After high school, I contracted mononucleosis followed by pneumonia a few months later. It took me over a year to rebuild my strength. I got a job and moved to live with my grandmother in Fairfield. I came home from work every day and took a nap!

Between grandma’s good cooking and the ten blocks I had to walk or ride my bike, to work, my strength returned. Then I started praying for a husband. To say I was lonely was putting it mildly.

David and I had our first date 4 months after I moved to Fairfield. But before God brought David into my life, Satan sent someone else. My tormentor from Junior High decided he liked me as an adult. He was not a Christian, but he wanted to meet my grandma.

Grandma didn’t like him.

We never went on a formal date, but I spent time with him. It led to heartache. God said I had to choose between God and him. I told him I couldn’t see him anymore. The next day I saw him on a date with another girl.

I would like to say I lived happily every after, but life is not a fairytale. I experienced my greatest loneliness during a busy season in our lives. We had three children and jobs we loved, but there were still times of loneliness.

Then I became housebound and I was physically alone most of the time. David had to do everything for the kids, grocery shopping, banking, and he had a few seasonal jobs. I kept God first and He filled the empty places inside me.

I learned when God has a plan, Satan always sneaks in a counterfeit right before the real one comes. I learned keeping God first prevents heartache and only God can fill those lonely places.