My story is not just about one day - it's the entire decade

When posed the question: "Describe your most memorable day from the last decade: 2000-2009." it came down to 2 choices very quickly for me and since one event was the finishing touch of the other I thought I would start from the beginning. It was an obvious choice for me and my husband agreed as it truly was the event that changed my life and because of that event my life will never be the same.

The date is October 15, 2000. I am pregnant and scared, and my ex-boyfriend(father of child) has a new girlfriend and is denying the baby is his. I am still in shock that this is all happening to me and that I am one of 'those' girls. Wow. Here is the back story to go with it all: For a little over a year I had been dating a great guy from a great family and it seemed like he might actually be 'the one'. We had a lot of fun together and a lot of laughs, and we went to church together every Sunday. It was very different from any relationship I had been in before and he was very different from anyone I had dated before. Then, suddenly it ended. No explanation, no nothing. Soon afterwards, I find out I am pregnant, this is not good!

It is Sunday morning, I get out of bed, get ready for church and drive myself there. As with every Sunday, I am thankful I will not be running into my ex as we have decided that I will continue to go to the early service and he will go to the later one so we don't have to see each other. I get to church, sit in my usual spot and wait for the service to begin. I glance to my right and see my ex's sister, she is a pastor at the church, then I see him....and her! I see my ex-boyfriend with his new girlfriend. I knew he was dating someone new but, seeing it all right in front of me and at church is too much for me to take. I walk/run to the bathroom praying no one will see me. I barely make it to the bathroom before I start sobbing. I am sitting in the corner of the bathroom with my legs pulled up to my chest just sobbing into my knees. A woman walks in, I try to stop crying and try to regain some composure. She asks me if I am OK, I say 'yes' even though it is obviously not the case, and she walks into one of the bathroom stalls. I am still sitting in the corner when the woman comes out, washes her hands and then turns to me. She tells me that she knows I am pregnant and she knows that my boyfriend came here with his new girlfriend. I instantly stop crying and look up at her. How did she know, is all I can think, I am not showing yet and I don't know this woman. I ask her how she knew and she told me it just came to her in the bathroom. I told her the whole story of what had happened, she listened and then helped me up and told me to come sit with her and her family for the service. I remember just following her like I was in a dream. Through out the entire service I felt like I was being talked to directly from the Pastor and I swear he was looking right at me a few times.

I thanked the woman for letting me sit with her and her family and drove home, I will never forget what happened next. I was on 94/35W just making the turn to 35W south when it all hit me like a ton of bricks and all the emotions came flooding out. I was laughing and crying all at the same time knowing that my life was never going to be the same. See, the night before, I had a dream that I had forgotten about until just then. In that dream, I was wearing the exact same outfit I was wearing right now, I had run into my ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend, I had gone to the bathroom crying, and I was even sitting in almost the exact same spot in church. The only thing different was the person that had helped me in my dream. I finally had the answer to prayers I have had my whole life. I was cheering and delighted, my life instantly went from doom and gloom to joy and hope. I knew God gave me that dream to show me he wanted me to lean on him and his people.

From that moment on, everything changed for me. I had a peace I had never known and haven't felt since that lasted my entire pregnancy. Even though I was still on my own, I knew it would all be OK. I had a group of people in my life that lifted me up and supported me no matter what. I never felt alone and my fear had subsided. I continued to leave a message each month for my ex-boyfriend letting him know the date/times of upcoming doctor appointments and birthing classes. Just so he couldn't some day come back and tell me I never gave him the opportunity to be involved. Then, about a month before my due date, I got a call from my ex-boyfriend asking me if I still had any birthing classes left and if he could go to it with me, I told him he could. That last class was Valentine's Day 2001.

My son was born April 2, 2001, which was my other choice for most memorable moment of the past decade. But, see it is hard for me to keep my story to just one or two days in a decade because I was blessed once again with a child on September 20, 2002, another one on November 18, 2003, and yet another on May 22, 2008. Then, as we come to the end of the decade, I celebrated my 8th wedding anniversary on December 22nd.....to the very same man who used to be my ex-boyfriend. So I would have to say that the most memorable moment of the past decade for me has to be well, the past decade!