My Own 40 Day Journey

...by Rhonda Wigington

As most of you know, Darren, my husband, and our pastor, is on Day 33 of a 40 Day Sabbatical. A few weeks before he even knew that the Lord was asking this of him, the Lord put in my heart that He was about to require more of me. When the 40 Days came about, I thought that was what He was requiring of me. You see, Darren and I have always been not only partners in life, but in ministry as well. I felt that the separation was going to be what He required.

Little did I know that the 40 Days was going to be a tool that He used to show me exactly what He was requiring. As the weeks went on, circumstances and situations that were going on with Darren and me, and messages I heard here at the Church of the Cove (thank you, Logan, Bryan, Tony and Jim) caused me to stop in my tracks. God began to peel back all the layers of my heart - and it wasn't pretty. He gave me a scripture that I didn't like very well.

"I will melt you down and skim off your slag. I will remove all your impurities" Isaiah 1:25b

See, I thought everything was okay. I loved the Lord, talked to Him and He talked to me. My worship has been real and I continue to be amazed by Him. But, the Lord began to show me that I was just on the surface. He wanted me to go so much deeper. He began to show me sins that I had hidden deep, deep in my heart that I wasn't willing to let go of - jealousy, pride, fear, insecurity (He showed me that all insecurity is, is putting trust in something or someone besides Him). I had buried these sins so deep and hidden them so long (from almost everyone except my husband and kids) that I thought I could just ignore them and that God would ignore them too. But, through the 40 Days, God let me know that He loves me so much that He can't ignore them.

So, He is skimming off the slag - it's painful. The songs we sing mean so much more to me today than they did a few weeks ago. As we sing "Come With Love" I know that He has come to me and told me that He is jealous for me. He wants all of me. When we sing "From The Inside Out", I truly pray that He will consume me from the inside out. I want to lose myself in bringing Him praise.

I need your prayers. I'm still wrestling this thing out. The Word says to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. I struggled with sharing this with you. I felt that you may not respect me anymore, but I know that was the enemy. I feel so burdened to share this, because I feel that there are more people like me. People who know in the deepest part of their heart that God is asking them to let go of their junk, but they keep pushing it deeper and deeper, thinking they can just ignore it.

I'm begging you to let go of it. The longer you hold on, the harder it is and the more painful the process. God is getting us ready for something HUGE. Let's give up - surrender.
I feel that I need to share that I love my husband dearly. I miss him so much and can't wait until he gets home. BUT, Darren is not my savior. The only place I can find real identity and security is in Christ Alone. That is the only place you will find yours too.

Loaves $$$ Multiplied

The Lord had already placed a couple on my heart before Kevin came and shared his powerful message, but I didn't know "what" or "how" to help. This couple has had cancer, financial and many other issues thrown at them; yet they stand strong in their faith. The husband is working hard at 2-3 jobs doing everything he can. They have been such an inspiration to me and others.

On the morning the envelopes were passed out, I received $10. I was so excited because I knew "who" mine was going to, but I didn't know "how." I just kept praying about it and then one night I watched as two other ladies had their crafts they had made auctioned off and raised $175. It was so exciting to see God move. I went home still praying about what I was to do with mine. The next day I was standing in the kitchen baking and I felt the Lord speaking to me and saying, "You make banana bread all the time, just do that." So I did. God started working right away!

He provided sugar, bananas and chopped walnuts just when I needed them at 1/2 price. I was able to bake up 20 loaves. I spoke with Rhonda, my pastor's wife, about bringing them to church on Wednesday night. Darren had been praying about the best way to go about it. Without naming any names of the recipients, he briefly shared their struggle and how the proceeds from the bread would go to help them.

The Lord moved in the hearts of His people and they started raising their hands to purchase the loaves. The bread was delivered to their tables, with each one giving what they felt led to give and no one knew what each one gave. In just a few moments, the Lord had provided $600.00!!!! Praise God!!!! Today, the check was put in their hands and the lady cried tears of joy. It was SO awesome!!! Ephesians 3:20

---Anonymous

Tim

A story from one of our students about our August visit with the homeless:

I sat down with Tim just to keep him company as he ate. Once I sat down, he just started crying. He told me of his life as an alcoholic. His mother abandoned him twice as a child.

