The Interview

So here I am in the early 1980's with apparently no future in the church and a heart gone astray because of the circumstances. I had my wife and three children to support and so I had to make a go of it in the insurance business. I never really committed myself to the insurance business because I was hanging on to the ministry as my possible life's vocation. That possibility no longer existed and so I had to commit my time and energy into selling insurance. The Lord had already spoken very clearly that His basis for promotion would not be my talent. It was faithfulness and commitment that the Lord was after in me. For the first time in my life, I was ready to go all the way and aggressively pursue a career. I had already interviewed at a number of places but there was one job interview that really intrigued me. It was with Allstate Insurance. I could actually see myself as an Allstate agent and I finally got an interview with their manager. His name was Bud McDevitt.

The day of the interview came and I prayed that the Lord would be with me and give me the right words to say. I'll never forget that interview because I became very confident and actually a bit cocky during the process. I was always impressed with the ferocious Jack Lambert of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was the epitome of commitment and success during the Steeler Super Bowl years and so I told Mr McDevitt that if he would hire me, I would become the Jack Lambert of Allstate insurance. He laughed and our conversation suddenly turned into a football chat. It didn't take too long after the interview for Mr McDevitt to call me and offer me the job. May 1st, 1985 I became an Allstate agent. My world had changed dramatically. My focus had changed dramatically and yet way down deep inside I still yearned for the things of God.

Next up....

Practicing what I could Preach