He's Leaving-My story Continued

To all my blog readers, thanks for waiting. Time just doesn't stand still for blogging. So, I left off with the announcement by Pastor Russ that he was leaving Immanuel AG in Ohio. I was not there when he made the announcement. I was still attending Westpark. I found out through my friend Dee Dee. She said, "Did you hear the news?" Pastor Russ is leaving. At first, I felt my stomach hit the floor. Then I reasoned. I said to myself, "It must not be God's plan for us. He has something better." And that was that. At his farewell party, I remember Russ with tears in his eyes as he said goodbye to the entire youth group. I didn't cry. I just gave him a hug and said goodbye. I asked for his address, so I could write to him. I happened to have my Sunday morning kids church memory verse paper in my back pocket. On the back he scribbled his parents address in Pittsburgh. I still have that paper. I held onto it because I thought I could write and encourage him.

So after I said goodbye, I left, knowing God had another plan for my life that did not include Pastor Russ.

Russ was taking a two week vacation to Florida-by himself-then going on to Pittsburgh. I really thought I would never see him again. During his vacation it happened to be my birthday. I received a small package in the mail. The return address was from Pittsburgh, PA.

First 5k of the Year

What a Glorious Day to go for a run. The announcer blared this over the microphone as we lined up for this mornings cold, but beautiful race. I called my friend Kate Thursday morning and asked her is she wanted to run a 5k on Saturday. She said, "SURE!" So starting out at 5:45 am this morning, we met up to run the "Just a Short Run" (meaning you get free shorts) for Leukemia. It was freezing! We were an hour early to register since we missed online registration. Then we sat in Kate's car to get warm. Greg(my 14 year old son) joined us and I think he was half asleep still and Kate's friend from Allison Park, Charlotte ran too! We had a blast. I was so excited and full of coffee and a bottle of water, that I had to run to the bathroom before the race began. I waited in line so long I almost missed the start. The race started uphill first which was tough then flattened out. I loved every minute. I just wished I had my ipod. It's sorta hard to sing and run, plus there were lots of people around, so i just faced the beautiful sunshine, thanking God for a glorious morning and a beautiful run.

I finished strong, had fun, and didn't stop with a time under 32 minutes. I can't wait for the next race. Anyone out there game?

continuing my story

Where was I? For those of you who have not read the previous blogs, I was just explaining how God dramatically changed the course of my life at age 18. So, I was teaching kids church every Sunday morning at Westpark and going to school to get my teaching degree. I lived with my grandma and grandpa in Parma, Ohio. They fed me well. Thanks Gram (Like she reads my blog!) Anyway, I really started to notice how nice and sweet Pastor Russ was. Our college bunch got together often and even though I didn't go to Immanuel anymore I was still welcomed. We went tobogganing, ice skating, bowling, running (of course) and ate together often. One night I was having dinner at Dee Dee's house. They had invited Pastor Russ to come too. I just started to see him in a different light. He loved God sooo much, but I insisted he was way too good for me and that I was Crazy for even having an interest in him.
The more I prayed the more I thought about Pastor Russ. AHHH! It was starting to bother me now. I asked God to remove him from my mind. IT was no use, so I confided in Dee Dee. I told her I think I like him. She said great. Of course, no help. So I made an appointment with the pastor's wife. I went into her office and told her I had a problem. I said I liked someone and I know that I shouldn't. She immediately said I know its Pastor Russ and I've already fasted and prayed about it. You need to get his attention. So clean his house. Wow, was I taken aback. What? clean his house? What? She approves of my feelings. Boy, was I confused.
I took her advice. No, I didn't clean his house, I made him a pie. A homemade apple pie and put it in a big white box with a fall colored bow and wished him a happy thanksgiving. I placed it on his stove (his door was always open) when he wasn't home and left it there. I thought he might like it. He loved it and thanked me with his big smile that made my heart melt.
Even though I got his attention, he still showed no interest in me in that way, so I just continued to teach and pray and keep my mind on Jesus. I was always busy(not me) doing something-at this point I was singing in the singing Christmas tree!

That month-December-Pastor Russ announced to the church that he would be resigning and moving back to Pittsburgh....more to follow later

Enjoy this beautiful Sunny Day!!!

28 days later....

It has been so long since I was able to sit down and blog. And still my daughter is over my shoulder asking me a question. Maybe I should blog in the middle of the night? Anyway, Easter Egg Hunt preparations have kept me more than occupied this month. We had a great-cold-day with 530 kids registered! I was able to share the gospel with probably 1500 people. It was an amazing day! Thanks so much to Sheila and Christa and the Urso family and everyone who worked several hours to make the day a success! Several kids were heard saying, "This is my best Easter ever!" Easter Sunday was a great day too with over 300 people in church! God renewed my compassion for the lost during this weekend. I met so many unchurched and hurting families. We can only have faith and hope that those who heard the message will turn to Christ.



