Happy 95th birthday to Billy Graham!
Today we celebrate the birthday of the greatest evangelist of our time. Billy Graham has impacted millions around the world with his unashamed preaching of the Gospel. It seems like each of us has a Billy Graham story. We’ve watched a crusade on TV or attended one in person, read one of his books, or listened to a sermon on cassette (oh, the memories!). My Billy Graham story? He got me hired at LifeWay.
I had always wanted to attend a Billy Graham Crusade. I felt like it was a rite of passage that every believer needed to make and to be counted among the thousands sitting in a massive arena. So when my family heard that Billy was coming to Nashville in June of 2000, we decided we were going to make the trip. I was the assistant manager of the LifeWay Christian Store in Knoxville at the time, still living at home (thanks, Mom and Dad!), and starting to get a little restless. Little did I know what God was about to do.
My sister, Leah, and I made the drive from Knoxville to Nashville a few hours before our parents. She was an area consultant for Centrifuge at the time and had some equipment that she needed to return to the LifeWay corporate office . Being the typical little sister, I tagged along. While she was handing off her stuff, I went around the retail floor and met some of the people that assisted us at our store. A friend from college that worked there took me up to the Merchandising floor and I met the buying team manager, whom I had met before when he visited my store. Within a few minutes, my friend was gone and I’m still in Mr. Manager’s office along with another guy and being asked if I wanted to come work in the corporate office on the buying team. Um, what?! I’m just here to see Billy Graham and sing “Just as I Am” with George Beverly Shea. What is going on?! My only real memory of that conversation is that I remember looking down and seeing that I was wearing denim shorts, an old t-shirt, and tennis shoes. I do not recommend this attire for your job interview.
That conversation turned into a return trip to Nashville two weeks later for a formal interview and dressed much more appropriately for the occasion, I might add. Within a couple of months, I had moved from my hometown (something I swore I’d never do), had my first apartment, and was the assistant Bible and Reference buyer for LifeWay Christian Stores. As they say, the rest is history.
That’s why I always tell people that Billy Graham got me hired at LifeWay’s corporate offices. Could they still have sought me out for a job had I not shown up in their offices on a Friday in t-shirts and shorts? Maybe. But I believe that God orchestrates timing and events to usher us into a new phase of life that He wants us to be in. And oh, how I wouldn’t change any of it.
So, thank you, Billy Graham, for being the instrument that God used to begin an amazing part of my life.
What about you? I’d love to hear about your Billy Graham story. What has his ministry meant to you? Leave your thoughts in the comments section of this post!
Don’t forget, Billy just released a new book that is already a New York Times’ Best Seller! The Reason for My Hope is already impacting lives with the powerful message of the Gospel. 
Also, tonight is The Cross, a television event from Billy Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelical Association. This is a nationwide telecast that is 100% about bringing people to the Lord. My small group will be tuning in. You should too! Check out what TV station in your area will be airing it tonight here.