Cliff Notes

A friend of mine very recently asked me "What's your story?"  So, I came up with what I called a "Cliff Notes" version of my life story.  In case you have been curious (or not) - whether you already know me fairly well, you don't know a lot about me beyond the surface, you know very little about me, or you don't know me at all - I thought I would share with you what I shared with that friend...my life story...in a nutshell...mind you, lots of gaps that may or may not be filled in for you over time (remember, it's not about me...I'm just here as a messenger to point you to Someone much higher and more important than me)...

Well, born & raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. Parents divorced when I was 6 mos old. Mom remarried when I was 1 1/2 yrs old. Dad remarried a few years later to someone from Oklahoma & moved there. Do not have recollection of meeting my dad (again) until I was about 5 yrs old and was very confused, b/c my daddy was at work. Did not want to go to the park w/this man & his wife. Later got to be very close to them & thankful for them. Wonderful 2nd set of parents to be blessed with.

Oh, and my parents (mother & step-dad) were heavily into pot, drugs, alcohol, & pit-bull raising/fighting - all up until I was about 5 or 6. Then, they got saved as a result of a preacher and another church man from a nearby church trudging their way past the pit-bull on the chain in the front yard to come visit and tell dad (step-dad) that Jesus loves him. He never recalled having been told that before. Anyway, their/our lives changed dramatically for many years, though not w/o struggle.  I pretty much grew up in church from the time they got saved on, though we changed churches alot - I believe we were in search of the perfect church and people who all believed exactly like we thought we did.  It definitely made me very well rounded, along with moving around town a few times and changing schools several times.  If you read my blog (as you are doing right now) you'll see in one of the posts that I have come to a point in my life where I truly regret nothing. Everything happens for a reason and makes me who I am today. Long story short, I got baptized 3 times, though the 3rd time (my junior year in high school) was the time I believe I really gave my life to the Lord. Still, a few years later I chose to deliberately go down a road of denying God and avoiding what I knew to be true and right, until finally one day - married just over 2 years, with a 15 month old frequently sick baby (no insurance, new job for both of us), stuck in New Jersey with no family (but us) nor friends in the dead of winter, brand new to the area - God had me flat on my back faced dead-on with my absolute need for Him and hopelessness without Him. I can't even put it into words, except to say that it was then that I started on a new journey on a whole new level with God - so much more real & honest & true than I ever thought possible. No pretenses, no expectations, just me and Him and a little glimmer of faith. And now, struggles and all, I am still plugging along on that journey, learning as I go - often the hard way, but not always. And, in turn, I have lost almost any fear of what others might think about me & the stands I have chosen to taken, and instead I have begun to really try my best to share the things I have learned or even the many random thought processes I have had...hoping that somehow someone can come back from that hopeless, helpless point like I did and give up the fight and just let go & let Him be their everything!

Wow! Didn't plan to say all of that, but that's just how it goes sometimes!

And there it is...in a nutshell.  What's YOUR story!?!  (Cliff Notes version, since Blogger comments won't accept more than 4,096 characters!)  ;-)