I Connick the Terminator

Chapter 42: The Church of the Triathletes.

This is a great story of the power of Divine intervention.  During the triathlon season of 2011, I was training for the Ironman Triathlon in Louisville, Kentucky.  I was just  finished with a swim, and was sitting on the shore of the lake located behind my house.  I looked over towards this area to my left of where was sitting. There was an empty piece of land that had a picnic table on it.  I thought, we could build a shack out of left over treated lumber from everyone's different projects.  I mean everyone has a pile of left over lumber sitting somewhere on their property.  We could call it the scrap shack.

I started calling my fellow triathletes.  I told them of this possible structure we could build to have a place to hang out after training.  Everyone agreed about having scrap pieces of lumber around.  I called Timmy Jernigan to see if he could get me some treated poles from Alabama Power.  He had found a couple of scrap pieces years before and threw them my way.  But not today!  He told me he did not do this anymore but I could buy some from this guy he knew.  I told my Dad about this idea and he said he had a friend that was tearing down a building down town.  

The next day I went to school and Mr. Richardson informed me that I was going to this student's, by the name of  Tim Lacy, funeral.  The funeral was half the distance to the down town area I needed to go. So I thought I would pay my respects and then drive down town to look through a  pile of destroyed building.

When I went in to the church, before the funeral, I saw a familiar face by the name of Bill Schafer.  Bill was the older brother of Mark Schafer, a high school teammate of mine.  We talked for a while and then attended the funeral.  At the reception that followed, we talked some more and I told him I had to go, so I could get down town.  He asked for what? I told him of our project.  He informed me that he worked for a high end lumber company that sold wood to Disney world.  I told him I was going to dig through a pile of rubble.

He told me that when high end wood has a blemish on it, it is sent back to the company.  It is then used as a tax write off. He also said they had  a really good year this year.  I could feel the power of the Lord in our conversation.  I left the church like I had been punched by the holy spirit.  We both went our separate ways and ended up in the same parking lot.  I asked him if he was feeling this; he confirmed the feeling that something was going here that was bigger than both of us.

Bill came out to the property the following day and said he would donate the decking of the project.  The next day I walked behind Baker High school to find a stack of treated telephone poles.  The JROTC program lead by Sgt Keith Watts, had them donated for an outside classroom.  I asked about the poles and he told me that they sent too many, to take what I needed.  The church was on its way.

I found a price for the other lumber it would take to build the shack.  It was going to cost $1200.  Lance Steed suggested that I ask if anyone wanted to contribute to the project.  My fellow triathletes responded with $500 .  $700 was placed on a credit card and the church became a reality.

It took exactly one calendar year before the completion of the project and it was blessed with holy water and a celebrated as a gathering place for people.  I love this church and I especially love sharing it with the people I love.