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The Great Adventure - NOT

 

I didn’t grow up going to church. My parents were nice people, but Sunday was just another day. Even as a young girl, I had a hunger for God. I would kneel beside my bed and pray, and sometimes crossed myself like I had seen people do on TV.

I grew up in the same neighborhood from kindergarten – high school. Chuck and I got married and we were pretty comfortable with our circle of friends and family.

When he graduated from college in 1980, Chuck got a job offer and we moved to Dallas, TX. What sounded like a grand adventure turned out to be the most isolating, miserable time of my life. I went to get a library card, and didn't even have anyone to put down as a local reference. After 30 long days in a Ramada Inn, we got into a house.



Back then, blue laws were still in effect and you couldn't even go shopping on Sunday. Our next door neighbors invited us to an ice cream social, and then church. We were lonely so we went. It was a good little Baptist church, and they returned the visit, much like we are doing tonight. The truths I learned that night literally changed the course of my life.

Two years after moving to Big D, Chuck was laid off from his semiconductor company. He found another job and in 1983 I got pregnant with Jennifer. We knew we wanted to get back to our family, and Chuck was offered a job in Colorado Springs. We sold our house in December, and a couple of days before the move the job offer was revoked - no funding until early next year, and no guarantees.

We paid for the move on our own and came - on faith. It was scary, but it didn’t shake us the way it had in the past. Our security didn’t depend on a job anymore, and we were able to trust the Lord to provide for us and He is faithful!



The relationship we have with God has shaped all the major decisions that we have made, starting with the move back to Colorado in 1984, choosing a Christian education for our daughter, and has led me to work at Vista Grande today.