Let me tell you a story. It began 33 years ago this month, when I moved to Houston.
I was hired as the sports director of channel 11 in Oct. 1979. One of my first assignments was a Friday night Tomball High School game. Back in 1979 it took a long time to get to Tomball from downtown. I had no idea where Tomball was and thought I'd never get there and back in time for the 10 p.m. sportscast. I thought I was in the middle of nowhere and would probably never go back again. Little did I know what God had planned for my life.
Fast forward to 1988. A little known radio station, AM 700, was going broke in Tomball. I put together some investors and we bought it. A few months later a guy named Rush called looking for a home to carry his show. Every other station in Houston had turned him down - he was too conservative for them, but not for me. The rest, as they say, is history as KSEV became a top Houston station riding the Rush wave.
Fast forward to 2005. I decided to run for the Texas Senate and Tomball was a key part of the district. I was blessed to win the election.
Fast forward to 2007. I was talking about Crisis Pregnancy Centers on the air one day and said I would give a $1000 to the first center to call in. It was the new Tomball Center. Before being told today, I didn't know at the time that it was their biggest donation for the center.
Fast forward to 2011. I passed the Sonogram bill into law.
Fast forward to today. The Tomball Crisis Pregnancy Center that has saved many lives since first opening, moved into their new home today. I was asked to attend the opening. Paula Whitaker, one of the founders, bought one of the original signed copies of the Sonogram bill at an auction. She donated it to place in the center.
The real heroes of the center are all of the volunteers and staff who work with women in crisis pregnancies, pray with them and counsel them, in hopes they will decide to choose life for their baby over abortion.
I spoke briefly today at the opening of the new center telling them of that journey to Tomball 33 years ago. I told them little did I know how important that town would be in my life.
I shared with them how God has a plan for all of us, a path for us, and a journey to take for His will to be done. I reminded them that often that road comes with hazards, slow downs, and wrong turns that we take along the way because we don't always pay attention to His map. But if we listen and follow him, he will lead us to where He wants us to be.
My 33 years in Houston has been a great blessing for Jan and me, and our family. But the road has not always been easy.
I was a top sportscaster in the city, but the new owners didn't like my style and I was gone. I didn't understand at the time. I opened several restaurants and went broke at 36. I didn't understand. That period of 1985-86 was stressful in many areas of my life, but we made it through.
After a lot of hard work and long hours we built a small radio station into a successful business. I wrote a best seller about the Bible, produced an award winning Christian film, and got elected to the Senate. All of that goes to the glory of God, not to me. He gets all the credit. My life became dedicated to His work. In fact the first legislative act I passed was putting In God We Trust in the Senate chamber for the first time in history. Notice a pattern here?
But today, as I once again returned to Tomball, now just 10 minutes from my house, I thought back to October of 1979 and that first trip. At the time I had no idea how important it would be in my family's life. I told the audience it took the Jews a long time to find Israel once freed from Egypt. Their road was not always easy. But once they obeyed and followed God they found their way to where He wanted them to go. That is a lesson for all of us as we travel our own journey in life.
I don't know where you are in your journey. Are you where He wants you to be, or are you lost somewhere on your road. Have you hit some pretty big bumps along the way; health issues, employment, marriage or family issues, or financial problems. If you are lost in your journey, or currently hitting some speed bumps that seem too big to navigate, do not be discouraged. God has a plan for all of us if we listen and obey. He will see to it you complete the journey He has planned for you.
Back in Oct. 1979 God knew that if I stayed on HIs path today would happen. It took me awhile to obey and live by His plan and not mine. But I finally figured it out and I'm thankful I did. There is a Tomball for all us if we just follow His map for our life.
