Real Love Series: Julie’s Story, Part 1

If you haven’t read the Introduction to this series, I recommend that you do. We are sharing Real Love stories. Stories that have hurt, pain but maturity and ultimately, JOY. In a culture that is so fast paced, self-focused and all about the falling in love part of our story with no concept of afterwards, we here at the Busy Nothings are striving to sit back and share from our own experiences what we feel true, pure, sacrificial love is. When you choose it even though it hurts or is hard work. The beauty, PASSION and true love that comes from this are better than any fairy tale. ~Heidi

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It was the end of March 1989, Southern California.

I had rededicated my life to Christ after numerous BAD choices.  I swore off looking for a mate and told God he was going to have to “plop someone in front of me”.

That Sunday night there was an ice cream social after the service so I went with my Mom to it.  While sitting by myself a guy walked up to me and said “why is someone so beautiful sitting by herself”?

I looked around – sure he wasn’t talking to me – but he was!  He sat down and we started talking.  After the ice cream social he walked me to my car and asked if I would go out for dinner with him the following weekend.  I agreed.  That was the beginning of a wild roller coaster ride that I wouldn’t trade for anything.  I ended up marrying this man January 13, 1990.

David and I had been praying about where God wanted us to live – we felt it wasn’t southern California.  We couldn’t agree on a state, let alone a city.  So, David came up with this idea – we each picked three states, wrote them down and put them in a bowl.  Whichever state got pulled out 3 times would be where we would go.  Wyoming was the first one picked out (my choice).  Yay!  I was excited!

THEN bam bam bam –

Arkansas – three times in a row.

I don’t know about you – but the only thing I knew about Arkansas was that everyone there were hicks, probably didn’t even own a pair of shoes and I was sure there wasn’t any running water! 

So we pack and off we go to northwest Arkansas.  So I didn’t have my info quite right but there were cows everywhere I looked!  I hadn’t ever seen so many cows in my life!

After settling down, getting jobs, found a church, made some friends, we decided we wanted to start a family.  After  a couple of years of trying – nothing.

Hmmmmm so we go to the doctor.  We are told we had a 0-3 percent chance of conceiving. 

Not very encouraging.  We prayed and prayed and still nothing.  We enjoyed working with the kids at church and would stay with different church families children while their Mom’s and Dad’s would go on trips.  We loved children, wanted children so bad. 

David had started taking some night classes and in one of the classes, he needed to interview someone at DHS (Department of Human Services).  He came home so excited telling me of all these children that needed a family.  So once again we prayed and waited.  We took the classes to be foster/adoptive parents – your chances of getting a younger child were greater if you were a foster parent also.

After having several children in our home, David started having some health issues.  He was a diabetic and had been thru many eye surgeries but was starting to have other problems.