This Is My Story, This Is My Song…
This is one page that I didn’t have in mind creating when building our website, but I feel like it’s what I’m supposed to do…😊
I grew up in the center of the Bible belt with an incredible family and community. I am beyond grateful for how I was raised and the people I was able to grow up with. I asked Jesus to be my God at age nine and was discipled by some of the best leaders.
When it was time for college, I was ready to go! I received a full athletic scholarship to a community college where I got to spend two full years getting absolutely spoiled splitting time living with both sets of my grandparents! Those were some of my favorite times. I love that I was able to have that season of my life with them.
After two years, it was time to move on to a four year school. I chose Auburn, a special place to me and a place where generations of my family have attended and taught. I absolutely loved it there. I was a Spanish major and one of my professors said I wouldn’t be much of one if I didn’t live in one of the countries that I studied. I tried to weasel my way out of it, but God had a different plan. I studied abroad in Mexico one semester and absolutely ate it up. It was terrifyingly fantastic!! It was almost hard to come home after discovering such a beautiful place and culture.
During these two years though, I lost my way. I had my entire life planned out to a T. God had a different plan. He pulled all of “my” plans out from under me. To be honest, I didn’t know how to respond. My first response was isolating myself, then I began partying…hard. Then I realized I was partying way harder than my friends and I was “partying” alone…
One morning, I was supposed to be getting ready for a final ending a summer semester and I just couldn’t do it anymore. I remember sobbing in the bathroom of my apartment with the blow dryer on high feeling like a complete loser. Feeling so alone and lost. At that moment, I felt God say, “I’m still here and I still love you.” Clear as day. Even though I had drug his name through the mud in more ways than I could count. While most of my friends saw the direction I was headed and jumped ship, He didn’t. He really does always love us, always care and is always present with us. No matter what. It’s not dependent on who we are, it’s all about who He is. After that, I began to turn my life around. I still screwed up, I still do today. However, I drove a T-post in the ground that morning and said enough was enough. I didn’t even recognize myself anymore and I was over it.
A few days later, Adam called me. That conversation just felt different than any other we had previously had. A few weeks later, he moved to Auburn and God began writing our story. A story with a life that fit how He created me far better than the one I tried to write for Him.
A year later, Adam and I were engaged and attending Pleasant View Baptist Church in Holly Pond. One Sunday morning, they sang the beautiful hymn, Blessed Assurance. I had heard it all of my life, but not like I heard it that day. I had been carrying so much guilt and shame over how I had lived and decisions I had made during college. Adam was called to ministry, and I was wondering how in the world someone like me could ever be a pastor's wife?!? I sure wasn’t good enough to be one, nor was I precious like all the pastor’s wives I had seen.🤣 That Sunday morning, during that old hymn, I heard Him speak to me again. He showed me how this was my story. It wasn’t perfect at all, but He could use it. He could still use me. He could take my failures and allow me to share with other’s struggling that I truly knew how they felt and that they could find hope in Him. I could take the bad and turn it into testimony. I don’t know why I needed to add this, but I hope it encourages you.
Some people wonder why we have the values we have and why we raise our kids the way we do. For me, this is my why. When nothing else in this world worked or helped me, when no one else was there or seemed to care, He did. In a real way. Nothing can take the place of Him. He is who He says He is and He loves you more than you can ever understand. He has a life planned for you far greater than you can see. That’s no bull. I’m proof. My plans were nothing compared to life He had in mind for me. So, this is my story. This is my song.
Revelation 12:11, “They had victory over him by the blood the Lamb spilled for them. They had victory over him by speaking the truth about Jesus to others. They were willing to risk their lives, even if it led to death.”
