When I got married, I had decided in my mind (I may have been taught this) that I should wait at least 5 years before starting a family incase it didnt work out. Divorce was ok provided we didnt have kids. My husband had been saved for a couple years when the 5 years was up. I decided I was ready because I knew at that time we would stay married and could see he would make a great father. We tried for almost a year with no success. I was devasted! I never considered that I might be barren. Lee decided to seek council from the brethren. One of them told Lee that it was the sins we committed before we were married
That was on my conscience. They told me I needed to repent and get baptized. They came over and prayed for me and baptized me and when I went to put on dry clothes, realized I had started my cycle. That was March 9, 1999. My son was born Dec 9, 1999.
Every since reading it in the bible, back in 1998 or so, covered my head during prayer and church fellowship.
In 2009, I started meditating more about the scriptures about the covering. The beginning of Corinthians makes it clear that the letter is to them that are sanctified in Jesus Christ, not just the people living in Corinth. I also knew that the prayer covering was not the hair because it says a man should pray uncovered and he certainly couldn't take off his hair. I had been thinking about the verse in Peter that says pray without ceasing. I had been meeting with two or three close friends at the playground on Fridays and while our kids played, we would discuss the scriptures. One day I asked Lee what he thought prophesying was, because it says praying or prophesying in Corinthians. He told me the Bible is a book of prophesy and as I thought about it, it became clear to me that I should cover when we met at the playground. I later found in the book of Revelations a verse that says the testimony of Jesus Christ is the spirit of prophesy which supported my thoughts.
I decided one Friday, about 10 minutes before I left for the park, that I was going to cover. I remember my son saying, you are gonna wear that? I felt he was ashamed of the way I looked. When I looked in the mirror, I didn't like what I saw either. Covering your hair is something that greatly alters your appearance and makes your face have to stand alone. I didn't wear makeup then either and I had a desire to try to compensate with makeup, but decided against it. At the playground, my friends were a little surprised, but they knew everything about me and my beliefs and still accepted me. We had a great discussion and I was totally shocked when Lee pulled up for a surprise visit. He didn't know I was wearing it. I was kind of taking the covering for a test drive and didn't plan on him seeing it, even though I knew he would support it. Anyway, after he left, we started gathering up our things and a lady who had 4 kids stopped us and started crying. She was emotional because she didn't have any friends and said she had been watching us. We stayed and talked to her for a while. She commented on my joyful face and told me that she wore coverings at home. I was shocked because I had only met a few people that covered and now, on my first day out, here was someone else that believed it, although she only wore it sometimes.
My next challenge with the covering was trying to figure out when and where I was going to wear it. I visit a family member once a week and that person did not like to talk about he Bible (nor anything about religion), so I decided I would wear it on the way, then take it off before I went in. I did this and when I got back in my car, I put back on. ( I was ashamed to wear it in front of this person) I left and went to Walmart.That person didn't know we were going there, nor did we know she was, in fact, I had never seen this person out when we were shopping because they usually shop in Memphis and I shop in MS. Well, as I was turning down an aisle, who would I run right into, face to face, but that person. They made a face like they were horrified. I just smiled and acted as normal as I could. God was showing me that the covering was not something that I was going to be able to put on and off based on where I was going.
Over the next few months, I found myself wanting to stay home more, because I really didn't want people looking at me. I began getting up early, before everyone else in the house and spending 2-3 hours reading my Bible. I continued looking in the mirror and watching how the head covering was changing me. I remember after taking my bath one night, brushing and drying my hair and found myself really liking the way my hair looked as I brushed it and I couldn't stop looking at how different I looked. I felt in my heart that the feelings I was struggling with were vain desires. I was struggling with my flesh. I also spent alot of time in front of a full length mirror. I was no longer able to wear alot of my clothes, for intance, sleevless shirts were now out of the question. With the covering on, I had to cover my body. I didn't like spending time in front of the mirror and remember my children began to do the same thing. I was teaching them unknowingly that I was really obsessed with my outward appearance, while I should have been focusing on my heart. Eventually, I stopped fighting with my vain desires and submitted to God. I would just get ready, cover my head and put on a big smile. I learned quickly that if I wasn't smiling, I looked really bad. The good thing was, wearing a smile all the time, filled my heart with joy.
The covering also altered my behavior. I knew that with the covering, I was representing Jesus. One time I remember leaving JC Penney, and we had just got in the car and two of my kids did something tht upset me and I got really angry with them. I immediatly remember I was covered and began crying and panicking at the possiblilty that someone may have seen me angry. That was a turning point. I made it a point to try to speak and deal peacebly when disciplining my children in public and that eventually spilt over to the home.
We have another testimony of what the Lord did for our family. At the time of Jacob's birth, Lee and I both knew that God didn't intend for me to go back to work. Lee's income at the time would not allow me to stay home. We sought the Lord and decided the best thing to do was to both quit our jobs and start a home business. God has blessed our business and has it where Lee can make his own schedule. He is home almost every morning, long enough for us to have breakfast and Bible study as a family.
