🌸   When I was a little girl back in the 1960’s, I wanted to look like, no – I wanted to be Elly May Clampett from The Beverly Hillbillies. It was her long blonde hair and her down-to-earth personality that impressed me, and also because I probably spent too much time watching TV 📺 back then. My mom used to tell me that God made me just the way I was supposed to be, and to be happy with who I was. I was a pale, dark-haired little girl whose life was a mixture of both trauma and happiness. I didn’t believe my mom at the time and secretly devised that I would bleach my hair blonde as soon as I reached age 18. Fortunately by the time I’d turned 18, I’d grown out of my Elly May Clampett stage and resolved to live with my natural dark brown hair.

🌸   I was also a Tom-Boy. I used to play soldier and dress up in my brother’s army outfit, crawl on my belly in the woods behind our house, complete with a toy rifle strapped to my back and a toy knife in my mouth. Vic Morrow from Combat TV show 📺 was my inspiration.

My family name was Query and I used to be a little embarrassed by it, especially when people pronounced it with a long “e” sound. I used to feel different and was pretty much a loner. I was uncomfortable being around people. But in reality, it wasn’t my name that made me feel that way. Unfortunately I fell in the 1 in 5 category of percentage of young girls who are sexually abused while growing up.  For me, it was around ages 6,7 and 8. Fortunately, as I grew up God protected me and hid the memories in the back of my mind until I was mature enough to deal with it, and ready to forgive my abusers. Now I still have times when I feel different and feel like a loner but I prefer to say it’s because I’m just a little quirky, but in a good way.

🌸   When I first started driving, I had a car with no “Park” and no emergency brake. 🚙 😬 I carried a wooden wedge in the car to throw out under the tire to keep the car from rolling. Sometimes I’d miss and had to get out and hope the car wouldn’t roll before I could get the wedge under the tire! And I used to run out of gas all the time because I didn’t like spending money on something I couldn’t wear or eat. ⛽️ 🤔

🌸   Back in the 70’s, I graduated from high school and voted for the first time, for Richard Nixon no less. I used to get lost while driving somewhere new and I’d start crying 😢 I remember thinking how cool it would be if the radio could please just tell me where I was and how to get to where I was going. I was on the edge of brilliance (?!) but somehow fell short of inventing the GPS.

🌸   When I was in my 20’s, I used to arm wrestle – and win. 💪🏻  I got married 💙, became a step-mom 💖💙, traveled to London, Paris and Rome and got sea-sick on my first cruise across the English Channel. I gave birth to our first daughter.💖

🌸   When I was in my 30’s, I gave birth to our second daughter. 💖  I came dangerously close to alligators while floating down Ichetucknee Springs (Florida) in an inner tube. I moved to Florida from Indiana and traveled to Waikiki Beach Honolulu and West Edmonton, Canada.

🌸   When I was in my 40’s, I gave birth to our third daughter. 💖  I hid in the curtains at JCPenney, wearing a disguise, while playing “Where’s Waldo?” at the mall. I worked nights and was constantly sleep deprived. 😴 I moved from Florida to California and then back to Florida, then to Texas. My travels included Tokyo, Japan, 🇯🇵 Montego Bay, Jamaica🇯🇲, Honolulu and Frankfurt, Germany.🇩🇪

🌸   While in my 50’s, I slept on the street in downtown Los Angeles with two of my daughters and several strangers, while waiting in line for The Price is Right TV game show. 📺 The police jokingly gave us our wake up call by megaphone! 📣 A year earlier, I was called from the audience of this same game show to, “Come on down!” to be a contestant. That was fun. 😀  I traveled to Lake Tahoe, Mt Rushmore and to the local maze where was I the first and only one in our family to finish all 4 mazes! I traveled to Times Square and the Empire State Building 🗽 in NYC and stood on the Willis Skydeck in Chicago. I also traveled to Moscow, St Petersburg and Yaroslavl Russia 🇷🇺 on my first mission trip, and to Toronto, Canada 🇨🇦 on a second mission trip.

🌸   Now in my 60’s, I’ve been indoor skydiving, walked across the Grand Canyon on a glass skywalk, on two cruises to the Bahamas, three Caribbean cruises and one Alaskan cruise. 🚢 I enjoy travel, seeing new sights and experiencing new adventures, and spending time with my family. ❤️ God 🙌🏻 has blessed me with so much.

🌸   Which brings me to why I decided to write about my life: I want to share how God has protected and provided for me my entire life, even before I came to know Him. I see my life as an intricate weaving of good and bad, quirky and unique, fun and sad. But through it all, I’ve learned that God has a plan and a purpose for everything that happens in life and that…

“in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

I know that His plans are infinitely better than my plans and His timing is perfect in every way.  Even minor and insignificant things like the hairs on my head.