I realized today, the day before Easter 2016, that God had worked some pretty amazing miracles through me and my husband during this time of year again and again.
Let's go back to 1989. I think it was 1989. This was actually before I met my husband Mark. Back when we were each struggling with life in our own ways, on separate paths. The Saturday before Easter in 1989 was the night that Mark's soon-to-be step-father Smoky died in a car crash on his way home from a local watering hole. Now, please understand that my telling of this story may not be accurate as I'm just recalling the details as I remember hearing them over the years. Smoky was ready to clean up his life and this was like a final hurrah to drinking with the boys. He couldn't find a lift home that night and ended up getting a ride with a buddy who was too drunk to be driving. Smoky died and the driver survived. I've heard stories that the driver has never had a drink since. Do you see the blessing in this tragedy?
Let me tell you, if you open your heart and your mind you'll be able to see blessings in just about every event.
The next major miracle near Easter is my story. I know all of the details for this one! The date was Sunday, March 27, 1994. I was meeting a man who I had only spoken to on the phone. I lived in Richmond, VA at this time and I actually took a wrong turn and was headed in the wrong direction to meet him. I got myself turned around and I distinctly remember hearing a voice telling me to turn around. Danger! I was 29 years old at the time and I decided to ignore the message. BIG mistake. The guy I met for lunch invited me to see something in his hotel room and I went. Mistake #2, right? He physically and sexually assaulted me. He had his hands around my throat and told me if I screamed again he would kill me. At the time, I had two small children, who were spending the weekend with their Dad. I remember thinking all I wanted to do was live to see my precious babies again. I made a "deal" with God. I said, "God, if you let me live, I will do whatever you want. Please, don't let him kill me. I don't want my babies to grow up without their mama." I was able to escape, immediately raced to the front desk of the hotel and called 911. The police arrived and arrested him on the spot. I testified before a grand jury and a trial date was set. And then the day before the trail I was told that the State's Attorney General was dismissing the case. What? So this man was set free to do this to other women. And judging from the scars he wore, I was not the first woman who had fought him. So for years, the date and memories of this always left me feeling sad for myself. Sad for all that I lost on that day. My relationship with my children was forever changed that day. I struggled with clinical depression. I had several very dark years and numerous unhealthy and failed relationships. There were and are blessings in this tragedy.
I remember making a list of all of the qualities that I wanted in a man. I also remember coming to a point in my life where I was just happy with me, happy with whatever was before me and I no longer focused on if I would ever find someone to love me. I loved me and God loved me (this I always always knew) and that was enough.
Enter Mark Roszelle into my life in 1998. Our first date (which was a blind date) was on my Mother's birthday. To this day, we still celebrate that date as our "anniversary". A lot of healing had taken place for both of us before we met and a lot of healing has taken place since that wonderful day in August, 1998. We spent years blending our families. Mark has a daughter the same age as my second child. Life was really interesting during the teenage years, let me tell ya! I could probably write an entire book on the many trials we "survived" during that time period!
So let's fast forward to Easter 2015, just a year ago. At this time, we were still adjusting to having my 2nd child (now an adult) and her husband and their infant daughter living with us. We had decided, on a whim, to go to the nearby Dairy Queen and get a treat on the Saturday night before Easter Sunday. We both noticed a couple in the parking lot and it appeared they may be having some issues with their car. We asked if we could help, we exchanged phone numbers with them and offered to give them a ride to a nearby hotel. They declined the ride and chose to stay with their vehicle. The next morning, Easter Sunday, around 9:00 am my phone rings and its the woman. They had spent the night in their car. They actually attempted to drive home (I think they were heading to NY) and then turned around and went back to the parking area of the DQ because of the way their car was acting. So we contacted our local mechanic and bless his heart if he didn't take time away from him family to go and try to help them on Easter Sunday. We ended up giving them a lift to a local hotel near the dealership of where their car was going to be towed. They were SO appreciative that these perfect strangers were willing to help them. For Mark and I, it was a blessing to be able to help someone in need. We've both been in some pretty dark places before and people have gone out of their way to help us, time and time again.
So this brings me to today, March 26, 2016, the Saturday before Easter Sunday. Mark and I were just enjoying being able to spend some time together and our mission for the day was to purchase a new lawn mower. Whoop! Mark asked me if I wanted to go down the interstate or the back road. I always take the back road. I said it so much prettier and we can enjoy the scenery. So we are traveling down the back road when we pop over a hill and we see this tiny little woman dragging not one but two big suitcases on rollers. We speed past her and we are both like, "What was that? Did you see her? Oh my goodness! Should we turn around and help her?" So, I think you know that we turned around, right? Heck ya. Here is this tiny little woman, I mean not more than 5' and probably not even 100 lbs and she is dragging these two big cases AND she has a flexible pet carrier across her body and is carrying her blind chiwawa dog. We asked her if she needed some help and she did not hesitate, she said YES! She knew exactly where she was heading, she had a coupon for a Motel 6 and she already knew that they would rent her a room with the dog along. So we loaded up her stuff in the back of our F-250 and away we go to take her to the Motel 6. We learned a little more of her story on the drive. She's pretty amazing. I can't imagine living my life from moment to moment relying on the goodness of others to help me. She did not seemed stressed or anxious. She was very grateful. We gave her what we could and then asked her if she would like to come to church with us for Easter Sunday. She said, "Oh yes! I was hoping I would be in Fredericksburg by now but I'm not. I'd really like to go to your church." So before we left her, we prayed with her and let her know we'd be back in the morning to bring her and her dog to church. Mark let me know that he learned a very valuable lesson today. The lesson is to be grateful for what we have. There is always someone who is struggling more than us. We are grateful that once again, over the Easter weekend, God has put us in the right place at the right time and that we have once again been able to be a blessing to others. I can't wait to see what He is going to do tomorrow!
