Let The Redeemed Of The Lord Say So

One day, about three weeks into my stay at the Minirth-Meier Clinic, a doctor told me, “Today, you’re going to get a job.” He handed me a newspaper ad and gave me the keys to my truck, which he’d confiscated upon my arrival. I was hired after three hours of testing and interviews, and the second part of my life began.

On January 20, 1987, our beautiful firstborn daughter died in a freak accident.

Lori Jean was only 26 years old. It was so sudden and unexpected. We were devastated as a family. She was so young…Why, God? 

By the Lord's providence I had just gone through a basic first-aid training course at school (4th grade) and little did I know that I was going to use it – soon.

We were attending a church function one evening and my mom had decided to stop afterward at a friend’s new home under construction nearby to see how it was coming along. My siblings and I waited in the car. It was already dusk, and the property did not have lights. 

I was out of my element and, boy, did I feel it! It was the summer of 1994 and I was walking from a bus terminal in the heart of New York City, wearing a military-issue backpack and convinced I’d get mugged. I was stationed at Fort Dix, N.J., and was taking the bus home to visit family in upstate New York. There was a layover, so I went for a stroll.

On a busy sidewalk I heard someone yelling, “And His hair was like wool! Who has hair like wool? Black people do!” I was intrigued.

In 1991, I was in the operating room for Sammy’s birth via C-section. There had been many hours of labor but only 3 centimeters of dilation. My husband Tom was with me while our son Huddy, 21 months old, was staying at Grandma’s. Finally, Sammy was born and weighed 9 pounds, 6 ounces. 

Even as a young boy, I believed in God and heaven, but I wasn’t sure that heaven was where I would go after I died. If I didn’t hear anything else in Sunday school, I most certainly heard John 3:16 over and over again, “…that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” But I wasn’t sure what it meant to believe. 

I grew up around smokers and as a kid thought smoking was the grossest thing. I said I’d never do it but decided to try it as a teen for some idiotic reason. 

My husband Nazario was working at a company as a team lead. He hated his job but it paid well, so he stuck with it. In the fall of 2022, several people at his job did not like Nazario and were trying to get him fired. Long story short, they fabricated a story and without evidence fired him on January 7, 2023. At the time, it felt like our whole world had collapsed.

God sees the big picture and knows what’s best for His children. Always.

This story of God’s grace occurred 50 years ago. I was about to graduate from high school and was praying about which college to attend. I narrowed my choices to Oregon State University, Pacific University, and the University of Hawaii. 

During a rough time in my life around 2008-2009, God visibly showed up and managed my bank account for me. At the time, I was making $16/hour and had a $1,000/month mortgage, a car payment, a student loan payment, plus all the other regular household expenses.

Let’s do the math:

Income
About $2,090 (after taxes, insurance, 401(k) contribution, any other deductions)