Invitation to Earn a Million Dollars: The Surprisingly Funny Miracle

Well, aren't all miracles surprising? Yes, but this one has a funny side too!

It seemed like there was no work for me at USA, except for one course they wanted me to teach. I felt so out of place there, we knew God had something better for me, and for us, but couldn't imagine what.

Then one night I had a dream. I dreamed Bill and I were in a home talking with an old man who was very interested in my research. He asked many questions, then told me I needed to write a book and that I should take the next year to do so, and that he’d put up $1 million to see it published. Artist Joshua knows that's a lot of money.

Later in the dream, Dow and Lois came over and we rejoiced together. Then I awoke and opened God’s Word and glanced down at the book of Joshua chapter 3 verse 5: "Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you ....” So I began the day with anticipation and hope in Him, knowing that in the tomorrows to come, there was something special.

OK, so here's the miracle. In a nutshell, a few weeks later, my friend and colleague Marilyn Shank and I received an invitation to co-author a special education textbook with Rud and Ann Turnbull from Kansas State. Apparently I was the missing piece that could provide literacy insight into children with special needs. So Marilyn and I would go to Columbus, Ohio, in June, where Prentice Hall had their headquarters, to meet and discuss the plan of action.

During this time I was also sick a lot and got to know too many doctors.  But in my Journal I wrote that many loved ones were praying for me: Robert and Sue, Leroy and Judy, Charles and Carolyn, Dow and Lois. All this right before the trip to Ohio and the Amazing Miracle of God. When Charles prayed for me, he included an encouragement to be an “educational consultant” and Dow prayed that I would be “ruthlessly professional.”

The meeting went well and they gave me a $5000 advance to begin writing. That was a LOT of money and enough to help us get by. Two decades later, the royalties from the sale of three editions of this textbook have amounted to about a million dollars. Does that amount sound familiar?

Now I understood the dreams. The books in the dream also included many chapters in books, journal articles, and writings of many kinds. Here's an Amazon link with picture of that first (of three) editions written and published by Prentice Hall. : Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today's Schools: Invitation to Earn a Million Dollars.

One of the very special outcomes was the privilege of working with editor Linda Montgomery. She is a joy to work with and has become a good friend. She has a gentle way of helping you see a new perspective and want to share it in your writing.

So this is what I did the third year in Mobile, along with working with Moss Point School District to write curriculum and train teachers, and work with the worlds smartest kid (read about him in the next blog posting). God was faithful, still is faithful, even when all around us seems to be crashing down. His kingdom will come, His will, will be done. To God be the glory.

Then one day, one of my students stopped me to ask about the trip to England. As I began to tell her, she interrupted me and said she needed to tell me something right away--in the middle of the department office with at least a dozen people around. I didn’t have time to bring her to my office. She looked directly at me and said with authority, “The steps of a righteous woman are ordered by the Lord.” Oh, how I needed that word. It went right to my heart, and I went to my office, closed the door and wept. In the weeks following, students began to come and tell me how God had touched them and healed them in their classes with me.” What was Father doing???

Meanwhile, with all the changes, I often found myself in tears. Sometimes I felt like a failure as a teacher and colleague. I wrote, “My spirit knows that God is faithful and will not forsake us. Even my reason can affirm this, but my emotions will not catch up. What is good is my family, friends and home.” What I lacked, and was in the process of acquiring, was a new word for me: homeostasis, another word for peace and the Hebrew word Shalom.

But the tears continued. So my doctor put me on a depression medicine that gave me a scary reaction and I ended up in the ER. There another doctor did blood work and found out the reasons for my fluctuating emotions--my thyroid was way out of balance. This is a long story, but when the doctor got the thyroid working again, the depression lifted, though the side effects of the meds continued for weeks.

Meanwhile, my loving husband took good care of me. In the top photo below you can see through our bedroom window a glimpse of Keith Currie, Anna Currie, and some friends, with guitar, singing love songs at 7 a.m.! For my birthday, Bill had arranged to have them come and serenade me. Bill also loves to cook, as you can see in the bottom photo. If you know him, you know he's famous for gravy at Thanksgiving, and sour dough waffles anytime of year. Yum.

As a family, we loved surprises. For Jenny's birthday that year, Bill and I drove up from Mobile to Covenant College in Georgia, about a seven hour drive. We arranged with her roommate to meet at the Olive Garden (her favorite restaurant) so we could surprise her. I enjoy the look of surprise on her face in the left photo. In the right photo, Bill and I had gone away for a few nights and Jonathan drove where we were to be with us. We love our family!

So this is the story of the funny surprising miracle and how my Father has worked everything together for good. I think my whole life has been one miracle after another. Following Jesus is an adventure worth more than all the treasures of earth.