In the early 1980s the consistory at the University Reformed Church read a book by South Korean pastor Cho on how his church grew to be the largest in the world.  He was looking for people with enough time, flexibility, and money to do the Lord’s work. The answer to his prayer turned out to be housewives who organized and ran small groups out of their homes. The prayer phrase stuck with me. At the time, I was working in New Hudson, Michigan a one hour drive away from home. I was making enough money to support our current lifestyle, but the drive time put a major crimp in the time and flexibility portions of the equation.

I prayed for a couple of years to find that job with enough time, flexibility, and money to do the Lord’s work. I never really did anything about finding such a job, but I prayed regularly. The first thing that happened in response to the prayer was that I got fired (really more like laid off, but “fired” is more dramatic). I realized my prayer had not been specific enough about job transition.

We were nearing the end of our severance pay when I received a call from my friend  in Grand Rapids, a Data Manager for a sister company to the one I had been fired from. We had worked together on several projects, and he had a proposal. “I have a data project I need to have done. I can’t hire you but I would be able to contract with you to complete this project. Are you interested and available?” It sounded scary but I knew where Grand Rapids was and I trusted my friend.  He turned out to be a great help in setting up a sole-proprietorship.

A couple of months later, I contacted a headhunter who sent me to a Lansing company with a research project they wanted completed on a contract basis. The work would require several weeks of nearly full-time effort, so I needed to check with my Grand Rapids friend. When I outlined the situation to him, he was unexpectedly ecstatic. “This is great. The work here is almost done, and I can’t afford to pay you for more. I was worried about breaking the news to you.”

The director of the Lansing project gave my name to other Local companies, and I landed a short contract at one of them.  Another friend had heard of the work I had done in Grand Rapids, and offered some contract work at the Lansing location. I started a database project for my father-in-law’s company. I was now juggling several part-time projects and had less time available to look for full-time work.

Then Diane and I had an epiphanal conversation in the van on our way home from a birthday party with her family in Jackson. Two separate conversations had occurred. I talked with my father-in-law Tom about the work I was doing for Fab-Alloy. He encouraged me that I was doing good work, and said, “I may regret this but I need to tell you that you should raise your rates. Your good work is worth more than what you are charging. We pay someone to set up our computers, and they charge more than twice what you do.” What an encouragement!

Diane, on the other hand, had a much harder conversation with her mom and sisters about my work situation. They wanted to know, “is Allan going to get a real job?”  Diane didn’t have an answer, and so on the way home she asked tearfully, “Are you going to get a real job?” That’s when it hit me – self-employed contracting work was the answer to my prayer. I had plenty of time and flexibility to do the Lord’s work, and I was making enough money to pay all our bills.  Not only that, but I had learned enough about contracts, taxes, billing, bank accounts, and the other company requirements to continue indefinitely; I had picked up those skills a little at a time. 

For over a year God had set up the conversations and the timing of contracts to start new work just as old work was finishing.  I now had a couple of paying clients and some leads on others.  The answer to Diane’s question was “No”, and the response to God was, “thank you very much.”

I feel very sheepish that it took me so long to realize this answer to prayer. It helps me understand the two guys on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24 who were walking along, talking and complaining to Jesus, and not recognizing him. I know from experience sometimes God breaks in to help otherwise “blind” people to understand what’s going on.

So what is God’s work?  At the beginning, I needed to be a good father and husband; Diane and I were in charge of the Children’s Church ministry; and I was on the Board of Elders at church.  Over time, we moved with the kids to Youth Ministry and the college ministry at church.  Working at home has had so many bonuses, from scheduling workmen and meetings outside the office, to delivering Meals on Wheels at lunch time, to making lunches or attending school activities with the kids, and being home when they arrived after school. When Diane started teaching, I could be the home anchor for everyone, sending them off in the morning and greeting in the afternoon.  I could schedule vacations or days off as needed.  And steady work has allowed generous giving.

I never intended to be self-employed, I have no “marketing” skills other than making business cards, and yet God’s answer to a simple prayer has been to provide contracting work for twenty-five years.