Do You Really Think I Want to Annoy You?

By Patricia Ritz

This book is about Pats journey and her search through most of her life for a church where she could fit in, be able to be herself spiritually, and not annoy people. In the autobiographical chapters about her life and her searching, Pat hopes will give you some insight into her personality that has driven her to write Do You Really Think I Want to Annoy You?

When you are bursting at the seams to share the light that now shines in your heart with those you loveimmediate family, extended family, church family, and friendsit is impossible, she has found, not to annoy people. She hopes this book will help those in her life and those she has never met to see that the light of Gods Spirit is meant to be for everyone.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 20, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490831381

Patricia Ritz

Pat, a seventy-three year old “seasoned citizen” has lived with her husband Bill in a rural community in Eastern Pennsylvania for forty-nine of their fifty-three years of marriage. They have two daughters, Lori and Lynne. Their son Eric (Ricky) has lived in heaven since 1969 when he was three years old. (see Chapter 3, “Through The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death”) Pat and Bill also have two granddaughters, Sarah and Marissa and don’t forget their dog Sammy.

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Copyright © 2014 Patricia Ritz.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-3137-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-3139-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-3138-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014905457

WestBow Press rev. date: 05/19/2014

CONTENTS

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1   Pre-Dawn – Before New Life

Chapter 2   Then Came the Dawn… New Life

Chapter 3   In The Valley of the Shadow of Death

Chapter 4   Picking Up the Pieces

Chapter 5   Moving On

Chapter 6   Ethel’s Gift

Chapter 7   Searching, Searching, Searching

Chapter 8   THE CHURCH

Chapter 9   Who’s In Charge Here? Anyway!

Chapter 10   THERE IS NO OPTION

Chapter 11   Pat’s Heart

Epilogue   Through It All

Works Cited

Dedicated To

Bill Ritz,

my husband of fifty two years,

who has been a tremendous support during the writing of this book.

Those of you readers who know Bill and me, will know what a

miracle that is. Bill had a lot of baggage through most of

those fifty two years due to a lot of physical and emotional abuse in his childhood.

Two years ago he asked Jesus into his life very sincerely.

I have seen first hand the transformation of a spiritual life that

was void of the reality of what love really is.

When I would read each chapter to Bill as it was written,

he would get teary eyed especially during our walk through,

The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death.

Thanks Bill, for being there for me.

I Love You Very Much.

Also Dedicated To

our daughters, Lori and Lynne,

who know first hand the difficult journey we all traveled through

at times. They also shared many good times with boats, motorcycles,

camping and learning what life is all about, the good and the not so good.

Love you both very much.

And then there’s Ricky, whom

we have missed for forty four years.

Each year brings us closer to a blessed reunion.

Foreword

I am one of the few that read this book piece meal as it actually was being written. It truly is a book for all to absorb and enjoy. It is Pat’s story and her personal quest to really know the God of the Bible. When Pat became Born Again, God captured her heart and gave her a passion for his word and total truth.

It is a compelling read, filled with laughter and tears. Pat writes with a gentle touch; however, she is scripturally honest and will not compromise the word of God.

Regardless of our individual journey, we all need the hope, honesty, and the redeeming love expressed in these pages. I pray that as you read Pat’s story that your heart will also be captured by God.

Patricia Huber

President and CEO of WBPH- TV60

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Pat Huber & Pat Ritz

On the boardwalk in Florida, 2012

Acknowledgements

THANK YOU, two little words that say, you were there when I needed you and you brightened up my day. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve friends like you; it means a lot to know you’re there, friends who are so true. So when I count my blessings and those two little words I say, I’ll remember with a thankful heart, the day you came my way. (Pat Ritz)

First, I want to thank my husband Bill for his encouragement and support when things were going good, but especially when I felt like calling it quits.

Thanks to my very good friend Pat Huber, her support mentally and most of all spiritually, and her awesome prayers, helped make it all happen.

Thanks to Pastor Long and Sharon Shaver for their help proofreading my book, also Sharon’s help many times with her awesome computer skills.

Thanks to my friend Marion Steigerwalt at Phoebe Home, whose constant interest in hearing each chapter as I wrote it, kept my spirits up. Marion is a resident at Phoebe Home and is also a writer.

Thanks to Barry Krock, my friend Nellie’s son, whose computer skills saved me a nervous collapse when most of my book got lost while a computer technician was, helping me fix a problem?

