Its funny how we actually do believe that we can find life on our own. But the irony is we end up going to someone or something to find it because we know it isn't found in ourselves. The problem with that is whatever we think we have found ends up only temporarily satisfying us. So, we have to keep searching. Some look their whole lives only to come to the end of life with the realization they were looking in all the wrong places.

My story would begin as so many do. Crazy home life...abusive parent...surrounded by sadness and tension. But that's not the meat of my story. Life began for me a second time when I accepted Christ, August 7, 1967. Since then my life has been peppered with blessings and burdens, just like every other woman. However, were it not for grace I can only imagine where I'd be.

God has a sense of humor and chose a wonderful husband for me 31 years ago, who I thought was going to play professional baseball but felt the call of ministry and became a pastor instead! A shocking turn of events for an avid baseball fan. And this man I married is no ordinary garden variety husband. He's a man with vision, patience and loyalty which is why he has pastored the same church for almost 30 years. Did I mention that we were both six when he started!

Thirty years in one place means that we have seen every type of hurt there is. And we have also experienced hurt ourselves... kids struggling with painful issues, a diagnosis of breast cancer, the death of loved ones and the list could go on. Again, those situations are not the meat of my story. Jesus Christ is! I believe that if a private investigator were to examine my life he would see the fingerprints of Jesus everywhere!

I floundered for many years wondering what God's plan was for me. "Flounder" is a wonderfully descriptive word isn't it? Can you envision a fish flipping around on dry land trying to figure out how to breathe in a world he wasn't designed for? That was me.