And So the Journey Began.....

In two days, I begin a new phase of my life that I had no way of knowing would happen 26 years ago. It was then that I wallowed in sin, waking up each day  to one misery after another and had no direction to go but up. It was during this time, that I desperately ran to the altar of Geyer Springs Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, and begged God to mold me, change me, whatever it took for me to become the woman he wanted me to be.  No holes barred, the absolute surrender to whatever God had in mind, his will not my own.....and so the journey began......Shortly after I prayed my prayer to Jesus, I met Bill Harrell... and my life was never the same.

When you reach a point of totally turning your life to Jesus, he places people in your path to help create you into the design in which the Lord can use. This was the case when I met Bill, whom I married eight months after we met. We were the ultimate in polar opposites....I was materialistic and uptight. Bill was not. I actually cared about the things of the world such as a career, money, and possessions. He did not. Actually, the only thing we had in common was our desire to serve and please Jesus Christ....that was the chord that held us until we molded into a unit of oneness the way God meant for a married couple to be. But that took a while. Until then, we fought and struggled our way through marriage until God placed on our hearts that divorce was not an option and that the one way we could start to please the Lord was by loving each other like God loves the church. It was then that our lives became blissful and with meaning.

Now, 26 years later, we have had the privilege of raising and helping to raise 4 children, two daughters and two sons. They are all married with children and the blessings that we receive daily from our family are unlimited. We also have been so blessed with extended family and friends that I cannot express the joy that has been given to us through these people. Which is the reason it is a little difficult to understand why now, when everything is as it should be, would God send us away from all of this beauty. But did I not give up my SELF in order to be HIS on the dismal turned joyful day at the altar in Little Rock? Maybe it took this long for Bill and I to prepare for what he has in store.

Now, in two days, Bill and I leave all behind to start a new beginning in South America....the whats, whens, and hows are not clear. What is clear is  we know that God has called us to go....and for that we are willing due to our love and trust for Him. What else do we need? We have never made a lot of money, we have had to work hard for any material possessions we ever received, but in the end, these things are temporary. So we push those things aside and depend on the permanent....our Lord Jesus who is the ultimate resource. We have no job, no certain destination, and we are
 limited on our speaking of the language, but we are leaning on the everlasting arms.