The Sixth Wave: When it rains, it pours

First came the cancer, then the betrayal, then the debt, then the car accident, then the death, and another death, and then the tornado. 

When it rains, it pours. 

Fran Weisser was 18 years old when she was saved in 1973. Her husband, Bill, was saved at 15 years old. They met in their 30’s and needless to say, they have been through some stuff. Now at 66 years old, married for 30 years, Fran loves God and her husband more than ever. How? Because they weathered the storms, well. 

It is an understatement to say she has weathered some storms. Fran has been in the eye of the tornado, quite literally. After walking decades with her Lord and Savior, she still talks about Him like the love of her life. For every tragedy she described, she talked twice as long about God’s goodness, provision, and faithfulness. 

This is a story of perseverance. This is a story of seasons and time passing, of the valleys and the mountains, of the long haul and the marathon. This is a story from one couple fighting the good fight to another. This is for those that need to hear, “Take heart, He has overcome the world.”

Do you ever feel like you are pounded over and over repeatedly? Just before you can come up to catch your next breath, yet another wave comes crashing down. And all you have is a mouthful of salt water and burning eyes?

Just within the last four years, Fran and Bill have been hit with wave after wave. Fran still has sand in her hair and damp clothing, yet she speaks with boldness. No tremble in her voice, “God is still good all the time, and all the time God is good.” 

Why? How? The world looks and scoffs. Is that possible? Curse your God and die, said Job’s wife. 

Here’s the thing, the devil doesn’t actually want your house, your finances, your business, your health, or your family. He doesn’t need to be rich. Nor could he use your money to go on a vacation in St. Lucia. All that means nothing to him. He can’t buy a mansion or liquidate your company. 

He wants YOU.

He wants your heart and soul. He wants your faith and your spirit. 

Simply put, he wants you to curse God and die. Then he has won. He has broken you, and he has your soul. Win for hell. 

So why do the waves come one after the next? 

You are not crazy, you are not making it up, and it’s not a coincidence. They are crashing sequentially, one after the next. And they are speeding up. They can be relentless.  

I’ll tell you why. Because if the first one didn’t get you, he’s hoping the second one will. 

Still faithful? Let’s send a third.

Still praising God? For sure the fourth will get her down. 

He wants to wear you down. He wants you to get tired. He wants you to get off your game. Maybe you could handle losing your job, maybe you could even handle taking the financial hit, but now your kid is sick too? Now your church turned on you? Oh no, this is too much. 

Don’t let the enemy get what he came for. 

Curse God and die?

No. 

Fran was 33 years old. She contemplated what she was doing with her life. Will she get married, will she stay put? She asked God, “What do you want me to do?” 

He said, “Continue.”  

So, she did. She continued witnessing and doing street work, she served at VBS and taught Sunday School and remained single. While Bill worked in his family business, staying busy while he mentored young adults and led bible studies. 

She surrendered it all. She told God, “I will be happy with or without a spouse and I know you will make me a way.” God had Bill in mind for Fran. Fran was originally from South Philly, and Bill from Bucks County. God brought them together in Lancaster County at a lumber company.  Bill came in to buy supplies. Fran was 35 years old, and Bill was six years younger. Within one year they were married in 1992. They relocated to Bucks County and started attending Bill’s church. In 1995 they moved on to Christian Life Center where they remain serving today in Bensalem under Pastor Mark and Christy English.

Bill and Fran surrendered having children to God too. They prayed, “If it’s your will Lord whether we have children, let it be done.” At 39 years old she conceived with no medical help and a healthy baby girl was born in 1995. She laughs, reminiscing, “When you get pregnant at 39, it’s a lot of fun.”

 Fran says, “God answered every prayer I had, in His time. God is NOT against you. He just knows the other side of the story. And like any loving parent sometimes he says to wait, and then wait a little longer.”

Her and Bill led simple and faithful lives. She says, “We loved God and we loved people.” 

