Faith Along Life's Journey: When Two Hearts Meet

By Richard Scott

Who would have ever thought a shiny new 1965 Mustang would start us on a journey through life? Only four years earlier she was in junior high, then God stepped in and started working his plan. Our journey has taken us through the deepest valleys and atop the highest mountains. A journey of joy and a journey of heartache. Our journey has taken us places where we didn't know where we were supposed to be until we got there. I will never forget the smile on her face, the twinkle in her eyes and the giggle in her laugh when she came home from the doctor! Richard, I am pregnant, we are going to have a baby! She was perfect! She was beautiful, I just held her and cried, then reality set it, I was a father! Calls in the middle of the night have always frightened me. When the phone rang at 4:00 a.m. on May 1, 1969, I awoke in a state of confusion and fear! The call turned our whole world upside down!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098058890

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Faith Along Life’s Journey 

When Two Hearts Meet

Richard and Peggy Scott

ISBN 978-1-0980-5888-3 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-0980-5889-0 (digital)

Copyright © 2020 by Richard and Peggy Scott

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Introduction

First Quarter

1 - My Parents

2 - My Early Childhood

3 - My Teen Years

4 - The Blue Mustang

5 - Two Hearts Become One

6 - The Material Girl

7 - First Quarter Lessons Learned

Second Quarter

8 - God At Work

9 - Doing Life Together

10 - God Sends Us an Angel

11 - Blessed with a Son

12 - Another Daughter

13 - God’s Call to Ministry

14 - A Troubled Child

15 - Grandchildren

16 - Second Quarter Lessons Learned

Third Quarter

17 - Moving South

18 - Another Call to Ministry

19 - Why, God?

20 - An Unbelievable Birthday Present

21 - Our Parents Reap Their Reward

22 - Third Quarter Lessons Learned

Fourth Quarter

23 - What, Another Move? Then Another Move!

24 - No, God’s Not Dead

25 - Our Thoughts on Raising Children

26 - Fourth Quarter Lessons Learned So Far

Closing Thoughts

This book is lovingly dedicated to our parents and our very special son, Richard II, (Richie).

God blessed us with wonderful, loving Christian parents. Parents that were always there for us. Parents who taught us that God had a special plan for our lives. Parents who raised us to love God first, our family second and our country third.

Most of all we dedicate this book to our very special son. A son who has always been there for us. A son that was a wonderful brother to his sister and most of all a son who is a loving husband and a loving father to his two boys.

Introduction

You cannot sit on the sidelines. You don’t get to choose whether or not you play the game. The game starts when you are conceived. You don’t have to worry about the first nine months of the game, your birth mother will take care of everything.

In the game of life, there are no practice games. It is not like a tournament. You don’t play games to qualify for the championship game. You can’t take time-outs. No matter how tired you get, you must keep playing. There are no breaks between quarters, and there is no halftime. You can’t raise your hand indicating to the coach that you need to come out of the game because you are tired.

In the first quarter of my book, I will share with you how I grew up. I will introduce you to my parents. This will help you understand how I was raised and how it affected the rest of my life. Everyone must go through this learning period in the first quarter. The learning doesn’t stop at the end of the first quarter of your life; it continues until the end of your life.

In the last year of the first quarter, there is a major event that takes place in my life, an event that changes the rest of my life.

There have been many books written about championship teams and how they won the big prize. There are tons of sports record books documenting how those teams made it to the final game and survived to see their name engraved on the trophy. In every single case, the winner did not get to play the final game by chance. Yes, there may have been a few unusual things to happen along the way. Not by chance or luck. I don’t believe in luck. There is no such thing as good luck or bad luck. The team who won the championship had to play to win. They didn’t win it by sitting on the sidelines and wishing for luck.

Life is not a win or go home game, it is a win and go home game. The final trophy for winners in the game of life is life eternal in heaven. If you don’t win the win and go home game, then you lose, and you are lost for eternity. There is not another season. There are no do overs. You only have one game of life.

Whether you break your life down into innings—halves, quarters, or seasons—your life is still a win and go home game. I feel like my game of life is being played in four quarters. No, I didn’t get to go to spring training; I didn’t get to warm up. I was conceived in my mother’s womb, born, and then the game began! A major life-changing event has happened in my life every twenty to twenty-five years. My mother lived to be eighty-two, and my dad lived to be eighty-eight, so I believe, at the age of seventy-four, I am a few years into the fourth quarter of my game of Life.

