The last decade - the next few years

2006 was the year things started to change.  Mike and I both felt the pull to start attending church again, something neither of us had done since we were young.  After several months at the Goddard United Methodist Church, we became members.  This new church family would become our core group of friends and through the activities and people, we began to see where God had been working in our lives.

We both found Sunday school classes that we liked, and eventually got more involved in other events, like Wednesday night worship, small group on Thursday, and taking on leadership roles.  Holley had an amazing children's pastor and she loved going to church.  Often, as soon as we were in the door she took off to a class or to play with other kids, and we might not see her again for hours.  Getting Rebecca to even walk into the doors was another story altogether.  Her views are a mix of influences from many places, but none of which build a trusting and loving life, in fact resentment, resistance, lying and doubt seem to be the pervading theme that she chose to live by.  I won't go into the depths of personal issues, but there were many and they were deep and the more we sought to understand and live our lives in a Godly way, the more she did the opposite.

Work for Mike had also changed.  Our beloved friend and Chief of Police in Goddard for many years passed away leaving a empty space in hearts and in the community that would not be filled.  The political changes in the police department would not be good and ultimately drove off the officers who cared about doing a good job.  What was left is not worth talking about.  I can't adequately describe this kind of stress, but it becomes unbearable to the point that it affects home and family and all aspects of your life.  So we evaluated our situation and decided that we could afford for Mike to leave the department.  It would be very tight and he would need to find something else, but it was better than living with the anger and abuse he was subjected to.  So in March of 2007, he resigned.

A mission trip to Red Bird Mission in Kentucky had already been planned and he went on that trip, which was a great experience for him.  That, combined with the relief of leaving a job he had not liked for close to a year brought about the beginning of good changes for all of us.  God's timing is interesting, to say the least!