I WAS BORN A FOURTH-GENERATION Seventhday Adventist into a loving and godly home. My parents have served as lay members all my life (my dad as an elder or head elder, and my mom as a deaconess or head deaconess). Our home was always open to visitors, and it was the “safe haven” for the pastoral family. I can still hear my mom’s voice saying, “Whenever the doors of the church are open, we are to be there.” “Being there” meant a range of events such as work bees, socials, prayer meetings, and Sabbath School—always arriving 30 minutes early, being involved, and being the last to leave. My parents’ service for the Lord inspired me to have a heart for service as well.
As a teenager my official volunteer church jobs were church clerk and bulletin editor. Eventually, I became a kindergarten Sabbath School leader,
an Adventurer director, and a Vacation Bible School director. Give me a hundred kids, and I will be excited and can develop a program quickly. However, if you give me a handful of adults, I’ll be scared to death and ready to crawl under a table. God is stretching me in that area, though, and I praise Him for His ability to take people like me and mold and gift us with just the right capabilities.
My husband, Darryl, and I met in ninth-grade civics class. Darryl tells everyone that he “discovered” me, but I already had my eye on him. The way he articulated his answers in class just amazed me. He was blessed with a brilliant mind and the gift to explain things in a way that anyone can understand. He was my answer to prayer. My grade school teacher had encouraged me to start praying for my future husband, so I did, and God blessed me with Darryl. Two years after high school we were married.
Seven years into our marriage, a call to ministry was placed on my husband’s heart. I wish I could say that I started packing for us to move to college, but I did not. I was pregnant with our third child and just could not see moving before our baby was born.
“Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.”
This began my “adult” faith journey. In the summer of 2003, God sold our home, and off to Southern Adventist University we went with
our 10-month-old, and 2- and 3-year old babies.
By the end of our first month we already had run out of money. Rent and the electric bill were due, and we needed food and diapers. Darryl went
to class that day and encouraged me to pray. I was ready to pack and move back to our family in North Carolina.
Instead, however, I prayed throughout the day. I prayed and read Scripture. Then I came across a promise that I still claim today: “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:29, NKJV).
That evening when my husband came home, I met him at the door; he was holding the mail and had tears in his eyes. In the mail was a check from the government. This unexpected check covered all the bills, food, and other needed items. God gave me a miracle that day and showed Himself to me. He was going to take care of us.
God continues to provide for me, and not just financially. He hears my prayers and answers them. Throughout the past nine years I have
had an amazing journey with my Lord as my husband and I have served in pastoral ministry. He awakens me to spend time with Him early every
morning. As I read His Word, He shares ideas with me for children’s programs and seminars.
My favorite thing in ministry is being part of someone’s life as they totally surrender to God. Seeing the change in others gives me hope as I see Satan working overtime in my own family.
God is so good to me, and I am falling deeper and deeper in love with Him every day.