But these are just the kind of people the enemy is after, isn’t he? People that are faithful and sturdy. People that are exemplifying to others what it means to love God and love people. 

Bill’s parents started a business of selling and manufacturing mobile homes in the 1960s. His father was a self-made man. They instilled work ethic into Bill and were faithful tithers to the Lord. They were generous and giving. Bill was always a hard worker, starting at 12 years old. He worked 24/7. It’s all he knew. But it was hard growing up with parents that played the dual role as boss. That developed Bill. He has a very humble spirit, and that’s his strength. Fran says he is a “strong man that wants to see God glorified.” Bill and his brother, Scott, bought the company in 2006. Bill always knew it would be difficult being partners with his brother, but he still endeavored to do it. 

In 2017 the first wave hit. His brother became extremely sick with cancer. And at 51 years too young, the cancer took over. After his brother died, Bill was mourning his loss when a second wave hit, coming from the same unexpected direction beyond the grave.

Bill discovered that his brother wasn’t being fully transparent regarding the business dealings, and the company was in extreme financial crisis. They owed a lot of big six figure numbers to a lot of big suppliers. The company was in serious trouble. Bill strapped on both hats of inside and outside operations, while facing the financial giant. The company had 12 employees they felt responsible to keep taking care of as well. How Lord? 

Fran said, “We prayed for God’s direction and leading.” The first thing Bill realized he had to do was call every business they owed money to. And then, Fran said, “Bill prayed and prayed.” He prayed it would turn around. He prayed they could continue their business. He prayed his employees would be taken care of. He prayed for God to move. So did Fran. The power of a faithful couple. The power of a praying couple. Persevere. Stand firm. 

“You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.” Says, 2 Chronicles 20:17.

Just a month after his brother passed, on July 11, 2018, the third wave hit. Bill’s father was in a head on collision car accident. Fran says that the first thing they did when Scott got sick was saturate their life with praise and worship music. As much as they could…all day and all night. Many more sleepless nights were ahead. And the human fear was overwhelming. “You can get yourself in a state, that the only thing that can get you through is praise and worship. And then you dig into scripture.” And that’s what they continued to do. 

Fran and Bill read the bible stories over and over again. They read about Job and Joseph, David and Moses, Esther and the Psalms. She said, “That is MY God. The same God then is the same God now. And we knew that God is able. When the situations just come hurling down at you. We read Psalm 91. We would read it over and over and over again.”

As the waves crashed down, they soaked themselves in scripture. 

Her voice rose, “THAT is my God. The God there. The God of Psalms and Isaiah. Daniel’s God, Job’s God, Joseph’s God, is MY God. That’s my God.”

They read Isaiah 41:10, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

They didn’t know where the funds would come from for their own survival. There was great possibility that Bill could face serious legal accusations. There were rising costs from workers comp and health care. The business was a living breathing thing and it started to take over. 

Bill was trying to navigate the tangible concerns all while struggling with the fact that he felt so betrayed by his own brother. But Fran repeated, “Joseph was betrayed. His brothers threw him in a pit. This has happened before.” She says, “Every emotion we had, that I prayed for Bill to overcome, always has a scripture to back it up. There is nothing under the sun they [those in the Bible] haven’t already dealt with.”

Bill kept praying and praying and praying. So did Fran. And finally, he realized God was telling him to close the business. The baby birthed by his parents decades ago. It was time to shut it down. 

During the waves, Fran says their presence at church wasn’t what it should have been. They withdrew, overwhelmed by their circumstances and simply treading water. Their time, resources and energy were scarce. Church? Who has time for church when they didn’t know if they were going to end up in jail or a cardboard box? 

But all this mess was no surprise to God. She reminded herself. She said, “Okay God. Maybe we will be living in a box but it’s going to be a really nice box.” With an amusing grin. She forced her way back up to the surface again for a gulp of air. 

Praise and worship was that air. Relying on what God had done in the Old Testament for other prayer warriors was that air. Then, church became a fresh gulp of air. They kept breathing. 

