Late night thinking...

You probably are asking yourself two questions right now as you catch up on my new posts...
One... Why is Sarah up at midnight on her computer?
Two... What's up with the huge map at the top of the blog?

I would be glad to answer those questions for you.
To the first, I think deep thoughts at night when I am not drooling on my pillow. Plus, I had one too many no-bake cookies.
To the second, I thought it was cool when I saw it on other people's blogs.

Then, I thought about how beautiful that map was. Ever since I felt God's calling me into mission's work as a young teenager, I have had fanscinations with world maps! The call to "go into all the world" to tell others of the hope we have in Jesus Christ is sooo exciting. That is one of the reasons Ron and I were so attracted to one another. We both loved souls and felt called to go.

Now, our lives have been like a puzzle. When it is being put together, it doesn't always make sense. But, since we have been married, I have stepped back a few times to get a glimpse of the bigger picture, and have found how beautifully God has wrote our story.

Ron still talks about going to the mission field in the future, but presently we know that Dayton is our mission field. Then, I look at that map, and I think to myself... COOL, we can be world missionaries via our blog.

For obvious reasons, we cannot leave the country right now. It is still possiple that God may see fit to take away my best friend. I just told Ron the other day that he was not allowed to go to Heaven before me and make me do all the work raising our children, while he goes and has fun and enjoys the presence of Jesus! (We've always had strange arguments, but I wasn't really arguing this time!) The Lord knows best, and we have given it over to Him. But, we still dream here and there.

Would you like to hear our love story? Good, 'cause I like to share it.

Ron grew up in the city. He started out life in church, but then, left. By the time he was a teenager, he had gotten so deep into sin... drugs, alcohol, fighting, etc., that he seemed a hopeless case. Now, he was an athlete, and we are talking a VERY good athelete... could have gotten scholorships for his abilities, but his grades were not so great. He ranked fourth in the state in high school as a heavy weight wrestler. (If you are all used to knowing Ron just as a minister, you may laugh now, but he actually once was a very mean guy! When God saved and sanctified Ron, He did a beautiful job on him!)

Ron went to college in Illinios and played football, but life was not what he expected and some of his friends and family members around his age died because of their lifestyle. This was a wake-up call to Ron, and being sick of his sin, one day alone, he repented of his sin, right there on those football bleachers! He got sanctified later as God revealed his need of a cleansed heart from those old desires and habits.

Now, down in "Hickville, USA" (otherwise known as Wheelersburg, Ohio), God was preparing a young lady, country gal, who asked Jesus in her heart at age 8, beside her bed along with her mother. I never tried to the things Ron did, and I thank Jesus for that! As I grew into a teenager, I started giving Jesus my all. I started to realize that He cared about every part of our lives... inside and out. I would spend much time reading the Bible, listening to Christian radio, reading a few books, and when I was about 14, I heard the call to go work for Christ! Would you know that a 20 year old man was about to hear that call!? (Gasp... yes, Ron is 6 years older than me!)

Ron went to GBS, studied in the Mission's Department, became Main Street Chapel's pastor, and visited some mission fields. As the pastor of Main Street, he brought some children to a youth camp down to near this "Hickville, USA", where one evening a 17-18 year old girl came and prayed at the altar about a certain boy she was dating, and knew it was NOT God's will. God also confirmed my mission's call by telling some minister that He had called me! I don't remember talking to Ron that night, but that Fall, I left for GBS!

Fall 1999 I was a little Freshman, and Ron was a Senior. We both were studying the same thing, and I had good friends who liked him, but at first, I didn't notice him.

Then, that wonderful Spring 2000, there was a mission's trip to Tiawan scheduled, and guess who went... Doctor Wingham (who later married Ron and me), his daughter (Debbie), one of my best friends, Rebecca (who eventually married my brother), Ron, and me. That is when the sparks began.

We began a distant friendship that constisted of his greeting me as "grand-daughter" and my calling him "grand-father." Strange story, but we actually called each other that for several years... that is until...

Well, he graduated in 2000 with a BA in Missions, and I graduated in 2001 with an AA in Missions for Nurses(I was only 19, and I think I actually missed a class that should have been taken but somehow got missed! There goes that conscience again! I still graduated, though!) I went off to Nursing School, but had my mind on other things, and didn't give it my best... so, that didn't work out... Then I got this phone call about some missionaries who needed help in New Mexico on the Navajo Reservation! I was still living at GBS... Thanks GBS for letting me stay with you... I really, really liked it there! But, I quickly made arrangements to go live in NM and work with the Yates family, who I did not even know! I was an ACE monitor, and did many odd jobs with them.

Now, would you know that Ron, years before, had gone with a GBS group and helped the Yates' once! Would you know that they could nearly make me blush at the mention of his name. Would you know that back in Dayton, Ohio, there was a guy who had great interest in me, but waited until I was in NM, to start talking to me! He was busy doing ministry in Dayton... he is an excellent bus worker, youth worker, preacher, and loves to do hands-on work at the church (painting, cleaning, etc.) Of course, things have majorly slowed down, but I haven't forgotten his labors, and neither has Jesus.

So, he started writing me (how I remember that first note... yes, he called me granddaughter!), and that first phone call! Then, the calls got long, and we made a couple of trips back and forth to visit one another. I remember our first kiss was on a trip to the Grand Canyon! He proposed to me at my parents' house on New Year's Day. (I was visiting for the holidays.) Of course, I said "yes," and a few months later, I moved back to Ohio, and married Ron on June 14th, 2003.

Now, I wish I could say we got along from the start, but that would be a lie! We were both sooo stubborn, and used to the way we did things. But, for us, we just have gotten to be closer as time has gone by. We really care about one another, and we are best friends, although we still have our moments.

We have been through so much together. We lost our first pregnancy, had several deaths of family and friends, have had a few family issues, etc., but it has brought us closer to one another. Now, we take his cancer one step at a time. It all came on so quickly a few months ago, and things are still difficult.

I have had so many people say they think I am strong, but really, they never have seen my wet pillow. But, I know One Who does, and He will carry us through. For when we are weak, then are we made strong!

Ron has been a role model to me, to be honest. He has taught me what it means to pray. I remember after we first married, watching him pray. I was touched seeing how he wept over souls. He taught me how important it is not to hit and miss reading God's Word. He truly is a student of God's Word! He taught me what it meant to be faithful in Saturday calling. As each of our children were born, he taught me what it meant to have a Godly father who "whoa be to the person who toucheth his daughters"! He loves, I mean, ADORES his little girls! And, his girls love, I mean, ADORE their daddy. So do I! I actually follow him around the house sometimes like a lost puppy... can't help it, I AM IN LOVE WITH HIM!

It is difficult watching my strong warrior struggle... It has not been a walk through the park, but we sure have had alot of people who have told us they are praying for us, churches and individuals have given sacrificially in kindness for us, and God's people and our families have been wonderful... We thank you sooo very much!

Now, we don't know what lies ahead in the next week, weeks, or months... but, I sure want to have my feet planted in Jesus. I don't want to shift with the flow of emotions, other people, or whatever, because it sure can be tempting when times get tough to let things go, but with God's grace, we want to stand firm in what we believe,
and in Christ...
WE STILL PRESS ON!