My Testimony, part two

So I guess you could say I led a pretty normal happy life. I was the middle child of two dedicated & loving parents (they still are), with a beautiful and intelligent older sister (she still is), and a younger, smart & athletic brother (he still is). I guess I always felt the need to find "my thing". Well, "my thing" wasn't school, wasn't alot of friends, but WAS gymnastics. I loved it & I was good at it. My parents raised us well, with good morals to discern right from wrong. We went to church sporadically and were all baptized and confirmed in the Catholic faith.

I was awarded a full athletic scholarship to Temple University (even though I never heard of the place)...how could you pass that up? At Temple I was away from home and really struggled my freshman year. I got through my 4 years of college & being on a sports team really kept me out of trouble for the most part. Bill & I dated all through my 4 years of college & I always knew he was the one.

It wasn't until after college that I began to seek out the reason for the emptiness that was in my heart. I kept trying to expect Bill to fulfill me, only to be let down. Even his love & friendship wasn't enough to fill the strange hole in my heart. It wasn't like I was even depressed or lonely...just sort of empty. I remember knowing about God, but never really "knowing" God. So this is when I met Tracy at my first job out of college...I was an exercise physiologist at Body Builders Fitness Center for the insurance company US Healthcare. (Please read My Testimony, part one if you missed it...http://5happyroths.blogspot.com/2008/03/my-testimony-part-one.html)

So all the while Tracy was telling me the gospel message, & inviting me to church, Bill's chiropracter Joe DeCarlo, was witnessing to him...followed by Bill's best friend Lloyd & Bill's sister got saved as well. God had us surrounded by other believers ("crazies" we thought at the time) and there was no chance for us.

The rest goes like this. A week after I got saved Bill went to the same church & gave his life to Christ. Months later, he missed making the 1996 Olympic games, got a job as the mascot for the Atlanta Hawks as I went to PA school and planned our wedding in 3 months. Many of my new Christian friends encouraged Bill & I to get married (we had been engaged & lived together since 1994). I prayed as I drove to the Rennaissance Hotel near the airport. "Lord, if you want Bill & I to be married, please give me a sign". I told the wedding planner at the hotel that I only had one date that we could get married. Sept. 27th. It was in between my medicine & psychiatry rotations. His response, "September of THIS year!" "Yes" I said. He walked away and returned a few minutes later with calendar in hand & a strange look on his face. "That is the only date we have open this year!" WOOOHOOO! That was my sign...thank you Lord...and the rest is history!!