Joy in the presence of the angels!

This morning I dragged myself out of bed and plunked down on the couch, opened my Bible, and started rubbing the sleepyheads out of my eyes so I could read. I do not like mornings. As far as I'm concerned the only thing good about them is the fact that no one else is up, so I can have some solitude with the Lord before the rush of the day begins. As I peered at the first chapter of Colossians I realized that I was not alone. I heard a pair of little feet slapping down the stairs. My youngest daughter appeared, looking just as sleepy as I was.

Great. There went my devoes. I thought. I said, "Hi, sweetie, come sit with me." Maybe I can get some reading in this way. She snuggled up, and I commenced reading out loud, so she wouldn't feel the need to squirm or talk to me. I got to this part:

Colossians 1:12-13 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: (13) Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

And I began to think, she has no idea what this means. I read the next verse;

Colossians 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

Then the Holy Spirit prompted me to ask, "Do you know what redemption means?"

"Uuuuuh, no."

Again, the Lord pushed me to explain this word to her. There is a wonderful story about a little boy who made himself a sail boat, that he loved, and when he went to the river to play with it, the wind blew it away. He saw it go in to the rapids, where there was a big fall, and he thought it was lost to him forever. Then one day he saw his sail boat in a store window. Not only had it survived the falls, someone had found it! When he asked the store owner for it, he found out that it was still lost to him, because in order to get it, he would have to pay the full price for it. He loved his boat so much that he brought money to pay for it, and redeem it.

I told her this story, and explained, that was what Jesus did for us. He made us, and He loves us. But our sin will take us to Hell, and we will be lost to Him, so He paid for us to be redeemed back to Himself, to take away our sin, and the price he paid wasn't money, it was His own blood. That's why it says, "In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." All we have to do is repent of our sins and receive His gift of eternal life!

"I want to do that! Right now!"

Thank God for this! Isn't it wonderful to see His Spirit working in the lives of our children? Elisabeth had made a profession of faith, but I sensed she didn't understand everything she had done, and last week, the Lord put a burden on my heart to pray for her, that God would make clear to her if she was saved. My prayer was answered a couple days ago when she told me frankly that she was not saved and going to hell, because she was a sinner and couldn't stop sinning. At that time, she didn't accept Christ. Sometimes it takes time for the Holy Spirit to work each part of the gospel through our hearts. I didn't push it. This time, I could see the lights come on. No, she didn't want to wait another minute, Jesus had paid for her sin, and she wanted to receive eternal life right now! I told her to tell Jesus! She did, very simply and frankly, ask Jesus to forgive her, and take away her sin so she could live in Heaven with Him. Then she jumped up, eager to tell everyone, "How do you say 'I got saved' in Spanish?"

I don't think I'll ever complain about having my personal devotions interrupted!

Furlough adventure

Someone gave us a van to help us finish up furlough. It's a blessing, and I'd love to have pictures of it, except it is in Oregon; more on that later. We were trying to figure out the best way to get the van to California, and Ryan decided to tow our blue van with the new one, after consulting with a hauling company as to the best way to do this. We had a meeting in Oregon on Sunday, another meeting on Wednesday, and then a long drive on Thursday down to Northern Cali where my parents are. We prayed before we went that Lord would protect us, and show us if anything is not safe.

Things started happening on Sunday. We drove out of Vancouver, Washington early in the morning, took it slow towing the van, and drove for two hours on the freeway, going 55-60 miles per hour. Right before the exit we needed to take, the back wheels started to slide around. Ryan stopped and checked the tow bar, thinking that if anything was wrong, that would be it. But it was fine, so he got back in and we drove slowly to the off ramp. Right after we took the off ramp we felt a huge bump, then SCRAAPE. Ryan pulled over. Our left rear wheel was lying on the road next to our van, and long white mark on the asphalt showed where it had come off.

Ryan called the pastor, and he came out with a mechanic from the church. No serious damage was done; only loose lug nuts. However, when the mechanic took a look under the tires, he saw that the brakes were all bad! Here we are, planning to tow another van up and down mountain ranges with bad brakes!

Coincidentally, the mechanic happened to have a van exactly like ours that he happened to be using for spare parts. He replaced the brakes for us, and we got back on our way. I'm so thankful for the way God protected us.

