Where Did 35 Years Go?

Tomorrow is our 35th wedding anniversary.  It doesn't seem possible until I start thinking about all the things we've done and the places we've been, all the trials we've weathered and all the blessings we've received. 

We have moved twelve times and lived in three states. We have owned three homes, two of them we built.

We have lived at the 9th hole of a golf course, on a crystal clear lake, out in the country, in the middle of the city and on the top of a mountain. 

We have seen all of our children marry but one and we have had one of them graduate from college debt free. 

We've been in and out of work and have lost a home to the bank because of it. 

Glen's parents are no longer with us and his only brother was buried on Glen's 50th birthday. 

Our youngest child survived a life-threatening stomach condition only to be shot 25 years later by a mugger. He survived that too, thank the Lord. 

We have seen many of our friends and family struggle with illness and several we have lost.

We prayed through the tractor accident my dad had and my mom's breast cancer.

We have traveled all over this country.  

There are lifelong friends that we have met along our journey and each one has enriched our lives more then they will ever know. 

We have seen some of our own children experience the heartache of divorce. 

We have watched what post polio can do and how much it wants to rob from me.

So how does a marriage endure all the valleys of life?  Well, as you know, I am no expert! 

What I do know is that I have had wonderful examples of marriage in my life time and so has Glen.

We know a good marriage needs the Lord.  

A quote from the preacher at our wedding was "May you always remember that love and loyalty will avail as the foundation of a happy and enduring home. No other human ties are more tender, no other vows more sacred then those you now assume.  If these solemn vows are kept unimpaired; if steadfastly you seek to do the will of your Heavenly Father, your life will be full of joy and the home which you are establishing will abide in peace.

Love is the key. Love to show your feelings and to save time for each other no matter what demands are made upon your day.  See the meaning of life through the changing prism of your love; to nurture each other to fullness and wholeness and in learning to love each other more deeply, learn to love the creation in which this mystery of your love has happened."

Glen and I are so very blessed to have each other and God has really worked in our lives as you will see as I continue to share our story with you in the up coming months. 

Up until 12 years ago, I had severe migraine headaches.  That, along with the pain in my legs and hips from the polio, I would spend many nights, bed surfing.  That's when you go from one bed to the couch to the chair to another bed, if you have one, and back to the couch.  

My husband loves to write and is very good at it, by the way.  He is forever leaving me little notes.  Here is a note he left me 30 years ago after one of those nights that I had been bed surfing.

"I had this dream about a beautiful valley that could be seen from the rim of a mountain bluff.  In the valley was a small settlement with very friendly people. There was wild game, lakes and beautiful sunsets. The air was clean and fresh.  A slight aroma of wild honeysuckle and jasmine drifted on a gentle breeze.  Everything was calling of contentment.  I reached out to you to escort you to this place with me, but my hands came back empty.  The shock of fright caused me to awaken.  You were gone.  I knew you were in the other room. I felt better because you were near and my fright went away.  I am still content because you are still near. I don't need the mountains, I don't need the valley, I don't need the sunsets but I do need you"

Did God give Glen a glimpse into the future through a dream 30 years ago.  I can't answer that but I do know He gives us the desires of our heart.  So we have that mountain looking down on that small settlement full of friendly people.  We have the aroma of honeysuckle and jasmine drifting on a gentle breeze.  We have beautiful sunsets but most of all we have each other and our Heavenly Father.  That's all we really need.

Looks Can Be Deceiving.

