So much has happened since I last wrote. Vernon was home for his normal 2 weeks & we had lunch with the preacher from the church we are now attending on Vernon's last day home from his hitch. During this 3 hour long lunch we learned a lot, not only about each other, but also about ourselves. Vernon shared that he has always felt that marrying me was the turning point in his life from the path of destruction he had been on since his early teens. I, in turn, shared that my family & friends weren't always pleased with us dating since I had always been drawn to the 'bad boy' type. The early years of our marriage were not easy for either of us...he struggled with who he had been in his past & who he wanted to be in the future....I struggled with feeling the constant need to defend his past & our relationship. Probably the trait I love most about him is his ability to defy the ordinary & not pay attention to what others say or think, but i'm not sure I have ever told him that until that day over lunch at Whataburger!
The conversation then turned to our faith & the things that we had been taught growing up & how we felt now. With both of us being children of divorced homes, we had each had very different journeys with church lives. Vernon had been raised mostly by his grandmother, who had converted to Lutheran when she got married & that was the only church he knew. Myself, well let's just say, I was all kinds of messed up! When I was with my mom, we attended the Church of Christ, when my dad had his weekend visitations, I either went to church with my grandparents to the Methodist church, or I went with my dad & step-mom to the Baptist church...talk about all kinds of confused!! I new that everyone has a moment in their lives when they hear & feel God in their heart & if they listened & answered back, their life was changed forever & I had that moment one summer at church camp. At that moment, I realized that it didn't matter what denomination you were, as long as you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior. Vernon, on the other hand, had never been taught this way. He had always been taught that if you go to church, attend & finish the classes that the church offered, professed you faith in a ceremony, that was it & you were good. So, the majority of this lunch discussion was the preacher talking to Vernon about the scriptures in the Bible that pertain to accepting Christ & how that is a decision that everyone makes, not just a requirement. Boy, did that make me feel like a bad parent, since we had decided after we got married to join the Lutheran church since Vernon had the strongest & most stable church affiliation! Our kids didn't know any other way of worshiping, but we were assured that the young years are all about teaching the stories of the Bible & learning of what an incredible gift we were given with Jesus' death & resurrection. We did find out that B could go on Wed nights since the group she is in also has Wed night meetings. After telling her this, she was pumped to go & see what it was all about since she knew her brother would be in the same place.
The next morning, Vernon started out on his 10 hour drive for another 2 week hitch. He called after being on the road for 4 hours in what sounded like a total panic & told me had some bad news. "I'm on my way to work." Now I might not be the sharpest pencil in the box, but I already knew this!! Next he said he had good news, which was that as he was driving, the radio station had lost signal & he drove in silence for a few hours. During this time, he began to think about the husband & father he was & how he knew he was meant to be better at the roles that God had put into his life, so he stopped & right then began to pray & invited Jesus into his life. Talk about fast action!! Without knowing what had happened, N went to youth group & felt the pull on his heart & asked Jesus into his life!! Let me just say, the date of this completely blessed event will forever be celebrated by us. God does work miracles & He allows things to happen sometimes that change us. That lunch meeting has forever changed our family by strengthening the bond Vernon & I have as husband & wife, & by drawing our family even closer to the Lord.
We are over half way done with Vernon's 2 weeks of work, & we are all excited for him to come home. My mornings are filled with getting the kids up & ready for school, then I head out to the city park & walk. The first few mornings, I left after 30 mins, thinking about all the things I needed to get done at home. Then this mornings, I was taking in the cooler temps, the leaves beginning to change, squirrels scampering about, & the music from my earbuds filling my head with worship songs...1 1/2 hours later, I left to come home. The laundry, floors, & dusting was all still here when I got back, imagine that!!
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