On Thursday, Ryan was more than skeptical about our towing arrangement, and he was not happy with the way it was moving at all. We made it down to Medford, Oregon, and stopped there. Our van is waiting in a church parking lot. Ryan is going to get it next week.

Neither of these vans are going to be able to be imported to Mexico City. When we go, we will have to buy a vehicle there, because of new laws that have been made. We are praying about this, and we don't know how God is going to supply this need, but we do know He will provide. How can we doubt when He's taken such good care of us every step of the way?

Rejoice with me!

The Lord never ceases to amaze me. He did a wonderful work, one that I could never do in the past month.

We went to a church service on May 20th, the day a precious little boy by the name of Josiah Herring, age 5, was born into eternity to be with his "Best Friend". This church had been praying for Josiah, and his death was announced in the service, along with requests to pray for his family. My two young girls, Elisabeth and Rebecca, were sobered by this. We had shared the gospel with them, but they both didn't really think it was important to deal with it right away. When they asked me again how old he was, my husband and I took a moment to talk about death. We told them that, just like everyone has a day to be born, they also have a day to die. God knows this day, and we do not. It's important to be ready for eternity! Both of them were under conviction.

About three weeks passed. Then one morning while I was fixing Rebecca's hair, Elisabeth announced, out of the blue, "I'm ready to die now!" Well, those are words that make a mommy take notice! I asked her what on earth she was talking about. She repeated herself, in a matter of fact way, with a big smile on her face. When I asked her why, she said, "I'll go to Jesus!"

"How do you know that?"

"Cause Jesus took my sin away!"

"How do you know He did?"

"Cause I asked Him to!"

"Why did you want Him to take your sin away?"

"Cause it was going to take me to Hell, and I don't want to go there!"

She was so happy and content, and I had not seen her like that in a long time. I continued asking questions, and learned that the night before, June 9, She got out of bed, knelt down and asked Jesus to take away her sin and save her. She told Him thank you for dying for her, and for saving her. Then she went back to bed and slept.

I was, and still am amazed by this work the Holy Spirit did on my daughter, while I did not even know about it. This is not the end of the story though! A few days ago, my second daughter, Rebecca, came storming into our room about two hours after I had sent her and her sisters to bed. She was gasping and sobbing broken heartedly. She choked out, "I want to accept Jesus as my Saviour!" Again, we started asking questions to make sure she knew what she was doing, but that was just foolishness on our part. She knew exactly what she was doing, and this senseless delay was upsetting her even more. She cried, "I'm gonna die and go ta Hell! I wanna get saved!"

What can you say to that? We said, "Go ahead then!"

I watched my daughter drop to her knees and cry out, "Oh God! I'm so so sorry for all my sins! I've done so many bad things! Please, please forgive me!"

That was it! When she raised up her head, a smile started to shine. Ryan asked her, "Did He do it?" She said loudly, "Yessss!"

Rebecca and Elisabeth are two different little girls today! They have peace with God, and it shows. Do you have peace with God? Do you know what will happen to your soul when you die? God is not willing for you to perish!(2 Peter 3:9) Are you willing to repent of your sins and accept His gift of eternal life? If you are, then He is ready to save you! "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." II Cor. 5:21--John 3:16 says it better than I ever could, "For God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

My heart goes out to the Herring family, I can't imagine what they've been through, and even though they don't know me, I've been holding them up in prayer. I'm so thankful for the life of their son. One day, I'm going to see him in Heaven, and I'm going to give him a hug and tell him "Thank you for your testimony!, here are two precious souls that were brought to Jesus!"

Ok, ok, you pulled my arm!!!

I can't stand keeping good secrets like this. I'm going to spill it, even though I don't have a picture because the item in question is getting resized.

Ok, I must go back two years to the sad day that I realized our wedding rings were really and truly gone, along with several items from our van. I was hoping I had not been so stupid as to leave the little pouch with my ring in the van. I hoped that for months. (It's called denial.) It was my fault; I should know better, but a day hasn't gone by that I haven't thought about my empty hand with a touch of sadness. I'm not one to wallow deeply in my pit of self pity, but I felt BAD about this.

So on Valentine's Day this year, my husband asked me to make a picnic lunch, and he drug out the picnic basket I used the day he asked me to marry him-he said the kids would think it was fun, or something. We piled into the van, and he said that since it was Valentines Day, he thought it would would be a good idea to show the kids "the place" where he proposed, since we were in the area. This was a good idea-even though it looked like rain, we set out to the redwood grove, where a little stream rushed near the road.

