Ann Baxter

On June 17, 2006 my very new husband died of an unexpected heart attack while we were at a conference in Vienna, Austria. We had only been married for 14 months. Both of us coming from unhappy marriages, this was to be our second chance at love and now poof, it was gone. I've always been a woman of faith, but I will admit to being very angry with God. Why would He allow me to find such an incredible man just to take him away from me in 14 months? I did not feel Gods love right then, nor for a long time. Three years later, I was humble enough to get on my knees and pray. I told the Lord that if there were something more He intended for me, I was open to it. It was only a month later when I was reunited with a family that had helped me in Vienna. The wife had just died of cancer and her husband was grieving the loss. We met together on a few occasions, and it was made clear to me that this was what the Lord wanted from me - to help this man and his family. I was not at all interested in the beginning, because joining them meant leaving a job I loved and a home that I loved and friends and family that lived close. But I did not doubt that the Lord was setting me on a path. If I had not had that faith, I could never have done it. So I quit my job, I moved 2500 miles away and joined a family of three teenage boys, (two of them having been adopted from Russia) and a 5 year old Chinese girl whose verbal abilities were severely lacking, along with their two dogs. Those first years were tough and I struggled a lot. But I continued to believe I had answered a call and that all would be well. The day of my experience with Dear World was June 17th. We had moved back to my original home and I was back with my original employer. The older boys had moved on and we had only our daughter at home. It will always be a special and sensitive day for me, but I have learned that the Lord DOES love me. He is aware of me and what I need and he has come through for me time and again.