Editorial: Little Round Ice Cubes

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by Teri Norsworthy

It all started in February of 1981 when I wrote down a scripture promise I found in Deuteronomy 6:10-11.

I owned an Advertising company in Houston, Texas for about 20 years when I met John. We married in March of 1981, and lived there working together for about a year. I thought everything was going well until the morning he walked up to me in the kitchen and said, “I am moving back to South Carolina, you can come with me or stay here. Either way, I’m leaving.” I was shocked. It was the first I had heard of any such thing. I do not hold well to change but I knew wherever he went, I would be going with him!

I asked him where he wanted to live so we got specific about what we would be looking for when we came south. We sat down with a big yellow legal pad and he drew out what he wanted. His dream had always been to live on a point at Lake Marion. He wanted a rustic built home (he built log homes before we married). Besides, he wanted a pontoon boat. I asked him what that was because being raised in the desert, I had never heard of such. He also wanted weeping willow trees. We did not know if we would find an empty lot to build on or something already established that suited both our desires. Then he asked me what I wanted if we had to build. The house we resided in had an old white porcelain stained sink. I started my list off with a stainless kitchen sink, continued with a Jenn-Air stove and an ice maker that made little round cubes. Finally, we prayed over our list and committed our trip south to the Lord.

John called a realtor, told him what we were looking for and agreed on time and place for the day after we arrived in Sumter. We pulled up to his home in Cypress Point on time only to find he and his son had gone duck hunting. John made another call to a friend of his in the business and arranged to meet him the following morning at his office. Never panic when things do not go exactly as planned. As the realtor was driving us to the lake, he told us the first home he was taking us to was not on the market but his friend's wife wanted a beach home and she had to sell her lake house first. I envisioned pretty homes in a quaint subdivision of friendly residents.

We pulled onto a dirt road lined with a lot of fishing cabins that had no permanent populace. I was beginning to worry until he parked in front of a wood-framed home on the point in Rowland Subdivision. The first thing John did was walk around the front to check out the pier, the lot had three. There they were. Two weeping willows that draped over the seawall and a well. As we came upon the boathouse, the realtor informed us the 28-foot pontoon boat went with the sale. Things began to look up when he unlocked the kitchen door, and there they were, the Jenn-Air stove, stainless steel sink and the ice maker that made little round ice cubes. The round ice cubes finalized our decision to take the house. They left everything in the house, food, linens and all the furniture. My promise from February had come to pass.

I learned several valuable lessons in all that. If you are married to your soul mate, no matter where he goes, you go with him. The Lord puts His desires in your heart to get you to your destiny. Try your best to believe the promises you get when you are reading His word. Moreover, whatever you do when you pray, be specific!