Let's go back to 1989. I think it was 1989. This was actually before I met my husband Mark. Back when we were each struggling with life in our own ways, on separate paths. The Saturday before Easter in 1989 was the night that Mark's soon-to-be step-father Smoky died in a car crash on his way home from a local watering hole. Now, please understand that my telling of this story may not be accurate as I'm just recalling the details as I remember hearing them over the years. Smoky was ready to clean up his life and this was like a final hurrah to drinking with the boys. He couldn't find a lift home that night and ended up getting a ride with a buddy who was too drunk to be driving. Smoky died and the driver survived. I've heard stories that the driver has never had a drink since. Do you see the blessing in this tragedy?
Let me tell you, if you open your heart and your mind you'll be able to see blessings in just about every event.
The next major miracle near Easter is my story. I know all of the details for this one! The date was Sunday, March 27, 1994. I was meeting a man who I had only spoken to on the phone. I lived in Richmond, VA at this time and I actually took a wrong turn and was headed in the wrong direction to meet him. I got myself turned around and I distinctly remember hearing a voice telling me to turn around. Danger! I was 29 years old at the time and I decided to ignore the message. BIG mistake. The guy I met for lunch invited me to see something in his hotel room and I went. Mistake #2, right? He physically and sexually assaulted me. He had his hands around my throat and told me if I screamed again he would kill me. At the time, I had two small children, who were spending the weekend with their Dad. I remember thinking all I wanted to do was live to see my precious babies again. I made a "deal" with God. I said, "God, if you let me live, I will do whatever you want. Please, don't let him kill me. I don't want my babies to grow up without their mama." I was able to escape, immediately raced to the front desk of the hotel and called 911. The police arrived and arrested him on the spot. I testified before a grand jury and a trial date was set. And then the day before the trail I was told that the State's Attorney General was dismissing the case. What? So this man was set free to do this to other women. And judging from the scars he wore, I was not the first woman who had fought him. So for years, the date and memories of this always left me feeling sad for myself. Sad for all that I lost on that day. My relationship with my children was forever changed that day. I struggled with clinical depression. I had several very dark years and numerous unhealthy and failed relationships. There were and are blessings in this tragedy.
I remember making a list of all of the qualities that I wanted in a man. I also remember coming to a point in my life where I was just happy with me, happy with whatever was before me and I no longer focused on if I would ever find someone to love me. I loved me and God loved me (this I always always knew) and that was enough.
Enter Mark Roszelle into my life in 1998. Our first date (which was a blind date) was on my Mother's birthday. To this day, we still celebrate that date as our "anniversary". A lot of healing had taken place for both of us before we met and a lot of healing has taken place since that wonderful day in August, 1998. We spent years blending our families. Mark has a daughter the same age as my second child. Life was really interesting during the teenage years, let me tell ya! I could probably write an entire book on the many trials we "survived" during that time period!
So let's fast forward to Easter 2015, just a year ago. At this time, we were still adjusting to having my 2nd child (now an adult) and her husband and their infant daughter living with us. We had decided, on a whim, to go to the nearby Dairy Queen and get a treat on the Saturday night before Easter Sunday. We both noticed a couple in the parking lot and it appeared they may be having some issues with their car. We asked if we could help, we exchanged phone numbers with them and offered to give them a ride to a nearby hotel. They declined the ride and chose to stay with their vehicle. The next morning, Easter Sunday, around 9:00 am my phone rings and its the woman. They had spent the night in their car. They actually attempted to drive home (I think they were heading to NY) and then turned around and went back to the parking area of the DQ because of the way their car was acting. So we contacted our local mechanic and bless his heart if he didn't take time away from him family to go and try to help them on Easter Sunday. We ended up giving them a lift to a local hotel near the dealership of where their car was going to be towed. They were SO appreciative that these perfect strangers were willing to help them. For Mark and I, it was a blessing to be able to help someone in need. We've both been in some pretty dark places before and people have gone out of their way to help us, time and time again.
So this brings me to today, March 26, 2016, the Saturday before Easter Sunday. Mark and I were just enjoying being able to spend some time together and our mission for the day was to purchase a new lawn mower. Whoop! Mark asked me if I wanted to go down the interstate or the back road. I always take the back road. I said it so much prettier and we can enjoy the scenery. So we are traveling down the back road when we pop over a hill and we see this tiny little woman dragging not one but two big suitcases on rollers. We speed past her and we are both like, "What was that? Did you see her? Oh my goodness! Should we turn around and help her?" So, I think you know that we turned around, right? Heck ya. Here is this tiny little woman, I mean not more than 5' and probably not even 100 lbs and she is dragging these two big cases AND she has a flexible pet carrier across her body and is carrying her blind chiwawa dog. We asked her if she needed some help and she did not hesitate, she said YES! She knew exactly where she was heading, she had a coupon for a Motel 6 and she already knew that they would rent her a room with the dog along. So we loaded up her stuff in the back of our F-250 and away we go to take her to the Motel 6. We learned a little more of her story on the drive. She's pretty amazing. I can't imagine living my life from moment to moment relying on the goodness of others to help me. She did not seemed stressed or anxious. She was very grateful. We gave her what we could and then asked her if she would like to come to church with us for Easter Sunday. She said, "Oh yes! I was hoping I would be in Fredericksburg by now but I'm not. I'd really like to go to your church." So before we left her, we prayed with her and let her know we'd be back in the morning to bring her and her dog to church. Mark let me know that he learned a very valuable lesson today. The lesson is to be grateful for what we have. There is always someone who is struggling more than us. We are grateful that once again, over the Easter weekend, God has put us in the right place at the right time and that we have once again been able to be a blessing to others. I can't wait to see what He is going to do tomorrow!
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