Evotional.com - Mark Batterson

Just spent some time praying up on the rooftop of Ebenezers.

I love praying up there! The verticality gives me fresh perspective. And it is amazing the way prayer resurfaces memories and resurfaces thoughts. It is like supernatural depth charging. I began to reaccess thoughts and experiences along this dream journey.

I thought back to my first phone call to the owners of 201 F Street. I had to do lots of real estate research to even discover their information. I felt so foolish. I felt so awkward. I felt so nervous. I felt so young. I had no idea what to say. And we really had no business pursuing the property because we had no money at the time.

But we dared to dream.

And God-ordained dreams have a way of growing up and becoming miracles.

When we gather tonight we'll literally be sitting in the middle of a miracle.

I thought back to the day we got two random checks totalling $7500 came in the mail. That was the exact amount of money we needed to make the 10% down payment. And we got the checks the day before the deadline.

Coincidence? I think not. More like providence!

I remember the day we hired a law firm to do a zoning study. It cost $2500 and it almost killed the dream. I was ready to throw in the towel. There were too many challenges. Too many obstacles. But we didn't allow that information to short-circuit revelation.

I remember the day the Historic Preservation Society gave our coffeehouse a thumbs down! It seemed like the dream was dead, but we kept working like it depended on us and praying like it depended on God. At their next meeting, our project won unanimous approval.