Speaking in Tongues – my door to salvation – at least that’s was my understanding of their teaching. They told me that if I prayed, believed, and fasted enough, the Spirit would come into me and be manifested by me speaking in tongues.

I prayed.

I fasted.

I believed – and when I didn’t believe I asked God to help my unbelief. Days and then weeks went by.

Soon it was a month and I continued to pray and fast. I continued to kneel at the altar with the entire congregation surrounding me and laying hands upon me. I prayed fervently – God, if this be your will, PLEASE let it happen. Please help me. At the same time, I prayed, God if this is not your will, please keep me surrounded in your protection and knowledge. If it is NOT your will, please keep me from being able to demonstrate this speaking in tongues.

I poured over my Bible daily, trying to understand that which was confusing to me.

What is God asking of me?

Where does baptism fit?

How will I recognize the Holy Spirit within me?

It was during these months that I began to experience pressure from my supervisor at work. I had made some drastic changes in my life which included long skirts and giving up all make-up for a more “natural” beauty. If God asked these things of me, then I would do them without a moment’s hesitation. My supervisor had a policy of hiring pretty young women and he was not happy with my revised appearance. I was not concerned with losing my job. I wanted to please God.

As I continued to study my Bible, I began to understand some things differently than they had taught me. Soon I began searching for another or a different church.

One of the women at DT requested prayers as Satan attempted to interfere in her marriage. She talked about emotional intimacy and stated that she was “calling for the troops” of fellow christians to surround them in prayer. Her husband made a statement at the end of the service.

She was describing an issue that likely plagues most marriages but it hit me so hard – harder than I can describe here. Suffice to say that I am struggling, yet hopeful.

You may have read my post about the first time I had a Bible to read. Well that year was rough for me for several reasons. Details to come later.

I was a new Christian and Jim and Donna invited me to study the Bible with them. Every Tuesday for a year, they invited me to their home. They had two young boys and a busy life, yet they reserved that time for me.

First we would just visit and they would encourage and support me. Then we would open our Bibles and if I had a question, we would study about that. If not, we would continue where we left off the previous week. How many people do you know that would give that much of their time away?

Yes, I am so thankful for Jim and Donna Hogan of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

Things I am thankful for in no particular order

1. The cool brisk air of Fall. I feel better, I have more mobility.

2. Wheels – I am thankful for my wheelchair that provides so much freedom for me.

3. My sisters – they love me unconditionally and we really enjoy each other’s company

4. Blogging – I have enjoyed putting my thoughts down and reading so many good blogs from around the country. I get to see photos of my grandsons who live out of state.

5. My digital camera – it’s so much fun to be able to snap photo after photo and hit that little delete button for those that didn’t turn out.

6. Christmas- I am so thankful our family is able to all be together to celebrate Christmas.

7. Supper club – I am thankful that I can be part of a monthly supper club with women from church and we meet at a restaurant so I don’t even have to cook.

8. Weight Loss – I am so thankful that I have been able to loose more than 55 pounds since January. And I feel so much better too.

9. My Starbucks coffee mug- it has fantastic seal and doesn’t leak even if left sideways in my school bag. And – it keeps my coffee hot for hours!

10. Chocolate- no explanation needed.

I was 24 years old and we had never had a Bible in our home. I had never read the Bible or even heard any scripture read. I had yearned for God as a child and attended the Latin services of the Catholic church whenever there was one close enough for me to walk. Faith was born in my heart as a 4 year old when a neighbor had shared the story of Jesus’ love with me.

I held onto that faith until I was about 17. A few more years passed and I was on my own by now. I was pretty much agnostic at this time. I couldn’t quite be certain that there was no God because I was very aware of the existence of evil and had been since I was a preschooler.

I wanted to stay as far away from evil as possible. I had just met a friend of a friend who was visiting from California. He starting preaching at us, pointing his finger and raising his voice as he said, “YOU ARE GOING TO HELL”

Me? Hell? If I was going to hell, I had better find out more about it.

I went out that very day and bought myself my first Bible. I started at the beginning, which you know is Genesis 1:1. The Creation.

As I read, I couldn’t believe how much sense it made. I began to feel chills up and down my arms and back. Faith was reborn in my heart at that moment. So that’s how we got here. I was amazed. It was all so simple.

I am so excited to see my extended family. I have a nephew who is was married during the last year. I’ll have a chance to get to know his wife. I will get to see some cousins I haven’t seen in about 20 years. WOW!

I just met another woman recently diagnosed with MS. Several of us are forming a monthly supper club. We like the idea of meet at different restaurants. It’s really affirming to visit with someone who really UNDERSTANDS those silent MS symptoms that can be quite discouraging at times and non-existent at other times.

I recently received some new photos of Bennett. I’ll have a new slideshow put together very soon.

40 Years Ago (1968)

I was a sophomore at Cuyahoga Falls High School. I ironed my hair every morning and it still curled up on humid days. I worked every weekend at pizza take-out. I was trying to decide who to invite to the Twirp Dance. Our music and drama departments performed, “My Fair Lady”.

30 Years Ago (1978)

Dan and I were married in March. I had left college and was living in California. Dan and I came back to Searcy in May for Diane’s wedding and Dan decided to enroll in the preaching school at Harding. We moved to Searcy the next summer. Dan took a weekend preaching job in North Arkansas. It took us over two hours to drive there. We stayed all day and ate dinner with different families. Our daughter was born in 1979 and the church was so small and rural that it did not have any indoor plumbing. It was quite a learning experience.

20 Years Ago (1988)

I had two children (9 and 7) Diane and Mike had moved to Searcy about 4 years earlier. It was so nice to be living in the same town again. It sure saved a lot on long distance phone bills.

I think this was the year Dan and I took our kids to Disneyworld. Dan had enrolled in Harding College after preaching school and he was finally finished!!!

10 Years Ago (1998)

My daughter was a freshman at Harding and my son was a junior in high school. I had finished with my education degree several years before and I finally got a teaching job. I was tired of subbing and so happy to have a permanent job!

5 Years Ago (2003)

My daughter and her husband had spent their first year of marriage teaching English in China. They were married about 10 days when they left for China. I was soooo happy to have them back in the USA. My son was a newlywed and he and his wife were seniors in college.

I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in August. I struggled with my current and potential disability and whether I could continue as a school teacher. I was blessed with the opportunity to take the position of school counselor at my school. I hurriedly began the course work to become a certified school counselor. I was diagnosed with COPD six months later.

1 Year Ago (2007)

I love my job as a school counselor! I have two beautiful grandsons. Both are blue-eyed blonds. I have another grandson on the way. I was sick with bronchitis for nearly the entire fall semester.

That brings me to October 2008.

My last post has photos of a wonderful visit with my daughter’s family. I also have another grandchild on the way (my son’s 2nd child) I am blessed and very thankful.