Continued

Another event God used to teach me the lesson that I have no control over the circumstances in my life came on my third wedding anniversary. We had moved to Jackson in 2005 and were living in a small apartment. We had rented a nice house, and were making plans to move over the weekend of our anniversary. Joey was working at a local car dealership and I was working for a non-profit organization. We were attending First Baptist Church and I had been able to get JT in a childcare center run by a good friend. I thought life was pretty good. On the morning of June 16th, Joey drove me to work because his car was in the repair shop. I saw him during lunch, and then my niece was going to drop me by the dealership after work to pick up my car. When we arrived at the dealership, I was told that they hadn't seen Joey since lunch. I was obviously concerned, and began to make a few calls. I talked to a friend of ours who lived near our house and learned that he had dropped my car off there and told her I would come by to pick it up. She said he left with a guy in a white pick up truck. She assumed it was work related, and didn't ask any questions. When I got home, I discovered, that he had obviously taken enough clothes, etc with him to be gone for a while. I couldn't imagine what was wrong. Joey had done odd things before, but never quite like this. I was broken-hearted, confused, hurt and scared. I didn't feel like I had anywhere to turn. I clung to my 18 month old son, and finally put him down in his bed. I had tried not to cry in front of him, so with him asleep in his bed, I cried. At some point while I was crying, I lay down on the floor of my bedroom. I finally lifted my head and cried out to God. I asked him to take Joey, because I couldn't handle this anymore. A calmness came over me like I had never experienced. I'm not sure I have even experienced exactly the same thing since. I got up, walked into my baby's room and kissed him on his tiny forehead. I went back into my room, lay down on the bed and went to sleep. I don't mean a fitfull sleep. I mean a hard, dreamless sleep. I couldn't believe it when I opened my eyes and it was light outside. I felt rested and ready to face whatever the day had in store. There were many decisions to be made and far too many unknowns as well.
My mother would be arriving soon- she had planned to come to help us move.
I had called my niece the night before and told her everything I knew at that moment. We didn't want to upset my mother before driving to Jackson, so we devised a plan for Mother to go to Cyndi's office first. There Cyndi told her what had happened. My mother is a woman of great strength. When she walked in my apartment, she was ready for action. I was still bewildered by what had happened. This was not typical of the way Joey had disappeared before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I took JT to his chilcare center, with strict orders that if Joey came to get him, he was not to go with him. We then went to see the gentleman from whom we rented the house. I explained to him what had happened, and that with this uncertainty in my life, I didn't see how I could commit to a lease that was more than double what we were currently paying. I would later see God's hand at every turn that day. The gentleman I had planned to lease the house from didn't have to let me out of my lease. He certainly didn't have to return the money I had given him for a deposit, but he did both. He was a Christian, and told me that he viewed his business as a ministry. He said that if he had anything less expensive that was available, he would just transfer my lease, but he didn't. My current apartment had already been leased to someone else, so I would have to find a new place to live. My mother and I began to search. We looked through the newspaper and went to several apartment complexes in town. We found a few that would do, but nothing that I felt good about. It was getting dark and I was becoming discouraged. I noticed an ad in the newspaper that said very little except for 3BR house in North Jackson. I didn't have much hope that this was something I would be interested in, but I called the number anyway. A man answered the phone and began to tell me where the house was. He told me the location of the house and suggested I drive by. He said if we liked what we saw, he could show it to us the following morning. We drove by, and I couldn't believe my eyes. It was a wonderful little bungalow located in the middle of one of the most affluent neighborhoods in Jackson. When we saw the house the next day, I knew the house was a real find. When I looked into the backyard, there was a large tree with a large low-hanging branch that was perfect for JT's swing. I began to cry and knew that God had provided us with this house. The man explained that he was a retired architect and had built this house for his daughter. She had moved away, but didn't want to get rid of the house. The previous tenants had just moved out, and he wanted to do some work on the house before we moved in. We explained my circumstances, so he allowed us to go ahead and move in the next day.
The next issue we had to face was how was I going to move without any help? I called a good friend who was a realtor and asked if she knew anyone I might hire to help me. She said that her housekeeper's boyfriend was standing right beside her and she would check with him. He agreed to come and to get a friend to help him. The next morning, this big guy with a big grin rang my doorbell. He said he had not been able to find a helper, but that we would get through it. I'm sure she had shared with him what was going on in my life, but he just hugged me and said "We'll just take this slow and easy. With God's help we'll get it done". To this day, I know God gave me the strength to move heavy antique furniture from my two story apartment with this kind man. He was truly just one of the many angels God sent to help me in those few days. The house turned out to be a perfect little spot for us. The children had lots of room to play and we were blessed with kind and loving neighbors that helped us out, and loved us.