Bill and I met at Central Alabama Community College in Alexander City, AL in February of 1997. We dated for five years. During those five years, Bill attended and graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He majored in Civil Engineering. I attended and graduated from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa and majored in Elementary Education. We married on June 8, 2002 at Union Baptist Church in Rockford, AL. We were both very happy then, or so we thought. We were told by close family that marriage could be hard at times, but we just knew that we had it all figured out. Bill was raised by a happy Christian family. I was raised by my wonderful mom for about 10 years all by herself, until she remarried and she had help from my step-dad for 10 more years, then I moved out to go to college. I was determined to have a happy marriage; I was NOT going to have a broken home. Well, here is where the story of our lives really begins.
I'm going to make a long story short, but hopefully getting the main message out so that this will all make sense. Here it goes. In the summer of 2004, I ALMOST lost my husband to a divorce because of BAD choices that I had been making. Notice the "I's." It was all about me, and we were married. It should have been us, us, us. No, it was me, me, me. The bad choices lead me to 3 months of separation. I had to move out of our first home to an apartment because my husband could not stand the sight of me. During that time, I talked daily, almost hourly, to a dear friend that I had not spoken to in a long time. That friend was God. I found myself praying for His forgiveness and spent more time reading in the Word more than I ever have before. It's crazy how we tend to lean on God in times of need and sorrow. Well, at the same time, God was working in Bill's life, too. Bill was doing the same thing I was, reading and praying to God. We knew that we wanted to be with each other and we vowed through good times and bad. Well, these were surly the bad times and guess what? God was there. He helped us through our tough time. Not all at once, but he surely turned a light on and we followed where he led us. We decided as a couple to find a church family because we did not like the life we were living. We knew that God had better plans for us so we started talking about churches we could visit. The very first church we visited was Calera Baptist Church. The church really did make us feel like we were at home. We enjoyed Bro Hal and we said we wanted to give it another try. So we continued to go back to the same church for several Sunday's. One Sunday in February of 2005, we made the decision to join CBC. We are still waiting to renew our vows, but wow what a day that will be!
Since then, our faith has grown and our love for Christ is burning within us. We have overcome! It was in God's plan after all. Maybe not exactly what happened, but he knew that we would go through trials before we completely and fully trusted in Him. We know things happen for a reason and our reason was to get us back into the church where we belonged, to find Christian friends, and to have our own little Christian family. So far, we are on the right road.
I want to share with you something that I came across just recently:
Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there... to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson or help figure out who you are or who you want to become. You never know who these people may be but when you look eyes with them, you know that every moment that you are with them, they will affect your life in some profound way. And sometimes things happen to you at the time that may seem horrible, painful and unfair, but in reflection you realize that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, will power or heart.
Everything happens for a reason! Nothing happens by chance or by means of good luck. Illness, injury, love,lost moments of true greatness and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul. Without these small tests, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere, safe and comfortable but dull and utterly pointless.
The people you meet affect your life. The successes and downfalls that you experience can create who you are, and the bad experiences can be learned from.... In fact, they are probably the most poignant and important ones. If someone hurts you, betrays you or breaks your heart, forgive them because they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to whom you open your heart. If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally not only because they love you, but also because they are teaching you to love and open your heart and eyes to little things.
MAKE EVERYDAY COUNT! Appreciate every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can, for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk to people who you have never talked to before, and actually listen. Let yourself fall in love, even if it doesn't seem right because you are too young or too far, just follow your heart. Surround yourself with those who make you smile, laugh, and make you happy.
Break free and set your sights high. Hold your head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in yourself, no one else will believe in you. Create your own life then LET GO and LIVE IT!
Author Unknown
Everything happens for a reason! Nothing happens by chance or by means of good luck. Illness, injury, love,lost moments of true greatness and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul. Without these small tests, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere, safe and comfortable but dull and utterly pointless.
The people you meet affect your life. The successes and downfalls that you experience can create who you are, and the bad experiences can be learned from.... In fact, they are probably the most poignant and important ones. If someone hurts you, betrays you or breaks your heart, forgive them because they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to whom you open your heart. If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally not only because they love you, but also because they are teaching you to love and open your heart and eyes to little things.
MAKE EVERYDAY COUNT! Appreciate every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can, for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk to people who you have never talked to before, and actually listen. Let yourself fall in love, even if it doesn't seem right because you are too young or too far, just follow your heart. Surround yourself with those who make you smile, laugh, and make you happy.
Break free and set your sights high. Hold your head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in yourself, no one else will believe in you. Create your own life then LET GO and LIVE IT!
Author Unknown
In closing, I would like to share from Ecclesiastes 4:12, “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Now apply that to the marriage relationship. Three cords – God, the husband, and the wife. Wow! Can you even imagine the power in that? It means that you are bound together in your marriage with the Creator of the Universe. There is enough power to overcome all obstacles, to love unconditionally, and to have a marriage that you cherish. That is where we stand right now. I hope you have enjoyed visiting with me. Please keep in touch!
Still Growing in Christ,
Tanya
1 comment:
I am so excited you have started a blog. Thank you for sharing your heart! I am looking foward to reading more!
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