About Desiree ~ Part 1

For those of you that don't know me, or may not know me very well... I thought that I'd give you a little background about me...and how I got where I am today.
My parents "S" and "J" were married when they were 18 and 17 years old. A few years into their marriage, my mom gave birth to my oldest brother "Sjr", then in the years to follow came my brother "J" and another sibling none of us would ever meet...a miscarried miracle baby. My mom and dad tried for quite sometime to get pregnant after my three siblings, and prayed without ceasing for nine years until I was concieved *big grin* They had hoped and prayed for a little girl for a long time...and there I was. My mom was 35, and dad 36 when I was born.
------>Fast forward about 5 years. You see, I grew up a "PK" (pastors kid for those of you who don't know. Being a "PK" I was in church every time the door was open. I learned scripture, knew all my Bibles stories backwards and forwards...I was a "good" girl.
One day while home with my mom, I was sitting in the living room thinking about what I had recently heard about Hell. I went to my mom and told her that I didn't want to burn in Hell...so I said a prayer, repeating the words that she said. And I was "saved".
When I was 16 I met a guy, "D"...who at the time I thought was "the one". It was one of those "perfect" situations. My family knew his, he was a Christian, we had even been in Sunday School together when we were kids. I wouldn't trade the experience for the world...just because he was such a blessing, and being with him brought a lot of people into my life. But it wasn't perfect, not by a long shot. I think we were good for each other though, at least for that time in our lives. The Summer following "D" and I getting together, we went to a Student Prayer Advance, a retreat of sorts.
The second day there, the speaker was giving one of those "Hell fire & Brimstone" type messages, and it hit me in the middle of the message that...HEY, I'm not saved. If I died this very second, I would burn in Hell for eternity. Terrified, I moved from my seat, grabbed a friend that was with me...and barely made it to the back of the tent (that's right...we met in a massive tent with several hundred teenagers) before I fell to my face, sobbing..terrified that I was going to be too late. And THATs the day I asked Jesus to come into my heart and save me, to forgive all of my sins...and to make a place in Heaven for all eternity. 8-6-04, that was the day that Jesus really, truly saved me.
The following June we had a VBS at our church...and a lady who had been there for years decided to help. Her nephew, twenty years old at the time, who had just recently started coming to church offered to help. Hmmm... his name??? Clif Smith. My future hubby. Call my crazy if you will, but I pretty much called it that summer. I knew I was going to marry that guy...I just knew it.