Angels

I can’t go a step further without talking about how we were simply covered over with love, prayers and help during the time Ken was sick and following his death. So many precious people went way beyond the call on our behalf. I am still awestruck at the way God used the people in our lives (and even some we didn’t know personally) to lift us up and encourage us during that dark, sad time. God's Angels doing His work.

First, my Mama basically put her life on hold so that she could be available whenever we needed her help (which was a lot!). I never had to worry about having someone to take care of our boys if we ended up in the hospital. All it took was a phone call and Mama was on her way to Ringgold. Even though my precious Daddy didn’t (and still doesn’t) like to be without her for long, he always told her to go and stay as long as we needed her. Mama was still working then, and her sweet boss, Billy Hunt, always encouraged her to be with us, no matter how many days’ work she had to miss. It was such a relief to both Ken and me that we had someone looking after our boys who loved them as much as we did.

Our family had joined Boynton Baptist Church in Ringgold, GA about three months prior to Ken’s diagnosis.
The whole thing is such an example of God working for your good before you even know it. We had been members of a church in Chattanooga for many years. We were married there, Jesse was baptized there, and Benjamin had been dedicated there, so it held lots of happy memories for us. But God had been “nudging” both Ken and me that we needed to go somewhere else. We visited around several places, but the minute we walked into the sanctuary at Boynton, we felt like we were “home”. I can’t explain why it felt like home, other than God just told us it was. See, He knew we were going to need good friends and lots of support in the coming months. That’s not to say that we didn’t have good friends at our former church–we DID! My best friend and her family are still members there and there are several others that I still consider dear friends. God just wanted us somewhere else. He put us exactly where we needed to be, because I have NEVER seen a church wrap itself in love around a family like Boynton did with us.

Our pastor, Keith McLeod, is one of the godliest men I have ever met. Not only was he our pastor, but he became a good friend as well. He has such a shepherd’s heart, many times he and his wife, Joan, had already anticipated needs we had before we even had a chance to voice them. I am not sure when the ladies in the church started providing our meals, but I know for a fact that they were still bringing us our dinners at least twice a week six months after Ken’s diagnosis. I don’t think I could list everything that church family did for us during those years because they were constantly doing things. Everything from picking up our kids, paying our utility bills, bringing us firewood, calling and visiting, holding our hands and hugging our necks. . . the list just goes on and on.

I guess the most important thing anybody did for us was to PRAY. We had so many people praying for us. In addition to our church family, Mama & Daddy’s church family (which now happens to be our church family), my family, Ken’s family, and friends all over the place, there were even strangers praying for us. I got several emails from people I had never even met who had heard about Ken’s diagnosis and were praying for us. And we SO felt all of those prayers. I, personally, was having a hard time praying during that time. I felt God’s presence in a powerful and mighty way, but I just wasn’t able to put my prayers into words. But even though I couldn’t pray, God let me know that on the days I was too sad or angry or scared to pray, He would lay it on someone else’s mind and heart to “stand in the gap” for me. And they DID! Thank God for people who are willing to stand in the gap for people who are struggling.