Hammer on Anvil '

Yesterday marked a special anniversary for my husband and me -- not of our wedding, but of a time in our lives when we saw the Lord do wondrous things.

My husband is a journalist, and 22 years ago he was fired from his job on a small-town newspaper. Though both the editor and publisher said John's work record was impeccable, he was fired. Why? Because we started a right-to-life group.

A handful of townspeople met on a Saturday afternoon to start our group, and our public relations representative took a press release to the local newspaper Monday morning. We wanted people to know our group was starting so they would be informed, and could join us if they desired. That afternoon, John was called into the publisher's office and was told he had two options: quit his job, or quit the group. He declined to do either, and was fired on the spot.

At the time, I was working as a church secretary three mornings a week, and brought in a little less than $40 per week. We had three small sons, ages 3, 6 and 7. When the ax fell, though, we experienced a surreal peace about the whole thing. John had taken a stand for righteousness, and we knew God would take care of us.

When the firing happened, the Des Moines Register picked up the story. From there, the Associated Press got it, and it went nationwide overnight. The article appeared in USA Today, the AFA (American Family Association) Journal, and Moody Monthly magazine, as well as countless other newspapers.

What happened next gives me goosebumps to this day: we started receiving money in the mail from all over the country. People whom we had never met wrote to us, saying they were praying for our family. For a brief time, we went on a speaking circuit, as churches contacted us and asked us to come share our testimony.

An attorney in our church contacted The Rutherford Institute, a religious liberties organization that we had never heard of. We were encouraged to sue the newspaper. Though John and I were not out for money, our attorneys said it would set a dangerous precedent if we did nothing. It would mean you can get fired in this country if you act on your religious convictions. We agreed to pursue legal action.

In the meantime, an urban newspaper editor in California had read our story, and said he wanted John to come work for him. God subsequently made it clear that Sacramento was where we were to go.

Two years after the firing, we were preparing to fly back to Iowa for the court case, when we received a phone call, saying the newspaper had decided to settle out of court. The newspaper agreed to sign a written statement saying they had violated John's religious convictions. Our attorney said that, had we gone to court, no judge would have made the newspaper sign such a document.

We were only in California two-and-a-half years, when John got a job as news editor for Christianity Today magazine. When he applied, he did it a bit halfheartedly; he said he didn't think he'd get a job like that in a million years. It was his dream job; the kind you think you'll never get.

He did get his dream job. It turns out that the job he had in California provided him with the religion writing and editing experience he needed to be hired at Christianity Today -- and it was experience he never would've gotten at that small-town newspaper.

I reminded him then of Psalm 37:4: "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." He had honored God by being willing to lose his very livelihood, and now God was blessing him.

Be assured that when you delight yourself in the Lord -- when you seek first His righteousness -- He will give you all that you need.