YOU CAN PROBABLY RELATE TO SOME OF THESE MEMOIRS I WROTE OVER FIVE YEARS AGO WHEN I STARTED THIS “STORY BY STORRIE” WEBSITE WITH THE HELP OF MY SON WHO IS A COMPUTER GEEK. THIS PLACE IS WHERE I POURED OUT MY HEART AND SOUL OF MY GOOD AND BAD PAST. THIS IS WHERE I DID ALL MY PRACTICE WRITING BEFORE I WROTE FOUR CHRISTIAN ROMANCE NOVELS WITH A TOUCH OF THE GOOD AND BAD ANGELIC SUPERNAURAL.

TRUST IN THE LORD

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TRUST IN THE LORD

Poster TRUST IN THE LORDby Kathy M Storrie

TRUST IN THE LORD

Mary Lou Cobb kept answering all the weekly Bible devotion questions my first year living in Johnson Hall. I made an unconscious effort to avoid the Bible scholar with red hair. For the past five years I hadn't read my Bible much because I had a hard time understanding it. My reading comprehension was low whatever I read. But, God would have the last laugh when Mary Lou and I kept running into each other at the Baptist Student Union. Even though we were poles apart we eventually became best friends. She was loads of fun and the personal shrink I needed!

Thank you mydear friend, Mary Lou, for helping me find the funny side of life!

 One time the Professor of Marriage and Family asked the whole class the question, “Ladies, how old were you when you started thinking about marriage?” Mary Lou answered out loud and clear: “I was eight!” She was serious and not trying to be funny. The whole class laughed at her comical truth.

 Every night as roommates, when I was almost asleep, Mary Lou would ask, “Did we lock the door, Kathy?”

Sleepily I’d say, “I don’t know!”

“Well, isn’t it your turn to check?” she giggled.

“I’ll get up.” I said.

 Two other close friends of mine were Micci Jo Crouch and Michael Champion. We were the only three that showed up at the campus BSU house one Saturday morning. Micci’s loud laugh hurt my ears and Mike’s obsession with watching her wiggle her hips while she painted the kitchen wall was embarrassing. They soon started dating and they were the perfect couple. 

Micci and I became close and she adopted me as her sister because she said we looked alike! We both had short, dark hair and we sometimes wore our matching shirt dresses for fun. It must have been true because one day her boyfriend, Mike, tried to kiss me on the cheekin the cafeteria cloakroom! After he laughed and apologized I realized he thought I was Micci. When Micci arrived she fussed at him for upsetting her shy friend.

One spring Sunday, instead of going to my church,  I visited Mike and Micci’s church just outside Cumberland College campus. Before the pastor preached he asked the audience to go tell someone how much they mean to you." Before I knew it, Micci was hugging me. She said, “Kathy, it was because of you I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior here in this church! Thank you so much for being a strong, Christian influence on my life!”

 What did she say? I was totally flabbergasted! I wondered what in the world I had done! I felt guilty that I hadn’t witnessed to Micci because I thought she was already a Christian! I learned two things: don’t assume people are saved because they are nice people; and, God can use your life to speak as loud as a sermon.

Soon after breaking up with boyfriend, Tommy King, I met Donald Disney who asked me to the Sweetheart Banquet. How could I say no to those baby blue eyes and his Elvis Presley grin that melted my broken heart. When he picked me up and we walked over to the cafeteria he was so nervous. I could tell he liked me and I liked him. I thought our date went well but Don never called me. One day after work, as I left the library through a side door, I saw him going up the steps to the library. The nearness of him made me swoon! I hoped he would look my way but he didn't. I wanted to follow him inside but girls don't chase a guys.

 Walking across the romantic viaduct didn't help my amorous mood. By the time I got back to the dorm I had to do something! In my room I had a perfect view of the front of the library. The leafless trees made it easy to spot Mr. Disney's six-foot-four frame when he finally came out of the library in his signature, baby, blue jacket.