I love the redwoods. I love the clean, wet smell, and the feeling of being so small surrounded by straight, dark posts of the trees. No rain reached the floor where we walked, and I was just delighted that the kids could enjoy this too. When we reached the stream, and the small gravel bank where I accepted my husband's proposal, he started to tell the kids how it had happened. They were more excited by the running water, and plunk of the rocks they were throwing into it.

You've guessed what was next, I'm sure, but I was taken completely by surprize! When he got to the point in the story where he gave me the ring, he got down on one knee and gave me a ring!!! (Please pardon my overuse of exclamation points. I can't help myself.) Then I squealed, and jumped around, and hugged my sweet husband while the kids threw more rocks in the water. Someday they are going to say to themselves, "Wow, I was there when Dad gave Mom her ring! That's cool!"

I'm so thankful for my husband, for his love, and for his care of me. This action turned something that hurt just a little every day into something that makes me smile every time I think about it.

Oh, and I LOVE IT. (Sorry for yelling, I can't help myself!!!!!)

Spiritual truths are beginning to sink in!

You never know when your little ones can make practical application of spiritual principals.

I was standing at the sink, washing dishes (It's amazing how many of my stories start with me washing dishes.) and teaching a lesson on temptation. It went something like this.

"The Bible says we need to resist temptation, and the God gives us a way to escape it. Think about temptation this way; Let's say Mommy made up a plate of cookies, left it on the counter, and said, 'don't touch the cookies' on my way out. Then you were standing in the kitchen thinking, 'MMMMM! Those look good! I want one! I want to take one!'

That's temptation, and you should resist it. Say, "I'm not going to disobey!" Tell yourself a Bible verse that can help you like 'Children obey your parents...' and then go find something else to do. Pray and sing a song, and that temptation will stop."

As I was finishing up the last of the dishes, David came up to Ruth, who was standing on a stool helping me. He began making a general pest of himself, pulling at her socks and her dress and whining. Suddenly Ruth shouted, "MOMMY! IS THIS TEMPTATION?"

"Why, what do you want to do?"

"I want to kick him in the face!"

"YES! That's temptation! DON'T DO IT!"

Ruth jumped off the stool and said firmly to David, "I'm NOT going to kick you!" Away she flounced whistling a tune.

Nice to know the lesson made a difference!

Joy In Heaven!

A young lady came to me several weeks ago, concerned about the state of her soul. She was young, but you don't need to have a college degree to understand the gospel of Christ. That she was under conviction was no doubt. She told me that her sins were going to take her to a place called hell. She wanted to know what she needed to do in order to be saved. I had been dealing with her for a while, helping her to understand these things, and now I could see that the Lord was opening her eyes. I felt a strong check not to tell her to pray. Instead, I showed her from the Bible how she needed to call upon the name of the Lord, confess the Lord with her mouth. She asked me what she should say, so I asked her what she wanted Jesus to do for her. She said, "I want him to take away my sins so I can go to heaven!" I asked, "Do you believe He will do this?" She looked uncertain. I said, "That's what it means when it says 'whosoever believeth on him shall have everlasting life'. You believe Jesus saves you, and you repent, or turn away from your sins." After a moment of thought, she asked, "Didn't you tell me Jesus hears my thinking?" I perceived that the one thing that was holding her back was being embarrassed to pray out loud. I said the first thing that came into my mind, which was from Matthew 10:32, "You know, one day Jesus is going to confess my name to the Father when it's time to judge my sins, and He's going to say, 'That's Sarah! I saved her and paid for her sin to be removed with my blood!' Why wouldn't I speak His name with my mouth when I asked Him to save me?"

I waited and she did something extraordinary. She laid down flat on her face and clasped her hands in front of her nose and began to pray loudly and earnestly. The only problem was, I couldn't understand what she was saying because her face was pressed so close to the ground. But Someone did hear her, and He understood her perfectly! She got up after about thirty seconds of prayer, and her face was shining. I asked her what happened. She said delightedly, "Jesus saved me!"

There is joy in Heaven over one sinner that repents, and there is much joy in our house at the salvation of this soul, because we are called to win our own children to Christ every bit as much as we are to reach the souls of Mexico for Him. I'm so thankful my Ruth has found peace with Christ. Our Lord is good, is He not?

