Another GodMove: from TX to PA
Posted by cindy on July 17, 2008
While living in San Antonio, Reed applied for several law enforcement jobs around the country. He wanted to transfer from his historical interpreter’s job to law enforcement, but he had to make the switch before he turned 37, the cut-off with the National Park Service. He was offered a job in Pennsylvania, shortly after our second child was born. I felt like Abraham and Sarah, moving far, far away from family and friends.
At first, we didn’t know why God moved us all the way to Pennsylvania, but within the next two years God made it very clear to us. We were able to share Christ with several friends, but our friendship with the Aiosas made the biggest impact on our lives.
My parents came to visit us for two months while Reed was in Georgia at the law enforcement training center. They became friends with the Aiosas, too. My dad had the opportunity to tell Joe about the love of Jesus, and I had several opportunities to share Christ with Bobbi. Just before we moved away from Pennsylvania Bobbi got very sick. She had hepatits so we visited by phone. I talked to her again about Jesus. Then I asked my dad to call her. He talked with her again, and she trusted in Jesus for her salvation shortly before she died. That’s when we knew why God moved us all the way to Pennsylvania.
Later when we moved to Virginia Bobbi and Joe’s daughter began writing to me, and I had the opportunity to encourage her to put her faith in Jesus. Unfortunately, Roni quit writing to me after I witnessed to her about Jesus. I’m hoping that she eventually turned her life over to Christ.
Debbie Albrecht is another reason God sent us to Pennsylvania. She and I became good friends. Her husband worked long hours on Wall Street. Sometimes we got together when our husbands were working. Our family got to meet her parents at their New Year’s Eve dinner. Their daughter, Kristen, and our daughter, Sherry, became good friends. I had the opportunity to share my faith, and she talked about her Catholic background. She said that her family didn’t go to church anywhere because they didn’t want to influence their children. They wanted to let them decide for themselves what to believe. She knew that we took our children to church to introduce them to Christian beliefs, but the final decision was up to them.
I have the same hope for Debbie as I have for Roni. I hope that our conversations made an impact on her and that she accepted Christ as her Savior. Unfortunately, I lost contact with her when she divorced her husband and later remarried. Our daughters corresponded for awhile, but eventually the letters stopped coming.
I’m always disappointed when I witness for Christ, but no decisions are made. But I have to remind myself that I’ve done my part by sharing about Jesus. Only He can save. I hope to see Roni and Debbie and their families in Heaven some day. God doesn’t need me around for them to make decisions for Christ. The seed has been planted. “God yields the increase.”
