Nineteen Years ago God changed my life

As Elliotte and I were praying tonight, I realized that it is coming up on the anniversary of when God came into my life, and we opened the next chapter of my life together .I've had this on my heart to do since Pastor Greg preached a series entitled "Personal, but not private."

Let me set the scene. . .

It was February 1991. It was the last few months of my senior year of high school. I was dating a cute waiter that I met at Queen Anne's Revenge. He attended Wanchese Assembly of God, though he didn't seem to be living for God - going to church seemed to be just what you did. Anyway, we went several times to church together, always sat in the back with all the other young people. There was *always* an alter call, always. And just about everyone went forward and filled the front of the church.

This one particular Sunday, I listened to the sermon and God was working on me. The experience was a little strange for me because it was completely unemotional. There were several times during my teenage years that I responded to God's call on my life, but it never seemed to 'stick'. Those were always emotion filled responses, and this time in February 1991 was different. I remember sitting by myself at the back of the church after most everyone around me had gone to the altar. God was talking to me, telling me it was time to really give my life to Him. I got up, but didn't want to make it a production, so I walked towards the front of the church - maybe the 5th or 6th row back. I knelt down and, without any pomp and circumstance, turned the remainder of my life over to The One who created me.

When I walked out, I had a smile on my face, but I don't remember telling anyone about it until later when I shared it with Randi Harrell. It was a decision I had made with my head, and it was the only decision that I could logically come to. There wasn't a large emotional response from me, maybe because there had been so many emotions thrown around before.

Jim and Candy Southern were the youth leaders at Manteo Assembly, where I started attending with Randi. They took me under their wing, loved me and helped me walk through those first few months. They were incredibly kind and loving to me! I can't begin to express how valuable they were to me in my walk with God and how much they did for my relationship with God. They began talking to me about being a junior counselor at a Christian youth camp that summer after graduation. I decided to go, never knowing that it would truly change my life.

I committed to go for two weeks to Camp Awanita. It was there that God rocked my world! He met me on such a personal level, ripping the scabs off my heart and healing them all at the same time. It was like sitting in a loving Dad's lap, and having him tell you it was all going to be okay. The One who created the universe loved me! What an incredible gift! I came out of those two weeks of camp with a new heart and an a future to look forward to.

During the time that followed, my world fell apart. My mom became ill, and all of my college money had to go to take care of her and to cover costs because she couldn't work anymore. I was okay with staying at home, working and helping my family. But God had other ideas!

A few days before school was to start at East Carolina, my aunt and my cousin conspired to pay for my first year of schooling and I was off to ECU! I was a little off kilter when I got to school, but on September 4th of 1991, God made it very clear to me that I needed to get to the mid-week service at Church of the Open Door that night. My room mate had my car, so I was running a little late when I found the church. When I walked through those big white front doors, I felt at home. They were coming to the end of praise and worship, and my friend from camp - Joe Sasser - was playing the guitar and singing. He smiled at me, and I sat down a few rows behind everyone else.

The Pastor stood up and asked if anyone had a testimony that they'd like to share. I raised my hand, and when he acknowledged me, I stood up and shared. Not remembering what I shared, I *think* it was some of what I said above. I remember giving God the glory for what He was doing in my life. Little did I know, my future husband was a few rows up, slumped down in his seat and being fanned by those around him, because he was blown away by me. That began our lives together. He proposed in May 1992, and we married the following August 15, 1992.

We were both young and strong willed, and it was a rocky start for us. In May 1993, (just eight months after we married) my mom died from a stroke. It shook me, probably more than I was willing to admit. As time went by, I missed her more and more. Especially when she missed big milestones: the birth of my nephew, my brothers marriage, the birth of my kids. She would have been so thrilled to get to know her seven grandchildren!

It's been a long and winding road, but God has been faithful through all of it - every step. We moved around a little, but landed back in Pitt County in 2000 with a three year old little girl. We bought a small house in Ayden, not knowing that by the time we moved to Greenville in 2005, we would have added three little boys to our family!

Eventually God took us full circle, and in January 2008, we went home to Open Door Ministries. We arrived limping and tired, and were welcomed with open arms. We were greatly worn down from pastoring a small church in Greenville from March 2002 until January 2008. God, being the loving Father that He is, led us home, and has allowed us to serve there since.

I can say it hasn't been an easy road. There have been very difficult and untimely deaths, rejection, marriage problems, depression, physical challenges, identity questions, 36 months of pregnancy and 49 months nursing those babies, eight years of homeschooling, and a whole host of other things I'm too tired to think of right now. But, God has never left me, walked away, turned his back, or lost hope in me. That is, all by itself, enough to live a life of gratefulness.

