On the stage and behind the scenes

REBECCA –
After Tessie’s call on April 24, 1996, we started making arrangements to see this “place” that the Lord had brought to mind as she read from Jeremiah 32.

BIRDIE –
Oddly enough, a couple of years earlier the Malaysian company which purchased the defunct Heritage USA property had asked Dr. Joe to serve on an Advisory Board regarding its use. So, after Tessie’s experience and our phone conversation with her, Joe inquired regarding the current status of the amphitheater and asked if we could see it.

REBECCA –
A month after the initial call, on Sunday, May 26, 1996, Memorial Day weekend, we completed our church obligations and headed for Charlotte, NC. I can still feel my heart jumping as we drove that day. My spirit kept whispering: “This is it! This is it!”

BIRDIE –
It was a long trip from Charlotte back to Kentucky that Memorial Day in 1996. For ten years we had called our youth team at the church “CrossRoads,” but now it was us.

REBECCA –
Behind us was security, success, friends, comfort, a paycheck!

BIRDIE –
In front of us was ... well, FAITH.

REBECCA –
June through August we did every bit of research we could (without internet), as we continued a full schedule of church work. My most vivid memory is visiting one of the most successful outdoor dramas to meet with the manager. We told her what we were thinking about doing. She said: “If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t. It’s just been too hard!”
I stood there listening to her and the thought went through my mind: “Nah, not us. We know what we’re doing. We got this thang!!”

People, do you have any idea how many times God has rubbed my face in that thought?

REBECCA –
It is a strange occurrence during the momentous occasions of life when crowds of people surround you, cheer you, love you. The noise diverts the fears. The gathering distracts from the repercussions of what just happened.

BIRDIE –
It was one thing to stand looking at this grand idea called the amphitheater, with everyone’s glorious anticipation of what it would be.
It was another when reality kicked in and we realized we were the ones who had to make it happen.

REBECCA –
In the three months during which we were transitioning between our church positions and full-time NarroWay, we continued the necessary business processes needed to get NarroWay on her feet, as well as some of the clean up work.

BIRDIE –
Chapter Thirteen tells how devastated we were when Joe and Tessie were called to leave the church where we served together to come to Charlotte. Though God did a mighty work independently with them, their presence, success and reputation in the Charlotte area was a strategic factor in NarroWay’s successful start-up.