Stories of Grace

My Journey to 26.2 Miles

Running is a lonely sport

I’ve been a runner for 30 years now. Over the years running has been a very time efficient way for me to keep in shape. You can feel very alone, however, when you run. In many cases this sense of being alone has helped clear my thoughts as I have contemplated God in a sunrise or the smell of flowers around me. At other times I am just reminded how physically alone we all are.

I’ve always toyed with the idea of running a marathon, but would typically discount the idea because of the commitment and pain required to get there. Early last summer for some reason the running felt very easy and I started to seriously consider a marathon. I rationalized that I was about to turn 45 and realized I may not have many years left to try for it. As I look back I now believe that God wanted to use this as an opportunity to teach me a few things... Click here to read the whole story.

Rob Fernandez

So I went through a lot of emotional abuse as a child because of a bipolar illness in our family. I also grew up with a lot of guilt and condemnation because of certain things I grew up with in the church. I also went through a number of emotionally abusive relationships in college (guys who were Christian and committed to the church). I remember when God was in the process (and still is) of healing my heart of some of those things, and showing me his true character, I remember asking why? Why all the hurt and what's the point? The summer after I graduated college I got to go on a mission trip to Romania and share Christ with the orphans over there. I got to work with these teenage girls who were going through the same hurts I had gone through and was able to share with them a God who isn't like the people that hurt them or like the church they grew up in. To see these girls comforted, to see some of them really get it and want Jesus in their hearts, to see them grasp a hope for their seemingly hopeless future...it all seemed worth it to me, I remember thinking I'd go through all that hurt again if it meant it would be used like this.

Emily

Moving Past the Fake Smile

How often is it that time and time again you seem to be hiding behind that “fake smile?” You know that feeling that when everything seems to be going great and everything is getting on track and then something else happens that throws everything off again. At some point in time I think that we all have hid behind the smile that says everything is alright, when in reality everything is crumbling down from around you. The heartache, the pain, the guilt, the shame, the feeling of worthlessness surrounds us. Mostly everyone has experienced or done something that they feel no one, nothing can fix. Everyone’s story is different!

I, like many others, had been raised in church. I was raised in a Catholic church, but once I reached the age of fourteen and had truly accepted Christ I knew there was more. I had met God in a personal way at a youth conference and went home changed. I was no longer satisfied with being a pew filler. I had made the decision to follow Christ and to serve Him with my life. At the age of fourteen, I was called to the mission field in Monterrey, Mexico. But, you see it was not an easy task. There were many obstacles and objections to my calling, especially from my dad.

However; although I have a wonderful mom and great grandparents my childhood was far from being a bowl of sugar. I grew up with a fantastic mom but an alcoholic dad. I remember late nights and early mornings of my parents having a yelling battle, usually resulting in my mom and me leaving. Nothing I ever did seemed to please my earthly dad. I soon grew cold towards my father and began to find it very hard to respect him like I should of as my dad. Once I was old enough to have a job, even if it was just babysitting on the weekends and the phone bill needed to be paid or we needed gas in our vehicle, etc I remember helping my mom with it. I was tired of hearing that I was “no good,” that I “would never amount to anything” and occasionally hearing my dad say that he ought to just “shoot himself.” I could not take it much longer. Even though I know that all that talk was not true, that is what I started to believe because that is what I always heard from my dad. I began to feel that if it was not for me, my parents would not be constantly arguing.

Even though with all that was going on at home, I was the one at school who seemed to have it all together. I was not in the in crowd but I was not in the out crowd either. I had my group of friends even though I got along with just about everyone. Once I graduated from high school I was faced with the decision, do my mom and I move out of the house I spent my whole life in or do we stay. I knew we had to do something because we could not stay in the house with my dad any longer. After my parents had been married for twenty-three years, my mom and I took a couple of days off work and packed up our stuff and moved out. That has been almost four years ago and we have come so far.

In October of 2006 my mom met my step dad on e-harmony and they were married in March of 2007. I love my step dad, even before my mom and him were married he considered and introduced me as others as his daughter. I am the type of person that often times finds it difficult to express my feelings and after reading the first chapter of this new book I bought called Broken into Beautiful: How God Restores the Wounded Heart by Gwen Smith, I realize I have often times hid behind that famous “fake smile” we have all fallen captive to at some point of time.

Even with those previous conceptions that I would never amount to anything, I am alive and well. Last month I moved into my own apartment after Hurricane Ike, I am going to school part time while working full time and living day by day. God’s love and grace has prevailed and there is no turning back.