Fran says that there are three things God desires from us: “We pray. We tithe. We fast.” And this is what their life looked like on repeat. Fran and Bill weren’t preaching anything they weren’t already steeped in.

Fran said they plugged back into church. It infused in them the strength of having other men and women beside them. She always liked greeting and she told Bill he would do greeting too. He was resistant. He wanted to be behind the scenes. Sound? He asked honestly. No. She said, “There is no opening in sound. You are going to stand outside the front of the church and smile for a couple of hours. And if that’s all the smiling you do all week that’s okay. But we will greet people.” 

Can I get an amen for praying, bold, determined women of God? Sometimes the Holy Spirit likes to disguise under the name “wife.” 

And through that step of obedience, God gave them opportunity. Although everything told them they had no time, money, energy, resources, or capacity to serve, they did it anyway. 

Through the people at church, they were able to share the burden. Not in the “turn to your neighbor and say hello” part of the service. Fran laughs. She said, “You don’t want to scare anyone new. Do you really want to scare them and say my brother died of cancer, betrayed us and left us with ginormous bills?” Hearing the honest desperation of her own sentence, her chuckle was hardy and amused. She said, “We plugged in. And there were a few people we could share our story with. And we knew they were praying.” That’s what we need. A few people to lift our hands up above the waves so we don’t slip under and get carried away in the rip toe. 

They were in the financial current. Her husband went to every business they owed money to and said, with strong conviction, “I am a man of faith, and I am trusting my God to pay this bill.” 

In the meantime, Fran continued to pray for her husband. She said, “God uses me in strange ways with him. Sometimes the wife has to be the first one to give them the idea.” She was candid with the Lord. She said, “You are the Provider, so I need your input here.” 

He answered. Stocks. Cash it in. They liquidated and every penny was used to pay back all the money the company owed. They paid back every single business. Every owner was moved and some sincerely surprised. They said, “Well Bill, you said your God was big, and he would pay this bill and you didn’t lie, because He did.” Lawyers, businessmen, accountants and the like all saw the tangible goodness of God because a man and woman didn’t curse God and die. But they praised Him. They trusted Him. They prayed. The owners looked at Bill and said, “You followed through with your word, because you are a man of God and a man of integrity.”

Bill felt at peace. He felt the impression from the Lord thick on his chest, “See I made it right for you, so you could be a man of integrity and be trustworthy, because of Me.” Bill accepted that. 

As they continued to try to heal from all the waves. The fourth wave came in two quick crashes. 

On April 11, 2020, Bill’s father passed away, and then his mother 11 days later. “We joke that dad got to heaven, and said, Gerry [his wife] this place is really cool, you want to come up here with me. Let’s go, don’t be late.” Fran laughed. She was in a home with Alzheimer’s, and they were together since teenagers, it was time for her to be called home too. What Fran and Bill didn’t realize was that along with this passing, there was a large financial shift. They found themselves staring in awe at surplus. After being on the brink of bankruptcy, they came to financial abundance. “Okay Lord, we feel we are on the brink of being homeless and then you flood a couple million dollars into our being. I say that very humbly.” The emotion of awe was clear in her voice. With a firmness she says, “We never stopped tithing even when we didn’t know where the next anything came from.” Emotion rose in her voice at the unexpected favor of God. 

They were still getting their feet on solid ground when Bill closed the business in November 2019, with peace. They did not have to declare bankruptcy. They parted with the employees on good terms. Their beautiful daughter met a Godly man and was getting married. The waters calmed. Just for a second. 

But then the fifth wave came. COVID. God already knew it was coming, in retrospect, it made perfect sense why He moved Fran and Bill to close the business. COVID would have sent them under for sure. They would not have been able to sustain through that storm. “God knows what’s going to happen on the other side of the road.” Fran says. “That’s when we saw that God was saving us from more of a mess, because He has something bigger for us.” 

