This is part three of my story…. to start at the beginning, you should read Part 1 and Part 2 (DUH!)… and then be ready to share yours… The Carnival will start on Monday… where you can link up and share your God story… so that I can read it and be blessed over and over again!

My life was falling apart.

********

Functioning in the full capacity of a mother was tough. I made it through football season despite the fact that my own introvertedness made it impossible to reach out to other people… My pride stood in the way of asking other parents for help with rides to games and the like.

I beat myself up for missing games, even though I only missed them if I was taking the other child to a game, never because I just didn’t feel like going… and I can assure you… there were many Saturday mornings that I just didn’t feel like going.

Football season ended and my father was adamant about getting Matthew involved in another sport. Matthew was not the athlete. To convince him to play football was nothing short of a miracle. He’d wrestled before and didn’t want to do it again…Period. I did sign Samara up for Upward Cheerleading and asked Matthew several times about playing basketball.

Several times he said no. I was in no mood or frame of mind to argue. I let it go.

We took Samara to her first practice… painstaking as it was. I had just made it through watching her cheer during football, and now I had to suffer through yet another season. Please don’t get me wrong, I love to see my children doing what they love, but cheerleading was not my thing. It’s really just a jealousy issue since I was too fat to be one when I was a child. At the end of her practice, I needed to talk to her coach, and Matthew was on the court with a few of his friends from school.

As we walked out of the gym, Matthew excitedly asked me if it was too late to sign him up for basketball. I turned around, walked back in the gym and asked the coordinator if it was too late. Thankfully it wasn’t and I called the very next day and got him signed up.

The church that Matthew practiced at church that I’d never heard of before. It wasn’t the big ginormous church that Samara was practicing at. (No, that would’ve been too easy to have both of my kids practice at the same place.) I got directions and took him. He played. He seemed to like it and then we attended his first game.

I really didn’t know what these Upward games were all about. I did know that they were Christian based and at churches, but that was the extend of it.

And then this man got up and started talking at halftime. I looked at my ex-husband and said, “oh great, we’re going to get preached at.”

And then he introduced himself as the Pastor, and I was all…”Get out! He doesn’t even look like a pastor.” I don’t know what I thought a pastor should look like. I grew up with religious figures wearing black shirts and white collars. I guess I just assumed that was the way that it was everywhere.

Pastor Man stood there and spoke and I don’t even remember what he said. But at the end, he said, “If you’d like to know more, please come find me or Jason.”

I felt compelled to say something to him, but didn’t. There were too many people, I had the kids, and a gazillion other excuses.

About the same time that basketball started, a friend from the business world (enter Lisa B.) announced that she was leaving the Virtual Assistance (VA) industry and becoming a Biblical Coach. She said that she was looking for guinea pigs and because I love to learn, and I thought it wouldn’t hurt, I told her to sign me up. She had me fill out this questionnaire and it said to be honest. So I was.

I cringed sending it to her but her response was only that she was a lot like me and we began to chat online about different things. I opened up about some of the things going on in my life and one day, I just started to cry. And I told her that I was crying. (Keep in mind, all of these chats are via instant messenger on the computer.)

I admitted to her that when the Pastor spoke that day, I felt compelled to talk to him, but that I hadn’t. The next thing I knew, she was giving me a telephone number. It was the number to the church that Matthew played ball at and she instructed me to call and make an appointment to talk to him.

Was she nuts? I don’t know this guy! What was I possibly going to say to him? But she wasn’t taking no for an answer and so I called.

I prayed that no one would answer the phone. My how I prayed. If he didn’t answer, I could just tell Lisa he didn’t answer and then I wouldn’t have to worry about any of this.

But he did.

Filed under Care to Share?, Faith, God Met Me, Thoughts... |