Eight Years and a Lot of Reading

What were you doing eight years ago? Don't remember? I can. Baxter and I were newlyweds. We were on the last couple of days of our honeymoon in Paris. We returned on the 7th (just barely missing my birthday) and we came back to Greenville, SC to pack up and move to our new home in Savannah. Those were exhausting and scary times back then. The fresh memory of 9/11 literally smoldered over the harbor as we took off from Newark a few days prior. People were coming together in solidarity against the evil of terrorism. Baxter and I were in love - passionate, beautiful and earth-shattering love. We had made a commitment to each other that still stands today - unshaken.



I remember the move to Savannah. Our first house on 63rd Street was so cute. I did my best to decorate it like a new wife should. Baxter was fresh off the heels of closing his restaurant. We had little money when we moved and no jobs. Pretty soon, we were broke. I look back on those scary days when we were living off of 19 cent-a-pound chicken quarters from the Red and Black with so much fondness. How we survived is still a mystery to me and I just can't believe that we did. We did land jobs - good ones - and we started to make it finally. I know it was only possible because we were holding each other's hands the whole way.



Some time after we moved, I realized that I had lost my bible. I will admit, it had been a long time since I had picked it up. My early twenties were not a time in which I sought after a deeper relationship with Christ. In fact, for some time I pushed Him away. I had fallen victim to anger, pride and lust. I was living in a completely selfish way and although I loved my husband dearly, I felt an emptiness and longing that I will never forget. After neglecting the Word for so long, once I wanted it, I couldn't get my hands on it fast enough. I remember being near an outlet mall in Savannah on a weekend and demanding that Baxter, "stop the car right now!!" I was literally drawn into the Christian book store by forces beyond my control. I went straight to the Bible aisle and poured over the selections like I was looking for a long-lost child. I chose a conservative, leather-bound NKJV. I couldn't even wait until I got home to read it, I started searching through it immediately.



We shared a car for a while back then. Baxter had to be at work at 7AM so we would leave the house at 6:30 and I would drop him off at Capitol Materials before heading over to my job as an administrative assistant at Gulfstream Aerospace. After I parked, I would sit in my car and read the bible. I just started on Genesis and read it straight through. I know there are other ways to read the bible but I had read it chronologically before and not knowing what I was looking for, I just felt good to be in The Word again. Eventually, my boss told me to stop reading in my car - he would be happy to see someone reading the bible at work early in the morning! So, I started reading at my desk before the phones started ringing and before letters needed typing. Maybe that is why I still think of Gulfstream as my favorite job of all.



The purchase of that bible and the single act of dedicating myself to reading God's Word changed my life - in some ways I may never know. God had been holding my hand ever since. He has led me to reach out to people and given me strength in every adversity. God is always faithful. Sometimes, we need to remember how to come back to our own faithfulness. Prayer can be a catalyst, Christian community can be encouraging - but the scriptures are unfailing. I know that seeds were planted eight years ago. Some of them started bearing fruit quickly but others are just starting to bud. I praise God for giving me such blessings and for always looking out for me, even when I felt far away.



I continue to immerse myself in the bible. Right now I am working on praying the scriptures for my husband and my children. A couple of months ago, I was introduced to a blog called Praying My Heart Out and dedicated myself to praying the scripture for Baxter and let me just say - the fruits from this have been amazingly abundant! God is listening, but sometimes we need help to just know what to say. For my birthday, a dear friend gave me a book called Praying the Scriptures For Your Children. This has introduced a new way of praying for my children that makes so much sense to me. The words are already written - we want so many of the same things - but putting these desires into prayers for our little ones is so important.

I feel God leading me in new and exciting paths and this morning, I felt like sharing a bit of my testimony to those that read this. If you find yourself far away from God right now, I hope it has encouraged you in some way to reconnect with God's word. The power of His Word alone is amazing!