We were so blessed to have a sweet little 3 bedroom, 2 bath house to move into in Florida with a beautiful swimming pool.  It was the most beautiful pool I have ever seen, even to this day.  It was called a black water pool.  It actually looked like a lagoon with a flagstone deck.  We spent most of our time out there.  Clay was afraid of the water when we first moved in.  We couldn't get him off the first step but with a little coaxing from one of his kindergarten friends, he soon became a little fish.  Soon he would be standing on a boogie board, surfing the waves of New Smyrna Beach at the age of four. Now he is a very accomplished surfer with sand in his shoes.  It will be very difficult to ever get him too far from the beach.
Looks can be so deceiving, cant they? Prior to our move into this lovely rental home, three bachelors lived there.  They didn't want to pay for garbage pick up so they had a two wheel trailer next to the house where they threw all the garbage and then hauled it to the dump when it was full.  We wanted to make sure that had been done before we moved in.
I had been staying at my friends for two weeks. Glen put the boys on a plane and then he and his friend Jim drove down with our belongings.  The boys and I went over to the house to clean before they arrived.  I remember there was a little lizard in one of the bedrooms.  It freaked me out.  I gave the boys the broom and shut the door of the bedroom and told them to catch it or kill it but don't come out till you do.  They thought that was great fun.  They loved being mommy's little hero's.  After thirteen years in Florida, lizards don't bother me in the least.  They didn't change, I did.  I just got used to them.
As soon as the guys got there we began to set up housekeeping.  We had only brought our bedroom set and had planned to pick up some used furniture for the boys as soon as we could.  In the meantime they were on sleeping bags in their rooms.   It was our second night in the house and we were all asleep.  Suddenly Glen flips on the bedroom light.  "What are you doing?" I asked.  "You don't want to know", he said.  Then he proceeded to tell me.  He was right, I didn't want to know. He had felt something on his leg.  When he moved, it jumped down to the floor.  When he investigated, it turned out to be a rat. It had come through a hole behind the toilet.  Well I was up for the night.  I told him to shut the boys bedroom doors and the lights stayed on.
It seems the rats were hanging out in the trailer full of garbage and when they moved it away, they moved into the attic of our house looking for food.  They found every hole in the house.  We fought them for weeks.  Every time we thought we had all the holes blocked, they came in another.  Behind every sink, every toilet and behind the stove. We put out poison and now they where dying in the walls and we were finding them in the pool, bathtub and the hot tub looking for water.   I will never forget this time in our lives.  I use to be afraid of a little mouse but after this, I would have been relieved to have a mouse.
That reminds me of how we become so accustomed to things that go on in our world that are so very sinful and we become desensitized to it because it's in our face all the time.  Suddenly we say, "It doesn't bother me anymore" or "That's not so bad. At least they're not doing this or doing that".  We keep letting Satan have this victory.  We need to stand up against the rats of this world anyway we can.
Remember the lizard?  I thought he was an awful thing and wanted it killed or out of my house.  But then I was around them so much that they didn't bother me anymore.  I was glad to see one in the house because they ate insects. Immorality is like that.  Kill it, don't let it in the house but then because it's in the media and around every where we look, in our face constantly, we've become use to it.  Our nation is in trouble, our children are struggling.  We need to pray!

Southbound

I am sure all of you are aware of how your life can change in an instant by such things as a visitor or a phone call.  Sometimes it is tragic and sometimes it is exciting.  

A few years after I began working for Ozark they opened a new Reservation Office in Orlando, Florida on the Disney Lake Buena Vista property.  As I would make my way from the employee parking lot into the the airport in the middle of winter, I would dream of working in Orlando.  Many times I would slip in the snow or just get blown over from the wind coming off the the runway.  But the Orlando jobs were sought after and the office there was small so with my low seniority, it remained just a dream.  One of my best friends at work had transferred down there and so we took the boys to Disney and went to visit Vicki for a few days. 

I remember in the early 80's both my brothers lived in other states.  Rod was in Texas with his family, Randy was in Kansas City, Mo. with his and my little sister was about to get married and move to Pennsylvania with her new husband. We would joke around with mom and dad about us being the only ones left near by. 

It was the night of my sister Mindy's rehearsal and dinner.  I had forgotten my camera at mom and dad's so I sent Glen back to their house to get it.  While he was there the phone rang.  It was my friend Vicki and she said "Tell Cyndi to pack her bags.  She is being transferred to Orlando and has two weeks to report to work."

A few months before this, Glen had been laid off from Caterpillar along with thousands of others and no one would hire him.  Everyone in that area knew if Caterpillar called you back you would go but the chances of getting called back were slim to none.  So the timing could not have been better for that reason.  All I could think about was how I was going to tell my parents that we were leaving too.  It was hard to get too excited.  The fact that we could fly home and they could fly down helped to cushion the news a little. 

God is always in control and He had a plan for us and it involved us being in Florida.  It's amazing how He perfectly orchestrates our lives if we let Him. We wouldn't be here in this sweet little house with a million dollar view on a mountain in Tennessee if He had it not moved us to Florida first.  So my advice for you today is to let go and let God.  He has a mountain top for you too.