I don’t know how long the fourth quarter of my life will last. It may end tomorrow, or it may go on for a few more years. I am determined to play the fourth quarter to win my win and go home game.

Your life may not have definite quarter ending or quarter beginning events like mine. If you look back on your life, you will probably see turning points or major events in your life. These major events move you on to a new quarter or season of your life. Sometimes these events happen more often, and sometimes there are many years between them. These events are what make us grow stronger or they break us. Some of these events take us through deep valleys, while others take us atop high mountains. What we learn in these valleys and on these mountaintops come into our life to help us grow and be more prepared for the rest of our life.

I grew up in the sixties, and there was a song entitled Turn, Turn, Turn. It was based on a scripture in the Bible (Eccles. 3:1–8). The song was written by Pete Seeger in 1959 and recorded by The Byrds. It reached the number one spot on the 1965 Billboard Hot 100 chart. The scripture talks about how there are seasons in life and how each season has a purpose.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. (Eccles. 3:1–8)

The first three seasons or quarters of our life must be played before we can make it to the fourth quarter. How we finish the game will determine if we win the win and go home game. The decisions we make and what we choose to do with our life starts in the first quarter, not the fourth quarter.

In this book, I hope to share with you the lessons I have learned as I have gone through the first three quarters of my life to reach the fourth quarter. How I made mistakes and God stuck with me and taught me lessons. How, through Gods help, I made it through some deep dark valleys. How God gave me many blessings through the valleys and how he helped me climb the many mountains to get to the top and enjoy the view.

I will talk about defining moments in my life and wake-up calls. How we handle defining moments and wake-up calls is what makes us who we are. God controls them, but he allows us to make our own decisions.

Throughout our short life, everyone must find answers to these four questions:

Who are you, God?

How big are you, God?

How big will I let God be in my life?

What has God called me to do with my life?

God doesn’t guarantee us a certain number of years. We don’t know when our game of life is going to end. God does promise to help us through the tough times so we can win the game of life.

During my lifetime, close family members lives have ended after fifteen months, thirty-tix years, eighty-two years, and eighty-eight years. I will share with you the stories of these four people and how their lives strongly affected my life. I hope by sharing these special people’s lives, it well help prepare you for your journey to and through the fourth quarter of your life.

You must use your God-given gifts and stay close to God to win your win and go home game. Winning this game is the only way you can reap the rewards God has prepared for you. I hope this book encourages you to realize, no matter what you are going through, God is as close as you allow him to be, and he will be there to help you through the tough times.

There is a saying, not sure where it comes from, but it goes like this: The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.

Even in times when God’s will is not the direction you think you should go, he still promises his grace will protect you.

The Bible, tells us we will reap what we sow.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Gal. 6:7–10)

No matter what quarter or season of your life you are in, you are sowing seeds through your children, your spouse, and the people you meet.

We pray God will richly bless you, no matter what quarter of your life you are in, and you will finish the fourth quarter strong enough for you to win your win and go home game!

Remember, if you win this game, you win God’s greatest prize—spending eternal life with Jesus Christ in heaven.

First Quarter

The first quarter of your life is the foundation for the rest of your life. From the cradle to the end of your teen years is a learning time.

Most surveys show 75–85 percent of Christians gave their hearts to Jesus Christ before they were twenty-two years old.

If you have already gone through the first quarter of your life, take time to write down the major lessons you learned in the first quarter. Later, when you go back and read your journal, you will realize how sometimes the smallest little thing affected the rest of your life.

The major events in my life that made the most impact, I call wake-up calls. Several of these wake-up calls happened in my teen years.

1

My Parents

When God created us, he also created parents specifically for us. He had a plan. It is not by chance or luck that I was born to my mother and dad. No, God created them and when he did, he planned for me to be born to them and into their family.

Before you read the first quarter of my life, you need to meet my parents, because they played a major role in who I am.

My Dad

My dad, with God’s help and mercy, was a self-made man! It is easy writing about my dad. There is so much to share about my dad and what he meant to me. Dad played a major role in the first three quarters of my life and even though he has gone to heaven, what he taught me lives on.

Dad grew up with eight brothers and sisters. He was the youngest of five sons. He had three older sisters and one younger half sister. He was a twin, but his twin died at birth. He was born in 1921 in the hills of eastern Kentucky. His dad died when he was three years old. He learned to be a survivor. He learned that if you didn’t work hard, there may not be food on the table.

