For those interested in the back story… 🙂
Andi’s Story
I grew up in Montgomery, Alabama with an older brother and two younger sisters. Our family went to church 3 out of 4 Sundays.
When I was 10 our family joined a new church plant in Montgomery. The pastor asked me if I knew the Lord as my Savior. I replied “No” but I wanted to know Him as Savior. I was just waiting for someone to ask me. The pastor came over a few weeks later, shared Christ with my brother and me. That night lying in my bed I asked the Lord to forgive my sins, come into my heart, and be Lord. I remember vividly seeing Christ coming out of the tomb for me in my mind’s eye so I have no doubt that was the night I became a Christian.
For the next three years my life with God was one of rules- the “do’s and don’ts” and my prayers were bargains with God. “if you let me get this, I will pray everyday for the next month!” The summer I turned 14 at a youth camp I realized that God wanted a relationship with me. That I am the hands and feet of Christ and he wants me to be like Him, more than doing the “right”thing.
Very soon after my arrival home from camp I realized my home was not like everyone else’s at camp. My mother wasn’t the sweet mom who loved the Lord like the other mom’s that were at camp. My mother loved me, there is no doubt, and she knew the Lord as Savior, but she had issues with anger and bitterness.
Church became my refuge. When I was 16 God brought me to a place of forgiveness with my mother. All the things she did that were “wrong” or hurt me, I handed over to Him. It didn’t change her, but it changed me. I was becoming more like her but God changed my heart.
My plan was to go to Auburn for Social Work then to Southwestern Seminary in Ft. Worth. My parents told me I had to stay at Auburn in Montgomery for one year and live at home. My heart was so set on getting out of the house as soon as that year was up! But God had other plans. My youth minister asked me to take on several roles with the youth group for the 2nd year of college so I stayed. I stayed for 4 years. During that time I had the opportunity to go to California with Campus Crusade for Christ. I think during that time my mother began to see that all the things I kept saying about my relationship with the Lord were not just words, but really was who I was.
Soon after my return from California my mom found out she had cancer. She had surgery and chemo and we didn’t talk much about it. I went to Auburn my 5th year, had a wonderful time. I graduated in 97 with a Social Work degree and moved to Montgomery. My plan was to stay home for a year then head to Texas. God had other plans.
October of the year I graduated we found out my mom’s cancer was back- it was in her lungs, hip, ribs, shoulder, and had almost disintegrated one of her vertebrate away. She ended up in the hospital for 40 days right after Thanksgiving until after new years. I moved back home to be with my then 14 year old sister and help out mom and dad. It was one of the hardest things to do but God knew what he was doing.
I was blessed to go home from work on certain days to take mom food she would eat, help out around the house, and sit with her in her room. As time went by her condition got worse and Dad came to me to ask about Hospice and “shopping” for funeral arrangements. I will never forget the quiet strength my Dad had as he took care of my mom, learned about all the “mom” stuff she typically did and trying to take care of his youngest 14 year old girly daughter. My Dad has always been my hero, even more so now.
My mom died August 1998 the night my family left on the way to Michigan for my brother’s wedding. When we returned home we had a funeral. But what could have been such a overwhelmingly sad occasion became a time to talk about the Goodness of the Lord. So many people had stories to share about how different my mom had become since her first illness. They shared stories about how she would talk on and on about what her kids were doing and how proud she was of us in the middle of the grocery store. (This from a mom who typically was brief and moved on instead of chit chatting!) Her death became a spotlight on the strength of the Lord and how he had brought our family closer. And I know only because of Him could I go through everything that happened that year. He was and is my constant companion.
I did move to Texas in January the following year. I spent 5 years in Texas and finished Seminary with 2 degrees. A Masters in Ministry Based Evangelism and a Masters in Christian Education. The time I spent in Texas was a tremendous blessing and I consider Ft. Worth another “home.” I was able to lead worship for a youth group and spend 4 summers working for Lifeway on staff with Centrifuge Camps. When I got closer to graduation my plan was to stay in TX at an organization called Cornerstone, which worked with homeless families, but again God had different plans. He called me back to Alabama. My dad had remarried to a lady whose husband died the same year as mom. He now lives in Opelika.
I found a job at the hospital in Auburn doing discharge planning- Social Work.. I worked there almost 4 years. The Lord led me to membership at local church and volunteer Missions Coordinator for almost 4 years. I left the hospital to lead the Children as Childrens Minister at my church. After a time in that position I felt the Lord led me to resign my position there. I had no job for almost 2 months but every bill was paid and in the midst my car was paid off and my mortgage was paid for 3 months. It was confirmation I was being obedient to what He said. Even when I didn’t see His plan.
I remained as Missions coordinator for a time and while I had been at that church I was blessed to take teams to Ecuador, the Gulf Coast, NOLA, New York City, locally on different events, and begin a partnership with a community in Uganda including sponsoring over 300 children and lead 6 teams there. And I was blessed to spend Christmas week in China and even have the opportunity to share God’s Word with a house church 2 days before Christmas. This in the midst of my “regular” jobs. What a blessing.
I was offered a job at a Nursing home to work as Admissions Coordinator in 2009. It was a blessing to see the transformation of that facility from a place of extreme darkness to one of light.
The Lord told me after I began working at there that I would leave that job by a certain date. I stayed several months later and was finally obedient and resigned my job there. It was one of the most difficult decisions ever. I loved that job and didn’t want to leave. I cashed out my retirement account and finally began pursuing moving overseas. (I never saw myself overseas full time!) I thought I would end up in Uganda at a Christian university that relocated down the street from the church we had been working in but that wasn’t what He had planned.
A year after I had resigned my job someone mentioned to me Orphanage Emmanuel. She had been talking to me about Emmanuel with me for almost 10 years. She mentioned that the volunteer coordinator was leaving and the Lord clearly said “listen.” I applied the next month to be a volunteer at OE, sold all my belongings, and moved to a country I had never been to. With no plans to leave it until He tells me.
So you can say the story is still being written…God is the ultimate writer of glorious and amazing stories, because ultimately our stories are all about Him….
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