Beltway Testimonies

In May of 2007, Laura Frankenfeld shared this story with us about her trip around the world:

A testimony of the prophetic song:

This last Sunday after we sang “Breathe,” one of our vocalists began singing what she was hearing the Spirit leading her to sing and had a feeling that God was up to something.

We found out this week, that a man who desires to go back into full time ministry has been waiting and waiting and no doors have been opened yet for him. He asked the Lord, “Are You finished with us?” and at that moment the vocalist sang “He’s not finished with you yet.” Needless to say, he was deeply encouraged by the Lord. Praise God for the ways He speaks and the new songs He gives!

Troy Shockley testifies to God’s faithfulness to provide when we completely surrender:

My name is Troy Shockley and, for the next two weeks, I am the assistant sports editor and beat writer for Cooper High and Abilene Christian University at the Abilene Reporter-News. On Saturday, May 31, however, my wife and daughter will join me in taking the next step in the path God has planned for our lives. We will be leaving on that day for Oregon, where I have accepted an offer to join the staff of a small, family owned newspaper as sports editor.

Since returning to Abilene in 2003, Beltway Park has been home. My wife, Roxanne, and I fell in love with the place and the people from Day 1, and it has been the only true church home we’ve had as a married couple. We have so many wonderful memories made in our time here and we have grown immensely in our walk with the Lord thanks largely to Pastor David and our small group, led by Steve and Susan Keenum.

My situation at work, though, has been both difficult and frustrating. Often working 10 to 12 hours a day, many times six days a week, I rarely get time with my wife or daughter Elisabeth, who will turn three in September. Add to that the stress level that has been created by management, and my attitude when home hasn’t always been as it should be. Through much prayer, we decided that the only solution to these problems was to find another job that would be both personally and professionally satisfying. Over the last several months we’ve found many possibilities, but even those we felt would be a great fell through — until we came across McMinnville. That’s when God made his love and care for us so clear.

After leading me to the job listing (a listing that, “somehow,” never showed up on a popular Web site that would have surely resulted in a large increase in the number of applicants) we quickly felt very good about the possibility. God then led me to someone that, as it turned out, used to work at the paper. His current boss is great friends with one of the bosses in McMinnville. This person also used to work in Texas, and called around some of his contacts asking about me. Based on what he heard, he called McMinnville and talked to the hiring editor about me and reccomended me for the job — all without my knowledge at the time. This gave me a tremendous head start for a job that, I’ve found, had 15 applicants in the first 24 hours after the initial posting.

The hiring editor set up a phone interview a week after I sent in my application. It went so well that, a week later, I was on a plane headed to a second interview. That went so well that, on the second day, I was offered the job at more than a 10 percent increase in pay. There will be markedly less stress at this job, the hours will be more stable and the company is more than willing to work around family obligations. It is also much closer to home.

Even now God is working in the situation, as yesterday we found that the paper has doubled its initial (and standard) offer in regards to helping defray the costs of moving. I have always struggled in letting go of a situation. I don’t like not being in control. But God has made himself so known in our lives these last few weeks and it is truly amazing what can happen if you ‘let go and let God.’

We are incredibly sad to have to leave our church family at Beltway and know there will be many other difficulties as we make this move, but we are also excited to be following what is clearly God’s plan for our lives. And as clearly as He has been in control of this entire situation, we know He will continue to provide if we faithfully follow His plan.
Isn’t God great?