Story # 4

My fourth story is from a friend at church here at Antrim! Judith is a special lady, who has made me feel very welcome in Ohio. I got to help her set up a blog one day which you can check out at Oh Taste and See It was fun to have a story from someone who lives right here in my community....

 

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Our story isn't long or grand, but it shows that it takes just 2 people meeting at the right time and place, even in a remote area.

I, Judith, was living in Northwestern Ontario in a town called Sioux Lookout. I was teaching school there. In the summertime we had VBS for the children and we needed teachers to help us. They would come from various places; and during the summer of 1994, a group from Antrim, Ohio, came.

The group consisted of various youth, including a young man, named Titus. She didn’t notice much about him; he was rather quiet. Years later my mother reminded me, since I didn’t seem to remember, that I thought of him as a leader.

That fall, I stopped in at Antrim and spent some time with a friend, Alta, and the group that taught VBS met for supper. It seemed that that moment stirred his heart and he began to think of her.

Three years later, the summer of 1997, he came back to teach, knowing full well what was on his heart and with the intention of talking to this young lady. It didn't happen, she was NOT THERE. She was in Israel touring the land and sights there.

The next year he was not intending to join the sojourners northward, but we were in desperate need of teachers and Nate phoned this young man up and wondered if there would be a group from Antrim that would be willing to come and help out in Sioux or Hudson. So, he organized a group and made sure he was helping out in Sioux. 

He had much determination this year to make contact, but alas, either someone was present or there were simply too many ‘eyes and ears’ paying attention and that was not what he wanted!

So, homeward he went with his mission unaccomplished!

 

I was leaving Sioux that summer for a year with loosely held plans to return more permanently. The weekend my parents came to take me back to the states, I receive a phone call and as soon as I heard the voice on the other end, I knew what was coming! Call it a women’s sixth sense…

Yes, it was the quiet young man, stating his intentions.

 

Whew, talk about a shift in the plans and I barely knew this chap! At least he gave me time to consider and a month later when he phoned, I said I’d give it a-whirl. Well, not exactly my words, but yes, I agreed.

 

Several weeks later he came to Pennsylvania for our first date and wouldn’t you know, as we were going to the restaurant, there was a traffic jam which delayed us an hour! Oh my, first time. In a vehicle. For an hour. With nerves tight. Not a good time for a traffic jam! We made it and survived. I didn’t know if I would (I could barely eat my food… )

 

And the rest is history! We are now a family of 5 – him and her and 3 lively boys!

-Him, from Ohio,
-Her from Pennsylvania
-met in Northwestern Ontario; Sioux Lookout, Canada
- joined August 5, 2000 to sojourn together on this pathway of life
-we are currently residing in Antrim, Ohio