Thanks to Lee Weidner, who came on board after I thought I was done. Lee is a retired English teacher who pulled up all of the loose ends and made it ready to read.

Many thanks to my friends at Egypt Community Church. Your interest and support really meant a lot to me.

Thanks to Mary Ellen Brosmen a friend and artist whose ideas for the book cover gave us direction and put us on the right path in that project.

Family member thanks, especially our granddaughter Marissa, Lori’s daughter, who would run over many times to pull me out of a computer problem and then just listen. Then there is our daughter Lynne who I am very proud to give credit for designing the book cover, on the computer. Lynne is an Industrial Designer so this was a piece of cake for her.

Praise and thanks to the God of the Universe for the gifts you have given me and for sticking with me as I tried and failed many, many times. You stayed in there as I brushed myself off, picked myself up and tried again and again. It would be nothing without your guidance and help.

May 24, 2012

DO YOU REALLY THINK I WANT TO ANNOY YOU?

Introduction

The day is bleak. It’s cloudy and gray. This is it; I’m starting this book and following through to the end. I want to write this book for all those I love, my family, my friends and anyone who has, or will have, a heart for God, but may be on the fringe of being a Born Again believer.

There I go again, annoying the heck out of many of you. I drew the line in the sand. That line that says this is the way, the only way, and how dare I do that. I know you’re thinking, How do you know, and who are you to say? I am saying this for one reason and one reason only; I LOVE YOU and I care about your eternal life.

I entered a different realm somewhere around fifty-five years ago. I went from one life in the winter of 1957 into a whole different life in a matter of just a few minutes. Some may say how can you possibly know that? Did you ever hear of hindsight? Looking back from where you are, over many years, you see how certain experiences were the cause of your life taking a definite direction.

My father was one of those causes, and was to my knowledge a good person, but he had a lot of baggage. He lived in a very limited world that I believe had a cause, but I don’t know what that cause was. For the most part he would go to work, come home, sit in his chair, and do crossword puzzles. He contributed very, very little to the family. Why this was, in this life, I will never know, but I know I love him. I am including a poem that I wrote in June of 2009 that says it all.

FATHER’S DAY CARDS

It was hard to find that certain card

That told just how I feel,

They just don’t say what’s in my heart

The words just don’t seem real.

I used to wish my dad was like

The ones they write about

It made me sad and sometimes mad

My heart would want to shout.

Why can’t you be that full of love?

Why do you let me down?

That dad that’s special in those cards

He must not be around.

And then as time went on I grew

The thoughts that changed with time,

Discovered there’s more to my dad

Than can be put into a rhyme.

I know the past left some scars

I know you did your best,

And love has healed so many things

It put my heart at rest.

I love you dad, you are special

God’s love has changed the rhyme,

The card that’s written on my heart

Has stood the test of time.

During my father’s younger years, in his early twenties in and around 1923, he was in the Salvation Army, which to me means he had a strong spiritual nature. I know nothing about that part of his life except for an autograph book, from his Salvation Army days, that somewhere along the line ended up in my possession. I read the messages written for Siggy and wonder what ever happened to you, dad?

Our family was not one to talk about any personal matters. We just seemed to go on from day to day, and keep to ourselves in our own personal thoughts. There is only one time when my father said anything to me in a spiritual context in my life. I will share that with you later on in the context when it happened. The negative influence that his lack of involvement had on my life was dramatic.

My mother was definitely a very positive influence in my life. She was a very strong but gentle lady. She was strong in character, strong in will, strong in her belief, but yet quiet to the point that you knew who she was without her saying very much. She was a very wonderful influence on all of us in our family. I know some wish I could be more like her but it doesn’t work that way.

I’m sure we can all look back over our lives with hindsight, and see those situations or people that had an influence, either negative or positive, that have lead us down a path in life in some way that we would not have traveled if they, or it, had not been there.

My experience in the winter of 1957, at a small church in my hometown, Allentown, Pennsylvania, was, and is what this book is all about. It was so unplanned, so subtle, and yet so natural that it’s almost like standing outside of my life and watching it all happen on the movie screen. Some people believe in chance, that we move along in life and make the best of the cards we are dealt. Then there are those who, like me, believe in a Creator of all that is. An intelligent, all knowing, and all loving, completely involved and in control, a being that wants only for us to trust Him.

Journey with me through the pages of this book, and see what conclusion you will come to. Is there one true path that takes you