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    On His Path
    On His Path
    On His Path
    Ebook82 pages59 minutes

    On His Path

    By Annette Hartley

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    About this ebook

    On May 1, 1982, Annette Billings found her husbands body on the bottom of their swimming pool, as a result of a heart attack while swimming his usual laps before bedtime. This book is a testimony to the faithfulness of God as He led her from heartbreak and widowhood into fullness of life once more. The story covers the interweaving of family threads beginning in 1895 and continuing to the present 2013. The action begins the night Annette discovered her husbands body. The book is divided into three separate parts: Part I culminates just four years after the tragic death, in a most unusual and surprising turn of events. Part II also begins on the night at the pool, but it shows the very personal, day-by-day learning of this woman to cope with life. She had been cared for and protectedfirst by her father and then her husbandand now was thrust into major decision-making as single parent, homeowner, and independent adult. Part III focuses on the tapestry God began more than a hundred years ago (118, to be exact) when He called to the ministry a young boy who later became a prominent influence in Annettes life.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateAug 5, 2013
    ISBN9781490800677
    On His Path
    Author

    Annette Hartley

    Annette Jones was born in Memphis, Tennessee. She moved as a child to Miami, Florida, where she grew up and raised her family. Graduating from University of Miami, she married her high school sweetheart, Jim Billings. Widowed in 1982, she married Howard Hartley in 1989, moving to Greenville, South Carolina. Widowed again in 2006, she now lives in Savannah, Georgia.

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      Book preview

      On His Path - Annette Hartley

      ON HIS

      Path

      ANNETTE HARTLEY

      27547.png

      Copyright © 2013 Annette Hartley.

      Front Cover: Watercolor Painting Strolling by Pamella M. Dykema www.pamellasprints.com

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      WestBow Press

      A Division of Thomas Nelson

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.westbowpress.com

      1-(866) 928-1240

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      ISBN: 978-1-4908-0066-0 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4908-0068-4 (hc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4908-0067-7 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2013912006

      WestBow Press rev. date: 08/21/2013

      CONTENTS

      Introduction

      Part I From Heartbreak

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Part II Finding My Way

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Part III The Rest Of The Story

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      INTRODUCTION

      I am thankful that I can reflect on the fact that God showed me His path and led me to it when I was very young. His promises along that path have been meaningful to me through the years: You have made known to me the path of life. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. Show me your ways O Lord, teach me your paths. (Acts 2:28, Proverbs 3:6, Psalm 25:4)

      In recent years I have come to recognize the extraordinary pattern God has woven in my life. The beginning of the pattern took place in 1895, long before I was born, when God called to the ministry a young boy as he sat with his parents in the sanctuary of Independent Presbyterian Church of Savannah, Georgia. This young boy grew up to be the great evangelical preacher, Daniel Iverson, who led me to Christ in 1939 in Miami, Florida. As God wove the various threads of every hue throughout my life, He kept me on His path. He eventually led me to worship at that very same Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah as a member of that particular church family.

      One woman’s journey through the years as she deals with the heartbreak of widowhood and finds her way through the changes in her life, hopefully will encourage those women who have experienced or will experience similar challenges.

      Part I

      FROM HEARTBREAK

      May 1982-May 1986

      CHAPTER 1

      M oonlit Friday night… Key West shrimp, pink and tender… French bread dripping lemon butter… Family: pregnant Anne with Ed, and a few intimates… gathered poolside at the round table… reminiscing… planning Saturday golf game… laughing… fragrant, fun-filled evening… good-byes at the door.

      Teen-age Emily and her two friends settling into quiet chatter… off to bed and off to sleep… Jim and I bringing in dessert plates, sticky with traces of Key Lime pie… loading the dishwasher… climbing stairs to our nightly retreat.,.just in time for 11 o’clock news… Ted Koeppel’s incisive questioning, laying open the Argentine-Falklands crisis… May 1, l982… Drowsiness overtaking me

      Then those words:: Can I bring you a midnight snack? . . . Too sleepy . . . Night… I love you Baby . . . . Love you too

      The empty bed… The light still burning… What time is it? . . . Where is he? Maybe taking his evening swim a bit late…

      Sleepily down the stairs… Lights on in the bathroom, pajamas neatly folded. Can of asparagus open, partially eaten, on the counter… Lights on out back.

      May Day… May Day… 911… Bottom of the pool… Oh God, how can I reach him? Oh God Oh God Oh God… Wake the girls… Pray… Sirens… Rescuers leaping over the wall… Exhaustive human effort… Agony

      Family all back now… holding on… praying together… God, take control of us… . God, You have promised never to leave us or forsake us… God, You have promised never to give us more than we can bear… God, You are the Potter, we are the clay… How can we presume to question Your will? But Oh God, how do we deal with this awful, awesome devastation? . . . You give and You take away… All things work together for good for those who love You and are called according to Your purpose… Oh God, You have orchestrated this event! You brought him to the peak of his career, his productivity at its height. Now you have taken him

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