My first (and hopefully last) court experience

I admit, in March I got a speeding ticket. In my defense, I didn't think I was speeding since I was driving 47 in what I *thought* was a 45 zone. It turned out to be a 35 zone ~ changing from 45 to 35 as I drove through an intersection. So, I was pulled and given a ticket. Rachael was with me that night, so it was her first ever somewhat negative encounter with a policeman.

Over the last couple of months, I've meant to go to the DA's office to get the charges reduced, but never actually made it there. So, on Wednesday I left home about 8 am to go to the courthouse for my court date. I got there early, got a good free parking space, and walked over to the courthouse, all the while in a good mood. Since I'd visited the courthouse on Tuesday (only to find out that the DA's people will only reduce charges on Thursday & Friday), I knew exactly where to go.

Now, I generally walk around smiling, and I began my walk that way. By the time I made it to the security doorway in the courthouse, I realized I walked from my sheltered, mostly Christian dimension, *scary music playing* into a whole other dimension filled with people who didn't look nice, and some who looked downright scary! I was early, so I had to wait in line to get into District Courtroom 1. There were 20 or so people waiting there, and after a while the bailiff (drawing from my experience watching crime shows, not from real life) came to let us in. I sat at the very front of the courtroom, on a row all by myself.

There were two Assistant District Attorney's who were handling all the cases on the docket that day. One of them came to the front of the courtroom and made some announcements. The first thing he said was "The docket is pretty light today, so we all should be out of here by noon." My eyes got big, because I was thinking I'd be out of there by 9am. But I thought that it would be okay, God's in charge. Then the ADA asked for all those who were charged with a felony, and were there for their first hearing to raise their hands. Aack! Felony? I thought this was traffic court! Next he announced for anyone who was there that wasn't asking for a continuance, and did not have a lawyer to line up. It sounded like me, so I was first in line. I found my number on the docket, and was called up to see the ADA.

The kind ADA asked me what I was there for, found me on the docket, and asked me what I wanted to do. I asked to have my speed reduced to less than 10 over the speed limit. He asked if I'd had any other tickets, and I explained quickly that my last (and only other) ticket had been 10 years ago, but that I didn't speed anymore because of it. I didn't want to manipulate with crying or whining or anything, so I just said I didn't know I was speeding because I wasn't aware of the change in speed zone. He wrote down my plea, and told me to go to the cashiers office and pay the fine. Whew! I was outta there by 8:45. The court costs were even reduced because he reduced my charge to 40 in a 35. That was good, too, since we're pretty broke right now.

Now that I've explained what happened, let me explain my surroundings. As I was waiting to get into the courtroom, there was no one there that looked like me. I don't mean that in a color-of-my-skin way, but in a outward-appearance-of-the-life-you-lead-way. Many of the people there looked like they lead a rough life. This was characterized by the way they carried themselves, how they dressed and how they talked and reacted to who and what was around them. I saw a couple of younger, well dressed guys that I did make eye contact with. But I quickly realized that they could be murderers (couldn't assume that they weren't just because they were dressed nicely), so I just decided to keep my eyes down and *try* not to look intimidated. The whole experience was waaaaay out of my comfort zone, and I was intimidated, especially once I found myself in the courtroom with accused felons!

While I was in the courtroom, the rest of the courthouse began filling up. There were lots of scary looking people there - even more than before. Many were leaning over the upper rails, leering at the people below. You know, the kind of people you see on the news, hair all out of whack with crazy eyes. That's what I saw, so I quickly made my exit, called my wonderful hubby and told him to remind me to never, never, ever let me allow a ticket to get that far! If, and that's a big IF, I ever get another ticket, I will go to the DA's office right away and get it taken care of. I am entirely too sheltered and too female to do that again!

About 18 months ago we closed our church - the church we had pastored for six years. Since then we've been in a place of. . . well, I don't know. It's not been rest, so much. Maybe a place of being dormant. We haven't grown in our relationship with God, nor have we run away from Him. We have happily served at Open Door as Life Group leaders, but that's about it. We haven't been seeking God, nor really running from Him - just stagnant, sitting, receiving, but, definitely not growing.

As we closed our church, God had us make a safe landing at Open Door Ministries. This was the place we met, dated, and married. The place where we found a family many years ago. Once again, we found family. We found a welcoming place of acceptance, love, rest, and friends. There was never any expectation of us to *do* anything. Sometimes I think we wanted to be expected to do something, if that makes sense. But they were wise in letting us have space and time - giving God the privilege to call us back into service. And I think that time has come.

As we waited for our life group to start last night, Elliotte and I began to share what we felt like God was doing in each of us. You see, for the first time in what feels like a lifetime, I felt like I had something to share. We both had prayed (for a long time) for God to awaken us again, and to draw us closer to Himself. And, now, He is doing just that. We both have felt a stirring in deep within us, in our spirit, to wake up and begin to walk forward. Not knowing what He's doing, but knowing He is doing the work within us is hugely comforting. We aren't out there on our own, but safely in His hands. . .that's exactly where we want to be.

