The following is an Excerpt from Chapter 2 “Garage Time”…..pages 60-65 of FAITH AT FULL SPEED…..
We Overcome By The Blood of The Lamb and The Word of Our Testimony
This “garage time” will be the most powerful story and testimony of your life! I know you want to inspire others, and that’s my most favorite thing—to hear stories of people like you and me who believed in going after their dream and had the faith and fortitude to get serious and get it done!
I have some inspiration for you too! I would like to share a wonderful true story of my uncle who decided to take his own “garage time” (actually in his basement). This is a modern David and Goliath story that will change the way you look at yourself and your situation, read on….
Uncle Dan – Basement Millionaire
I was much younger when this amazing thing happened for my Uncle Daniel Malfitana, a retired Navy Chief. In the early 80’s, after leaving the Navy, my Uncle had tried his hand at many different jobs and businesses looking to create something good for his family, including running a farm stand during the summers where we would go and help stack watermelons and lettuce. We had so much fun working with him and our cousins. Uncle Dan was a hard worker. He always put 110% into everything he did. He was a leader. He loved people and was good at creating solutions for others. These were his God-given gifts.
One year in the mid 1980’s, my Uncle Dan was working a 9-5 job at a well-known electric and technology corporation in Upstate New York. He was building and organizing their computer systems and client training, which included military contracts. He had done a great job for them, and they sent him and his family to the west coast to build a program for the company. He threw himself into it—created the program, hired people, and had everything in place. He purchased a home and bought furniture, ready for his family to move in, and they were on the way.
A few days later, the company executives came to him out of the blue and said they wanted to drop the program out west with no real explanation. My Uncle could not understand why, because everything was all set up perfectly and ready to go. He went and had meetings with them, and, no matter what he did, he could not convince them to keep it. They wanted him to just shut it down and move back east. This really upset my Uncle, and he looked at the company executives in the face and said, “Well, I resign from this company and I will go and get these contracts myself!” The company executives laughed at him! This made my Uncle even more determined, and he told them, “Watch me.”
Uncle Dan and his family moved back home to Syracuse, New York to a rented house. My aunt was working in a shoe store to make ends meet. She started to see her husband go down in the basement every day into a makeshift office with a phone and an old desktop computer and spend hours on end working on something top secret. One day, he came upstairs and said, “Maryellen, I am going to go and get these military training contracts. I am going to go up against all the other big companies and get it. I am going to be working on my proposal, and I just need you to make me coffee and meals and be patient while I do this.”
My aunt was always a devoted military wife and fully supported her husband on this next adventure. She trusted in his gifts and believed he could do it.
As for me, in my early twenties at the time, I remember when my uncle was taking this serious “basement time” because, when I went over there to hang out with my cousins, my uncle came upstairs and it looked like he had not slept for weeks! He was wearing a rumpled T-shirt and his beard was all grown out. I hardly recognized him!
My Aunt said to us, “Try to be quiet because your uncle is working on something very important. Please do not disturb him.”
At the time, I really did not “get” what was going on or the importance of it until later in life.
One day, just a few weeks later, my aunt said my uncle got up early in the morning, shaved off his beard, put on a nice suit, and, with his finished proposal, he told my aunt, “Maryellen, when I go out this door today we could become millionaires or not, but I am going to give this everything I’ve got.” He was off to his meeting to present his proposal to the government to go up against all the corporate big guns.
Now that is FAITH and knowing without a doubt you have the gift to do something great with no fear.
A week or so later, an official letter came from the US Government; my Uncle Dan opened it. It was good news. He got the military contracts. He beat out his former employer and the other big corporations! My aunt said he held up the letter and yelled, “Maryellen, we are millionaires; go quit your job at the shoe store!”
I remember things changed quickly for my Uncle Dan and his family, and there were celebrations and joyful happenings at their house with lots of food! Uncle Dan went on for many successful years performing and serving on these military contracts. They traveled to Spain and lived there for a year for my uncle to do consulting, and even took my grandmother on a trip to Italy. My cousins all got new computers almost every Christmas, and they moved to a beautiful big house in Maryland. He retired years later to Virginia Beach with a nice nest egg and was asked back into the Navy as a Master Chief, which is one of the Navy’s highest honors, to serve as a mentor to other officers and upcoming officers.
I loved my uncle and I looked up to him, but I did not realize the lesson in all this and the impact of what he had done back in that “basement time.” I was young and all I saw was one day he was wearing an old T-shirt and growing a beard, and the next day he was driving a brand new Lincoln Continental and going out for steak and lobster. Looking back, I really wish I had taken the time to understand what was really happening—asked more questions and learned more for my young mind.
In 2011, my Uncle Daniel Malfitana sadly passed away from cancer. He knew when his time was near so he told my Aunt Maryellen to take him to the Navy Hospital where the doctors and nurses all stood up and saluted him “Master Chief” as he left this world. At his funeral, they told the story in detail on how he got the big government contracts—the time in the basement and what he was preparing down there. I was absolutely floored. I was so inspired and so encouraged by the fact that he knew what his gifts were, and he was upset that the people he worked for would not use and appreciate his gifts! He knew he was meant for something greater, and he had enough faith and determination to go up against the biggest corporations in America! Uncle Dan used what he had at hand, had faith, and took his “garage time” (basement time) to make it happen. Uncle Dan, by great determination, went up against the giant corporations and defeated them. Who’s laughing now?
I come from that strong and bold family bloodline and DNA, but I now also have the DNA of the King of Kings, Jesus Christ. As I sat in that funeral saying goodbye to my Uncle Dan, in his very last moment on earth, he left me a huge gift—I knew I could do anything and I could defeat any giants in front of me! I could get that big dream no matter what was against me and no matter who laughed at me. Yes I can! It changed my life when I came to this realization. Plus, I have GOD! What can a mere man do to me? Ha! It’s fixed in my favor!
We are meant to use our God-given gifts fearlessly, even if people laugh at us. If God is behind it, nothing can come against it.
Think, what is GOOD in your DNA—who in your family did something extraordinary and brave? What did God put into your family bloodline that you also have? Most of all, WHO lives inside of you now? The KINGDOM of God is within you. You have the Spirit of Almighty God—King of the Universe is with you! Time for you to RUN towards that Giant. You will take the giant down and you will win!
“David said to the Philistine, ‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.’” 1 Samuel 17:45
Activation Prayer:
“Father, I thank You for bringing me to this moment. I am excited to start working on my goals and getting serious about them. Father, your word says in Proverbs 16:3, that if I commit my work to You, my plans will be established. Today, I commit all my work to You, Father God! I invite Your Holy Spirit, Father, to come and help me get everything I need to create my workspace. Bring me the tools and strategies I need to succeed! Give me downloads from Heaven, Lord! I ask for complete clarity and focus for the task at hand, in the name of Jesus! Father, I trust the great plans you have for me. I say, ‘YES, I am ready to get to work today!’ Help me with my loved ones, Father, so they can understand and support me during this time. I also ask for provision and protection over me and my household as I build and work on the gifts, goals, assignments, and calling that You, Father, have given me in my life. I will boldly work with no excuses or distractions because I know Your Holy Spirit is with me, Father. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! I decree my “garage” work time WILL have abundantly fruitful results that shall multiply and bless my household for years to come! I give You all the glory and praise, Father, for this opportunity to work with You in our *garage” time together. With You, Father, nothing is impossible! I thank, YOU, Father God, for the coming breakthrough and blessing from this work time. It starts NOW, in Jesus’ Name! Amen”
Let’s get ‘er done and roll outta this garage ready to rock and take the win!
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