He was a small, muscular man, standing about five feet and eight inches and weighing about 160 pounds. He was a competitor who always gave 100 percent. He was a very good athlete. As a young child, I watched him play fast-pitch softball. He was a good hitter, and nothing got by him at shortstop. He could run very fast. He played his last game of softball at the age of fifty-five. My brother and I had the enjoyment of playing with him for a few years. Before his last game, he told me privately. Son, this is my last game. We are going to win this game big, and I am going out in style.

He hit three homeruns, two out of the park and one inside the park. He went six for six that day. On his last time to bat, he teased the pitcher, pointed his bat over the left field fence, and on the first pitch, he lined the ball right down the line and over the fence. We won his last game 22–3.

Dad was a soldier. He was drafted during WWII and spent most of two years on the battlefields of Germany and France. In late 1944, after the invasion of Normandy, France, it looked like the war was all but over. But on December 16, with the onset of winter, the German army launched a counteroffensive to cut through the Allied forces in a manner they believed would turn the tide of the war in Hitler’s favor. The battle that ensued is known historically as the Battle of the Bulge. The courage and fortitude of the American soldier was tested against great adversity. Nevertheless, the quality of their response ultimately meant the victory of freedom over tyranny. My dad was there!

February through April of 1945, the Allied Forces rushed to cross the Rhine River under air and artillery attack. Dad was in one of the engineering battalions building bridges across the Rhine. Dad was wounded on one of the bridges, which earned him a Purple Heart and a Presidential Citation. He earned the Presidential Citation for carrying a wounded soldier to safety. After carrying the soldier to safety, some one hundred yards, he collapsed in a ditch beside the road. His leg had sharp pains running through it. He looked down and discovered he had several pieces of shrapnel in his leg. Dad didn’t know until sometime later that his older brother was killed just miles away during the same military operation.

In my eyes, Dad was a true American hero! As a child, he told me many stories about his time in the military. This helped me to form my strong opinions about the military and what it really means to have to fight for your freedom.

Dad could fix almost anything. When there wasn’t money to buy a new replacement, he would fix it. He could manage money; he always had a budget. He had his budget written on a small spiral notepad he kept in his pocket. I started keeping a budget when I got my first job, and I still keep a budget. He was a hard worker. He wasn’t the type of father to sit you down and talk to you to teach you a lesson. He taught by example every day in everything he did.

While I was growing up, Dad worked for the local telephone company as a lineman. Those were the days when all the telephone lines were on poles, not underground. I remember Dad having what I would call Popeye arms and very muscular legs. He had to climb twenty-foot telephone poles several times a day. No callbacks on telephone lines Dad repaired. They were done right.

Dad was a wonderful husband to my mother! You could see it every day. He treated her like a queen. Everything I learned about being a good husband came from my dad. Dad always had time for us, even when he would work overtime hours so we could have more. Dad taught me to enjoy working. To not approach it as something to dislike because you had to do it, but instead enjoy work because it allows you to provide for your family. He always said working and accomplishing something gave you a since of accomplishment, and a little sweat never hurt anyone. He also taught me anything worth having was worth working for and taking care of.

Vacations were a very special time! Dad always found the money and the time to take us on vacation. I could write story after story about those special vacations. We didn’t know where we were going each year, but we knew Dad was going to take us somewhere. The beaches in North Carolina became a special place for many years because Dad loved the water. He taught me to love the water—how to swim and how to body surf. I don’t know how he did it, but he could always go a little bit further than me when we body surfed.

Dad gave his heart to God when I was around six years old. I really don’t remember a time when Dad didn’t take me to church or a time when he wasn’t doing some type of work at the church. He and another guy seemed to always be repairing things around the church. I never really heard my dad pray out loud a lot, except around the kitchen table, and it was always pretty much the same prayer. But I always knew Dad was praying for me.

He was always working with the youth at our church; he just seemed to have a knack for working with teenagers. He was a cutup, a tease. He was always joking around. It’s a joke in our family, both my son and I tease the same way my dad did. He loved to cook. At youth camps, he was always the one who got up early every morning to fix breakfast. He could fix good biscuits and gravy.

Our house was the center of our church fellowship activities. Dad built a lighted volleyball court in our yard, and every weekend the men and women in the church would meet and play volleyball. We always had people at our house for