Through the past few years and many tears, I have found out that it is ok to let out how you really feel. It is ok to cry the tears of past hurt. Because if we don’t and we keep it all bottled up, we become more and more susceptible to the lies of the enemy. It is time to move beyond the “fake smile” and let the love and light of Jesus Christ shine through. It is a process, but it can be done!

---Heather

By Staci L. George, Times Correspondent (Sunday, October 05, 2008)

An advertisement for puppies for sale has connected a teacher from Texas trying to rebuild her school damaged by Hurricane Ike with a Westminster mother who has started a massive fundraising project to do so.

From her home in Westminster, Megan Webb came across the advertisement as she was scanning Texas area newspapers online while her husband Steven was helping clean up after the hurricane in Texas.

When Webb called Robin McDaniel to inquire about buying a Shih Tzu puppy for her daughter, she learned the school where McDaniel works had been severely damaged in the hurricane.

For more of this story, click on or type the URL below:

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/articles/2008/10/05/news/local_news/newsstory4.txt

Hurricane Ike had struck just a week earlier, turning my life, like so many others upside down and sideways.My name is Robin McDaniel, and this is the story about how a tiny puppy helped reaffirm my faith in God, and humanity, and rebuild classrooms ravaged by the storm.

I have been a teacher (mainly First Grade) for nearly twenty years, and together with my husband Mac, our three kids, and three dogs, raise Shih-Tzu puppies as a hobby. Our female Shih-Tzu, Daisy, had a litter in July of 2008, after Labor Day, the pups were ready to go.We sold one to a family friend right away, but the week that our ad was to run, the Houston Area was in the projected path of Hurricane Ike. On the morning of Saturday, September 13th, Ike hit with a vengeance.Following the storm, the area was gripped with the largest power outage in U.S. History, and destruction as far as one could see.

We sustained some damage to our home, but were thankful that we were safe, and our home was not left un-livable.My classroom was a different story.I was distraught to learn from a colleague that my classroom and six others were completely destroyed, with little left that could be salvaged.If you know anyone that teaches at the elementary level, you know that a good bit of a teachers own money goes into making classrooms warm and inviting places for children to learn.The loss was doubly hard for me, because my mother and long time mentor had given me forty years worth of teaching aids that could never be replaced.

On that day mine and so many other classrooms were anything but warm and inviting. School would ultimately be out for over two weeks so that we could rebuild our classrooms with what scraps we could piece together. You may ask yourself what this has to do with the puppies.Well, enter Megan Webb.

We sold another puppy a week after the storm to a local family, and were left with one. He was the sweetest thing, and we figured we could manage a little easier with just one, though a few phone calls were coming in asking about him. On a Sunday evening, a little more than a week after the storm, I received a call from Maryland inquiring about the dog. Megan Webb had seen him on the internet ad we placed and said that her husband was on the coast helping with tree removal. Megan asked if she bought the dog, could we keep him for a few more days until her husband could return home with him. Glad to have an interested buyer, I agreed.

The following day I was supposed to meet Steven, Megan’s husband, so that he could see the puppy and report back to Megan. This day had already been plagued by the news that the cleaning crew had thrown out the majority of my classroom content including all my personal files due to mold and water damage. Of particular importance was my personal classroom library that I share with the students to help in their reading development.In addition, items that had been left undamaged and were supposed to be saved were discarded. I saw one of my chairs in the shape of a bear sitting atop a trash heap, and the tears flooded my eyes. I couldn’t keep it together. The loss of these items felt like the straw that broke the camels back. I could feel myself slipping and the helplessness I had felt so many times in recent years was returning.

Falling fast, I truly was ready to throw my arms up.  Many of my colleagues that day heard me say, “I just want to go turn in my keys and quit.”  “Maybe this is God’s way of telling me it’s time to pack it up.” Tearfully, I told Steven, on the phone, that I couldn’t meet him, the day had been full of emotion, and I was in no condition to see any one. I apologized for unloading my problems but he said he understood, and that what I was going through was more important than him seeing the dog. A few minutes later, my phone rang only to hear Megan’s voice telling me that things were going to be okay. She told me that she wanted to start a campaign to raise money and classroom items to help us rebuild our teaching lives, and create a haven for the little ones. 

I hate to admit this but I was definitely skeptical, asking myself, “Could this be for real?”  “Why would this woman that doesn’t even know me want to help?”  No matter what, I knew it was God’s way of telling me, “Robin McDaniel, you are right where I want you, now go join Megan and make a difference.”

