A View from the Middle

By Debbie Craig

Do you ever think where you fit in this life? God has a perfect way of using imperfect people, though sometimes it is not seen until we remember the past and open our hearts to the future. Why would God want to use such a broken, imperfect person like me? Journey back with me to the memories that help mold the person of today. These will encourage us to finish strong, serving Christ in the future; make your mission field to be in reach of where ever you are today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 26, 2013
• ISBN: 9781449798321

Debbie Craig

Debbie Craig lives in Bassett, Virginia, with her husband of thirty-five years, Leon. They have a daughter and son-in-law, Mandy and Shannon Hall and one grandson, Bryan. Debbie is the middle child of Sonny and Jackie Turner. Her siblings are her older brother, Doug Turner, with his wife, Melinda, of Nashville, Tennessee, and much younger sister, Amy Turner, with her husband, Kevin, of Bassett, Virginia. Her nephews are Aaron and Jake Turner and niece Jessica Turner Anderson and husband Cory. She is blessed to have a large extended family of aunts, uncles, and cousins.

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Copyright © 2013 Debbie Craig.

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Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-9831-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-9833-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-9832-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013910743

WestBow Press rev. date: 6/24/2013

Table of Contents

Preface

Who Needs Glasses? I Have the Bottle

Christmas Tree Hunting on a Diet

When God’s Plan Includes Pain

Enjoying Someone Else’s Party

Our Field of Dreams

The Returned Gift

When Words Cannot Comfort

Where Do I Go from Here?

Battle ready?

Mama’s Hands

Remember Me

I dedicate this book to my wonderful family. We tell each other all the time, I love you, but even if it went unsaid, we would still know it by how our hearts feel. Thanks for giving me some wonderful memories. I can truly say, God has been so good to me.

No matter what separates us, you know that I love you, so keep a watch on the moon; you never know when I will be sending a smile your way.

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Preface

Writing is a way to share how God has worked in my life. I get upset because there is so much I could be doing as a Christian, and I’ve never completed much of anything until now. But whether you have one day or thousands, the quantity is not the most important part; it is the quality. Without God in your life, all you have are numbers. Today is your day, so finish strong.

Who Needs Glasses? I Have the Bottle

I was born on January 11, 1961, the second and last child of my parents, Sonny and Jackie Turner—or so I thought.

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My brother, Doug, was two years older than I. Our lives went on as a sibling pair until I was seventeen, and then my sister, Amy, made our family complete. I spent seventeen years as the youngest of two, and when I look back, I see God knew that because of the way I acted, I was bound to be a middle child as well as a preacher’s child. And there were bound to be issues. I firmly believe that if my brother had not been so spoiled by Mom, I would have gotten the mental therapy that I needed.

One good thing is that my life has never been boring. Sometimes to see what you have achieved in life, you must go back through your days and dissect them as with an MRI scan, one slice at a time. When you do this, you can see exactly where things changed. The why may be more difficult to explain—and I have always been a big why person.

Our eyes allow us to enjoy the beauty all around us. When we were children, we wanted whatever we saw, whether candy or toys. As adults, we want to have our neighbor’s perfect family or a model’s small body and beauty. (Yes, envy breaks a commandment, but I’ve had a hard day, so it doesn’t count, right?)

I am the queen of making excuses for not following through with what I start. I hope this will change. I was on the cheerleading squad in high school but quit because I did not want to put the effort into making the pep posters or getting to practice on time. I dropped out of high school after I married in my junior year. I started working at a local knitting mill, inspecting garments, which lasted but a few months before I wanted to work in another department.

I once sang with my mom after my dad passed away, but singing fell to the wayside. I even taught Sunday school for a while, until I found an excuse to stop. I sang in the choir, but my back and knee hurt so badly that there was no way I could sing in that pain. I held