Gentle on My Mind by Kim Campbell

Author:Kim Campbell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2020-04-23T00:00:00+00:00

Writers wiser than me have said most stories naturally break down into three acts. If that’s the case, I see Glen’s embrace of sobriety as the happy conclusion of the first phase of our life together. The second phase, a gloriously happy one, is all about maturation. As we grew in our faith and our love for each other, we finally began to bear the fruit of the Spirit. We matured as a couple and as children of God.

It was all about family bike rides and floating on the Salt River in inner tubes. Back home, at the end of each day, Glen, like a little kid, would shout “Sunset!” and we’d pile into the car and arrive at a high vantage point of Camelback Mountain to watch the desert sand turn golden.

To beat the heat, Glen was up at the crack of dawn and out on the links wearing a terry cloth hat soaked in ice water to protect his skin from the 115-degree sun. That scorching sun is one of the reasons we took the scenic route through the red rocks of Sedona’s Monument Valley and found ourselves at the gate of Forest Highlands, a community that sat at an elevation of seven thousand feet and offered a cool alternative to the dry heat of Phoenix. There were fishing ponds, playgrounds, campgrounds, and a world-class golf course. We bought an aspen-wooded lot on a ridge overlooking the tenth hole, hired an architect, and soon had ourselves a summer home that served everyone’s needs. Our rustic dwelling was constructed with tall vaulted ceilings supported by large round beams made of whole stripped tree trunks. The two-story fireplace was built from stones collected from our lot. We looked out across an aspen grove to a range of snowcapped mountains. Tori, our faithful German shepherd, roamed freely. So did the kids. Glen, guitar in his arms, sang songs of faith every night. His essence had returned, his gentle heart on full display.

Sometimes when the children were in bed, we’d sit outside and marvel at the black velvet sky sparkling with a million stars. He spent many of those nights reflecting again about his childhood. It was clear that my husband had survived a long series of traumas. He nearly drowned when he was a toddler. He grew up cold and hungry. He was forced to work in the fields. His father had beaten him and his brothers. He was separated from his first five children. He was taken advantage of by incompetent executives and music business opportunists. His own blunders, weaknesses, and shortcomings were gossiped about, exaggerated, and publicly broadcast around the world. No wonder he went into denial and tried to drown his pain.

Glen told me how happy he was to finally be able to be a real dad. He shared with me that he prayed every night that God would help him be a good one. He wanted to teach our children God’s ways so that they wouldn’t make the same mistakes he had made.

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