Why don't you share a memorable event with us?

This thread has been a good read thus far. I hope I won't do any damage to it.

In May of "75", I was 21 and had a couple of months left in the Army. I was stationed at Ft. Huachuca, Az. and was engaged to a young lady in Arkansas, whom I planned to marry and bring to Arizona until my enlistment was up.

The trip to Arkansas was a thrill for me, because I had never driven so far, unaccompanied. I was a bit apprehensive because of the long stretches between towns, so I stopped often for gas. While gassing up in Midland, Texas, the gas attendent said, " There is a big storm to the east of us, and it is comming this way. I hope you aren't going that way."

Well, I drove on anyway, and met the storm half way to Big Spring. It was a mean and nasty one too. Creeping along the interstate at 15 to 20 mph was unsettling, but I could hardly see the road. I got to a motel at Big Spring and drove on to Arkansas the next day, married the girl, and drove back to Arizona.

We got divorced 14 years later, in 1990, but last week, we tied the knot again. Sometime soon, I hope that the two of us can make that trip across the desert again, just for the memories.

Roy

 

Barnabas7 and all others interested, here I go:

Thursday nite I left Tennessee really late, hoping to get at least to Forrest City or Brinkley in Arkansas. By the time I got to Brinkley, I was still reasonably alert, so I decided to drive to Clarendon--where my first interview Friday was. I came to the only motel in town, but nobody answered even though I rang the bell about 3 times. So I decided to drive about 30 miles east to Marianna. No motels whatsoever. By this time I was feeling upset that I did not pull off the interstate sooner, so I headed back towards Forrest City, where I finally went to sleep about 3am. When I woke up five hours later, I realized that I was gonna be late for my 9am interview in Clarendon. So after a quick breakfast, shave, and shower, I headed towards Clarendon--thinking how I blew the chance I was given. When I got there, I was asked to wait a few minutes 'cause the principal was taking care of a vandalism incident. When he called me in, I apologized for being late, but he wasn't concerned. We interviewed, and then he asked me if I finished my next interview in Holly Grove before 4 that afternoon to come back to Clarendon. I did, and we went over to the Superintendent's office, where I was offered a job--with the premise that it could only be for one year since the man I am replacing is going on active military duty for a year. So this could pretty much be an example of God making lemonade out of lemons--LOL

 

I was too tired and lazy to ask for a wake-up call

 

I hope you will indulge me - I have three memorable events to share:

1. On Sunday afternoon, August 23, 1970, I said "I do" and she said "I do" and we have been doing ever since.

2. I had the privilege on two separate occassions to (1) baptize my wife; and (2) baptize our three children.

3. I had the privilege on three separate occassions to participate in the the wedding ceremonies of our three children. For our daughters - their soon to be Father-in-Laws started the ceremonies and I tied the knot. For our son - I started the ceremony - with his soon to be Father-in-Law tying the knot. Then I got to preach a sermon.

 

You all wanted to hear a memorable event... So here goes... First of all to lay some groundwork because we want to include all the details.

When my wife Charlotte was growing up she had female problems and her family doctor told her she would never have children. Well we got married anyway because I loved her and she loved me. We figured if God wants us to have children we will have children... We used no birth control... Why should we as there is no possibility of children.

We got married February 3, 1973 and had been married for five years when she went on a vacation to visit her family in Charlotte North Carolina. Her plane landed at Lindberg Field and I went to pick her up. As we were walking the corridor I look at her and said... Charlotte if I didn't know any better I would swear you are pregnant... She said give me a break you know I'm not pregnant... You remember what Dr. Rusk said I can't get pregnant... I said I don't care what the doctor said all your parts are intact... She turn to me and said... Look for the star in the east... I said... CHARLOTTE!... Here is a detail Charlotte was at that time a slender Woman... Actually pretty flat and if she was pregnant she didn't feel any of the effects of it.

So we went home thinking nothing of it until she headed for the bathroom in intense agony and pain and sat on the john. I tried to get her up but she refused so I called her Mother at around eleven at night and told her I need help. She came over post haste.

