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There were some folks who tried to hang in there and congregate on Sundays at Northfold. I would occasionally drop in and see the small fledgling group of about 25-30 people. It was kind of sad but it also meant that it was time for change. I had great aspirations for ministry but I really started to wonder about my particular calling after what had happened the past few years. In hindsight, I was making decisions with very little understanding of their impact which is symptomatic of being young and inexperienced. The joy of Lord that strengthened me throughout my initial experience in Follansbee had been replaced by doubt and uncertainty. I just wasn't sure how I fit into the church scene. I hopped around the community and visited some local churches. I could see that the more organized they were, the more lifeless they appeared to me. They were safe havens that allowed each member to fulfill what appeared to be a dutiful christian life style but I could not sense any passion for Jesus.

I had a family and I had to support them. I decided to invest my time in the insurance business and lay low on the church scene. I would often visit my friends in West Virginia and too often I would openly confess my regret for ever leaving Follansbee. To this day, I wonder about that decision. I've learned now that life is really a decsion making process and those decisions shape and form the direction that we go. This decision making is best described in the Bible as sowing and reaping. That's why history is very important to all of us. We can learn from it.

I lived with a lingering in my heart that God probably had something else in store for me and that my past few years were nothing more than a training ground for my actual call. I decided not to intiate spiritual things with others but just let them happen. I had no idea what to do at this point and so I became the supreme insurance professional. I ask the Lord to help me find success in the insurance business. The Lord spoke to me about faithfulness and He said that His basis for promotion would not be because of my talent but that it would come from committment and faithfulness. This was my next lesson to be learned from the Lord. I call it "The Joseph Principle". Wherever Joseph found himself he became the exemplary model of excellence and faithfulness and Joseph found himself in some loathful situations. I didn't like where I was but I needed to learn committment. The Lord had spoken.

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The Interview