"We need a web site," said Ken to me one day early in November of 1999.  "I know you know a lot about computers, and you would be the one to do it."

Ken is a church member who came up with our Bible project.  That is the project with the goal to give away 5,000 Bibles in our community.  The Bibles were placed in shiny covers, beautifully printed with pictures.  On the front is "www.westpark.cc" - a web site address that Ken established, thinking God would provide someone to develop it.

"No way!" I emphatically told him.  "I'm not the one."  You see, I did not know the first thing about how to construct a web site, nor did I have any clue about writing anything in HTML.  It was very easy for me to say no.

Every day during my long drive time to work, I used to relish that time because that is when I talked with God.  Literally talk with Him, out loud, hand gestures, the whole thing.  Because I was alone in the car, passersby have been known to give me some strange looks.

Sometimes God answers back!  No, I don't hear voices or anything like that!  Sometimes I just get little thoughts that just come out of nowhere.  If it is pertaining to something I ought to be doing, I am positive that it is God at work.

The day after I had turned Ken's web site recruitment effort down, little thoughts kept popping into my head during my morning drive time.  I call them "tweaks."  These little tweaks were small ideas about what I could do to develop a web site.  Then the next day - another tweak.

After several days of getting these little tweaks, some ideas were shaping themselves into a major plan.  I came to the conclusion that God really wanted West Park to have a web site and it was going to be me who was to do it.  A conversation with our pastor, Dave Strope, got me some more ideas about what should go on the pages.  Yes, God was leading me somewhere.  I told Ken I would give it a shot.  "But don't expect too much," I warned him.

A couple weeks later, we had our home page up and running with "under construction signs" on 12 other pages.  Two months later, working an hour here and a few hours there, West Park had a 16-page web site developed by a guy who had no clue how to do it.  One of the tweaks I got was, if I could get a page looking fairly well, I could copy the codes for it, place them on another page and then change the words on that new page.  Maybe I should not give away secrets, but that's how 16 pages were done by February 21 of 2000.  Then again, I should tell all.  They are not my secrets.  I got them, after all, from God.

He is so awesome!!!  Over the months He gave me so many more new ideas and led me to cyber spaces that I did not even know existed.  I now know that when God is at work, you never, ever, say never!

Eight months later I found out why God wanted me to do our church's web site.  I was teaching at a private vocational school and was told the next day the school was closing. I was out of a job, at age 56!

Weeks later there was a want ad in the newspaper from a school district wanting someone to teach staff and community folks Microsoft software applications.  But it also said they were looking for an applicant who could design and maintain the school district web site.  Having taught the software (I had been doing that for years.), that was not a problem.  At that point, however, I had just nine months of experience in web design.

I had done the church site and two other business sites at that point, so I applied. In the cover letter I included the three URL addresses of the sites I had done in case they wanted to look at them.  Weeks later I was interviewed and got the position.  It was for more money than I had ever made in my life.

Weeks later after I was hired, I found out the one thing that made the interviewers choose me. It was the West Park Church web site!

God tells us in Jeremiah 29:11, "'I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" Through a church web site, God showed and demonstrated to me that his Word is true.

I did not know it at the time, but God did have a plan for me!

AMEN

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