Knowing nothing about church etiquette, Seals asked for the microphone. He told his story in front of 700 people. God saved another 20+ people, and that night was the catalyst for six weeks of church revival. Salvation changed Seals’ teenage life, which had previously revolved around girls, working out, fast cars, AC/DC, and a case of beer under the bridge. “It really created inside of me a desire to understand God's Word better,” Seals said. He wondered how he — like his brother so faithfully did — would fit into God’s story and make a difference. As he knows more than 30 years later, it’s been through God’s faithfulness at every step. Seals’ hunger for spiritual knowledge started a string of radical and continuous change that prepared him for stages of life he couldn’t imagine. Salvation propelled a kid from a modest upbringing in east Tennessee to Midwestern cities, to jobs he didn’t want, and eventually into jobs and leadership roles that helped local churches. Seals worked longer than he wanted to in the direct sales business of selling knives and running regional offices for Cutco. After years of waiting, God led Seals and a friend to start a publishing business that’s now in its 20th year. Seals’ plans have never been just his own; he credits the Lord with every step of his journey. “Everything that has ever been done or achieved in my life has very little to do with me, if anything at all,” Seals said. “The reality is, the most I ever wanted to become was to work at the Toyota factory.” God, however, had a different plan: make an entrepreneur out of a student at Moody Bible Institute. Chicago is over 500 miles from the Seals’ family farm near Gatlinburg and the Toyota plant. It’s a world away fromwhat Seals was used to: milking cows, running the Exxon station on the midnight shift, then going to school. When Seals told his father he would be the first in the family to attend college, the message was direct. “My dad gave me a $20 bill and said, ‘Good luck, son,’” Seals said. “That was it, and off to college I went.” Seals went to Moody to become a pastor, but his time at school instead made him into an entrepreneur. He needed money to pay for school and to live on, so he stumbled into a job with Cutco. The work was hard, convincing people to buy knives, but he was good at it. And Seals clearly sensed God's presence and affirmation to continue. But that encouragement was not what Seals wanted. His friends were graduating fromMoody to be pastors and missionaries. And he was selling knives. When Seals graduated, Cutco asked him to open an office in Indianapolis without the usual two or three years of training. He was praying and knew God wanted him to pursue the opportunity. While he didn't understand where the Lord's guidance was leading him, he followed it. Seals’ Indianapolis office became the number one new office in the United States. His income grew, and his regional territory covered two states. But the hours were long. His wife and four children spent eight to 10 weeks at a time in Chicago with his wife’s family so he could focus on work. “In one breath I would say I had everything, but I also had nothing simultaneously,” Seals said. And so he prayed for change. “I would go before the Lord consistently and say, ‘Why do I have to do this?’” Seals said. The answer was the same. The Lord wanted him to be patient. He was preparing him ... but for what? Then the change he sought began to happen. But not without more waiting and not without more time at Cutco. He wondered how he — like his brother so faithfully did — would fit into God’s story and make a difference. As he knows more than 30 years later, it’s been through God’s faithfulness at every step. 22
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