God has proved himself trustworthy. Every time I turned around and read a passage and even on my office wall, were the words trustworthy. Trust Him. For my life, my kids and their future, my marriage, our finances, the ministry-everything. The more I trust Him, the more I feel lighter and free and the more He proves it. He proves himself faithful in my life again and again. I am so thankful to God for all that He has done in my life! I will continue to share the rest of My Story tomorrow.

Boiling Point

For my blog readers, I have been continuing to share my life-changing story. But here is some recent stuff. Last Thursday I found out I was going to a youth retreat in Erie, PA. I tried to get out of going, but obviously God wanted Russ and I there. Sooooooo, to make along story short, we took 18 teens from Sharpsburg Family Worship Center and God did great things in each of their lives. I will ask permission to share later. The Allison Park youth staff and leaders did an amazing job! The retreat was phenomenal. The message was clear and our kids grew as a result. Here is a picture of those who went.

my story...continued

On my own. No problem. At eighteen I thought I knew everything about life. I had it all together. I would go to school, work, get my degree, learn as much about the Bible as I could, and never ever get married. Yeah, I wanted kids, but I would adopt or move to another country as a missionary and take in some orphans.

You would think that I would learn that my plans are not God's plans by now. My parents always said I liked to be boss. Now it was time to let God do the driving and I needed to take a back seat. He always knows what's best for me.

The good stuff...So I keep on attending the youth group at Immanuel Assembly in Brookpark where Pastor Russ Horne(PR) was the youth pastor. (Don't jump ahead..it's not what you think!) I always sat in the front row. I scrambled down as many notes as I could take and looked up every scripture that was preached. I really didn't take notice of the preacher, I really focused on the preaching. I did some drama and then became best friends with the senior pastor's daughter, Deana. Dee Dee and I were both going to Cleveland State for teaching. She was hilarious! We did a lot together, especially at church. I only went to Immanuel on Wednesdays, since I was committed to the church plant started by Jeff Brown.

Jeff totally challenged me. He bought a bus and said fill it. He gave me ideas and then said make it happen. He taught me to pray passionately for the lost and cry out to God and how to hear from Him. At that time, he asked me to become totally committed to one body-one church. He asked me to leave Immanuel. I totally respected him and obeyed.

But, I still hung out with Dee Dee and the gang of college students (PR, Roland, Joe, Maryann). There was a group of us that hung out and did stupid stuff like go bowling( No offense-I just stink at it). One Friday night after bowling, we all decided that we needed to exercise. So, we had this crazy idea to get up at 8 am and go running. Since PR lived in the parsonage, we would meet there.

I woke up, got on my jogging suit, bought some donuts, and headed to PR's house. For those of you who read my blog earlier, you know what happens. I was the only one to show up. So, Pastor Russ laughs and decided to go running with me. Alone. I was scared to death and pushed my self so hard, I almost puked.

That was our first official non-date. As a joke one night,(as we jumped on her parents bed!) Dee Dee says, you should like Pastor Russ. We laughed so hard about that. Then that night, I started to think about the preacher man. Nope. He's way to good for me. Plus, I never wanted to get married, so I didn't have to get divorced. I just wanted what God wanted.

God's Will vs. Mine; My story continued...

So do I go away to college or not? I really felt like God was saying, Stay Home. But all the odds were againt this decision. The hardest part would be to tell my mom. I thought she might understand. One day I casually asked her, "Mom, what would you think if I didn't go away to college?" She basically exploded. After she calmed down, she decided that that it would be Ok if I stayed home and went to college as long as I paid for it. Hmm..Free college or not. Now it was a REALLY hard decision. I fasted. I prayed and still felt like I shouldn't go. I was really only 18 and had not made up what I wanted to do with my life. How could I make such a huge decision? I talked with Pastor Jeff Brown, Maritsa, my friends.. they all affirmed that I should stay. So I did.
My heart and my mind really wanted to do what my mom and dad wanted. I really wanted to please them, to make them proud. But I went against them. It was the hardest decision in my life so far.
I enrolled in the education department at Cleveland State. The only trouble was I didn't want to waste money on room and board and I couldn't live at home. I had really no where to go. I decided to ask my grandma and grandpa if I could live with them while I commuted. They agreed to let me stay.

So after graduation (which my husband Russ happened to be at, coming to see kids in his youth group!), I went to Spain and France on a high school trip. It was amazing and I vowed to go back someday. The day I flew home, I came home to any empty house. My mom and stepdad and sisters had moved. All that was left were my things. I packed everything and moved that day to grandma's house in Parma, Ohio.

Graduated, 18 and kindof on my own. My new life was just beginning.