Member-only story
Unanswered Prayer Series — #3 and final
God’s Plan Unfolded (It Was So Much Better Than Mine)
It would be fifteen years before God blessed my plan to sell the bar. My husband got sober in 2005. We sold the bar in 2018. It was amazing how many people we were able to help at Johnny’s. People asked for my husband’s number because they knew he’d embraced a program, and they were ready to get help. He took people to AA meetings and then Celebrate Recovery.
We invited people from the bar to church on Sundays, and many joined us. One time we had such a motley crew there we were waiting for the roof to cave in. People came to know Jesus, got sober, and addressed a lot of problems. We were blessed, and business boomed.
For a time, owning and running the bar was enjoyable. I finished and self-published my memoir in 2013. I was blogging and considered being a coach for codependent women. I planned to take my writing career seriously when we sold Johnny’s. I thought we’d stay in Hollister, and I’d take on a few coaching clients.
However, times were changing. The regular crowd of farmers, attorneys, and business people that kept us busy all day were dying off and retiring. The gang activity at night was scary. The young punks that made me crazy and caused problems was now the crowd that paid the bills with their patronage. I was not a happy…
