Chapter 1

Everything in life good and bad happens for a reason and these various situations are meant to give you a supernatural experience. The disappointing thing is that people are afraid to tell others about these experiences for the fear of what people might think. Let me just give you a token of advice free of charge, people will always have something to say about you and 50% of the time it will be negative anyway. Your experience may help someone who is struggling with a decision in their life. Every time I have the opportunity I share my experience, and now will be no different.

In 2008 life was good. I was graduating from Davidson College in North Carolina with a Bachelors degree in Psychology and a minor in Education and Pre-Medicine. I had two great roommates who were my best friends.  I would take it a step further and say we were now brothers. Ryan and Jeff I love you guys! You usually hear horror stories about college roommates, but my roommates were a blessing and we helped each other through pretty dramatic times in our lives.

Just when I thought my life couldn’t get any better it felt like I lost everything in a matter of minutes. I had to move away from my brothers to a different city where I didn’t know anyone. I lost my girlfriend who I truly loved, but didn’t fully appreciate due to my immaturity. Due to the economic down turn many job opportunities which were previously offered to me were removed due to a hiring freeze. I only had a few options so I moved to Nashville, Tennessee to work for Dell Incorporated. I felt as if this was punishment. I asked myself and God, why do I have to leave my comfort zone and my found family?

Once I arrived in Nashville, I started visiting a local mega church Mt. Zion Baptist Church where Bishop Joseph W. Walker III is the pastor. I begin to enhance my relationship with God and He began speaking to me like never before. I found myself hungry for the work. I was at church whenever the doors were open, but there was one problem I didn’t want to go to a church where I was just another member. I wanted to feel like I offered something to the church. I joined several ministry groups at the church, but I still felt as if the church was too big. One Sunday Bishop walker said I know some of you say “you can’t go to a church with thousands of members, but if you’re receiving a rhema word (relevant word) every time you are here and it speaks directly to your situation then you are in the right place. Plus you have to realize when Jesus preached thousands joined in one day” I couldn’t question his logic because I was being fed and growing closer to God. I also realized that once I joined the minsitires the church became smaller, because not everyone will participate in ministry groups. I still had one concern and that was that I didn’t know the pastor. I felt as if I needed to know this man of God in order to continue my growth. Keep reading and I will touch on this too!

 On a mini vacation from work I went back to Charlotte, North Carolina to visit. While I was at the Hubbard house, Daddy Hubbard told me “I have a friend in Nashville who you need to call and she will take care of you.” He gave me her number and told me to call her as soon as I got back to Nashville. I was disobedient and I didn’t call her as soon as I got back to Nashville. He called me about a week later and said “I talked to Peggy and she said you didn’t call her.” I didn’t have a good excuse to why I didn’t call, but I called her as soon as we hung up.

The first time I called, I received her voicemail and I left a message. She called me back and said lets have dinner later this week. At this point I didn’t really think anything of this dinner, but as time went on Ms. Peggy and I became very good friends. She didn’t have any family in Nashville and she soon adopted me as her nephew. Ms. Peggy and I hung out all the time.

For my birthday Ms. Peggy took me to a Tennessee Titians game and I thought we were going to sit with the regular people, but when we arrived we were in a sky box. The Who’s Who of Nashville was present in the box. I should have known we wouldn’t just sit in the stands, because Ms. Peggy was very prominent in Nashville. As I looked around I saw the President of Tennessee State University, doctors and lawyers, and you guessed it Bishop Walker. I talked to Bishop Walked and he remembered me joining church a few weeks back. I joined the church after we had a week fast where we asking God to move us to the next level. I remember like it was yesterday it was Thursday night and I was sitting in my home office in Nashville and God put it on my heart to join this church.

After this I knew I was walking in favor and there was a plan for my life, but God was still about to blow my mind. One afternoon while I was in Atlanta with Ms. Peggy we were sitting with her best friend Dr. Allen who is the Dean of Accounting at Morehouse College in Atlanta. The question on their mind was “what is your 3-5 life plan, Richard?” I said well I want to obtain my Masters in Business Administration and I want to do an international program.  I went on to talk about how I regretted not traveling abroad while during my undergraduate studies. Dr. Allen said well I have the perfect program and it’s in Edinburgh, Scotland. I know the Dean there and we are going to Edinburgh in a few months. Before we left Atlanta Dr. Allen gave me instructions to fill out the application and she would take it with her when she went to Edinburgh.   