Tim’s drinking had helped him lose his 16-year-old daughter, his job, and his home. For four years, he has lived on the streets of Knoxville passing out drunk under bridges, drinking the pain away. He told me “You're sitting there smiling at me and I do not really know why.”

I said “I’m sitting here smiling because I have a hope for you!” We talked for quite awhile as I encouraged him to fight back, stop drinking, get a job and a house, and get his daughter back, but do it with God’s help. He didn’t seem to believe that God could change everything.

Yet, as I went on telling him all of the ways God has worked in my life and our church he started to want to know about our faith. Tim didn’t have any faith in himself, but my confidence in how God could change his life started to change his attitude.

One moment really hit him, he said, “I’m not going to lie, I have a bottle of beer in my backpack.” We had been giving out bags of hygiene products and Bibles, and I replied, “You received a bag from us, so you also have a Bible in your backpack now.” He did not know how to react to that moment.

Soon we had to leave, but we prayed, and I encouraged him to fight back with God on his side. He said I gave him a lot to think about.

--Brenna Barry

Gratitude

We think our money may have gone the furthest- geographically, that is. We gave our money to Lydia, a volunteer at Wears Valley Ranch from Germany. A Bible student, she chose to donate her time to the kids and staff at Wears Valley. She paid her own way over here, and did not receive any pay for all she did at the Ranch. Lydia's love for Christ and others was obvious as she served selflessly and joyfully. Together with the Housers' envelope, we gave the money to her in a thank-you note before she boarded the plane to go back to Germany. We do not know how she will use it, but we trust that the Lord will bless her with it.

-- Jay & Sarah Stenfors

Trailer

God sent COTC to Folsom, Louisiana after Katrina hit in 2005. He sent some a few to Baton Rouge last year after Gustav hit Baton Rouge. He placed a dream in the hearts of His people for a nice-sized box trailer to serve as disaster relief and to assist in the moving we help people with.

On Thursday, August 20, 2009, God fulfilled those dreams by giving Church of the Cove a 28-foot (8 1/2 ft wide) trailer. It's set up with a commercial Onan generator, wired up with lights inside. It also has a side entry, covered over by an awning the length of the trailer. It's top-notch and like new.

Cost: Using it to serve God and give Him glory.

More details here.

Double up!

The Lord is leading us to double the amount that was in our envelopes to buy more food for the food pantry.

-- Phil & Kay Horton

Running from God

When I took my envelope out of the basket, I began to pray that moment about who God would have me give it to. In the course of the week, he placed a family in our path who broke my heart.

They have been living in a place that is about to be condemned. They have no shower, no way to wash clothes and he only has 1 set of clothes. They also have a teenage daughter. I felt such a burden for them, but asked the Lord to confirm that they were the ones.

My husband had a chance to share with the father of the family, who wept as he told my husband that he had felt the Lord calling him into the ministry years ago and had run from God. Just this week God has led this father to stop gambling and stop smoking.

Today I gave him the envelope and my husband and I helped with their small business venture, and we plan to take their daughter back to school shopping. We are praying for them and we expect a miracle in their lives as God reveals Himself to them!!!

-- Anonymous

Blessings

Yesterday, at the Walmart in Alcoa, God drew our attention to Peggy, a young mother with 15-month old twin daughters. The expression on her face when we gave her the money is something we'll never forget. In fact, it was such a great experience that we plan to set aside some money from our monthly income to keep the blessings going.

-- Ed & Carolyn DeWhitt

Seeds

The Lord has been dealing with me to plant a seed into the church food pantry, other than the one I made when the "shopping list" came out & I purchased most of the items on it to help get everything set up.

