God was changing me on the inside...

Sometimes God answers your prayers with a real live walking talking human.

Some of you may have read the story about how Texas Twister started. I was not broke; I was far from it to the negative! I was about to lose everything I had and I stopped on the side of the road and asked God what he wanted me to do. I promised I would work hard. So, about 5 min of talking to God, an idea popped into my head!

My sister Debby, and my best friend, Sandee both loved working with graphics and had been wanting me to sell ‘something’ where they could use their talent and passion. I’m sitting on the side of the road, broke, been in the telecom business for about 15 years, and I decided I would have a paper. Yep! I knew just enough about pricing to get me into trouble. And, about 25 min­utes later, I was selling an ad in it, with nothing in my hands, just an idea. And about 10 minutes after I sold my first account, I sold my second ad!
I told my new customers it was going to be a small paper distributed from Royse City through Quinlan to Emory. Just on Hwy 276. Well, that idea took off, and God took me at my word that I would work hard. Nine months later, Sandee, Debby, and I were keeping pretty busy. I was working all day AND all night. The money was coming in, but if you start at below zero with a new business, catching up is hard to do.

I was exhausted! I was sleeping about 3 hours a day. I have no idea how I was able to do it, except it wasn’t me. I knew that I was doing what God wanted me to do. As tired as I was, I was extremely happy.

I needed help, desperately. Both Debby and Sandee were also working full time jobs and taking care of the Twister. They wanted to do more, but they were stretched pretty thin. And, even though I needed to hire some help, I had still no money to pay them!

Now that I have brought you up to date, here is my answered prayer: Misty Hensley!

There was a beauty salon that needed to adver­tise and had no money. I really needed my hair done, and I had no money. Perfect storm! We bartered. I was sitting in the salon with foil sticking out all over my head getting highlights. And, in walks Misty. She was out giv­ing out cards for her husband’s business, Hensley Mobile Home Releveling. She talked to the salon owner for just a couple of minutes, and I said, “You need to come to work with me.”

What was I thinking? How could I pay her? It was a leap of faith. She politely told me she really wasn’t interested. But, God was working wonders that day. I just happened to have a friend that needed his home re­leveled. And, Misty came with her husband to do the job and I just happened to be there. I wasn’t giving up! I asked her to ride with me just one day, to test it out and see if she might want to work.

She agreed to go with me. And, we never stopped all day. We were at a convenience store in Poetry when she asked about lunch. I told her we didn’t have time to stop, so she bought a bag of chips. I was really busy, and I never stopped for lunch, but the real truth was that I didn’t have the money to buy lunch! GEEEZZZ! And, I am trying to hire someone to work for me? Was I out of my mind or just full of faith?
Well, needless to say. Driving around all day with a seemingly mad person was not something that Misty was thinking would be a good thing, so she de­clined my job offer.

But, I didn’t give up! I was desperate. She didn’t live far from my house, so I went by and begged her to just help me get organized. (She’s still working on that after 3 years!) But, she timidly told me that I really didn’t’ want to hire her. She said, “I can’t type, I can’t spell, and I’ve never done that kind of work. I told her, “You’ll be fine. We’ll work all that out.”

I was working in small corner of my house, no files, no order of any kind. I had been selling, writing the articles, getting the information about the ads to Sandee and Debby, getting changes made, approvals and doing the delivery. And, Texas Twister was getting bigger all the time! My sister, Debby, helped deliver, but again, she had a full time job and was working on the Twister. I needed help!

I talked Misty into 3 hours a day, just to help me for a while. I told her she would probably be spend­ing most of that time playing on the Internet or she could watch television. HA! She still claims I was telling a lie, but I had no idea that she would be that busy! I figured once she got me caught up, it would be a breeze!

A breeze? It’s been more like a twister! We were work­ing off of one old computer and dial up Internet. She was doing an amazing job! I do remember one day she called and was very frustrated that she could not get her job done and threatened to quit if I didn’t get high speed internet! And, still struggling with money, I got it installed the next week.

Now, the woman who thought she couldn’t do the job handles the entire office. She is in every way the Office Administrator. We have several publications now, and she manages the entire office, all the ad information. She is always watching out for the quality in all of them.

It’s been great having Misty and I thank God for sending her to Texas Twister. It’s been an adventure that she has rolled up her sleeves at every hurdle. There was the 6-foot snake in the house, homeless people placed, cows in the yard, dogs rescued, bee infestation, four major moves of the office, and I can’t wait to see what happens next! Oh! And, she has never missed a paycheck! Even though there have been times when she had to stand behind me in the line at the bank! All the glory to God!

If you have an answered prayer, please share it. I share mine because I want to share how real and how wonderful God is! Email it to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.