I Saw God Today

If I had to pick my favorite country music star, I would pick Vince Gill. I can count on my fingers and toes the number of times that Mama and I have trucked across the southeast to see him. At first, I didn't really think he was all that grand... but then...I saw him in person and fell in love! One of the funniest things he ever said at a concert was "Why do all you women bring your bras and panties to Alan Jackson and Garth Brooks and I get golf balls from you?"... Yep, Mama and I had a little basket with a golf towel and balls to take down front... but we thought he would like it! And besides... I would never part with my underwear!
This post should be about my love for Vince Gill and how Mark and I danced at our wedding to his song....but it isn't... this post is about George Strait~ If Mark and I were to go back and get married again... we would probably have to dance to something by him. He touches my heart!
Mark and I started dating in 1991. He was a freshman at Clemson and I was getting ready to start my third year (probably as a freshman) at Georgia Southern. We had a great time together on the few weekends we saw each other at first. He would always come to my house on Sundays and play basketball...Mama would cook supper... and he would head back to Clemson. I guess that is when Mama started cooking on Sunday nights??? We had been dating for several months and the conversation came up about "going steady". Well...I knew we were going steady because I sure wasn't dating anyone else...and I didn't think he was either. I remember sitting on the couch at his house and him saying, "You are my girlfriend, aren't you?"... I said, "You never asked me to be your girlfriend, so I am not sure!"... He got up, went in the kitchen, and came back with a sticky note. The note said, "Will you be my girlfriend? Check yes or no"...It was so "corny", but I smiled the biggest smile and pondered which box to check. Playing hard to get, I told him I would think about it and let him know. I carried that sticky note in my wallet for years. (I wish I could find it now)... I am not sure I ever marked a box, but we are still together after almost 21 years!
Four years later in October of 1995, I came home from work... got ready to go the LC vs. Johnson County football game and never realized it would be a night I would never forget. The ballgame was quite boring...and Mark kept begging for us to leave at halftime...so we did! I walked in Mama and Daddy's... went out on the deck to get our cat...and sat on the couch. Mark told me to put the cat down because he had something for me to read. I thought he was an idiot... he wouldn't sit down... and he was so nervous! He gave me a "note" which was three legal pages he had written on... It was a letter telling me how cool he was... things about our relationship... and a bunch of other nonsense. I really thought he was off his rocker...and he still wouldn't sit down! When I finally got to the last page...it said... "I was wondering if you would be my wife.... check yes or no"! I was so darn excited I couldn't stand it! The first person I told was John Hogan because he was taking up tickets and I needed him to let me back into the game. It was a complete surprise! George Strait's check yes or no song... I think he wrote it for us... except we didn't know each other in 3rd grade!
When Mark started teaching Sunday school, he would always ask the class if we had seen God that week... At first I struggled with that... not realizing exactly what that meant... but in the last year... I have really concentrated on "seeing God".
Education isn't the best job to have right now...for security. I love my job. I love my "babies". I love to watch those light bulbs come on... I love to watch them struggle and finally get it... I love to watch them mature. I can't imagine doing anything else, but lately I have had to start thinking of alternative means of making money if I don't have a job! Today as I was walking around my neighborhood... I was thinking... Am I really going to get to make it in the educational field 30 years? There are so many things that are up in the air right now. If anyone had asked me 10 years ago about the state of education today... I would have said... everyone should try to be a teacher! Just this week...I encouraged KB to be something else. Sad... very sad! As I walked more... I felt drops of rain on my face...I heard the raindrops hitting the leaves... I saw the rain covering the pavement... and I knew... God... those are raindrops that are washing me clean. Not my outside... but my inside... Letting me know that as long as I am "clean" You will watch over me... protect my family...bless my family...hold my family in Your hands. George Strait...I saw God today. Through the darkness of a rain shower... so much light came to be.
I am still working on getting my broom fixed and sweeping up around my porch before I work on others...When God shows up like that... I see my broom straightening up and working on my own doorstep...those dust bunnies of doubt, worry, and frustration... I am trying really hard to get rid of all that...
I saw God today... His fingerprints were all over those rain drops... all over my children's faces as they enjoyed supper and laughed, all over that man sitting on the couch who asked me to check yes or no! I hope one day that my children will look back at the things I write and remember that God is there... just sit and listen...He shows up every time! If they struggle with something...I hope they see God! Thanks George Strait! You have made me smile when a smile didn't seem possible!