I am reminded of II Corinthians 9:10,

And God who continually supplies seed for the sower (thats me) and bread for eating will supply you with seed and multiply it and cause your almsgiving to yield a plentiful harvest.

Sunday morning, just as the worship service began, I committed to an amount and then we listened to Kevin Cross and he spoke on how his church helps people out. I was so impressed AGAIN by how God confirms His promise to us that if we sow into the Kingdom above our tithe He will give us more seed to sow. He gave a seed before I had a chance to write my check.

-- Anonymous

A Larger Lesson

As Kevin requested, I wanted to share my experience with the reverse offering request he made during last Sunday's service. First of all, I need to say that I am not a an "official" member of the Church of the Cove. I have been attending Sunday morning services at the Cove, as a visitor, for the last 4 Sundays. God willing, I'll be there this Sunday too.

I had read about Kevin Cross's visit and his plan for the reverse offering in the Maryville Daily Times on Saturday, so I knew it was coming before I got to the service on Sunday. Therefore, my intention was to not participate, since I am not a member, and to just put an offering in the plate as I had done the previous Sundays. However, that is not what God had planned for me. When the reverse offering came to my row, I decided to take an envelope and then thought to myself "I'll just put a double offering in next Sunday". Then Darren assured everyone after Kevin spoke that we could still give our offering if we felt led to after the service. Well after the service, it still did not seem right to put my offering in the plate, so I said my goodbyes and left. On the way home, I live in Alcoa by the way, I opened my envelope to see a $10.00 bill. For some reason, I felt God was telling me to put my personal offering into the envelope with the $10.00, so that is what I did.

Now immediately, I began to try and think of the best way to put this offering to work for God. All the way home, I was looking for that one person that God was going to show me; a stranded motorist, a homeless person, a poor family in line at the restaurant where I ate lunch, you know, somebody "deserving" enough to give the offering to. Well, I didn't see anybody that "fit the description" all the way home so I thought, no big deal, its still Sunday and I have 6 more days to do this and report my results.

Well Sunday passed...then Monday came and went without seeing anybody that "fit my profile" and now Tuesday was here. I was in line at Food City to pay for my grocery items and the lady in front of me had lots of groceries, so I was patiently waiting my turn and watching. I noticed she had some paperwork on the checkout bar that had the letters WIC on it. I knew that to be the Government assistance program for low-income families that need extra help with basic food items. I thought "This could be it!" This is the one God wants me to help", but then I remembered I had left the envelope with the offering in it, in my car. At that moment, I was distracted by the cashier at the next aisle over who said she could take me at her register, so I went over to her register paid for my stuff and left. I felt guilty, thinking here I had passed up on the one God wanted me to give to. Then I rationalized to myself, maybe she was not the right one and God will still provide "the one" at another time.

Now it was Wednesday, and I was headed to Chik-fil-A for dinner and happened to see a young lady sitting on the ground, near a major intersection in Maryville. She was holding a cardboard sign, but I could not read it from the distance I was at. She was on the opposite side of the street from me and I was headed in the opposite direction from her. I thought at that moment, "God, now this has to be the one You want me to give the offering to". I had no idea what the sign said, but I assumed she was asking for food or money. Well, I was only a few yards from Chick-fil-A, so I reasoned within myself "I'll just swing through the drive-thru real fast, get my food, and then head back to where she was and give her the offering".....it will take 4-5 minutes tops...no harm..no foul. So I went through, got my food and drove back to where the young lady was.....and she was gone! What? Where could she be...I pulled over and looked around and could not see her. I know God was wanting me to give her the offering. Why couldn't she have waited just five more minutes?

Needless to say, I was disappointed and again felt guilty for not helping someone that God had clearly put in front of me. For the past few days, I had been praying and asking God to show me where he wanted me to put this offering. I felt He had been answering me and pointing these folks out to me, but yet I could not seem to get it done.

