My Story- Have Mercy

First off, so sorry for the delay. With the end of school approaching and the husband being on tour I have been a bit overwhelmed and most of the times just crash and veg at night. I really want to finish my story so I guess I need to post more than once a month!!!

We left off at this dude walking into Mac's house. There were a group of us watching a movie after a long day at the "day camp" that we all worked at as counselors. I guess I should have remembered how much those kiddos wore me out BEFORE I decided to become a mama!!!

Anyway, this dude strolls into Mac's house and is pretty startled that we are all there. In this VERY southern voice he says, "dude, sorry didn't know you were having a party I just came by to get some tapes.". Mac then proceeds to tell him that we are from his work and we just last minute decided to hang out. He then introduces us all to Mark, guitar player in his band. As we all say hello, the first thing I say to Mark is, "you need a haircut!" (oh, did I forget when he walked in he had a ballcap- one of the ONLY times I have seen Mark in a cap, a t-shirt with a big black cartoon cat on the front that said HAPPYCAT underneath, and hair that came halfway down his back. UGH!!!) As a side note if you are VERY close to us you will understand now about the happycat and understand that I am NOT a crazy cat lady.

Cool under pressure (as with EVERYTHING in his life) Mark replies, "yeah, well I'm on my way to get one now." Thank the Lord!!! It really was NOT attractive, but what I did find appealing was that he didn't me mind totally dissing him the first time I met/spoke to him.

Mark proceeds to get some tapes from Mac. I was under the impression that is was tapes that Mark wanted to borrow but NOPE he was picking up some of their first release as Third Day, "Long Time Forgotten". I still don't know why Mark was getting those that day, maybe now that it's 20 years later I should ask and figure that out.

After our 5 minute visit with Mark we all settled back in and finished our movie. Little did I know that hot summer day that this first encounter with the long haired dude in Mac's house would lead to 4 years of dating, 14 years of marriage, 2 beautiful princesses and countless memories both good and bad.

I find it ironic that the Lord used Mark's laid backness and my ability (or disability) for pointing out the obvious to start our relationship. I guess it has taught me that you really never know who you are meeting or what kind of impact they will have on your life. But, if we are ourselves and real then we are honestly going to get unconditional love from those that are meant to be in our lives. Perfect and imperfect, the Lord loves us regardless and allows us to have those "real" relationships in our own lives. We are all blemished, broken, needy people. Thankfully, we are granted those few earthly folks that know and realize this and love us regardless. I know that I am so NOT worthy of this wonderful man that I am married to and he is the calm in my storm. I CANNOT imagine my life without him and need his level head and laid back attitude EVERY day of my life. It hasn't always been flowers and roses, I mean wait till I tell you about our first date!!!!

until then.....

My Story- Come Together

Ok so we last left off at me realizing that at some point in life I would be marrying someone famous. PLEASE, don't think cocky of me, I am sharing all of this to say that it has taken me approx. 30 years to realize that this "vision" or whatever you want to describe it as, had a point. I am NOT by any means stating that Mark is uber famous. I will state that he is quasi famous. When you go to your local Steak n Shake and there is a line of folks at your booth with CD's to sign and I'm digging for anything besides the kids crayons well.....

The Lord knew me. He knows that I have to process to a degree. As much as I like to jump in with 2 feet sometimes the water is WAY too cold and I get right back out. I can assure you, life with a rockstar is NOT all the peaches and roses that some folks dream of. Could I give a laundry list of CONS, sure. I don't want to do that. What I want to do is try and encourage all of you to take what the Lord lays on you and realize He does have a greater plan for us. So I didn't marry Jimmy Conners or Andre Agassi, but I did get a humble man who happened to take the talent that in high school might have made him a "geek" and has been quite successful at it. I mean, my years of saying rah, yay, go team, BLAH BLAH got me NADA- well, except I am very fun to go to a ball game with!!! :)

How did this trip all begin. Let's go back to the dark ages when the earth was cooling (stole that line from the hubby)....

It was the summer after my first year in college. To say that first year was rough is an understatement. It HATED the school I chose. I went b/c there was a guy I like my last 2 years of high school. That as you can imagine is the STUPIDEST reason to pick your college. SIDENOTE: young ladies reading this. Fall on your face before our Lord to begin protecting your heart and give you a passion for HIM and not for anything else. This will save you so much heartbreak in the end.

My parents knew this was a poor choice but they allowed me to be the adult- oh yeah, cause at 18 I had already made such GREAT decisions!!! Anyway, off I go to school. Several things including a horrid Math class led me to near insanity. Then came the kicker. You know that one thing that just sets you over the edge. My sweet, amazing, loving, role model of a grandmother passed away. This was expected, it was in no way a sudden thing, but honestly I really felt like I was losing it emotionally. I REALLY loved my Ma-Mah and REALLY HATED that Math class.

Parents weekend comes and I break down and beg my parents to let me come back home b/c I was so miserable. I would work, go to the local school and then do what I should have done in the beginning and seek the Lord's will for my life and choose the correct place for me to go to school. Again, this is more preparation for the coming years. As usual I thought I knew what the Lord wanted me to do but oh how wrong I would be. At least this time I chose to follow.

