I left my partying ways and spent a lot of time alone, writing poetry, trying to reach out to a God who I wasn’t sure was real. Once, in my desperation, I knelt beside my bed with a Bible and said to God, something like this: “Look, I don’t know if you’re real. I could just be talking into the air. But, if you are real, I need some sign of hope. Since I don’t believe that you’re going to talk to me in an audible voice, I’m going to randomly open this Bible and I’m going to ask you to speak to my situation.” The Bible was at my sister’s house and had belonged to my dad. I guess she had it because he had many others. 

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It is an early fall morning and I sit, sipping freshly brewed coffee, peering out my window, trying to get a glimpse of a new morning that God has given to me, yet again. But dense fog hugs the ground as if to prolong the season’s change to winter. I, for one, am in agreement with the fog this morning. I want to prolong the transition from fall to winter myself for winter is the season which challenges me from all sides—spiritually, emotionally, physically, and intellectually. However, in my life as a shepherdess, there are blessings to every season.

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My life has been an unusual one: full of adventure, danger and excitement. It has also been a life filled with God’s unending love and grace. Psalm 68:20 is very special to me. “Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.” 1 John 4:8 says “...God is love.” 4:9 “…and God showed His love for us by sending His only Son into the world, so that we might have life through Him.” When I became saved on March 30, 1996, the Lord revealed these words to me. “Life is all about love, Tom, and God is love.” Truer words have never been spoken. 

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I love how God works. Not only has He provided me with an amazing family, God has given me a huge network of support, the best friends anyone could ask for, terrific extended family members, an outstanding church family at Brushy Fork Baptist Church, and He’s blessed me with a wonderful occupation as Director of Blowing Rock Parks & Recreation. 

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The day my dad died, my ministry changed! Until Dad’s death, I had preached and sung with my wife Becky all over the US, starting 7 churches. I would stay with the churches as their pastor until they were strong enough to support a full-time preacher of their own, and then I would move on, preaching and singing with Becky until we were able to find another core group of Christians strong enough to build another church. But, I never felt I was “discharging all the duties of my ministry.” I felt like I had to keep entertaining them and telling them what their itching ears wanted to hear if I wanted them to stay and the church to continue to grow. I needed to “Preach the Word!” I needed to preach all of it, including the doctrinal commands no one wanted to hear! 

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A friend of mine, to whom I am eternally thankful, asked me to go with her to her church after I left my husband, and I readily accepted her invitation. Since I was starting fresh with a new apartment, and a new job, in a town where I had few friends, I knew going to church might get me back on the right path. 

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The CMA has allowed me to go in to places, because of a motorcycle and a black leather vest, that otherwise I would not be able to enter. The CMA has done such a great work, not only in the United States, but internationally. Their ministry is incredible. I feel truly honored to be a part of it. 

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My parents made sure that Wendy and I were in church most every Sunday, especially Mom. There were many times that I just wanted to bury my head back under the covers and sleep in, but Mom would flip my light switch on and give firm, yet tender, orders to get movin’! I’m glad that Mom always set a good example. 

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This road that God has placed me on hasn’t been an easy one. I was shot once, in 1974. The bullet shot straight through my shoulder without hitting bone or arteries. It should have killed me. The bullet miraculously escaped bone and tissue, and I survived. I know that God was protecting me because I was supposed to be sheriff.

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During my years at Iolani, I don’t recall ever hearing about the saving work of Christ. Yet, there was a strong drive in me to know God. Sometimes my brothers and I would be asked to sing before dessert. My brothers chose to sing trendy songs. I always sang hymn 274, “Ancient of Days” from my hymnal. 

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Though I didn’t realize it at the time, the first responders not showing up right away was divine. We have a wonderful team of first responders in our community, and normally the first responders in our area would arrive in 10 minutes or less. It just so happened that the man and woman who would have normally shown up were out of town. It was a real blessing in disguise, because had this couple shown up and taken Seth to our local hospital, Seth would not have had the opportunity to have a trauma specialist available to fix his hand. Seth likely would have lost his hand.

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Among meeting many outstanding people, I met Coach Jerry Moore. I was pleasantly surprised when he invited me to come a football practice. I welcomed the invitation because of my history as a high school athlete and long standing family love of sports

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This Weeks post is a bit different from our normal blog article. This week we wanted to showcase one of our sponsors and favorite charities, High Country Caregivers! We want to thank them for helping families throughout the high country and for being a great sponsor.

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For Coach Moore, coaching football was more than simply the game, it was about ministering to his players and their families. Coach and Margaret have shown love and care for countless numbers of young men over the past 24 years. We want to thank them for the selfless service they have given to this community in so many ways. We are thankful and blessed to call them our friends!

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It would only make sense that Coach Moore, as he is still lovingly referred to, had lost track of time when we arrived for our interview. Not because he’s absent-minded, but because he was busy working to untangle a lure from his fishing net.

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Mother had always prayed that God would send me the right husband. I met Jerry at Baylor University and fell in love with him on our first date. Mother’s prayers were answered. We dated three years and after graduation we were married. A Christ centered home was my fervent goal, not as a duty but out of a sincere desire to honor God. I loved Jesus and I loved Jerry.

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“So I went out there, filled out an application and started as a temporary associate that eventually grew into a full time position. Now, 28 years later, Franklin Graham has entrusted me with the opportunity to work for both Samaritan’s Purse and also the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.”

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“My whole life revolved around church for the most part. I heard the gospel hundreds upon hundreds of times; at school and church had all types of good Bible pumped into us. I knew every Bible story there was frontwards, backwards, up and down, all that sort of good stuff. But never really had a personal relationship with the Lord.” 

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My family lived on the upside of the Mennonite Church on Church Street. We had a big lot and most of it was garden but there was a big house, too. We also had pigs and a cow which I learned to milk. We all helped by weeding the garden. Everybody had a patch of land back in that time; you had to have a garden if you were going to survive in the mountains. My mama made butter and sold that in the neighborhood for years because not everyone had a cow.

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With all my heart, I believe that JT’s Civil Righteousness movement and other Spirit-inspired movements like this have the potential to pray and preach us into the type of spiritual awakening that this nation and world so clearly and desperately need. In closing, it’s my prayer that all followers of Christ who read these stories will be stirred and motivated by the Holy Spirit to rededicate themselves to obeying Jesus’ command to us as found in John 15: 34-35

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