly appreciated. For at that time I was mailing the monthly newsletter to over 400 homes in America and to 60 homes in 12 other countries - at normal snail-mail rates and at my own expense. So, yes, I am truly doing a "non-profit" ministry - and I thank God for it.
I want to thank my Christian brother, Tony Andaya, for sending me that short video about God's Prayer Reception Center. For if he had not, I would not have found the group page "Gods411" and would not have found their video "You Are Where God Wants You To Be" which encouraged me to write this blog. Isn't it amazing how God uses us to encourage others, to point others, and sometimes to just give others a needed small shove in the right direction. So, thank you, Tony, for your encouragement and your wee shove.
Now, my Friends, take a moment and watch this short motivational video. Maybe it will remind you of a special moment:
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
However, another short video caught my attention. It is titled "You Are Where God Wants You To Be." It is about people who survived the 9-11 attacks - and most often for what would have been mundane reasons. Or were they? Did that little distraction happen for a reason?
The title "You Are Where God Wants You To Be" gave me a flash-back in my own personal life. I spent most of my adult life working in the computer industry - as a Technician, Field Engineer, Instructor, Seminar Presenter, Sales Engineer, Marketing, Sales Management - and I met and worked with a lot of very successful people who became very wealthy in the computer industry. Some you may know - names like Bill Gates and Paul Allen, whom I worked with at the small company MITS which was based in Albuquerque.
Others whose names you may not recognize, such as Paul Terrell who, after I talked him into being an independent manufacturers' representative for MITS, took that to the next level and started the Byte Shop computer stores selling microcomputer products. He turned that into the first retail computer store franchise chain, also called the Byte Shop - and retired wealthy at an early age. And there are many more such people who have touched my life - or whose lives I touched during my long career in the computer industry.
So, what is the flash-back? Glad you asked. My wife and I are in the backside of life now - and we are not wealthy, we no longer have a big home nor take luxurious vacations. And once in a while Dory will, jokingly, ask me, "How did you work with so many very rich people - and you are not rich?"
And I have always answered her, "Today I am right where God wants me to be. And I am rich. I may not have financial wealth, but I am rich. I have God, my Christian faith, a blessed Christian family, a loving Christian fellowship family, and a Christian writing ministry given to me by God. I am indeed a very rich man."
I may not have earthly financial wealth - but knowing that, once in a while something I have written touched another, helped another - that is wealth untold. About twenty years ago a Christian sister was going through a difficult time and thought she may have to send her daughter to live with family in the Philippines. She asked me what she should do - and, believe it or not, that very week I was already writing a newsletter about knowing the will of God.
I sent her an early copy, believing it would help her make that decision. She did not send her daughter to the Philippines - and I know she enjoyed a full Christian life with that daughter afterwards. Was it because of my newsletter? I don't know. I leave such things to God - and just keep on writing.
Circa 1998 I was working for a systems integrator computer company. About 4:00 PM one Friday evening I received a call from a man in Houston who had one of our systems and was having problems. I told him, "I can help you until 5:00 PM, but then I must leave for tonight is our Bible study." That brought a smile to his voice and he asked, "Are you a Christian?" As it turned out, he was also.
When I told him about my newsletter, "The Good News" he asked to be on my mail list - and two weeks later I did another monthly mailing. The following week he called again, telling me, "Bill, I got your newsletter. It came just in time."
Because others were in my office I could not ask what he meant - and the following week I left the company. So I never knew what he meant by, "It came just in time." In this life I will never know - but I have to feel that God had a reason for our interaction. Many times we just have to leave things in God's hands and just keep on keeping on, doing the ministry He has given us.
Dory is still working hard as a Real Estate Broker. But about twenty years ago, after seeing dramatic changes in the computer industry I had long called home, I went for a long period of time unemployed. It seemed to me that God was calling me into a full time writing ministry, a non-profit ministry.
No, not a 501(c)(3) type non-profit - just a plain old "no money coming in" type of ministry. And I will say that for a while we had a pretty rough time financially - and we thank God for our daughter, Lana, who was always there for us. Things got better when we could draw Social Security and with Dory's real estate business we get by. God is good!
During the earlier years I did have a wee bit of help. Almost thirty years ago when I was doing my initial snail-mail Christian Newsletter "The Good News" - a Christian sister in our Fil-Am Church of Irvine, Bless, gave me thirty postage stamps - which I greatly appreciated. For at that time I was mailing the monthly newsletter to over 400 homes in America and to 60 homes in 12 other countries - at normal snail-mail rates and at my own expense. So, yes, I am truly doing a "non-profit" ministry - and I thank God for it.
I want to thank my Christian brother, Tony Andaya, for sending me that short video about God's Prayer Reception Center. For if he had not, I would not have found the group page "Gods411" and would not have found their video "You Are Where God Wants You To Be" which encouraged me to write this blog. Isn't it amazing how God uses us to encourage others, to point others, and sometimes to just give others a needed small shove in the right direction. So, thank you, Tony, for your encouragement and your wee shove.
Now, my Friends, take a moment and watch this short motivational video. Maybe it will remind you of a special moment:
You Are Where God Wants You To Be
https://www.facebook.com/Gods411/videos/10156743824890763/
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
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