A Mommy Moment

I have a thing about laughing frequently. I need it. There are times to be sober, but if I pass up the times God provides for a good loud shout of laughter, I'm always sorry later when some stress comes up and muddles my thinking. I think laughter clears the cobwebs out and clarifies the emotions just a bit.

While I was washing my never ending pile of dishes, part of my mind was on the three girls near my feet, playing with my laundry basket. They had their entire collection of colorful ponies in there, and it was setting sail about the room in what appeared to be a gale. The basket was swooping around the room like a wild thing. All six little hands were clinging to it at it swirled, dipped, and careened about. I could only imagine that those poor horsies were thinking they were going to sue the socks off their travel agent if they ever made it safely to the stable again. I said the first thing that popped into my head.

"Ooo! If I were in there it would make me sick to my stomach!"

Instantly the room was filled the groans, moans, and retching of eight plastic ponies as they were all struck by a wave of seasickness. I look again, and sure enough, each nose has been turned out to lean over the edge of the basket.

I had to stop working and sit on the floor to get through that fit of laughter.

There was only one thing I could say after that.

"You guys better clean up all that pony puke!"

But then again, maybe you have to be a Mommy to think this is funny...

Wrapping up the story

Meeting on Tuesdays and Thursdays left half the campus thinking we were nutty. during the week, someone asked me every day if we hadn't broken up, because we didn't sit together in chapel, or eat lunch together. Here is some of the reasoning for Ryan's decisions to carry on this way. It was good counsel that pointed him in this direction, and I am still thankful to that godly friend of his.

1. In relationships, time together increases a couple's personal knowledge of each other. Spending much time with someone daily gives a lot of knowledge rather quickly. (At our school, that knowledge is gained through conversation, not physical contact, in case you were wondering!) Then there is a problem, because common sense will kick in and tell them that they've shared a special part of themselves with someone they do not know very well. They have not built trust, so they fear that person. Suddenly there is suspicion, which hurts the relationship early on, and many do not survive at this point. A couple that spends their waking hours together has to talk about something. Once they know what the other thinks about surface happenings and life issues, the conversation is driven to topics that are best reserved for someone you can trust and are going to marry. I've personally seen this happen over and over again. So meeting just twice a week gave us a lot to talk about, although we knew each other pretty well already.

2. Another problem with spending an inordinate amount of time with a prospective spouse early on is a Christian ought to be spending an inordinate amount of time in prayer about that spouse. While Ryan was already 100% sure about me, I needed that time. It was then that God gave me assurance that Ryan was God's calling on my life. I've told girls that if they don't carve out time to pray, not regular devotional time, but a hefty hunk of time from their day, they might marry the right person (or not!), but the relationship will not have the safety and assurance of knowing by faith. I know what it's like to have a courtship based on mutual faith, and let me tell you, there's a lot less drama, a lot more peace. As I said before, after that time in prayer, there was never a doubt.

This went on for the rest of the semester. At summer break we went our separate ways, Ryan made plans to come visit my family during towards the end of the break. Ryan was expecting to pop "the question" to my dad, and plan for an engagement maybe during the Christmas break. It didn't quite work out that way. They went out for a long powow at a restaurant. My dad and Ryan both came back from that acting mysterious and grinning fit to split their faces. The next day, Ryan went shopping by himself, and my mom told me to prepare a picnic lunch for a "special date." HM. I wonder what is going on??? He came back and went went for a drive with me to the redwood forest not far from my parent's home. We had our picnic there and he asked me to marry him. Then he told me how God had shown him that I was going to be his wife from the Bible. He also told me how the restaurant visit with my dad went.

My dad: Do you love my daughter?

Ryan: Yes.

My dad: Have you told her so?

Ryan: No, I'm waiting till I ask her to marry me.

My dad: Well you have my permission! When were you going to ask her?

Ryan: (In a little shock) Uh, whenever's a good time...

My dad: How about tomorrow?

Ryan: Yeah!

The rest, as they say, is history folks! We got married four days after graduation. We've worked together in our home church, done deputation with toddlers, and served the Lord here in Mexico. There is nothing in the world so good as serving God in the capacity He made you for! I love it!

