Every story has a beginning; they are important because they explain the whos and the hows and the whys. No matter how great the rest of the story is, the beginning sets it up, and therefore is extremely important. My name is Angela, and my life is divided into two stories. The first one is a common tale, and it's beginning is with my birth on September 30, many years ago. That story is a good one, but it is not the one I am telling. I want to tell you my second story, which began on August 2nd, 2015. This is the story of how my wilderness became a place of joy and peace, the story of how I was reborn. And since every story has to have a beginning place, then that is where I will start.
Truthfully, I didn't realize I was living in a wilderness, that my life had become a barren place full of false happiness, bitterness, and distrust. If anything, I thought I had it all: my own home, a good job, decent car, friends, family, money. I had no master, no boss, no rules. Life was temporary, so I did whatever I wanted to be happy in the moment. I now realize I made for myself a box to live in; at first it was a big box, pretty and warm. But with every passing day that I lived in that box, it became smaller and colder. Still, I lied to myself and told myself how happy I was, and so I believed that my box was still large and beautiful. Eventually the box had grown so small and dismal that it had become a coffin. I had buried myself alive, and had no way to dig myself out. And then came August 2nd, and the start of my second story.
When I woke up that day, there was nothing to indicate my life was about to drastically change. No fireworks or trumpets, just a regular Sunday morning; Sleep in, go to work, dinner, and then I had the next two days off, and I could relax. When I look back at my plans for those three days, I have to laugh at the person who woke up that morning and thought she had it all figured out. If she only knew what was to come over the 72 hours, she would have been quaking in her shoes. Now all I can feel is grateful that my world was turned upside down and shaken like a snowglobe. The first lesson I learned is that timing is everything, and God's timing is perfect.
I got off work that Sunday night around 5 pm. Normally I get off at six, but we were slow, I was tired, and I had promised my sister I would drop by her house that night to say hello to her and spend some time with her family. My coworker told me I could leave an hour early so that I could get home sooner; had I not shown up early, what happened next might not have been. I had such a good time while I was there, playing with the kids, enjoying this life that I had built for myself; and then something on the television caught my eye. I was a movie fanatic, and this one looked interesting. It took me a minute to realize that I was watching the Christian movie "God's Not Dead". Even though I was living a life that was actively non-Christian, I was raised in church so I understood the basics of the movie and could enjoy it, even if I didn't have faith in those things anymore. Such a small thing, to merely look at a television screen for a few minutes; hard to believe that this was the start of the radical changes to my life. Before I left her house, my sister told me that, if I liked the movie, I should ask my mother to borrow it since she owned a copy. I said sure, that I might do that, and then walked out her door and promptly forgot all about it. Phase one of God's plan, complete.
To be continued tomorrow....
Truthfully, I didn't realize I was living in a wilderness, that my life had become a barren place full of false happiness, bitterness, and distrust. If anything, I thought I had it all: my own home, a good job, decent car, friends, family, money. I had no master, no boss, no rules. Life was temporary, so I did whatever I wanted to be happy in the moment. I now realize I made for myself a box to live in; at first it was a big box, pretty and warm. But with every passing day that I lived in that box, it became smaller and colder. Still, I lied to myself and told myself how happy I was, and so I believed that my box was still large and beautiful. Eventually the box had grown so small and dismal that it had become a coffin. I had buried myself alive, and had no way to dig myself out. And then came August 2nd, and the start of my second story.
When I woke up that day, there was nothing to indicate my life was about to drastically change. No fireworks or trumpets, just a regular Sunday morning; Sleep in, go to work, dinner, and then I had the next two days off, and I could relax. When I look back at my plans for those three days, I have to laugh at the person who woke up that morning and thought she had it all figured out. If she only knew what was to come over the 72 hours, she would have been quaking in her shoes. Now all I can feel is grateful that my world was turned upside down and shaken like a snowglobe. The first lesson I learned is that timing is everything, and God's timing is perfect.
I got off work that Sunday night around 5 pm. Normally I get off at six, but we were slow, I was tired, and I had promised my sister I would drop by her house that night to say hello to her and spend some time with her family. My coworker told me I could leave an hour early so that I could get home sooner; had I not shown up early, what happened next might not have been. I had such a good time while I was there, playing with the kids, enjoying this life that I had built for myself; and then something on the television caught my eye. I was a movie fanatic, and this one looked interesting. It took me a minute to realize that I was watching the Christian movie "God's Not Dead". Even though I was living a life that was actively non-Christian, I was raised in church so I understood the basics of the movie and could enjoy it, even if I didn't have faith in those things anymore. Such a small thing, to merely look at a television screen for a few minutes; hard to believe that this was the start of the radical changes to my life. Before I left her house, my sister told me that, if I liked the movie, I should ask my mother to borrow it since she owned a copy. I said sure, that I might do that, and then walked out her door and promptly forgot all about it. Phase one of God's plan, complete.
To be continued tomorrow....
