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!!!