The plot thickens

So I wanted answers from Ryan. I was uncomfortable with several things. 1. The man needed to tell me what his intentions were. I was not going to “date” someone just to have a boyfriend. 2. I told my parents everything, and they had given me their blessing, but I wanted Ryan to go to them himself and put himself under their authority as far as I was concerned. 3. This hanging out thing was making me vaguely nervous. Before the spring break, we had spent about two weeks, taking nearly all our spare time together. Something told me this wasn’t healthy, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

When I saw Ryan after the spring break, I cut right to the chase. I opened my mouth to say, “We need to talk!” And instead I heard those very words coming from him. “Great!”

We sat down and he dove in,

“I’ve spent a lot of time in prayer about this, and I don’t want to scare you away, so tell me if I’m going too fast here. From now on, I would like to court you for the purpose of marriage. God showed me while you were gone that you were going to be my wife, and I want to make it clear what we are doing and where we are going with it.”

OOOOOOKAAAAAY! If I needed clarification, it doesn’t get much clearer than that! You know when I tell this to young ladies, their eyes get wide, and they shake their head in wonder that I didn’t run for the hills. But I couldn’t run from this one, because point by point, Ryan began to tell me every single concern that was on my heart, and address those concerns, even things I never told anyone, like how uncomfortable I was of the “dating scene”. He went on.

“First, I need to talk to your parents and get their permission to court you.”

Check #2 topic to discuss.

“If they say yes, we are going to have rules.”

Rules???

“We’ve got plenty of time to build a relationship and get to know one another. We don’t need to spend every waking moment together. I’d like to have two days a week together. The rest of the time, you take praying and seeking the Lord about me.”

Ok, you have to admit with me, that one was weird. I had never heard anything like that before, and I wasn’t too sure about it at first. But there was this nudging of the Spirit telling me that every one of the things I had prayed about was answered just now, and like it or not, it was the work of the Lord.

I told him yes, we’ll do it, and we went to call my parents. Then I asked him how he “knew”. He said, “I’ll tell you later.” I didn’t get to hear the next part till after we were engaged!

If you’ve stuck around this long, Reader, you are to be congratulated! This is the best part, I promise! Well, *I* like it anyway.

This is how Ryan “knew”. He fasted and prayed about me, because it was obvious to him that the Lord was doing something. Ten days into his fast, he was (I can’t imagine why) hungry. He was getting ready to read his morning Bible passage, and he prayed, “Lord, I would like to eat today. If you want me to end my fast, I pray that you would let me know! I’m hungry! And would you let me know if Sarah is going to be my wife?”

Then he opened his Bible to the passage he had been reading daily in, which was Ecclesiastes 9:7-9;

(7) Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
(8) Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.
(9) Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labor which thou takest under the sun.

Guess it doesn't get more clear than that either.

The time I had to pray really solidified it for me. God made it 100% clear to me that this was God's plan for my life. I'll be honest, there were a few moments of doubt. That time in prayer gave God the opportunity to dig down into my heart and show me that there was still a root of fear. When I finally gave that fear to God and surrendered to Him completely, my heart was still enough to hear His still, small voice, which was saying, "Go for it!" After that, there was never a moment of doubt.

Well there's more and I'm out of time again! Next time I'll talk about meeting on Tuesdays and Thursdays, people thinking we were crazy, and an engagement that surprised Ryan! (Thanks Dad! :D)

More Mush! :D

I tried to figure out how to go on with the story where I left off, but I have to backtrack a little bit. I am amazed by God's perfect timing, and His wonderful patience with me. I really struggled in the area of surrender to God's will, and for years, I didn't even realize how stubborn I was being.

I would pray, "God, I will do anything you ask me to! Please use me. Anything."

God would say, "What about this?" "This" was not always missions; just something I was not willing to do. Usually though, it was missions. Every time I saw a missionary family, or read a biography, His still, small voice would whisper, "What about this? What if this was my plan for your life?"

I had a well prepared answer that worked well for me. "Well! That's not my calling! I'm not called to 'missions'! I don't even have to think about that!" On to the next thing! (Quickly!)

Such a patient, loving Savior we have! And so meek! I had no idea how disgusted God is by rebellion. He still blessed me, loved me, led me, and helped me grow. Then one day it changed, because God had mercy on me, and gave me a little glimpse of His heart, where my heart was concerned.

I was walking down the hallway in the North Auditorium at the church, heading to class, and I passed by a room where a student was kneeling to pray. This fellow did this often, and I knew who it was immediately. I felt that Holy Spirit question again, "What if I called you to marry someone like that?" Well I knew it was most definitely not going to be someone like that, because that particular individual was outspokenly called to the mission field. On to the next thing!

