will wonders never cease?

What was it, two blogs ago where I gave you my list of needs?

Last I checked I needed just shy of fourteen thousand dollars worth of gear provided in less than a week.

Right?

So, I told you already about the 'handshake loan' that got me my sound system.  What I neglected to tell you was that Niki and I had decided to fast this week.  Fasting is a way of praying with the body (as my former associate used to put it) where we effectively say to God, "Lord, it's more important for me to pray on this with focus than it is for me to ________ ." And you fill in that blank with a certain thing you 'deny yourself' for a specific length of time.

Niki and I have been, understandably I think, feeling the pressure of this new venture and we've been trying to find a way to make a breakthrough in areas of our life that have nothing to do with church planting.  

Specifically, Niki (a fitness professional) has been feeling a growing desire to find a way to leverage her skills in new--and ideally revenue-generating--ways.

I have a new TV series launching on the 14th, 33 new episodes to shoot on the 15th/16th/17th plus an international syndication deal in the works (that could totally change our lives) as well as a distribution deal pending for my first feature film...AND...a new (and very exciting) project I'm trying to raise a significant $ number for that--if it happens--will be THE biggest production I've ever done in my life, bar none.

The point of listing all of the above is to confess (for us) and illustrate for you the utter hopelessness of our situation.  We are utterly, totally and completely in over our heads. There's really nothing we can do to make any of this happen but we really want it to happen and want very much to put ourselves in a posture of obedience such that we're able to hear God speak and follow His lead.

So we decided to fast.

But from what? I mean, we can't sleep less, out kids would eat us alive. We can't really eat less, 'cause chasing our four babies around all day takes everything we've got. We don't want to stop sleeping together 'cause THAT 'AINT HAPPENING (!) so that leaves us with nothing to fast from.

Except wine.

That's right.  Yuk it up fuzzball, we're glad to be able to cause you such glee.

It feels very humbling to have you laughing at us.

Yes, we fasted from wine.

Sunday to Sunday.

And you'd think--what's the big deal--except you don't realize what red wine gets used for in our house.  It's a 'rhythm' thing.  We finish dinner, bathe the kids, clean the house, tell them stories, read the Bible together, pile on for prayer (wherein all the kids climb up on me and we pray together...it's lots of fun) then get 'em to bed, then sit downstairs or upstairs or anywhere we can rest our sorry butts for a minute and...

Drink a glass of red wine.

Every.  Night.

It's good for the heart and it's good for the soul.

But this week we've been fasting from it and it's been hard.  No joke.

But...

First I got my sound system financed for next to nothing then--yesterday--I got a phone call telling me that the remaining $9,000 in gear I needed had been covered.

For real.

Yes, just like that.

And you could be saying "Well, that's just a coincidence..." which would be easy for you to say 'cause you weren't lying in bed with us last Sunday night trying to figure out how in the heck we could focus in--in prayer and work ethic--on Jesus in obedience to ask Him to give us a breakthrough with all of the details outlined above.  And you didn't agree to fast and you didn't get a sound system all but given to you mid-week or another nine grand landed in your lap by the end of it.

But I did.

Think I'ma have a big glass of red wine tomorrow night to celebrate.

(and if you're needing a breakthrough, might a make a suggestion?)

T