The budget for building the Lane cabin was $35,000.  After adding up all of the foreseeable costs, I was almost sure it would take more than $35,000.  DL did have money in operating cash reserve, should it be needed, but no one likes to be over budget on any project.

At the end of the first week of construction, I double checked the cost on remaining items: windows, sky lights, metal roofing, plumbing, septic field and gas lights – $35,000.  This total did not include the dimensional lumber (i.e. 2X4) needed for the roof decking, ceiling, closets, and trim.

Then came the phone call.  “Chucker, can you use some pine?”   It had to be Coates Coleman, for he was the only person who had ever called me “Chucker”.  I did not know Coates well.  His son, Tom, had been a counselor my first summer, and Tom prepared the first instructional area manuals.  I had spent one night on a DL recruiting trip with the Coleman’s…but that was it.

My response: Coates, of course we can use some pine.   “Good – what do you want?”  I proceeded to tell him what was needed to complete the Lane Cabin.   “How soon do you need it?”   In about two weeks.  “OK, I’ll have it there.  What else do you need? There is no sense sending up a partial load.”  We talked a bit.  “I will see what I can do.”   Right on schedule came the 18 wheeler flat bed, with 44,000 pounds of lumber on it!

God supplied, without my asking.   A miracle.   God supplied because God, through His Spirit did the asking – and Coates was open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Coates Coleman was living In Partnership With God.  I thanked God and Coates for the lumber.

In future years Coates called a few more times and sent more truck loads of “Coleman Pine” – sometimes in the form of plywood or treated lumber.  Every truck would be loaded to the legal load limit – 44,000 pounds.  When Coates retired, his son Tom continued to send truck loads of “Coleman Pine”.

When we believe we know the right thing to do – let’s do it!!!  What we do may be an answer to someone’s prayer, perhaps a quiet prayer from a tired mom, or a frustrated dad, or a bewildered child.

Make the phone call, offer to baby sit, loan a car, give a car, repair the plumbing, weed the garden, take someone out to lunch or to a movie or to a concert, take them shopping, mail $500, offer a job at your house or at your company, teach a new skill, coach a team, offer a ride, take the plate of cookies, give some tomatoes, just sit and listen, take a child on your family’s trip, take someone hiking, give a hug!

Jesus answered: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”    And who is my neighbor?”   Luke 10

We can make such a difference!!!!