God had other plans. Five steps down the hallway, I was brought to a complete stop. Somehow through my stubborn, blind self-will, God saw fit to show me what He thought of my attitude. It's difficult to describe, but it almost made me want to throw up. Do you know that when we deceive ourselves into thinking we are spiritual and godly, when we aren't, it makes God sick? I know that first hand! I know this overwhelming emotion did not come from me. So I was faced with a choice. Make that "Anything" promise real, or cover up that putrid, filthy, festering corner of my heart and go on with self deception. I broke, and right there I made it real. What is my life if God can't, or won't use it? Where would I be without Him? I must find my place, wherever it is, whatever it is; the place God made me for.


Just a few days later, I was gathering up the choir books from practice with the college choir. Ryan came with his book, and I took it, and asked him how he was doing. He looked at me strangely a minute, and then answered, and we began to talk. We talked while I put away the choir books. We talked while I gathered up my school books in the back of the room. We talked while we walked to the cafeteria. (It's a long way.) We talked between bites of food. I had no idea that he had prayed halfheartedly about me that very morning. I didn't find that out till much later.

Over the next few days I realized that I needed to spend some time in prayer about this handsome young fellow. We were spending quite a bit of time together. I had no desire to date for the fun of it, even though this was lots of fun, I wanted to know what the man's intentions were. At spring break, I went to Florida, to be in my brother's wedding, and have a heart to heart with my mom and dad. I told them everything, and showed them our emails. I prayed. My parents asked plenty of questions, and gave me their blessing, as long as Ryan got their permission himself. In prayer, God helped me to clear up the questions I had. I needed Ryan to tell me exactly what he wanted to do with this relationship, or we would have to stop spending so much time together. I had no interest in casual dating.

I thought Ryan would be surprised by my deep and straightforward questions. It turned out differently. He had been doing his own praying and seeking God's will, and when I came back, what he had up his sleeve blew my mind.

I think I will be able to wrap it up in the next post.

The Love Story

We met our freshman year at West Coast Baptist College. I remember noticing a young man who always looked excited. Even at breakfast! He would bounce into the room like he was on springs, a great big grin ready to greet the other students. "GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!" While every one else murmured quietly as they nursed their coffee and peered at him out of sleep-heavy eyelids, Ryan's voice filled the room with enthusiasm. "THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HATH MADE!" He would stand in line for breakfast and attempt to carry on a conversation with the sleep-walker next to him in line. "BEAUTIFUL DAY, ISN'T IT!" "mmhm..."

He was hard to miss. I must admit to the fact that I was one of those grunting, coffee slurping sleepwalkers. I didn't know that he was on his first walk of faith. He was thrilled to be saved, thrilled to be out of the world and into God's family, learning how to walk with God. He did grow on me though.

He asked me out to one of the social events. It was a Christmas Banquet. I went and enjoyed his company, and we ate some meals in the cafeteria together afterwards and sat in chapel together a few times. I knew he was interested, but we weren't dating. (In my opinion!)

At Christmas break, I thought and prayed a little more about letting him continue to pursue me, and the more I thought and prayed, the more uncomfortable I was about it. I needed to focus on the task at hand, and get going as a student. The Lord made it clear that this was a bad time for distractions. So after the break, I told him what I was thinking, and he agreed.

That's my story anyway. Ryan says I fell out of God's will and dumped him. (He's joking.)

Fast forward to the second semester of our sophomore year. Ryan had a roomate who had become my friend because we were in a lot of ministries together. One night while Ryan was trying to sleep, his roomate said, "Hey! I know the perfect girl for you!" out of the blue.

"What! I'm trying to sleep!"

"No c'mon! I know just the one!"

"Ok, tell me fast, because I want to be asleep."

"Sarah Margerison!"

"No way! She dumped me our freshman year!"

"Promise me you'll pray about it?"

"Sure, just let me go to sleep!"

The next morning, he remembered his promise, and prayed briefly in order to keep his word, "Lord, if you will open a door, I'll go through it."

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Actually, there is a lot more, and the best part of our courtship is yet to come, but I'm out of time, so you'll have to wait!

No, I was not corrupted!

I am being asked if I faltered over the temptation offered me, which I talked about in the previous post.