When her Mother and I finally got her up there was a baby in the toilet. Her Mother called for butcher knife and cut the cord and got the baby to cry. Wrapped Mother and baby in a blanket... Put them in the car with her Mother and I and headed for the freeway where I floored it all the way to childrens hospital about ten miles away.

We pulled into emergency and Charlotte and baby were seen immediately. The baby was rushed to the nursery where Dr. Henderson who happened to be on rounds from ICU saw this baby had trouble breathing... RDS... Respiratory Distress Syndrome and took the baby stat to the ICU unit.

I meanwhile had called the preacher at home around 12:30 and told him the news and spotting a gurney passed out... Was revived later when the preacher showed up around 1:30.

The baby weighed in at 3lbs 8oz... And when it left the hospital 28 days later wore a bonnet that was made by my grandmother who passed away in 1974... Four years before the baby was born and fit the baby as it was made on the spot.

Btw... The Baby will be 25 on its next birthday... The baby also has a 2 year old baby of her own... With a birth like that what do you name that baby girl... There is only one name that fits that child... And her Mother named her... FAITH!... Brother Glen

 

Barnabas 7 said:

Regarding the children's baptism - they were baptized in a swimming pool at Bible Club Camp - with most of the staff and many of the campers looking on. Since then I've baptized my niece - in a swimming pool - at Bible Club Camp.

Regarding the children's marriages:

Daughter # 1 - Kari married the son of a minister that she met at the King's College. David (Kari's Father-in-law) started the ceremony - Jan and I walked Kari down the aisle and we both gave her away - Ryan (Kari's husband) sang to her in the ceremony - Kelly (our son) sang a song in Italian - seeing Ryan's mothers family is Italian - maybe some of them understood it. I tied the knot.

Ryan and Kari now have two children, Libby (almost 2) and Ryan, Jr. (3 mos).
Ryan and Kari lead worship at their church.

Son - Kelly - married the daughter of a minister. He now is the NE rep. for Shepherd's Inc. - a facility for mentally handicapped adults. I started the ceremony - gave the charge to them - Kelly sang to his wife to be - Ryan and Kari sang to the both of them - Elizabeth's (Kelly's wife) father - Jerry - tied the knot. Then I got to preach a salvation message - Kelly and Elizabeth requested that.

Kelly and Elizabeth now have three children, Abigail (4.5 years), Daniel (almost 3), and Micah (9 mos.) They are currently on deputation with Grace Mission to Haiti. Kelly is the Director of Communications for the Mission.

Daughter # 2 - Krista (Kari's twin) married Anthony, the son of the Director of The Fold Family Ministry - a ministry located in Lyndonville, VT - for families with troubled teens. The minister of their church started the ceremony out - while Jan and I walked our daughter down the aisle - Anthony's father, Fred, gave the charge to the couple, Ryan sang, then I tied the knot. Which was not easy. As a resident of New York State - I had to apply to a judge in Vermont for permission to perform a wedding in Vermont - I actually had to pay a fee in order for the court system to consider my application. I had to submit documentation proving I had the right in NYS to perform weddings. When the kids gave me the marriage license - I lost it. When in my room - after the rehearsal - while my wife and daughters were having a party for Krista - I decided I better see what I had to do to fill out the license - but I could not find it. My wife and Kari went with me about five miles back to the church - and we found in the parking lot. At the reception - when we got to say something about the newly married couple - I told the license story - they didn't believe me at first - but were relieved that I had found the thing. (PS - a few days later the official in VT who was processing the license called me - it seems I had forgotten to fill out all the license.)

No children yet - Krista teaches school at the Fold Family Ministries, coordinates children's church and Anthony is a deacon at their church.

Barnabas - is this enough detail?

 

I certainly enjoyed being able to tie the knots for the children.

A couple of times - my eyes got a little misty (that's all I'll admit to) during the ceremony - but they certainly were enjoyable experiences.

The only downside - I didn't get to sit with the Mother of the Bride, Bride, though I did get to sit with the Mother of the Groom - after I jumpstarted the ceremony!!!