So, we don't know what we will be doing weeks or months from now, but we know that God is the One doing the work, moving us forward to accomplish His purposes. Praise the One who created us, loves us, and has called us! He showed His love for us by giving His Son so that we could have life - and have it completely. Not living in fear or defeat, but knowing that we are called by Him to accomplish much on this earth. Showing others God's love by the love we share.

Ahh, the joys of Spring!

I love this time of year. Having the windows open, sending the kiddos outside to play, seeing Luke bringing me the heads of flowers (not the stem, just the top of the flower) - it's a great time of year. It's also the time that I (knowing my type A personality) make final curriculum decisions for the next school year. To help in making those final decisions, I made a trip yesterday to the Homeschool Gathering Place in Raleigh. Talk about a kid in a candy store! I looove going there! The funny thing is that the kids love going too. Rachael said yesterday that she loved looking at new school books. She also loves all of the used books they have for sale. Rach always comes home with a stack of new books to read when gets to visit that store.

Anyway, I was able to look at many different math books (that's what I've been struggling with for Rach this year) and I decided! Yay! That's such a hump to get over. We decided on Saxon Algebra 1 (how can she possibly be old enough to be in Algebra 1?!?!) with the DIVE cd. That will allow her to get the lesson taught by someone who knows what they're doing (it's been a loooong time since I was in an Algebra class) and then I can check it. This will also allow her to stay with this curriculum until she goes to PCC for 11th & 12th grades. That was one of my goals - I really don't want to change her math curriculum for the next four years.

While we were looking through other materials, we found the Further Up, Further In study. It's a literature unit study based on the Chronicles of Narnia. She and Alex will do some of it together, but Rach will do all of it. I think she's looking forward to that.

In talking with Elliotte last night, he wants to do the kids History. So, we decided to start Mystery of History together as a family! I am so excited about this. I've wanted to do this program for a while, but haven't been able to organized it on my own. I just spend too much time each day putting out 'brush fires' and can't get to a good history program that we can do together. So, starting in a couple of weeks, we are going to begin Mystery of History book 1.

The kids will have testing during the last week of April - and we will be done for this school year. And we are all looking forward to it! We'll take the month of May and some of June, then we'll get started back - probably with a 4 day week. I've gotta leave time in there to take some trips to Kings Dominion! We are going to use our Christmas money (thank you Auntie Lois!) to cover most of the season tickets! The last time we did this was the year Elliotte started grad school - 2006 - and we haven't been able to since. Until this year I didn't think I could take the kids with me alone, so with Elliotte in grad school, it wasn't going to work to get tickets. But, this year, we can go a lot and we'll have my brother and family to go with, as well as some good friends! We are all looking forward to going - the kids are bigger now and can ride many more things than three years ago. Rachael is taller than me, so she can ride anything she wants to. Alex and David can ride most of the rides, where last time they really could only ride kiddie rides and some with a parent. In 2006, Luke could barely ride the kiddie rides, since he was only 15 months when we started going. Now, he and Brinlee (his little friend!) will be able to ride a bunch of rides together! It was a shocker looking at a scrapbook from our visits in the summer of 2006 - the kids have grown so much! I'll have to post some 2006/2009 comparisons once we go to KD in April.

We are loving our time at Open Door Ministries. It's been a time of resting (over the last year), getting to know new friends, learning and growing. We have a small group with two other couples - together we're learning more about marriage. I'm glad God has given this opportunity to us. We have a heart to see other couples have a better marriage - not just one to settle for. There's so much that we've been through and have come out the other side closer, more connected with each other and with God.

Our kids 4-H accomplishments!

Luke kept asking when was it his turn to go up on stage! Luckily for him, I kept offering him cookies to be quiet!










I just had to share the kids accomplishments from the Pitt County 4-H Achievement Banquet that was held this evening.

The Pearson kids were recognized for:

Rachael won:
Vice President of the Year 2008
County Champion for Health Project book
County Champion for Photography Project Book
County Champion for Community Service Project Book, then sent to district competition
Expressive Arts Project Book was sent to District competition
Won a trophy for two project books going to district for 2007














Alex was recognized for his 2008 Photography project book. Kids aren't in the competitive range until they are nine in 4-H years (as of January 1st of that year). So, his wasn't judged against other kids work. but he did get great marks from the judges on his project book!













David also was recognized for his Photography project book. He did a good job, and got excellent marks on his book as well!











