The Question

So, in May of 1992 I left Emporia State University and never looked back.  I moved back to Parsons, KS, my hometown, got an apartment with my life-long best friend, Jayne, got engaged to Jeremy, and then got married.  We moved to Broken Arrow, OK the day of our wedding to attend Rhema Bible Training Center, which we did.  While there, we had two children, a girl first and then a boy.  Then we moved to Olathe, KS, had two more children, a girl and then a boy, and adopted an almost 10-year old girl in the middle of those two children.  Soon after the adoption was finalized, we moved to Branson, MO, where we live now.  Whew!  Did you catch all that?  I'm sure you did, because you are so quick and sharp!  Yep, that's pretty much my life in a nutshell, married for almost 19 years with five beautiful children.

In the spring of 2010 I started working part-time at Bath and Body Works, and then in the fall of 2010 I started a full-time, small home daycare.  I only watched teachers' children, and I had a baby boy, a 1 year old boy, a 2 year old boy, a 3 year old boy (Mine!) and a 3 year old girl!  Oh my!  Just writing it out reminds me of how busy my days were with five children ages three and under all day!  (But, I must add, I enjoyed having all those children so much!)  And, I also came to the conclusion during that year that I really like the teachers' schedule, and that it works out very nicely for a mother of five kids!

Meanwhile, at our church our associate pastor had been preaching occasionally and several times he posed the same question, "What would you do if money were no object?"  He explained that soon after he began working with our pastor, our pastor asked him this very same question, "What would you do if money were no object?"  I thought it was a good question, because it's good to have dreams.  The only problem was, my life was so busy day-in and day-out, I really had no idea what I would do, personally, if money were no object.

For several months that question rolled over and over in my mind.  I couldn't believe that I had no answer.  I would ask the Lord, I would think about it, and yet I seemed to draw a blank on what I would do.  I could think of what I would give to other people and ministries if money were no object, but I really wasn't sure what I would do personally.  I had a feeling it wasn't what I was doing, working a part-time and a full-time job, while taking care of my precious family.  But, what would I do?  Hmmm...

Finally, one day, out of the blue, the Lord spoke to my heart, not out loud, but softly, inside, "What would you do if money and time were no object?" 

My instant answer after that was, "I'd go back to school and finish my degree!"

My instant thought after that was, "What?!?  I would???"

An excitement rose up inside of me!  I'd go back to school and finish my degree!  That's what I would do if money and time were not an issue!  Money wasn't necessarily the big hold-up for me; time was!  I was so busy, but when God took away the money and the time issue, I knew just what I would do!  I was excited and, well, to be quite honest, shocked!  I had no idea that I wanted to finish my degree.  I truly had no idea!  I mean, that was not what I was expecting the answer to that question to be.  It hadn't even been a fleeting thought in my mind.  No, to me this answer was completely out in left field, and yet, I felt so excited about the idea.  I thought about that all day long.

And, that night when I was laying in bed, I got out my little green spiral notebook that I like to write special things down in, and I wrote this:  "What would I do personally if money and time were a non-issue?  Go back to college and finish my degree."  And, I wrote this date beside it, "January of 2011."  Yes, it had taken me several months to finally hear the Lord's voice on this, but He had spoken to my heart and I knew the answer to my question.

And that, my friends, is the beginning of what this blog is all about...