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The Lord is Good to Me~
The following is part of my family's story. There is so much more, so many miracles that He has done for us.~
"The Lord is Good to Me,
and so I thank the Lord,
for giving me the things I need.
The sun, the rain, and the apple seed.
Oh, the Lord is Good to Me."
These words are from a song I learned in Brownie Scouts when I was just a youngster. The song, sung as grace before meals, is called "Johnny Appleseed".
Hello, my name is Barb, and as the song says, "The Lord is good to me". I would like to share some of the wonderful things that the Lord has done for me over the years. First, however, I must tell you a little about myself. I was born in 1942 to two very loving parents. My childhood was pretty normal. I attended the same grade school that my father had attended and graduated, in 1960, from the high school where my parents graduated in 1932. My folks made sure that I had everything that, as a child, I needed. They made sure that I had a good Christian upbringing in the neighborhood Congregational Church. I belonged to the children's choir, went to Sunday School and youth group. I was in Brownie Scouts (and later Girl Scouts), went to Girl Scout summer camp,and took swimming lessons and the YWCA. My mother was totally involved in all of my activities. She was a choir mother, attended PTA meetings, went to all the school functions, and carted my Girl Scout Troop all over the place. She was kind of like June Cleaver, Harriet Nelson and Donna Reed all rolled into one. Dad was very busy, he worked full time at Lears and gave private lessons on the trumpet in the evenings. He encouraged me to learn to play the clarinet, and made most of my band concerts. He was one of the founders of the Grand Rapids Symphonette and I played with them for several years. My parents were married for almost 15 years when they decided to separate and divorce. Their divorce was very civillized, neither parent tried to turn me against the other. I lived with my mother and she encouraged me to have a good relationship with my dad. She continued to support me in all of my activities and, when my dad remarried a few years later, she never once tried to sway me away from his new family (he married a widow lady with three children). After graduating high school, I attended Junior College for two years before entering the work force. I took a job at a local department store in 1962 and that is where I met the man who became my husband and father of my three children. Jim was 6 years older than I, and had been married once before. When I met him, he had custody of the five children from that first marriage. It was a voluntary arraingement and the kids went back to live with their mother after three years with us. Jim and I had three children of our own. The first, a daughter, came in August of 1963, the second, a son, in Sept. of 1969, and the third, another son, was born in December of 1974. During our marriage, I slipped away from God somewhat. Oh, He was there in the background, all right, I even went to church, sometimes. My little girl was in choir and youth group, she even went on trips with youth group. As I said, God was always there for me, in the background. I took Him for granted, never fully realizing the extent of His Love. Like a loving parent, He led me through life, giving me opportunities, but always letting me make the choices. I didn't always make the wisest decisions. But, He loved me anyway. He showed me just how much by not letting my choices defeat me. He saw me through bad times as well as the good ones. He made miracles happen in my life, most directly to the ones I love, but they are my miracles too.
The first is Jim's Miracle~
It was several Miracles wound into one great big one!
The second major Miracle is Tracy's story. It began at the time of Jim's death in 1976.~
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Page edited 10/17/01
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