Our club, The Whiz Kidz, is pictured above on the right side of the plaque, won:

Co-Club of the Year (for the 2nd year in a row, we tied for club of the year with the Mane Challengers)
Community Service Club of the Year
Awarded Emerald Seal for our club
Recognized for the club with the most winning project books

It was a banner night for our club and our kids. We were excited to see them doing so well. One of the reasons that we love 4-H is that it helps us to round out the kids education and gives them great opportunities to share what they've learned, sometimes in a competitive environment. They learn great life skills and become better citizens because of what they experience and learn.

I came home last night from a couple of hours of blissful, quiet shopping (I was all by myself!) to find two Christmas trees up at home! The kids were begging us yesterday to put up the Christmas decorations, and Elliotte gave in. I can't believe he started without me! Unfortunately we have to replace a bunch of bulbs on the pre-lit tree, so there's some tedious work we're going to do tonight. But in the end it will be really pretty!



On the radio yesterday afternoon, the news announcer was discussing the short time between thanksgiving and Christmas. I had not connected that it was coming up really fast! We are doing less this year for our kids...instead, we are planning on taking a trip to an indoor waterpark with them. They chose to have the trip instead of bigger presents for themselves. We are looking forward to going and spending the weekend away.



All year long we shop for the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes outreach. Each year we do four - one for each of my kids - with my kids gender and age group. It's fun to shop clearance stuff all year, planning to make these great gifts for kids around the world. It's one of the things we do to reach out to others, and it also gives my kids a sense of other people not necessarily living like us. There are so many people who don't have a comfortable home, cars to drive, plenty of food to eat, and comforts and conveniences that we take for granted. When we went to the local church to deliver the shoeboxes, we were given a tour of their set-up, and talked to her about volunteering next year. God has given our kids, (we've seen it the most in Rachael, so far) a heart for others, and a heart to reach out and help those who need it. Rachael actually has talked about being a missionary...we'll have to see what God has in store for her.

We visited this weekend with Elliotte's family, getting to see all of his immediate family within a 24 hour span. It was fun, but we came back pretty tired. The kids all have a great time when they're together. They even put on a variety show for us - they designed and practiced the show Friday night and Saturday morning, and presented it around lunchtime on Saturday. What a talented bunch! On the spur of the moment, Rachael went home with Sharon to stay for the week! She and her cousin Maddie were very excited for Rachael to visit them for several days. When I've been asked when she's coming home, I don't have an answer for anybody. It's really whenever I decide to go get her! When the boys and I go up, we will stay for a few days. We love going to Sharon's house. It's a great, relaxing place to be, and I get to visit with her!

Our doggie, Obi, was boarded just for a day while we were out of town. Let's just say, he didn't like it! I don't think they like us at that vet. Obi (a bichon frise) is growl-y and snappy with them. As a matter of fact, I had to go into the back where they board them, and get him out myself. He wouldn't let the vet tech near him! Oh, and just an aside - he is named for Obi Won Kenobi. We have a houseful of Star Wars fans here!

Things you may not know about me:

I guess I'm in a chatty mood, cause I'm gonna post again.

Here are some things you may not know about me:

• I have trouble sleeping, but God's making that better, day by day!
• I'm slightly jealous of people who can knit. I want to do that, but just can't get my fingers to work like they should. Okay, I *am* jealous, and amazed to watch them work!
• My mom died when I was 20 and married about 8 months. I miss her and the relationship that we could have had.
• My favorite drink is Dr Pepper.
• I despise Wal-mart, but Target is my second home.
• I'm a spectacular bargain shopper! It's not on sale unless it's at least 75% off! And 90% off, watch out!
• I shop all year for Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child, and Give 2 the Troops.
• I like to watch crime shows like CSI, Law & Order, and Forensic Files.
• Bad grammar and punctuation are my pet peeves.
• I'm a pretty good cook, but I'm a great baker.
• I like to scrapbook, but I don't have time to do it like I want to.
• I love gadgets, and technology, but sometimes they suck my time away.
• I planned on having two kids, but had four! The last little boy was after my hubby had a vasectomy! Woo!
• I love 80's music.
• Already, at the age of 35, I've been know to say that I don't understand this music today... and I'm too young to say that!
• I don't regret marrying my husband for a minute! He's the best man God ever made, other than Jesus, of course!
• I love to play board/card games. One of my favorite is Phase 10. I give it, along with other things, as wedding gifts!
• I dislike selling things for pay or to raise money.
• I love to help people especially if I can surprise them.
• My favorite color is lime green.
• When my house is clean, and the laundry is caught up, I feel at peace. Oh, I also feel that way when the kids are asleep.
• One of my favorite sayings is a quote from a fellow homeschool mom on a message board. It's helped me get a grip. She said "you can have a clean house, clean laundry, great meals, and school accomplished, but not all on the same day!" Great statement, very true. Something's gotta give.

Alright, I'm done cooking for now, so I'm gonna get some sleep and get ready for Thanksgiving Day tomorrow! Blessings!