I think I can be real with you here. I thought she was joking. Once again I didn’t follow instructions. I didn’t fill out the application and honestly put the whole conversation in the back of my mind. I went back to Nashville and continued living life. I began to like Nashville a little more, but I know that God wasn’t through with me, but He was then I could leave Nashville.

One evening in March, I received a call from Ms. Peggy “Richard, where is the application, you know we are leaving next month ”? What can I say, once again I didn’t have a valid excuse. It wasn’t like I was busy or anything. I told her I would have it completed before she left which was approximately a month away. Now I was scrambling to gather all the components of the application such as recommendations, transcripts, and test scores.

I have to tell this brief story about how I obtained one of my recommendations. I emailed the chair of the Psychology department at Davidson College for a recommendation and she politely declined, because I didn’t have her in enough courses. I found that funny because she knew me very well. I begin to worry, but I heard a voice say email the Dean of Students who I also knew very well. He responded to my email in a matter of minutes and said “I would be happy to write a recommendation for you”. I find it fascinating that when God has plans for you it always manifest. Honestly now that I look back at the situation a letter from the Dean of Students trumps the Dean of the Psychology department any day.

I completed the application and Ms. Peggy left for Edinburgh.  She returned excited about what transpired while she was there. She asked me “Richard, how do you plan on paying for your M.B.A.”? I politely responded, “I don’t know, but I will worry about that if I get in”.  Ms. Peggy was adamant about me determining how I was going to pay for it. Little did she know if all else failed I was going to ask her to pay for it and I would pay her back once I graduated.  I think it would have been a great investment for her. Two weeks later I received an acceptance email from the Edinburgh Business School in Scotland. I began making calls to try and find the funding, but it was already worked out. The U.S. Financial Aid was recognized by this school and I was able to obtain U.S. Funding to attend. I can’t tell you when to give God praise, but I think you should be shouting now.  

During all of this I am still working for Dell and moving up the corporate ladder. I worked on various projects for Dell.  I worked as a business analyst conducting Cost Compensation Research that increased transition rates by 13% in 6 weeks and reduced Excess and Obsolescent inventory by 600 units in 6 weeks. I also launched a Dell eBay sales model generating $5.2Million in Revenue in 8 months. Worked for Dell Canada and launched a virtual store sales model to provide a better customer experience and increase profitability in the Canadian region. I won the most valuable contribution award at Dell in September for my efforts in Canada and was recognized by several executive leaders. Before I left Dell I moved from Nashville to Austin, Texas to accept a position as the Executive Assistant to the Sr. VP of Global Consumer Small & Medium Business.  I will give you just a few additional minutes for another praise break.

I knew there was only one reason that doors were opening. It all started when God moved me from Charlotte away from my buddies to Nashville where I didn’t know anyone. He was telling me I am tired of you putting everyone and everything before me. I was making decision based on how I felt and not consulting God and asking Him to lead me. The entire time I was in Nashville God was speaking to me “You need to renew your commitment to me and I will keep you in solitude until you realize that I am in control.” God always wanted me to succeed and do great things, but He wanted the credit He deserved and I was taking the credit as if I really did something.

This testimony is just to say stop trusting yourself to get you where you want to be. Turn it over to a higher power that already has a plan for your life which is greater than anything you could imagine. Who would have thought I would be in Scotland right now? If you told me this a few years ago I might have laughed in your face. I also know that when God tells you to do something, He will give you several chances to follow His command. I dare you to trust God and watch Him blow your mind away. Just remember this when you plan God laughs. He will supply all of your needs. I can’t stress this enough, but I am a witness that when you stop putting Him first he will rearrange your life so that all you can do is trust Him. The good news is that when you start to trust Him, He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all you could ever ask or think according to the power that worketh in us.