Help Tim & Leigh in their time of need

My name is Tim and my wife's name is Leigh and we're the Ottingers. You may know me as the music teacher, Mr. O. or the worship leader at church or even the guy who wrote that patriotic song, The American Pledge. You may know my wife as the lady who's always hugging folks at church and works at the hospital in Hospitality. But today we're coming to you humbly as two people in lot of trouble financially. I would rather do anything other than write this story and ask for help. But I'm laying aside my pride to do just that.

On January 28, 2020, my wife and I proudly opened our restaurant, The Artist's Cafe. It had been a life long dream of mine and she was all in from the time we met and fell in love. We literally sank every dime we had into our venture, over $140,000.00.

The Artist's Cafe was such a great restaurant with live Blues & Jazz nightly and Creole food. People came in and always said the same thing - "This is what we have always needed in Greenville!" It was tough at first, but just as we started getting our footing and filling up on weekends, the pandemic hit. On March 14th, we had a guest band, Laura and Nannette along with our house band, The AC and the place was packed out! Everyone had a great time and some even ventured to dance. Our dream had come true! Then just 4 days later on March 17, the order to close to slow the spread came down from the Governor and, looking back now, that's the night The Artist's Cafe began to die.

Our regulars were a conservative older crowd - 30 to 60 somethings- and the pandemic hit the last group the hardest. Some never returned and even when we finally opened back three weeks later, we could only serve 1/2 capacity and no one was allowed to be served at the bar. That's just 40 guests. Before long, I couldn't pay my chef, my servers, make the rent and buy the food anymore. It was robbing Peter to pay Paul and something had to give. Slowly, I started laying off my staff until only myself, one bartender and myself were left. It was unsustainable.

We closed our doors completely on June 26 after a fabulous concert by a local jazz favorite, Owen Thorndike and his band. It was so sad. We had planned a fundraiser on the 4th of July, but that never happened. I sold all my stuff, was able to get out of my lease and walked away with $19,000.00. After I had paid or negotiated our business debts, we ended up with $4,000.00. My heart was broken. How could we have been so close to only see it evaporate? Where was the help that was promised by our government to save the small business' and restaurants?

Since then, my wife and I have had the hardest two years of our lives. Thank God she was still working her job at the Hospital. There for a while it was the only income we had. I opened a Home Repair and Renovations company and did okay for about 6 months. Then there was no work. I reached out several times to my friends on Facebook for jobs and they responded immediately. I am so grateful to each and everyone who hired me or prayed for me. It meant the world. I would get a job, finish it and not have anything for a month until the next job came around. It was feast or famine. We had to move and downsize quickly because we were behind on our rent and we couldn't sustain the place we were renting, so thankfully a brother let us move into one of his rentals at much less rent.

In January of 2022, after 10 faithful years with the hospital, Leigh was suddenly let go for no apparent reason along with 60 others from her department. Now we were in real trouble. I was driving Uber, working on any construction or renovation job I could find, but it wasn't enough without her income. And then in March, I literally had no work to speak of. I even took jobs I wasn't ready to do and sometimes I failed on those projects.

Leigh has filled out job application after job application with no luck. It's agonizing seeing my wife sit for hours at the computer filling out apps, taking aptitude tests, booking interviews only to be passed over time and time again. I never thought I would have trouble finding employment after having a teaching career of 25 years and two degrees, but here I was almost begging for work. Where were all the jobs they kept talking about on the news every night?

Then in April, I hurt my back on a siding job when I fell off a ladder. I had already had one back surgery three years ago, but this time it was bad. My sciatic nerve was locked down in my L4-L5 vertebra and it was excruciating. I had no insurance until May and I couldn't get any help until then. Finally on May 1, my insurance kicked in and I was able to see a doctor and the MRI showed a lot of damage coming from that disc. Then on May 9, I was helping a friend move some things and I felt something pop in my stomach. I thought I had torn my hernia mesh that was put in 12 years earlier. It was so painful, I ended up in the ED all day and all night on the 9th.

Three surgeons came in to inform me that it wasn't my mesh, but rather my small intestine. The mesh was in close proximity to several loops of small bowel within the anterior abdomen and the only solution is surgery. I'm in pain all the time. Nothing helps. It hurts to sit, to walk, to lie down. And I can't have the surgery to relieve the pain until I lose some weight and lower my A1C to at least 7. My right leg feels like it is in a vice every time I sit for more than 5 minutes and thank God, there is an epidural planned for that next week if I can come up with money.

Our needs are dire...we owe $950 for rent and before long that will be double; I had to sell my work truck so we are down to one car and it is in serious need of repair; we're behind on our insurance, power bill, phone bills, car payment. We owe almost $1,000.00 in taxes. My doctor bills and surgery will cost around $5,000.00 alone. All told, it's just under $10,000.00. But we can survive with a blessing of $3,000.00.

So there's our story. It's very depressing I know. But if I am going to ask for help, I had to be completely honest about our circumstances. We're in trouble and in need of a miracle. But here's the thing...I know Jesus is near. I know that because the other night, our pastor gave a great sermon on Philippians 4:6-7, "Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." If he only knew what we were facing, how could he really mean for me to not be anxious? Then he said something that stirred in my soul. He said Jesus is always near, no matter what we face, He is near. And He is wanting us to place complete trust in that fact. I felt the dam burst and the weight on my shoulders started to lift, just a little, but it started. I started to feel that peace He was talking about. Nothing had changed, but I felt peace. I wish I could tell you that it lasted until the writing of this letter, but that wouldn't be true. There have been moments of anxiety and fear.

But I know God has us in His hands and He is near. I also know that He often uses His people to meet the needs of those who are suffering. I could sit defiantly in my living room in pain and wait for God to drop some money through the roof of our house or I could let my needs be known to that know Him as Father and me as their brother in Christ. If you choose to give, I can't promise I can ever repay that amazing act. If you choose to help us, I pray that God will bless each and every one of you with blessings you could never even imagine. If you choose not to or just can't because you're also hurting, please know I am praying for you as well. Just please pray for us that God will not only heal me and bless us with good jobs, but that He will use this last two years to bring Him glory. If we never have enough again to reopen our restaurant, that's okay too. We will praise Him anyway for He, and He alone is worthy of our praise and honor. So no matter how this turns out for us, to God Be the Glory forever and ever Amen!