Tear That Fence Down

I have mentioned many times how I grazed just over the wrong side of the fence as a teen and then in my early twenties I tried to straddle it as best I could.  Mostly on the right side but clearly not making the Lord a priority in my life.  That is about to change.
Shortly after our move to Florida, we began the search for a church. We found one we liked pretty much and they had a great youth program so we began attending there regularly.
My sister and her new husband who were living in PA., where Christian school teachers and they heard of a school in our area that was looking for teachers.  She asked if we wouldn't mind visiting the church and letting them know what we thought.  So that Saturday we set out to find the church so we could see just how far away from us it was. We could also see what time their service started on Sunday evening.  Well, we could not find this church.  The town it was in was very close to ours but we couldn't find the street.  So we stopped at the fire department.  They ought to know, right?  It turned out to be Devine leading cause the Chief and two other firemen went to this church.  They told us everything we needed to know.
Sunday morning we went to our own church and when the service was over, Glen and I felt like we needed to join.  So we did. We never returned. God was having no part of it.  He had a plan for us to become members at this little church called Victory that we had spent all day looking for on Saturday. The minute we walked in the doors we were made to feel at home and after we heard the message, we were sold.  The Pastor had a great sense of humor and when we joined the church he leaned over and said, "Now you will be back tonight, right?"
My sister and her husband never came and taught there.  It was just God's way of using them to get us to the right place. Under the the teaching of Pastor Taylor, Glen and I grew and grew in the Lord.  We learned so much about God's Word. Things we had never heard before.  See, Pastor Taylor taught the whole Bible.  He didn't leave out what might offend some of his members.
Glen and I had torn the fence down. No more straddling, no more hanging on, no more running back to it. Our course has been set and we only wanted to grow stronger and stronger in our faith from this point on. Do we fall, do we make mistakes, do we sin?  Of course we do.   But we are sinners saved by grace.  We are washed in the blood of Christ.  Clean, clean, clean.  Hallelujah! Our years at Victory Baptist will never be forgotten.  We made lifelong friendships there.  It truly was a church family and we still love them all. 

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.

 

Come Fly With Me

Working for Ozark Airlines was a blessing, a joy and afforded our family many opportunities we would not have had and it would change our life forever.
An airline job was a union job, at least in the 70's and 80's.  I saw many pro's and con's about working for a union in the time I was there but they were mostly pro's: great pay, flying privileges and good insurance, just to name a few.  Your shift, your days off and your vacations were all decided by seniority in the company.  Being low woman on the totem pole, I was working 4 to midnight with Tuesday and Wednesday off.  This actually worked out rather well with our family.
On Glen's 40th birthday I had ordered him a new suit because whenever we flew he was required to wear one.  It was the morning of his birthday and he asked what we were going to do today.  I told him we were going out for lunch and he would need to wear his new suit.  "Wow, where we eating?" he asked.   "Denver", I replied, and that's exactly what we did.  We drove to the airport, boarded a plane for Denver, had breakfast on the plane, landed in Denver, rented a car, drove to lunch, drove back to the airport, boarded the same plane we were on that morning with the same crew and flew back to Peoria.  It was a memorable birthday for both of us.
Earlier that same year our reservation office had received information that United Airlines was hosting a Women's Softball Tournament for all of the airline reservation offices in the United States.  All expenses were paid and it would be for four days in Hawaii.  Well we didn't have a softball team but we were about to get one.  I began to help organize a team and became the team manager.  Glen and a few of the other husbands  started coaching.  Our practices were hilarious.  Talk about The Bad News Bears!!  Nobody could catch however we did have a couple good pitchers. Fielding a ball....forget about it!  But we worked and worked.  None of us were too concerned because we knew the sooner we lost two games, the more free time we would have to play in Hawaii.
Soon it was time to go.  We flew out of Chicago on a direct flight.  We played ball the next morning and we won.  Trust me, no one was more surprised then us and we found out, we liked winning.  That afternoon we played again and lost.  It was double elimination so we would be playing at least one more game the next day.  We won again!!!! However, we lost our afternoon game and our time was through.  But hey, we had one more day left in Hawaii so who cares!  Well we cared.  We all cared and here's why.  There was a team from New York there who was out for blood.  They were mean and rude and only wanted one thing, to win.  No one liked them.  They had worked their way into the championship game on the last day against a little bitty airline from California.  Everyone wanted this team to lose so badly that we all showed up to cheer on the California team.  So we spent our last day in Hawaii going to a softball game.  But it payed off, California won.
United was so good to us.  Our flights, hotels, pool party and luau, breakfast and lunches were all payed for and they didn't skimp.  We had the best of everything.  So with a 4th place trophy, sunburned lips and a jelly fish sting, we were headed home.
Now when we flew to Hawaii, we all arrived on different flights and at different times.  But when we left, all the airlines were on the same United flight.  Even the mean girls.  The whole 747 was full of airline employees except for one little Japanese family which they moved up to first class.  Guess what, the mean girls weren't so mean after all.  We had a ball on that flight home.  We had made so many friends from all over the country and we all had so much in common, our jobs and our love for softball or Hawaii anyway.

What Do You See?

What do you see when you look at this picture?  I know many of you will say immediately that you see me.  In a way, you would be right but for those of you who don't know her, this is my mother.  This picture was taken when she was close to the age I am now and it has always been one of my favorites.