Megan and I have developed a special teamwork. Using old-fashioned methods, directory assistance and the telephone, Megan makes the initial contact and I follow up with email communications which include lists of our needs and pictures of the destruction.

Boxes of books started showing up almost immediately at my doorstep. They have been used to rebuild my classroom, and many others including the school library. Pledges of money, giftrcards, furniture, school supplies, and other donations too numerous to mention now fill my daily conversations with Megan. She contacted the Local newspaper in which a story ran in the Carroll County Times on Sunday, October 05, 2008. She obtained the help of Carroll County Schools, contacted book companies, local merchants, as well as Fortune 500 Companies. All seem to have a desire to help, and all help is very much appreciated. Megan tirelessly sought out creative avenues to help our school, and I look forward to the next call when she says “You are not going to believe this.”

With my classroom on its way to recovery, as well as the others in my district, it is our hope that we can reach out to the many other teachers that have been affected similarly, and pay the kindness forward;  the kindness that an Angel in Maryland showed me at a time when I needed it the most.  Without a doubt, God brought us together. 

Through all of this, a friendship has developed. My new friend, Megan and I have learned that we have several other connections, including both having sons who are named Kyle, and Megan’s daughter, Barbara and I sharing the same birthday. God also blessed us both with red hair. With connections like these, it is just further proof of God’s involvement. While I give Him ALL the glory, coincidence is just His way of remaining anonymous.

Oh, and as for the puppy that made all of this possible; Barbara, Megan’s little girl, absolutely loves him.They have named him what else but Ike.

I truly believe God puts us in places and places people in our lives for a reason.  In March my husband, children and I moved from Sagemont to League City. One house down from us is a single mom and her three kids. She has been unemployed for months now and struggling to make ends meet. I finally talked her into getting food stamps until she could find a job after all she has worked her whole life and her taxes pay for the program. There should be no room for shame or embarrassment when you are a responsible person yet still have struggles. After Ike she tried to use her card to replace all the things she lost in her refrigerator. When she tried to use it the system wasn’t working and she, in frustration, used $100.00 of her money reserved for bills. She said all she could do was cry on the way home. My husband and I have been separated for about 2 months now. He has been (until recently) unemployed as well so I too was struggling and wondering how I was going to replace the things lost in my refrigerator. A day later I was told we would be getting $100.00 card we could use like cash anywhere to help with the expense of Ike. I traded the card to my neighbor for $100.00 of groceries off her food stamp card. I know we both prayed about the situation and by the grace of GOD our prayers were answered. We continue to support each other and tell each other to “hang in there.” He has truly blessed us with this new friendship.

Kristi

I grew up in a home with an alcoholic father and a domineering mother. As a family we made it a point to be in church every Sunday. I had no childhood friends because my mother didn’t like them or she ran them off. Most of my childhood was spent playing in a family band in bars and clubs, and later on in nursing homes as volunteers.

As a young teenager while playing music in a bar at a Christmas party I saw, for the first time, a man in the audience slap and kick his wife or girlfriend under one of the bar tables. On another holiday, I stood by and watched my grandmother cry when her two sons (my uncles) got drunk and got into a fist fight at one of our family gatherings. Once again the family band played on.  

We were real good at putting on a show, hiding our true feelings behind our masks on stage; never letting on that our own personal family life was in shambles. My mother’s motto was: “A family that plays together stays together.” We weren’t really all that together. At home, when the music stopped and we were no longer performing, my mother, brother, and I were yelling and arguing with my father about his drinking problem.  

After I graduated from high school, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. At that time I prayed to God that he would not let my mother die, and He didn’t. Then a year or so after that in November, 1983 I gave my life to Christ and asked Him to be Lord of my life. I was a good kid growing up, an honor student, never got into trouble of any kind, I didn’t think my sins were all that bad, but I did not believe that Jesus was “as real as the chair next to me” until that night.That was 25 years ago.

My life now is very different. After I was saved and gave my life to Christ I stopped playing in the family band and started playing for Jesus - a new song in a new band. I have a new family in the body of Christ here at Gateway and recently I realized that no matter how long I’ve been a child of God I will always need God. He is my father of all Father’s, my Comforter and the One thing I need most in my life. I am learning to allow myself to be loved by God, to accept the love He gives in whatever shape or form it comes in and to love Him back through worship and prayer and spending time in His word every day. After Hurricane Ike arrived I found God to truly be my strong tower and refuge in the storm. I found that I missed spending time with Him and how important my relationship with Him is.  


Patricia