BY
CHRIS KREML
AS TOLD TO
PAT BANTA KREML

In 2000, the Lord began to deal with my wife, Pat, and I about moving from Lafayette, Louisiana back to Florida. We had fulfilled our call to help in our spiritual father’s church for a season, and felt a release to return to Winter Haven to be part of the Worship Center. After much prayer, I resigned from my position as Executive Secretary/Office Manager at an international helicopter corporation, and in October of 2000 we moved to Florida. Pat was able to transfer with the company she worked for, but I did not have a job waiting in Florida. Still, I stood on what I had believed and taught for years: where the Lord leads, He provides.

Within a month, I started to work for a local baseball school as a computer tech on a temporary basis. Within a few months, I was hired on as a full time employee with benefits and insurance. We bought a small condo just up the street from where Pat worked, and looked for ways to use our gifts and talents to minister to the Body at W.H.W.C. Everything seemed to be going well, but a time of great testing loomed just around the bend.

After 9/11, the baseball school began to struggle. The bulk of the company income came from baseball clinics, but suddenly parents were too afraid to let their children fly in for the sessions. I knew economics were tight, but I didn’t realize how bad the company had suffered. One Wednesday morning, the three owners of the company called all of the employees into the conference room.

“As you all know, business has been down since 9/11. We’ve had to make some cut-backs,” one owner said. “Chris, we’re giving you two week’s notice. We’re sorry, but we have no other options.”

In retrospect, I should have seen it coming, but I didn’t. The news devastated me. Here I was, 45 years-old and being laid off for the third time in 6 years. I would have to compete for a job with much younger people who possessed skills that I did not. I had left a well paid position in Louisiana to follow the Lord’s leading and now I had to start at square one again. Lord, I don’t understand.

That night when Pat came home from work I said, “You’d better sit down. I have some bad news.”

She sat down on the sofa next to me and said, “What’s wrong?”

“I’ve been laid off. They’re giving me two week’s notice, and that’s it.”

“I knew it,” Pat said and she began to cry. “I saw this coming. Didn’t you see this coming? I knew you should have been looking for another job.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t realize how bad business was.”

We talked for a while and in the end, we agreed that we would trust God to be faithful and provide. Things would be tight for a while, but we would get through this as we had the other times. The devil had taken his best shot and we were still standing. Little did I know that the trials had just begun.

The next day, Pat called me at work, something she rarely did. “My doctor just called and wants to see me as soon as I can get in this morning. He suggested we both come. Can you get off work to take me?” she said.

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” I said. Pat’s gynecologist had performed a biopsy on her uterus the week before. Fear beat upon the door of my heart as I drove home to get her. I knew the report must be serious if the doctor wanted to see her immediately.

We sat in the waiting room surrounded by all these young, pregnant women, and tried to make small talk. When the nurse finally called Pat, she wanted to go in alone, so I respected her wishes. The minutes ticked by and I prayed quietly for Pat. We had been married for 26 years and had never faced a major physical attack.

When Pat came out she was remarkably calm. I saw no evidence of tears. She stopped at the desk, scheduled another appointment, then come over to me. “I do have cancer, but the prognosis is good. I need a hysterectomy. They’re sending me to Moffitt for a consult in May. Don’t be afraid. I know in my spirit it’s going to be alright,” she said as we walked back to our car.

Over the next few weeks the spiritual and emotional battle raged. Our health insurance was through my job, but I no longer had a job. I applied for COBRA (continued insurance coverage paid for by the individual) thinking that at least we’d have insurance to handle the medical crisis. Then I learned it would take a month before the COBRA would be approved. But we didn’t have a month. Every day we delayed the surgery, we ran the risk of the cancer spreading. Although the coverage would be retroactive, Moffitt would not schedule the surgery without current insurance or $5000.00 up front. So here I was with no job, my wife has cancer and needs surgery that I can’t afford, I have a mortgage on the new condo to keep up, and Pat will be out of work for six weeks drawing only 60% of her regular pay.

My emotions ran in every direction: fear turned to dread, dread to anger, anger to sorrow, sorrow to peace in God, peace to doubt, doubt to faith. I fought to stay in faith, to stand on the Word, but I knew I needed spiritual back-up. One day I’d hit rock bottom, so I called a friend who I knew was a man of like faith. “Brother, I need prayer.” I wept as I told him about everything that had happened and everything I was facing. “I’ve done all I know to do. Please agree with me for the Lord to turn this thing around.”

My friend did pray, but I sensed he was a little disappointed in me for not handling the situation as he would have expected someone mature in the faith to do. But I couldn’t let shame or embarrassment have place. I needed prayer support to lift me back to a place of faith, and I got it.

That day was a turning point for me. The circumstances didn’t change, but I did. My faith began to revive and over the next few weeks I grew stronger. I continued to send out resumes and visited Polk Works daily to look at job postings, but no job materialized. I used my down time to study the Word and pray, and to take care of Pat.

On June 24, Pat went in for surgery at Moffitt Cancer Treatment Center in Tampa. Pastor Jeff, Ms. Kim, and some close friends planned to be with me during the surgery, but Pat was called in early. We quickly prayed together, I kissed her, and then watched the nurse wheel her bed into the operating room. Instead of being surrounded by friends who could encourage me, I sat alone. But the Holy Spirit stood with me and a spirit of prayer rose up in my heart. I began to pray quietly for Pat and for the other people around me who looked overwhelmed with worry. Pastor and the others arrived just as the doctor came out to tell me the surgery was complete. The cancer was contained and no further treatment was necessary. That day I began to see the answers to my prayers begin to manifest.

Pat was hospitalized for four days and because I was unemployed, I was able to stay with her. The day after her surgery, I had my first job interview with a paver manufacturer for an Account Manager position. I drove from Tampa to Haines City, did the interview, and drove back to Tampa. The call-back interview came a week later, and finally after a third interview, I landed the job. The timing was all God. I was home to take care of Pat the first two crucial weeks after her surgery. Then I started my new job.

For the next five years I worked for the paver manufacturer. God did not just provide a job, He did exceeding abundantly above and provided a ripe mission field. During my time at this job, I was able to witness to the plant manager and see him rekindle his fire for God and resume church attendance after many years of being away. Two people were saved and a couple of dear friends have become a part of the WHWC family.

I have experienced times of weakness and times of strength. Been overwhelmed by emotions, and been transformed by faith. This I know to be true: whatever the circumstance, God’s grace is sufficient for me.

Chris now works for State Farm Auto Claims. He sings in the WHWC Choir, leads Higher Ground Men’s Ministry, and teaches the Word as he is given opportunity. He and Pat have been married over 33 years.