Would I be wrong to help cupid a little?

 Somehow, I timed it just right. As Don entered the far side of the cafeteria I disappeared into the dining hall. I slowly got in the right line, trembling with excitement. I hoped Don would see me and join me in my line. I looked back and he saw me. His radiant smile boosted my morale. I smiled and waved. Donald followed his guy friends to the opposite line. My heart fluttered like a injured bird but I wouldn't give up.

I took my tray of food to a private table and I waited. for him before I ate. I couldn't believe it when he joined his friends over me. Twenty minutes later, he and his friends took their trays to the window. Hope revived me. Surely, he will come over and talk a bit. I drank my water-logged iced tea and watched him walk with a lone friend across the empty room. He never looked my way.

 All the signals were there to not hope for this guy... but I wasn’t paying attention.

 A month or so passed and I got a phone call from Don. He wanted to see me he said and he apologized for not calling me sooner. I had already dismissed him from my mind and I had homework to do. I couldn't believe I told him okay. In ten minutes he was knocking on the honor trailer door. I tried to hide my excitement as I opened door. A tiny bit of forgiveness dribbled over me when he half grinned and pushed his cold hands deeper into his jeans.

We walked to his shiny, blue and white, ’55 Chevy. He opened the driver's side and I scooted across the spotless vinyl seat, middle way not wanting to appear unfriendly. I felt a little like Annette Funicello from the Mickey Mouse Club. Donald got in the car and stared out the windshield in disturbing silence. He reminded me of Gomer Pyle in trouble again. That is when my mouth took off like a wild horse with a hair up his butt! I whipped that horse around the bend for an hour. Whether he wanted it or not, Don got to hear all about my stalker friend who wanted to kill herself because I didn't let her in the trailer to talk (for hours). For some reason, I didn't want Donald to talk. I wanted hisundivided attention and his sympathy so he would feel sorry for me and not dump me tonight.

My story fizzled out and there we sat shivering in the cold car. I wondered why we hadn't gone somewhere for hot chocolate. Reliving the story exhausted and depressed me. All of a sudden, Don started giggling. He said he was laughing about his roommate who had a date last night and the girl attacked him with a passionate kiss. His friend said he would never ask her out again because she didn't wait for his lead! Don laughed several times about it and I don't know why. He said it was late so he walked me home. I stepped up on the first step and looked up at him but he never leaned down to kiss me. So, I said goodnight and went in.

 Why did Donald want to see me tonight? I guess I'll never know.

 Much later, I saw Don in the cafeteria and I told him our BSU Choir would be performing a concert in his hometown during spring break . He said he would come. Much to my surprise and pleasure he came to the performance. Afterwards, he asked me to go with him to see how beautiful Norris Dam was at night. It was pitch black where we were but the dam was all lit up. Don held my hand as I stepped up on the short, stone wall to see the famous dam. The April breeze was chilly and I began to shiver so Don took off his jacket and put it around my shoulders. He gently turned me around to face him and when he leaned forward to kiss me I nervously turned away.

 It was an awkward moment and I cringed inside! I kept thinking if he had taken me to a warm place, I wouldn't have been shaking from the cold. I would have let him kiss me and things might have been different. Much to my disappointment then, but not now, God did not allow Donald to kiss me that night because he was not my future husband.

 Carolyn Burton Compton, my really good friend, was easy to like from the beginning. Her selflessness and humility shone because she loved Jesus so much it hurt. She wanted to help me have a chance with Donald so she got my permission to meet with him daily while I worked everyday at the library. She told me about their conversations. Evidently, Don was having feelings for me but he couldn't act on them nor talk to me about them for some reason.

 God had intervened in my life, again; this time He used chilly temperatures, my nervous fear, my runny mouth, and my crowded schedule to keep me from getting out of His will. Thank you Lord for intervening and helping me to trust in You when some of my people choices were only for a season.