They threw themselves into ministry. Fran likes to say they are “on call” for their church. That’s where they shine. They kept serving and sharing their story. They talked about the complete and utter mess that the devil meant for evil, but God turned for good. She shared how Ephesians six was their anchor in the opposition. She shared with waiters and waitresses, chefs, business owners and neighbors. “We have Jesus inside of us. We have the Holy Spirit inside of us. There is nothing that can come against us that God hasn’t already resurrected us from.” It became a part of their natural language. Telling people, they didn’t know that Jesus loves them. Fran said, when you start making that kind of noise on earth for the Kingdom of God, you are going to wake up the enemy in your life. She says, “But remember the power that’s in you: the God that raised Jesus from the dead.” 

They continued living life. Serving fiercely at church. Evangelizing to strangers at breakfast. Attending small group. 

Suddenly, a sixth wave hit unexpectedly. Their office located in Trevose where their Mobile Home business used to be, was hit by a tornado on July 28, 2021. It steered a pathway clear through their street. Blowing out every window in our office. Branches crashed through the walls. “It was extremely devastating.” It took out 150 trees that lined their sales office. 

She was silent for a minute. She said with grave sincerity and almost an amusement in her voice, “Okay Lord, what do you think about this? Again, what does He want us to do?” What they knew. Pray. Tithe. Fast. She said they started to rebuild. God moved them to open a parts store. They were so tired from cleaning up they didn’t have any energy to cook. They went out about four times a week to eat. And there, they would share some more. 

They shared His faithfulness and the power of Jesus. “We would talk to the servers and to whoever would listen and tell them how God got us through. It was a local event. And you don’t know how many people listened. The server went back to the kitchen and the manager and chef came out to hear the story. Of how God was in it. Each one felt comfortable enough to tell us what happened to them. And we all prayed together. With others looking on.” She laughs, awestruck by the memory. As if God intentionally wanted them to share in more restaurants to reach more people. You could have sent a postcard Lord, instead of a tornado. 

Here she was, joy intact, faith stronger than ever, and gratitude bursting. She says, “Does something difficult always have to happen for us to praise you?” she laughed. “Bill and I always ask, what’s the good? We have to not just talk about devastation but the good things coming from it.” She says the magic happens when you tell someone else about the nasty and devastating things in your own life. Because nine out of ten times there is something devastating in their life too, and then they know they are not alone, and they will make it too.  

Everything has been calm…for now. Bill is still healing from the betrayal of his brother. They have been rebuilding after the waves. But the waves changed their prayer life forever. Fran says, “We are expecting. We have a spirit of expectation. When something bad happens, we ask, how is this going to get healed? Because we aren’t stopping.”  

You will still find Fran and Bill opening the doors every Sunday morning at church. “When people need a smile or a door opened, we will be there. And we will tell them God is good and God is faithful. The power of the Holy Spirit is unmatched by evil.”

Fran says retirement is not in the vocabulary. She says, “We were created by the greatest creator! Our whole life should be about creating.” They have a dream to develop a parcel of land, a place to host gatherings on their property and invite church friends. They want to develop a space for others recreation and pleasure. To offer the gift of hospitality and hosting. They want to open the doors as a respite where people can refresh their own spirits. People were such a huge part of their healing, and they want to create that same lifeline for others. And again, Bill and Fran find themselves asking that same question they asked in their 20s, 30s, and so on, “Lord what do you have for me?” 

Fran says, “My mind is too small, and God is not small. He can paint things into our life that we have no imagination for. Sometimes it is letting Him hold that brush to paint into your life. And when you let him have that brush, it’s not always easy getting that paint onto that canvas. Sometimes God uses that scraper tool to spread that paint. And that can be painful…But when you realize God is infinite. How or even why can you question?” 

Fran and Bill have weathered many storms. That is still an understatement. They have fought and stood firm. They praised and served. They prayed and tithed and fasted. They spoke of His goodness. They showed up again and again. They read the Word and dug their heels in. 

They are not scared of the seventh wave to come. Because the rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock…Matthew 7:25