This week, one blog topic is about a #SayWhat moment with God. I have had this happen, about 4 1/2 years ago. To understand the significance of my moment, you need to know how I got there. Here's the story.
It's been almost five years since my best friend, Carrie Anne, died. August 31 will be the 5 year anniversary of when she went to be the with Lord. I met Carrie Anne in 7th grade. She turned around in English class and asked me to borrow a pencil. Amazing how one small act can be the start of an 18 year friendship between two girls. Carrie Anne was the ONE person in the whole world that I could tell ANYTHING to and she simply loved me for who I was. She was also often the voice of truth in my life. We had the kind of friendship where we could be totally and brutally honest with one another, in love.
We were college roommates. I stood in her wedding. She came to mine. We went to each other's baby showers. Even when we lived two hours apart, when we were together, it was like we were never apart. When she and her husband moved back home in 2007, it was like I had won the lottery. My best friend was CLOSE! She had a son, in December of 2006, and my daughter was born in September of 2005. Lily and Alex were buddies. Carrie and I would take walks together, reminisce of our many memories, and talk about what the future might hold. We talked about how we wanted to raise our children. She was there for me during my divorce. We talked about her baby girl, due to be born in October. We imagined ourselves being little old ladies, sitting on a porch swing, talking proudly of our children and grandchildren.
September 1, 2008, as I was getting out of church, I checked my phone for messages. I saw that I had a call from Carrie, but no message. I called her phone back and her mom answered, with a tone in her voice that I knew immediately that something was horribly wrong. I figured it was something with the baby, until she told me about the car accident that had claimed Carrie's life and that of her unborn baby. She told me of how her husband, Dan, was flown to a hospital and he may not survive. Then she told me that Alex, who was only 20 months old, was okay and with family.
I sat in my car and sobbed, crying "Oh JESUS! NO!!!" My daughter, only 2 at the time, tried comforting me, saying "it's okay mommy." But she had no idea. Part of me died that day.
Dan was put into a medically induced coma as he worked to recover from a brain injury. He missed Carrie's funeral, being unable to released from the hospital. A network of prayers went up for Dan as the initial diagnosis was one of "he may never recover, he may never walk again, he may never...". God had different plans. After 19 days of being in the hospital, Dan came home, able to walk, talk, and do most everything as before. He had several broken vertebrae, a broken scapula, and some broken ribs, along with his head trauma.
Once he was home and able to do more on his own, Dan got Alex back. It was then that I brought Lily over for visits, so the kids could play as before. Dan and I would talk about parenting and our memories of Carrie. The more Dan and I talked, the more we bonded. The more we bonded, the more we shared. By November, we were talking up to 7 hours at a time, usually in the evening. Little subtle flirts started happening by both of us and most of it was surprising to us. One night, as we were talking via online chat, I heard God say that I was going to marry Dan.
Say What?! But I knew that I knew that it was going to happen. Then we started to actually outwardly share our feelings and I told Dan what God told me. Dan confirmed that he knew it was supposed to be as well.
December that year, Dan proposed and I accepted. Not wanting to wait too long, to give Alex a normal life again, we talked to my Pastor and he agreed (knowing the whole situation) that we could be married quickly. February 15, 2009, I became Dan's wife, just six months after Carrie died. We got a lot of flack for our decision. We lost friends, people accused us of terrible things, and people chose to be hurt, but we were just trying to be obedient to God.
Today, we've been married 4 1/2 years. Lily is almost 8. Alex is 6 1/2 and knows me as his mom. He also knows about his mommy Carrie and that he has a sister in Heaven named Chelsea. We also have Caleb, who is 2 1/2. It hasn't been an easy journey, but it's one that's been rewarding. You never know what will happen when you say yes to God, but it's always going to be worth it.
"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." ~Romans 8:28
Carrie Anne