What I want to share with you today is what I see when I look at this picture.  I see 5'2", eyes of blue and oh what that 5'2" can do!!!!
First I see a wife of  65 years, standing by her man through thick and thin, in sickness and in health.
Next I see a daughter who loved, respected and cared for her parents in anyway she could.
I see a sister who remained devoted to her own sister till death and adores her younger brother even though some of their views are very different.
She is an aunt, great-aunt and great-great aunt who is loved by all her nieces and nephews.
Her life is full of grandchildren and great grandchildren who have many stories to tell about how she has impacted their lives.  Most of them, like myself, don't get to see her much but I guarantee you they never question her love for them.
She is a mother of four children, two boys and two girls.  Raising us was no picnic, I assure you.  We each came with our separate health issues but she encouraged us to overcome the physical challenges we were dealt.  She did everything she could to help us to grow up to be independent, responsible, loving adults.
Now let me share with you some other things about this amazing woman.
She has great inner and outer strength. She can play ball, fix a toilet, repel down the side of a mountain, paint a house, drive a forklift, shoot the rapids, ride a horse, park a trailer, fix the hand-controls on my car and beat cancer, just to name a few.
She is a nurse with no degree other then care-giver.  When I was a child she gave me many hours of physical therapy.  When my daddy had his tractor accident she had to learn how to care for him at home doing things that only a nurse should have to do. She never complained, she just did what had to be done.
She is so smart and is a hard worker.  She helped my aunt and uncle get their business started and then worked as a bookkeeper for them for many years.  Not finding it easy to retire she worked for their local Mission up until last year.
I see a wonderful friend.  Mom and Dad have many wonderful friends who I am proud to say are family because they have embraced them as one of their own.
I see a child of the King who loves her Lord Jesus with all her heart and who has done her best to serve Him  as best she could over the years.
She is classy, feminine, funny, dramatic, compassionate, talented, energetic and giving.  I could go on and on.
When I was in my 20's and 30's I thought I was a good mother.  In my 40's I began to question that and in my 50's, I had to come to the realization that I wasn't so good at it.  I think all mothers wish they could go back and change some things that we did or didn't do when we were raising our kids.  Good thing we have our adult children to tell us how, when and where we went wrong.  However, on this Mother's Day week, I want my mom to know that I love her and I am thankful for her and she did an amazing job.

Happy Mother's Day to all those who have chosen life!

That First Year

They always say your first year of marriage is the hardest.  I don't know if I agree with that although our first year was not without it's little challenges.  We were dealing with a sick baby and I couldn't work and leave him with a sitter or day care.  It was just too important that he not get any food other then his formula. Not a cookie, not a cracker, nothing. With other children around, that was an impossibility.
We had Glen's two oldest children living with us and enjoyed them very much.  Glen was working for John Deere still and I was gone for the day with the little boys.  When Glen got home there was a note from his  kids saying their mom had come to get them and take them back to Indiana.  No warning, just gone.  This was devastating for us.  Then a few days later a sheriff's car pulled up and took Glen away to jail for fleeing the state to avoid prosecution. This is a federal offence. Glen had lived in Illinois for years and had paid his child support until his X-wife called and said she wanted him to take his oldest two children.  They were in their early teens. We did not pay her support for them during this time. However, she continued to draw aid from the state of Indiana for them.  A friend of hers had told her the state was doing surprise home visits so she came and got them.  Then she told them she hadn't gotten support for some time and she didn't know where Glen was.  Glen lost his job with John Deere because of this plus spent three days in jail till I could come up with bail for a federal charge.  His sister and brother-in-law hired and paid for an attorney for him.  Naturally he was cleared and we only had to prove the kids were with us and show all expenses for them during their stay.  But what an ordeal.  This would not be our last issue over child support but God has always intervened in our behalf because we have always tried to do what's right and what God would expect of us concerning his children.
But when a window closes a door opens.  Glen would get a job with Caterpillar tractor which he loved and Caterpillar helped put us back on track financially.  Clay was finally on some food so I was itching to get back to work. So Glen put down these guidelines: 1) You need to make over $6 an hour (this was 1978) to pay for the gas. 2)You need to work a different shift then me so one of us would be with the kids at all times.
I began to pray the Lord would give me the perfect job and did He ever!!!! More then I could ever have dreamed.  I opened the Sunday paper and there was a job for Ozark Airlines Reservations. Starting salary $6.36 an hour, type 30 words a minute, 2nd shift, free travel and free insurance.  So I took the test and had the interview and Glen bought me a car on the way home from the airport.  He knew the Lord was giving me that job even though no one had said that. But a few days later they called and sure enough, I was hired.
So now we were both working in Peoria so we moved to an apartment in Eureka IL., home of Ronald Reagan University.  I worked 2nd shift and he worked 3rd shift.  Eddie was back living with us and Annette would soon follow.  Glen and I would pass each other on a country road every night about 10 miles outside of town.  We would pull over, he would run over to the car and kiss me goodnight and off we went.  We often would giggle about what the people on that road were saying about us meeting several nights a week on a back road to have a smooch.  Who knows.  But we were just a married couple in love with each other.  God has been so good to us and he was pulling, pulling, pulling me back to him. He had now seen me through a scary first year with my baby, saw Glen through this terrible arrest and handed us both the perfect job.  He was definitely getting my attention and gaining my trust.  The wrong side of that fence was getting farther and farther away.