Being the ever level headed man he is my precious daddy allowed me to come home. There would be rules, there would be consequences. Just as the Lord had me suffer the consequences of my actions I knew my ever Godly earthly daddy would make me understand the error of my way. It was done in love, there was no malice, ill will, etc. He just wanted me to think about my decisions and begin to really show some adult behaviors. (Now, let me also mention that I am a BIG OLE daddies girl and as much as he wanted me to learn from my mistakes as I wanted to go home I think I had him at the first tear!!!)

So I come home, enroll in the local community college (later UNIVERSITY!!! WOOP WOOP BIG TIME NOW!!!) and begin to get my life together, as best I can. I decided to take a job at our church in our preschool afterschool program. That is where I met Mac Powell. The guy that would change my life forever. The man that would introduce me to my future husband and best friend!!!

He would change my life b/c we worked together and as we became good buddies, he began introducing me to his friends. One of those friends became the love of my life Mr. Mark Lee. So here 14 years later I shall give the man who started the whole thing the credit he is due.


Mac Powell, I owe you a mighty big thank you. Had we not decided to join our "forces" and color some awesome pictures and chat whilst our young afterschool children napped I might not have had the roller coaster ride I have been on the last decade or so! For that I thank you.

Ok, back to my story. Why does the lead singer ALWAYS get all the attention. GEESH!!! :)

So the months pass and you begin the summer hang. As our jobs transitioned from afterschool caregivers to Day Camp counselors (oh yeah, the lap of luxury I tell ya) there was a solid group of us that would just chill at Mac's house after work and watch movies and hang. This was before cool coffee shops or maybe we just weren't cool. That is up for question!!!!

One night this dude came by Mac's house....
(to be continued)- I know the suspense is KILLING YOU!!!

MY STORY- Who I Am

I remember the day like it was yesterday. Sometimes I think it was something that I imagined because seriously, how could what I had dreamed become a reality.

Let's set the scene. I was 7 or 8, have always been a fan of all things tennis and I had a Jimmy Conners poster on my wall (I always liked him over McEnroe, but hey!!!). I also had this really cute puppy poster that I had just scored from the Book Fair. Fresh baby blue paint on the walls and some deep blue shag carpet on the floor. My parents let me pick this out. Why they ever allowed blue shag is BEYOND me but....

I loved my room, it was right in the line of action down the hallway so I always knew what was going on. At night I would fall asleep to the sound of my mom filling her bathtub in our purple tiled bathroom across the hall. This night was like no other, as I am drifting off to sleep I am saying my prayers.

My mom and dad had always encouraged us to pray for our future. Pray for our "to be" spouse, pray for our "to be" children, pray for protection over our hearts as we grew up. So I pray, and I do the falling asleep while you are praying drift off. Sometime later, it could have been 5 minutes, it could have been 5 hours, I wake up and rehash the dream I had just had. It wasn't clear what was happening in the dream, it was totally clear what was SAID in the dream. I was told by a "person" that I didn't recognize and couldn't clearly make out that I was destined to marry someone famous. WOW!!!! Now that is the dream of any little girl!! Remember that Jimmy Conners poster!! Maybe that was who I was to marry. It didn't make sense in my brain that I was about 20 years his younger. Or, maybe I would marry a football player, or a different tennis player. Never in that rationalization did I insert anything but a sports figure into that role. As I drift back to sleep I think, that's so strange. How would anyone know that I would be marrying someone famous. Only God would know that. Let's don't forget, I am young and don't fully understand that we can be approached by the Spirit in many ways. This vision that I had was always my secret. This is not something that I felt I should run around and tell the world. I could be perceived as cocky, crazy or just being a kid. Either way I felt this was an intimate moment for me and me alone.

As the years pass the memory of that night would come into my mind. Not that I felt that I had to seek out someone famous in anyway, I just always wondered why it was a memory that continued to surface in my mind. Even after I met Mark, I didn't think too much about it as he was carving his path in the world of Christian music. Honestly, for years I never even gave it one thought.

Now, as my oldest daughter Abbie is the same age I was when I had what I now call a word from God, I wonder, has she been told something about her future that she wonders if it will come true, should I ask, would she tell or is it best to let it be her moment to treasure and look forward to as I did.

I share this story because as I reflect on the 14 years that Mark and I have been together I now know that it wasn't the summer of 1993 that began the preparation for the life that I would soon be embarking on it was that sweet moment some 30 years ago that was the Lord's simply yet poignant way of preparing me for battle. I'm not gonna lie. Being married to a "famous person" (trust me I use this word loosely, but I feel anyone that is recognized by folks they don't know is considered famous) has its many perks but what isn't seen is the behind closed doors situations of fear, happiness, hurt, questioning, celebration, frustration, and every other emotion that could ever be felt. The Lord knew that my heart needed to be prepared way before I ever met Mark to deal with the wonderful roller coaster life that He knew I would be blessed to ride on!!!