Dan's Testimony

In 1997 I left a corporate middle management positon and sunk my life savings into a franchise coffe shop. We openned the store in October and by February I was facing total failure. The franchisor was not following through on his promises of support. I was working 18 hours a day seven days a week and losing money. My wife and I had stopped communicating and I had lost touch with my children.
On a stormy night in February, 1998 after several hours in the store without serving one customer, I decided to take the keys back to the bank and accept the consequences--total financial ruin and probably the loss of my family. I was sitting at a table staring at the keys to the store when a stranger came in.

He ordered a coffee and we talked. He asked me if I knew God. "Yes" I said, "I know God, but He sure has forgotten me".
"Do you pray", he asked.
"You bet I pray", I replied. "I pray everyday sometimes all day long and He never answers. I guess He's not listening."
"What do you pray for", he asked.
"Well I buy a lot of lottery tickets and I pray to win. What's the big deal? God could solve all my problems with one winning ticket!"
He stared at me then shook his head. "Your prayer is your problem. God is not a genie." Then he uttered a sentence that has completely changed my life.
He said "pray to know the gifts that God has already given you." My blank look told him I didn't understand, so he began to pray.
"Father, help my friend Dan know the gifts you have already given him.
Help him to find the strength to deal with his challenges. Help him to find the wisdom to see him through his ordeal and most of all Father help him to know Your endless and wondorous love."
He shook my hand, wished me well and left.
I have not seen him since.

I began praying the way he taught me and although we could not make the store successful, after three years of hard work and tough negotiations with the franchisor and the bank we found a way out of our horrible mess without sacrificing our family. We lost some money, but we also salvaged enough to start over.

God sent me an angel. God wouldn't let me quit.

Praise his Holy name.