Debi Clarke:
CLASS OF 1975
Elgin High SchoolClass of 1975
Elgin, OK
St. Gregory's Junior CollegeClass of 1977
Shawnee, OK
Debi's Story
contact me at yahoo----------msdeb41
I would say I'm different than I was and so is Dave, my husband. Our lives took a terrible turn when we were only married a year and 1/2. Marriage is a serious decision most people are unaware of. The committment level and responsibility is challenging to everyone. What your life is centered around will determine the outcome of your level of intimacy with whom you are married. Relationships are not made in a day. Your marriage is as good as you want it to be. Whatever you put in will show year after year. Why did you get married in the first place? Even now, in Christian marriages, people are divorcing after being married 20 years or more . Why? Where there is no vision for marriage or relationships, your marriage or relationship will "perish" or die.
Dave and I didn't divorce, but , he carried around the paperwork for several months. The children were 4 then. We were 27. They were spared the broken hearts of a shattered home but there were and are consequences we deal with still today. Dave divorced his wife to marry me. His son was affected and was only 18 months when Dave left them. The impact on all of us was strong. The guilt from hurting them haunted me for years. Only with the help of some caring people ;when we were closest to divorce ourselves ,were we able to deal with the pain from our bad decisons. It took almost a year for things to turn around for Dave and I. That was 22 years ago this coming July.
Dave and I fell in love when we were 15. I have always loved him and my life now is devoted to loving him until we leave this life. He had a heart attack 3 years ago; he actually "coded" and was not responding to the defibrillator. For what seemed like hours and hours I waited in a separate room for them to come tell me if he made it or not. The possible future without him came crashing down around me and reality become unreal. All of it was sur-real. What you see in the movies of someone in a fog when a tragedy occurs is very close to what it actually feels like. Dr. Grantham was walking down ...Expand for more
the hallway in the ER at Comanche Memorial. He had saved my mothers life several years before and would save Dave's now. Since the electric current could not revive Dave, Dr. Grantham jumped on the table and administered manual CPR and saved Dave's life! Not only did he save his heart from damage but also damage to his brain from lack of oxygen. Dave and I have faced many giants in our lives. Some of which are very tragic and painful as I am certain some of you have experienced as well.
Our culture often runs a label into the ground; "Christian". I want to say our lives are different because of a person not anything we actually did ourselves. We are "believers". We believe Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sin ; our lives; our weakness; our wickness; our soul. We have learned to be forgiving of one another; treating the other with respect and love. We have committed to share our story with people so they might find hope in the "Person" ; Jesus Christ; who set us free from guilt and being condemned to a future seperated from His love and mercy. Our lives, our marriages, our relationships with friends and family are very important. Dave and I are not perfect; we are working all the time on communicating with love and respect. We want our children and grandchildren to do the same. Their lives were changed when we changed and became "born again" believers in our Lord and Savior , Jesus Christ. We were able to spare them from more pain and heartache. Their memories are good and healthy; without torment from a shattered life filled with despair. They were given unconditional love and taught early on "who" they were. All our children are "believers". There is nothing more precious or gives our heart more joy than to hear of their praise of what God has done in their lives. And He has restored many a heart.
Life is hard. Life without Christ....is without hope.
The surprize? Dave and I are still married! We no longer need anything else to fill our hearts with other than the one who created it; that is Jesus. We hope to help anyone who wants it.
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