 |
||||||||||
 |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
When I moved to Dallas from my home in Louisiana, I was living the fun life of a young single person in a big city, sleeping in on weekend mornings and enjoying myself. I eventually married a wonderful man. My sleep-in weekends changed because we traveled a lot and were out of town most Saturdays and Sundays. When we were in town, we sat around drinking coffee, reading the paper and sometimes watching a church service on TV. We got some inspiration for the week, so we were doing okay.
When our daughter was almost one year old, we decided we really wanted our little girl to be raised in a church, as my husband and I had been. We knew that in order for her to grow up knowing people that were like extended family, church had to become a priority. We wanted her to have memories of Sunday school and Vacation Bible School and to share a life of caring relationships.
A pastor from one of the churches we visited called us from time to time to see how we were doing. In one of our conversations, I mentioned that my husband was in the Marine reserves and that we were expecting our first child. The minister told me he was in the military and he kept in touch to see if there was anything Lovers Lane could do for us.
The people of Lovers Lane reached out and embraced us. They invited us to become a part of a small group where we could get to know a few people. Several couples with small children in the group invited us to a Sunday class called Family Matters. We loved the class and fit in with the group. Some of the mothers invited me to the Ladies Prayer Fellowship and it was just what I needed to calm my fears.
On January 3, 2003, we got the call that Trace, my husband, would have to report to his unit in one week, and they were being activated for one year. I was being left here in this big city with no family in town, no job and a small daughter. I was terrified. I felt very alone. I needed friends that would help me survive the difficult times. We went to church the next morning and told our fellow class members. They comforted us both with prayers.
Trace was gone to the war in Iraq for 6 long months. During this time,
I depended heavily on my friends at Lovers
Lane. Even though I was a new member and they didn’t know me
very well, they cried with me, supported me and prayed for me and my family.
It really helped me to know that other people were praying and caring
for us. When someone you love is in danger far away, the only thing you
can do is pray. I prayed hard. I know the ladies in that prayer fellowship
were praying just as diligently with me. I can’t even imagine what
my life would have been like without my Lovers
Lane family during that time. They helped me to learn that with God’s
help, joy is possible even when you feel alone and afraid.
