The Impossible Became Possible

There are many times that I stand in our new building, full of people, and just look around trying to take it all in. I can't believe that this is us! This is the PARC. God gave us this incredible building! It is beyond understanding for me or anything I could have ever imagined. It is a beautiful design and wonderfully laid out. Our attendance has almost doubled and we can't even tell. I am in awe. How did we get here? How did this even happen?

A few days ago one of our volunteers was leading a class when he looked over at me and said, "Valerie, tell me what you had when you started the PARC." I reminded him that Robert and I opened our bank account with $150.00. He put some numbers in his calculator and then said, "Do you realize that you have increased by 10,000 times?"  10,000 times!!! I can't even process that kind of multiplication in my head. I am blown away and overwhelmed. Again, how did this happen? How did we get here? 

Next week we will celebrate our 11th birthday. Many of you remember those first years. We had this  quirky little building that had been a strip club and swingers club. It was terrible!  It was so hard to explain the PARC, to help people to understand. Yet, so many of you came. You cleaned, painted and even built things we needed.  You gave your time, your finances and your prayers. My heart is completely overwhelmed when I think of the people that got us here. The people that have made the impossible possible.

We know that with God all things are possible. But, I mean. Seriously?? This. I still don't know how this happened. I do know that I am grateful. I am grateful that God saw fit to give Robert and I this vision of what I believe is in His heart for people; for people that are so often not seen or acknowledged. And then He brought so many of you to be a part of this impossible dream, this incredible piece of His heart for those who are homeless.

Then I look al the costs  of  keeping us going and up to the standards that God expects for those who come. I look at those dollar signs and I think that there is no way. There is no way that we can bring in that kind of money. And to be utterly truthful, I start to panic. Then I take a deep breath and try to remember. I remember when we functioned on $8,000.00 a month and we struggled each month to make it until the end. I remember all of the times that we thought we weren't going to make it, that it was too much and there was no way. And EVERY SINGLE time we have made it. In all of these years the PARC has never been in the red. And all that I can do is say, "thank you, God." Because He is the only One who could have made this happen. He is the only One who could have taken 2 people who didn't know what they were doing and build this amazing place in 11 years!

I am incredibly humbled that I get to do this,; that I get to be a part of this incredible journey. I am humbled by those of you that have come along to make this possible. Many of you have become good friends that I would have never met. I am humbled because when I hear 10,000 times I realize the miracle of the PARC.