Well Thursday rolled around, and I went out to lunch at one of the local Ruby Tuesday's. I never go to sit down restaurants like these for lunch because of work time constraints, but this day was different, work was slow and I needed a good break. I had planned on going to a fast food chain, but changed my mind at the last minute. Anyway, I went in sat down and ordered my food. While eating my salad and waiting on my main dish, I began casually watching/listening to the interaction between a waitress and an elderly couple seated in the booth beside mine. Apparently the couple had each ordered the same meal, but the waitress misunderstood and thought they were going to share a meal. So when she brought out their food, there was only one dish and she brought an empty plate "just in case the other wanted to have a bite", the waitress said. Well the couple calmly explained that they had both ordered the same dish and that one would not be enough for the both of them. The elderly lady also explained that part of her dish was incorrectly prepared. The waitress was really embarrassed and profusely apologized and vowed to get another dish prepared as quickly as possible. The waitress also offered to keep the one dish on a hot plate while the other was being prepared so it would not get cold.

By the time the elderly couples food was properly prepared and brought out, I had finished my meal and was ready to pay for it and leave. At that moment I felt like God was tugging on my heart to pay for the elderly couples meal as well. I wasn't sure why, because they did not "fit my profile", but I was not going to let another opportunity slip by me. So when my waitress came around I asked for the elderly couples bill to be put with mine, and she obliged without hesitation. After paying the bills, I got up to leave and the elderly couples waitress came up to me and said "Thank-you very much!". I did not speak to the elderly couple and as far as I know they did not know that their meal had been paid for until sometime after I had left.

I detailed the above events in order to share with you how, I believe, God used the entire experience to teach and remind me valuable lessons of His offering of Grace towards His children. Unlike what I was doing, God does not go about looking for someone that is "deserving" of His offering of Grace. His offering of Grace is freely available to all...A..W..L....all (sorry I had to throw Darren's favorite phrase in there).

I had been looking for someone that would "fit the profile" that I had in my head of somebody who "deserved" the offering. But God led me to the elderly couple who did not "fit my profile" that I had initially set out to find. They did not "deserve" it....they did not "earn" it, and they did not "win" it. Sadly, but thankfully, I was wrong in my thinking and God was willing to be patient with me and remind me how His offering of Grace works. Because, if God was only looking for people who "fit the profile" of "deserving" His offering of Grace, I would surely not fit and be doomed to Hell. Thankfully, His Grace is offered undeserved, unmerited, and unearned to all who will receive.

Thanks for letting me share my experience.

P.S. - As it turned out, the cost of the elderly couple's meal was almost exactly the amount of money that was in my offering envelope, so I accept this as confirmation from God that this was what He wanted.

--Stephen Halcomb

Workplace Ministry

I actually had a lady, who was about my age (20s), come in my workplace yesterday with her two children. She was asking for money to feed her children. I thought, "This is God telling me to use that money we were to minister with." Her daughter was about five and she gave me a huge hug.

I felt God working yesterday for sure!

--Anonymous

Turn around!

One man was driving toward his errands in Maryville and saw a man walking alongside the road carrying a backpack. As the man was returning from Maryville, he saw the same man, still walking.

Sensing the Lord's instruction to stop, he turned around and picked the man up. He drove him to Maryville and dropped him off, giving him the envelope of cash, letting him know that God had provided for him that day.

Yield on Investment

Reverse offering investments?

One lady took her $10 and invested it in the materials to make baskets. Another lady invested her $10 in the materials to make a stained glass hanging.

At church Wednesday night, the items were shown, the investment explained, and the bidding began. No formal ceremony. No announcement given. People smiled, laughed and bid their hearts out, wallets open. They were excited and we worshipped. Not the money! We saw worship because people were bidding not on items that will become gifts or occupy their homes, they bid on life-change for others.

Simple. The money these ladies received in the envelopes from the reverse offering were invested into materials they used to produce a product that people wanted. That caused their money to grow to $175 that will be used to spread the Gospel.