 

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This took place back in 2001. My momma left me when I was eight, and had had no contact with me since then. I got saved in 99, and since that date I'd prayed almost daily in agony {literaly. I hurt so in my heart, and I cryed untill I had no tears.} that my momma would get saved. My church family prayed and prayed. I remember one time I cried so at the alter, I couldn't breathe. I got up gasping for breath.
Then on June fifth of 01 my dad came into the yard were I sat in the swing, and said "Abby, I just spoke with your mother." Now my dad is forever playing jokes on me, and I assumed this was no diffrent. I jumped and screamed "Daddy! How could you do that to me! You know how much I miss her! Why would you be so cruel?!" and I fell on my knees crying. My poor dad had a time calming me down. He finaly got it across to me that he wasn't kidding! And that my momma wanted to meet me again. Well I think I ran around the house shouting "Oh Praise God!" a time or two! {I really did run through our house shouting that!} I was so flustered, that when I called my pastor and left a message on his answering macchine, he later called back to ask if I was "speaking in tounges" cause I stuttered so!
I remember walking across a 7-11's parking lot to see a twin of my self running towards me crying. {I look exactly like her} we fell onto each other just squaling. She told me that God had saved her in March, but she'd been to afraid of me wanting nothing to do with her that she waited three months. {If only she'd known!} And when we came apart, I looked into the face of my baby sister who I'd not seen since she was two. {I actualy was the only one to see her first steps.} My Savannah remembered me! She knew who I was! We cryed and cried. That Sunday they came to church with me.
Now she lives too far away to visit, but we talk on the phone often. I hate that I don't get to see Savannah grow up, but I'm just thankful they are part of my life again. God is soooooo good! And He still answers prayer!
~Miss Abby

 

These stories are so wonderful that I wanted to
revive them from the long-past so we could all
see them again.

I will add one, then -- a fairly recent one.

By the time I had married my present husband, I
had gone through several very necessary lessons
on life and relationships, but because of my past,
I remained very fearful of ownership. When my
first husband and I bought a house, it was never
"mine"; I saw it as his, through no fault of his. And
when he died, I let the house go for a song, and
rented an apartment. Even my first car as a teen,
although I had paid for it, was never really mine
either -- I never even drove it!

It would be a long, depressing story to tell why,
so I will skip that part and go to this:

So I married my second husband. Immediately,
he wanted to buy a house. I gave him excuse after
excuse -- really legitimate ones in my mind! --
why we should not buy a house. Years passed,
the children married, and there we were, still
renting because of me.

One week, our Lord began to really deal with me
about my attitude and the reasons I was like this.
For two days, I cried and begged the Lord not to
make us buy a house, but He was not listening.

A year before this, I had been kicked out of my
church, and at this time, my husband had just left
it as well. I was going with him on Sundays, as he
was attending a Church of God then, while he was
trying to find a church in which to settle.

When the service ended that Sunday, I took my
husband by the hand and drug him up to the altar,
knowing that this was to be my last act as a pushy, demanding wife. I asked him to kneel, facing me,
alone on the far side of that altar area. He did, and
I took his hands, looked him in the eyes, and
apologized for my pig-headedness and for doing
everything to stop us from buying. I told him that I
was through, and I would do anything he wanted
me to do, in order to buy a house, as my first act
of wifely complete obedience to him. He wept and
held me, thanking God for His work in my life that
had brought me to this point.

We set our first appointment to meet with a
realtor on his first day off after this. It was Sep-
tember 11, 2001. And as we were rising, we heard
about New York.

Crushed, scared, saddened, and with my nation in
mourning, I wanted to tell him to call the appoint-
ment off; I could not handle it. Besides, this might
be a poor time to buy -- who knows what will hap-
pen? War? A crash? No jobs? But I bit my
tongue, said nothing of the kind, and we kept our
appointment.

As the nation stood up to them, the interest rates
fell, and by the time we found our little house, the
interest rates were near their lowest. We have
lived in this little home, enjoying it, and even getting
a lower interest rate later.

Our Lord has blessed us here, too, as we have
enjoyed witnessing to our neighbors.

