Why I LOVE the 4th of July!

I am going to go on record and say that Summer holidays have never been my favorite.  I don’t like to be hot enough to sweat… I don’t like being sunburned… I don’t like mosquito bites… I don’t like watermelon… I don’t like the sound of exploding things.  The ocean is pretty to look at, but I don’t like salt water and I don’t like sand.  I don’t like fishing, because if I catch something, I might actually have to touch it.   I don’t like swimming in lakes because I can’t see my feet, and the only reason I can imagine wanting to be dragged behind a speeding boat is if there is a snake or a shark behind me trying to take a bite out of my big behind.    I much prefer the Fall thru Winter holidays, with the crisp, cool air, changing leaf colors, turkey & dressing, manger scenes, decorated trees, Christmas cookies, Christmas cards, Christmas carols, colder weather, and even snow.  That being said, though, I have to admit that July 4^th is one of my all-time favorite days of the year.  Let me explain why.

I guess I will backpedal a little so I can set the scene.  In the Fall of 1987, I was teaching a K5 class at a private school in Birmingham.  It was my third year at this particular school and even though class sizes were smaller throughout the school that year, there was no indication of any problems.  But one afternoon, just before Thanksgiving, I was called in, along with one of the 4^th grade teachers, to have a “little meeting” with the school administrator.  We both figured it was a curriculum issue.  Well, when we sat down, the administrator informed us that due to declining school enrollment, we, and one of the 1^st grade teachers (she was supposed to be at the meeting, but didn’t get the message) no longer had jobs there.  I guess the word that best described my feelings at that moment is “thunder-struck”. 

Once the shock and hurt eased a little bit, then the panic set in.  That job had been my main source of income.  I had rent, a car payment and bills to pay.  No one hired teachers in the middle of the school year.  I just didn’t know what to do.  I prayed, HARD, and started applying for jobs.  I had already been helping at my then brother-in-law’s video store, so I could still do that.  I was able to pick up a part-time job at a tutoring place.  But even with two part-time jobs, once my severance from the school ran out, I would NOT be able to pay my bills.  My savings dwindled quickly, and I was finally to the point that I either had to get a full-time job, or I was going to have to move back home with my parents.  I remember crying out to God that night, begging for His guidance and promising I would follow wherever He led, if He would just help me find a job. 

It is amazing how quickly we forget our promises to God.  Just a couple of days later, I was sitting at my Mama’s table, reading the want ads when I came across one for which I was exactly qualified.  They needed someone with a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education with teaching experience with 3 to 6-yr-olds.  I remember getting so excited as I read on and found, to my absolute dismay, that the place advertising the position was in Chattanooga, TN.  In my orneriness, I tossed the paper across the table and said, “I am NOT going to move to Chattanooga just to find a job!”   Anyway, as I was driving home, I felt an almost physical tap on my shoulder and heard the words, “Why not?!”  I argued at God all the way home, but He kept on tapping and asking.  By the time I got home, I finally said, in exasperation, “Okay, okay, okay!!!  I will send them a resume!”  And I did.

This was one of those times when God answered my prayer so definitively that I had no doubt what the outcome would be.  He told me that this particular job was MY job.  I felt it so deeply that I began making moving plans before anyone from the place had even called me.  I knew they would be calling, but with two part-time jobs, I was never home during the day, so I knew I would need to go and buy an answering machine.  This was before the days of cell phones and voice mail, so you had to buy a whole separate machine that recorded onto cassette tapes, to attach to your telephone.  These machines did not come cheap.  So, with what little money I had left, I bought an answering machine and an interview dress, and went on about my business.  Just a couple of evenings later, when I got home from my two little jobs, there was a message from the program director.  I called him the next day, he asked if I would come for an interview.  I did, and I GOT THE JOB, just like God told me I would.  Suddenly I was the supervisor of a therapeutic nursery school serving children who had been abused and/or neglected.  I just knew that it must be God’s will for me to make a difference in the lives of these kids, and that is why He moved me up there to take that job.  And even though it was a PART of His will for me, God had more far-reaching plans in mind.  He used that job to get me in a place where He could bless me with His REAL plan for my life.

As I was running around like a crazy woman, preparing to move to Chattanooga, one of my friends made the off-hand comment, “I’ll bet ‘Mr. Right’ lives up there!”  I remember getting all indignant with her and spouting off, “If you think I would move my life to another state just to meet a MAN, you are crazy!!!”  (Can’t you just see God smiling and nodding his head?  Can you see where this is heading?”)  I went about my business, moved, settled in, and started my new job.

I had been up there about a month when I started looking for ways to meet people.  I was already visiting churches, but one day I saw a sign across the street from my apartment complex advertising “Clogging Lessons”.  I know… the thought of seeing me stomping around in tap shoes must be making you roll your eyeballs and shake your head in disbelief.  But, I weighed a lot less then than I do now and God was still nudging me, so I signed up.  Soon, I was making new friends.  I met one girl who was a little older than me, but a single career-girl like me, so we became buddies.  One night she invited me to another friend’s house to watch movies and hang out.  When we got there, I found myself being introduced to a slow-talking, blue-eyed country boy named Ken Lunsford.  (See that twinkle in God’s eye?)  We talked a little, watched movies, and went home.

You will remember, from previous posts, that I was in a place of suspicion when it came to men.  I truthfully still believed that I was too old and heavy for anyone to be interested in me and that I would spend the rest of my life as a single woman.  So you can imagine my surprise when Ken called a couple of days later.  To make a long story short, God’s plan for moving me to Chattanooga had, indeed, been a MAN—a very special one.  Ken was my “Mr. Right” and God had to move me to a place where we would meet each other.   The rest, so they say, is history.

Hmmm… this post has gone in a very different direction than I anticipated… I was going to talk about the 4^th of July, wasn’t I?  Well, I will finish up with why it is so special to me.  Ken and I went on our first date to Lake Winnepesaukah (Lake Winnie, for short), an amusement park in Rossville, GA.  We had gone there a couple of times that summer, for concerts or just to hang out, so I wasn’t surprised when he asked me if I wanted to go watch fireworks there on July 4^th.  At this point in our relationship, we were seriously “in like” with each other, so I readily agreed to go.  We went in the early evening, so we could spend some time in the park before the fireworks show began.  Ken had recently worked up the nerve to start putting his arm around me and holding my hand, so we wandered around like a couple of kids.  It was an enjoyable evening.  It started getting dark and we walked to the parking lot to get our cooler and blanket out of the car so we could get a good spot on the hill to watch the fireworks.  Just as we got to the car, Ken sort of pulled me around and KISSED ME!!  I remember being so surprised – it had been so long since I believed that ANY man would even want to kiss me.  We smiled at each other, and shyly, kissed again.  I think it was in that moment that being “in like” took a more serious and permanent turn for us.  We found a spot on the hill and watched the fireworks.  For some reason, on that night, the fireworks seemed a whole lot brighter and prettier.  And yes, I guess you could say that Ken and I made some “fireworks” of our own. 

So… why do I love the 4^th of July?  Because it was on that day that Ken Lunsford kissed Melinda Kendrick for the very first time.  Each year, that day always reminds me of how it felt when we fell in love  Maybe, just maybe, the extra brightness, twinkles and sparkles of the fireworks that night were simply a reflection of God’s smile.