God Writes Straight with Crooked Lines
One of my mother’s favorite sayings is ‘God writes straight with crooked lines’. This has proven to be true time and time again. I moved to Houston in the summer of 2008 on a one-year expat contract. I had absolutely no intention of staying longer than a year, in fact, when I felt the July heat, I wondered if I’d even last 12 months. God knew otherwise, 6 weeks later I met Mark. We got engaged less than a year after meeting and married 11 months later. While engaged, we decided to buy a house. Mark’s uncle is a local realtor and he lined up 3 showings for us one Saturday afternoon on the westside of Houston. My first impression of all 3 houses was bad. Not only did they all seem like they needed a lot of work, but the location also seemed too far out west! On our way home from viewing the houses, we stopped at Kroger and while sitting in the carpark discussing the pros and cons of each house, we started to see the possibilities in one of the houses and within 30 minutes we had decided to put an offer on it. Not only did that prove to be a wise investment decision, it was our first home, the house we brought our first born, Joanie, home to and the center of so many precious memories.
I was living in a rented apartment in the Medical District before we bought our house, and I was an active member of the nearby church. When we first moved into our house, we would rotate between Sunday services in the Medical District and Mark’s church, Holy Spirit Episcopal. As time went by, we drove to the Medical Center less and attended Holy Spirit more. Holy Spirit soon started to feel like home to me. The welcome was so warm, the community was close and there was a strong feeling of love and acceptance. It felt like exactly the right church home, and it has proven to be so. Our 3 daughters were born into this church, all baptized here, and all feel a great sense of belonging.
When I look back to July 2008, I smile to myself knowing that God had a clear vision of my future and was guiding me down the crooked path to the life he always intended for me.
Blessings,
Mags Ramey
Vestry