Family is the core of what we fight for!

We believe that Family is our first ministry and of the utmost importance. It is the first place that the Lord has called each of us. Beginning with our Parents and the command to Honor thy Father and Mother. And continuing into our married lives with children, it is the first place of ministry for us all.

Back in 2017, when I was radically saved by the Lord, my family was in shambles. I had been estranged from my parents and siblings for many years. My three oldest children were basically abandoned by me, living with their Father, and my three youngest children had been taken by the State and put into foster care.

I had dishonored my parents since childhood, robbed and stolen from them so many things, including their peace, as they worried about me night after night. I stole their opportunity to experience me graduating from high school or going off to college, as I dropped out of education at 16 years old. My childhood cost them so much. Crashed cars, traffic tickets, misdemeanor and felony cases, and fines. I cost them days at their jobs, time, energy, and effort each time I would get in trouble. I yelled and kicked and screamed, hit and cussed them out more often than I’d like to admit.

As I became an adult and got married, I worked for our family’s business, 3rd generation, but my dishonor and addiction would lead to a theft of over 100,000 dollars and a complete disowning as I sat in jail pregnant with my 5th child.

My grandparents, who had launched that business from their dining room table and labored in expansion for over 50 years, got a chance to experience the dishonorable person I was. My destructive behavior had now affected everyone who loved me and cared about me.

I never did get the chance to amend my relationship with my Grandmother, who passed away just a year before my transformation. My youngest daughter now carries her name, Audrey, and we live and love well to honor her today.

Today, Jim and I are fully restored to all of our family, and we regained custody of the three children that we share. We have healthy relationships with our adult children and are active in their lives today. We can spend time with our parents, and they actually enjoy our company.

Mending those relationships took time and intentionality. Pushing through uncomfortable conversations and regaining trust through integrity and honesty. Working with children’s services and gaining their trust took over a year, but in the end, our parenting rights were completely restored.

Today, we homeschool our three youngest children, support my oldest son in college, and I have just been blessed with my first grandchild. I have gotten to witness all three of my oldest children be baptized, and now have the opportunity for my granddaughter to never see me any other way than as the child of God I’ve always been called to be.

My children know the Lord and love Him, giving Him Glory for all that they’ve seen Him do in their Mama’s life. They pray and they worship, and I’m so incredibly blessed to be able to witness their growing relationships with Him.

We will be taking a family vacation this year, and it’s such a blessing to be able to invite my parents along for the trip to the mountains of Tennessee, as we retreat and refuel to return refreshed!

Prioritizing family and home life is a call that is on each of us as believers.

Our homes must be in order so that we can effectively spread the full and true Gospel to all. The Lord has not called us to neglect our families for the sake of the Gospel, or to sacrifice our families on the altar of ministry. But to do ministry together. As we model a healthy family to the men and women we minister to.

Many will not have to dig their family life out of the pit like we had to, but it takes the same intentionality every day to maintain a healthy family relationship. So many struggle to find a rhythm between work, home, church, friends, and hobbies. And I completely understand, this life is so so busy.

As we look at our calendars, is FAMILY written on it? And I don’t mean rides to their sports, or getting ready for school in the mornings. Real, true, intentional “family time” enjoying each other’s company, laughing, and playing.

When Mom calls, will you stop everything you’re doing to answer it? Can she count on you to come over and help do the chores she struggles with now in her old age?

I count it a privilege to go over to my parents’ and scrub their carpets. The same place that I hurt them so terribly, I can now help them maintain in their retirement.

One of my fondest memories is taking my daughters over to my parents’ home, the home that I grew up in, to help remove the leaves from their yard. They were 6, 7, and 15 at the time, and it was such an enjoyable afternoon. The work didn’t get done very quickly, but we laughed and jumped in the leaves we had just raked. By the end of the day, the leaves were all removed, and we tired some little girls out.

We have an epidemic of broken families in our country right now. There is a call on the Church to combat this by building our strong family units and modelling that to the world around us.

Let them see us and be attracted to what we have. Men leading their wives and children into an abundant life as Jesus promises. Women warring in prayer over their families. Fathers and Mothers spending quality time with their children, teaching and equipping them with the Gospel. Modelling a lifestyle of honor and value for the family unit.

It’s not about training children to go to church; it’s about a lifestyle at home where they experience the Power of Christ working in their lives. Modelling a life of submission and prayer, worship and praise, and every fruit of the Spirit.

The love that we receive from Heaven flows through us and impacts everyone around us, especially our family.

My prayer is that we, as the body of believers, would spend time in the presence of the Lord receiving that kind of agape love. The love that shifts atmospheres, breaks down even the most hardened hearts, and impacts a generation!

A new generation