No, I did not. It broke my heart, but I was strong.

And I think Ryan did shaow with me at the end of the day.

The Crafty One

I love Jalapeño Potato Chips. The ones you get in the United States are BLAH, but here, there is this zing, and a nose-tingling spicy bite as well. I gain four ounces every time I think about them. We were surprised to find little beggars at our ankles every time we break open a pack. Never ones to withhold goodness from our children, we have kids who will sit happily with tear-filled eyes eating spicy salsa, chips, or Mexican chili candy. (On a side note, why is it "too spicy, Mommy!" when it's something they don't like???)

My husband will come in with a bag he bought and tourture us for several days not eating it, and not letting us eat it, because it's his. Then he will open it, and contend with four beggers and one wife who will not beg, but sneaks a longing look at the bag periodically. He usually leaves a little over half the bag for us-he's generous.

One day a little more than a year ago, he was not feeling generous for some reason. there was the green potato chip bag sitting at his desk, half eaten. My mouth began to water as he was getting ready to go out and work with someone, but the last thing he said to me was, "Don't touch my potato chips!" Then he left. I'm not sure what possessed him to do something so cruel, as he's not normally a mean person, but you know, we all have our bad days. So I went about my day, determined to ignore the salivating I experienced every time I looked at that open bag of chips.

I guess I was not the only one. Becca is four now, but at this time, she was only two and a half. She was already trying out ways to manipulate us. Suddenly she came running in to where I was, panting effectively, eyes wide. She said, "I scaowed Mommy!" (scared, for those not fluent in toddlerish.) She had no solid reason for being "scaowed", no unusual noises, nothing going on, and finally I asked her, after much fruitless searching for the cause of her fear, "What do you want me to do about it?"

"I want Daddy!"

"Well, Daddy's not here right now, but he'll be back tonight." Here I was thinking, Aw, that's so cute, she wants her Daddy.

"I could eat Daddy's chips!"

I was a little stunned at this, then gave a shout of laughter, which broke down her little game. She was ready to go for broke. She gave me a hug looked at me earnestly, and said, "Mommy, we could shaow!"

Call me Mrs. Case, or Space if you want to.

I have to tell on myself because this is so funny I can't keep it to myself.

It all started with a crabby, teething little baby boy-it is good to have someone to blame it on... I was trying to feed him before church-nothing doing. He struggled and fought when anything touched his gums no matter what it was. (Tooth just breaking the surface.) Finally I looked at the clock and realized I was running late. Remember that I live right on the church campus. Out my front door to the left is the temple where they hold adult services, and to the right across the dirt parking lot is the trailer where the nursery is. Behind our apartments are parked buses that are converted into classes. Ruth and Rebecca were already there, because Ryan took them, and he was waiting for me in the service. I locked the front door, baby on hip, purse on arm and Elisabeth in hand.

The moment I shut the door I had this sinking feeling. What is wrong? Why is there this klaxon going off in my head like I just sealed the gate of doom? I looked at my feet. I was wearing house slippers. They were flip flop types, with no piece between the toe. Very casual. Not only that, worn to shreds. But over my nylons. Yes, very geeky.

And that was not all, oh no. I took the babies to their class, and walk/ran to the temple, thankful that the service was starting late, (Mexico is wonderful that way) and made my confession to Ryan. I pointed at my peeping toes and said, "Just look at what I noticed right after I locked the door!"

He looked at me unbelievingly, like I was joking.

"Keys, please! I have to get back!"

"You're kidding me."

"No I'm not, look at my flip flops! C'mon!" (Outstretched hand dancing impatiently.)

"Sarah, I don't have the keys."

(This explains the klaxon.)

SO, after the invitation, while they were taking a special offering for something, I slipped out, got my most agile child out of her class in the bus (Ruth) took a screen off one of my windows, opened it, and put her inside to open the door for me. All the while grinning sheepishly at the ushers who were walking by laughing at me.

Oh, I almost forgot. Remember the whole baby fighting off dinner incident??? After I sat down for the service, feet tucked firmly under my chair, I looked down at my dress, and there, I saw my son's dinner on my chest. I must have looked funny hugging my open Bible on top of my purse in the back of the church with my feet under my chair. OH WELL! Praise the Lord it was a great service! I am sure no one noticed, you know how it is when you feel like the dorkiest person alive though...