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Jody and Marla VanSickle
I met Marla Brooks in 1979 at Morehead State University (KY). I was a sophomore from Lawrence Co. (KY) and she a freshman from Wolfe Co. (KY).
This picture was taken in the fall of 1979 at a small playground just off campus.
In June of 1980 we were married at the Hazel Green United Methodist Church in Hazel Green, KY. by the Rev. Richard Chamberlin. We had both quit school to be wed...and that was when "real life" truly began.
After our wedding we went job hunting. From June until December in 1980 I worked 4 different jobs in 3 states, living in 5 different towns ~ hey I promised her when I married her that we would be going places!
This picture was taken in the fall of 1979 at a small playground just off campus.
In June of 1980 we were married at the Hazel Green United Methodist Church in Hazel Green, KY. by the Rev. Richard Chamberlin. We had both quit school to be wed...and that was when "real life" truly began.
After our wedding we went job hunting. From June until December in 1980 I worked 4 different jobs in 3 states, living in 5 different towns ~ hey I promised her when I married her that we would be going places!
What (or Who) Got Us Back on Track?
In December of 1980 I was working as the manager of a Rite Aid Pharmacy in downtown Huntington, WV. when I became very ill. By this time Marla was pregnant with the first of our three daighters.
After spending the evening trying to feel better, we decided that we'd better make the short trip to the St. Mary's Hospital emergency room. There it was decided that I was going to be admitted for a possible exploratory surgery the next morning.
Early the next morning I underwent surgery. Later that day I discovered that I had had an inflamed appendix that was about to rupture.
That evening, after several family members had left for the day; I was alone in my hospital room. I was wide awake and had just turned off the television and the room light when I heard a voice speak to me. "Have you had enough?" the voice spoke. I looked around the room to see who was speaking to me, but saw no one. Not knowing what to say, I replied,"What?" "Have you had enough?" the voice spoke again,"Are you ready to come back?"
By this time I knew that it was God speaking to me! He was speaking in a voice just as clearly as my father's voice had spoken to me just an hour before. I must explain (for those who do not know) that I had grown up in the church. I had accepted Jesus Christ as my savior at age 8, and by age 14 was a liscensed Local Lay Speaker in the United Methodist Church. However, sine that time I had choosen to lead a life without recognizing God as my Lord. Now God was showing His love and grace to me by asking me to come back to Him! In tears, I said,"Yes, Lord!"
After spending the evening trying to feel better, we decided that we'd better make the short trip to the St. Mary's Hospital emergency room. There it was decided that I was going to be admitted for a possible exploratory surgery the next morning.
Early the next morning I underwent surgery. Later that day I discovered that I had had an inflamed appendix that was about to rupture.
That evening, after several family members had left for the day; I was alone in my hospital room. I was wide awake and had just turned off the television and the room light when I heard a voice speak to me. "Have you had enough?" the voice spoke. I looked around the room to see who was speaking to me, but saw no one. Not knowing what to say, I replied,"What?" "Have you had enough?" the voice spoke again,"Are you ready to come back?"
By this time I knew that it was God speaking to me! He was speaking in a voice just as clearly as my father's voice had spoken to me just an hour before. I must explain (for those who do not know) that I had grown up in the church. I had accepted Jesus Christ as my savior at age 8, and by age 14 was a liscensed Local Lay Speaker in the United Methodist Church. However, sine that time I had choosen to lead a life without recognizing God as my Lord. Now God was showing His love and grace to me by asking me to come back to Him! In tears, I said,"Yes, Lord!"
God's Has A Plan for Our Lives
After saying "yes" to God, the love, peace and joy of the Holy Spirit settled on me in a way that I had never experienced it before. He assured me that He was going to take care of Marla and I, and our new family to come. I didn't know just how soon He was going to have to prove it.
In peace I slept through the night, but in the morning "reality" began to sink in, and the devil began to attack. Here I was in the hospital, no insurance, no job (I had been fired), Christmas just around the corner, and a baby on the way! What was I going to do. As I thought that, God corrected me, it was not what "I" was going to do, but what that "HE" was going to do. That day I was told that a fund from the hospital would take care of the largest portion of the bill, and they would deliver the baby and take care of my wife when the time came! God truly provided for us!
That would be the first of MANY, MANY times we would experience God's miracle in our lives.
In peace I slept through the night, but in the morning "reality" began to sink in, and the devil began to attack. Here I was in the hospital, no insurance, no job (I had been fired), Christmas just around the corner, and a baby on the way! What was I going to do. As I thought that, God corrected me, it was not what "I" was going to do, but what that "HE" was going to do. That day I was told that a fund from the hospital would take care of the largest portion of the bill, and they would deliver the baby and take care of my wife when the time came! God truly provided for us!
That would be the first of MANY, MANY times we would experience God's miracle in our lives.