Raffling

Three of us are thinking of pooling our funds and getting donations of things and service hours and holding a raffle; the money from the raffle will go to the needy. It will take 60 days or so, but I'll update you as things move along and with the results.

-- Anonymous

Radical Gospel

Praise the Lord! Today, at age 64 (!), I saw the radical gospel put into action!!! What a wonderul, awesome challeging blessing! I am praying that God will convict, enlighten and multiply all the efforts of the Body.

A few weeks ago, the Lord put a person on my heart in a very special way. He called me to share my blessing with this person. Not only that, He caused events to happen to provide $20 here, $10 there - totally unexpected! It was clear that this was not for me, so I obeyed and passed it on. How I pray that everyone would experience the childlike joy I feel knowing God has used me to bless one of His children - a sister in Christ. I hope she can know what a blessing she has become to me!

THANK YOU for making this opportunity possible. Like you say, just imagine what God will do with this!!

-- Dottie Hall

Three for Five

Thursday evening we ate dinner at Miss Lilly's, a local restaurant. Our waiter was friendly and interested in our table conversation. We found out that he's a college student majoring in English. I encouraged him--saying that English teachers always have a job. Then he said that he really wanted to be a writer, and my heart was touched.

Since that night I'd been thinking that I'd like to help him somehow. And then Sunday you made God's intent plain to me. We stopped at Miss Lilly's after church. He wasn't working, but we were able to share what happened at church with the two managers. They seemed real interested. After getting his name, I wrote a check and added it to the $5 in the envelope and left if for him.

I was also able to give a small book to each manager. God used your work to minister to three people through that $5.

-- Phyllis Dolislager

For "More" Needy

We were at service this morning when you gave your message about "paying it forward". I gave my envelope to my brother,Jeff, who just checked into STEPS house, a drug and alcohol rehab facility in Knoxville. I just spoke to him a few minutes ago and he told me that on the way back in the van, driven by Tom Garner of our church, some of the guys wanted to stop at KARM (Knox Area Rescue Mission) and give their envelopes to "more" needy folk at the mission. I'm sure this blessing will be passed on to others in the community.

-- Roger Hall

Get a bus?

On July 1, 2009, the notion was discussed at the Wednesday night service that a local church was selling their 25-passenger bus and had offered Church of the Cove dibs on it. They had paid over $45,000 for it four years ago, brand new. It had 13,400 miles on it, some of which was added when we borrowed it the past summer. They had maintained it well and it was a very nice bus.

Discussion was opened and people asked if we'd actually use it and how. And the dreams began to flow, talk about insurance and such went around. People were asked to pray and then tell the elders what we were to do -- buy it or pass on it. Before the night was out, the people knew. God spoke that night -- buy it.

Trouble was, we did not have the $22,000 sitting in the bank for this bus and we didn't want to borrow it either. We declared the next Sunday, July 5, to be the Sunday we'd take up the money in offering for the bus.

That Sunday, God, through His people's obedience, provided not only the $22,000 to purchase the bus, but also enough to change the paperwork, add it to the insurance and put a trailer hitch on it to pull the trailer on mission trips!

The next day, the student ministry took the bus filled with kids excited to be on mission to Mobile, Alabama where it was used all week to transport teens to work sites where people heard about the love of God for them personally. A couple weeks later, it was filled with students again, going to the bridge in Knoxville to grill burgers and share love with the homeless. On August 4, the bus was filled again, this time with adults, headed to Crossville Mission Bible Training Center to visit with the folks there to let them know that God loves them despite their bad choices and He's there to help them.

People gave from deep in their pockets in a poor and declining economy not because they wanted a bus with comfortable seats to ride in, but because they saw the vision of how that is a tool God provided to be able to bring true life-change to people.

We don't know the individual stories of this event yet, but we know the bigger picture, and thus we share it here. Turning points in our church as a whole are turning points in our lives as individuals. If you're one of those who gave to this -- please, take the time to tell us in the comments YOUR story of how God touched you through this event. And if you're someone who's life has just been challenged or touched by this story, please, share that, too!