My husband still looks at me once in a while, with
a glint in his eye, and a grin, and says, "Well, it's
your house, too!" Yes, he does still have to remind
me at times! He did yesterday. :-D

[ November 12, 2003, 12:15 PM: Message edited by: Abiyah ]

 

(I apologize in advance for the length of this story)

As most of you know, we just bought a house last March. My husband was telling our Pastor about it and Pastor asked him to give a testimony that night. This is what my husband said:

"I have been saved a little over a year now. About two weeks after I got saved I told my wife I
thought we ought to start tithing.. I think most of you here know my wife, Sue, and she
didn’t hesitate. She said our finances would be much better if we tithed...

Well, we started tithing that Sunday and our bills got paid off. I’m not sure how because it doesn’t work out on paper that way, but I know we paid off a lot of my medical bills we were not
able to pay off before.

We live from payday to payday like most people. We did not believe we would ever be able to afford to buy a home of our own because of my past credit problems that would not allow us to finance.

We thought about finding a “contract for deed” house, but we would not have the down payment for that (even if we could find someone willing to sell that way). So we just kept on tithing and giving love offerings and forgot about owning a
home.

The only problem with that was...our landlords wanted to sell the house we were renting, so it seemed we were back where we started. Another move to another rental house and more fixing up of someone else’s property.

God had different plans...

My wife ran into an old friend and found out the house she was practically raised in was for rent. She thought about calling the grandson who now owned it because his grandmother and mother were both deceased and it had been willed to him.

This young man’s grandmother had baby-sat for Sue since she was small and they remained friends until the woman died. Sue, in turn, had baby-sat for the grandson for many years and he now owned the house. She decided to give him a call.

He said my wife was part of his family and he would be very happy to see us in that house. He asked if we would like to buy it. Sue said YES! But, we don’t have the finances.

He said, don’t worry about that. I have money and I don’t want you to worry about money. If you want that house, you will have that house! He said he had fond memories of when she baby-sat for him. That really humbled Sue and reminded her that children REMEMBER how you treat them... good OR bad.

This man sold us the house (that Sue had always loved) on contract for deed...with no money
down... and no payments until January of 2004 and when the payments DO start,
they will be less than what we were paying in rent at the old house and the interest rate is lower than we could have found at any bank!!! This young man even paid the taxes for 2003 and the first half of 2004 and kept all of the utilities in his name for the first two months we lived here! BTW, he is not a Christian, but if I know my wife, he WILL be!

NOW LISTEN...HERE COMES THE GOOD PART!

During the Preacher’s sermon this morning, Sue leaned over to me and whispered, " Do you realize that the amount of our deferred payments equal exactly twice the amount we have tithed since you got saved???? " GLORY!"

(This is Sue talking now. I still believe it was a miracle that we got this house and we have been working so hard on it, we are turning it into a home...OUR home. I am thankful that I have a husband, who as soon as he got saved (and had never heard a sermon on tithing), wanted to tithe. Obedience is better than sacrifice.)

"Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."
Psalms 37:4

 

These are such wonderful stories. Thanks for sharing them with us.

 

I wish we could use giant fonts here because that deserves a great big

 

My mom and I never got along, ever. From day one, I believe. We have had some ugly fights.

After becoming saved, I was thinking about her a lot. Since I had left for the Navy, in '79, she was after me to talk with her, and somehow mend our relationship, which I never had any interest in. I continued to live a rowdy life, and never thought of her once.

Like I said, after allowing the Lord to make things right for me,(March, 2001) I took her out to dinner. A real fancy Italian place, 4 star resturaunt, called "Monty's Garden" in Leominster, Mass. (If yer ever up there...)

I had the Veal Marsala, and she had a marinated steak, and we chit-chatted about baseball, and hunting (she has killed a bear with a bow & arrow, in her late '50s) and just a lot of small talk.

Then I got serious, and I told her that everything that happened in my childhood was controlled by God, and she was very important to me, that I wouldn't trade my childhood for anyone else's, and that I loved her very much.

I immediately felt like a ton of cement had been pulled off my chest, and we were both sitting there at the table, blubbering and sobbing like Edith Bunker.

I only wish I had told her that 20 years ago.

Two weeks ago, I took her out to a bluegrass show I was playing, and sat next to her while I wasn't on stage. We had a great time, and things have really been great between the two of us.