“Five years ago, my baby sister died. A couple weeks later, my dad died. The world was crashing in on me again, but I kept the faith. It's good. God's been with me every step of the way. It's not a bed of roses. There are times that I have questioned things. When I was in high school, I decided I didn't want to go to church anymore. That didn't fare well for me with my parents. I got married at 18. My husband left me. There was some abuse. I jumped from one abuse into another. That lasted for maybe six years. I didn't want to get divorced because I just thought it was a horrible thing. I talked to the church and they finally said, 'Kathy, God would not want you to stay there and continue to be abused that way.' There was adultery. They said 'you'll be fine.' A couple of years later, I met my now husband. The minister was at the house and asked me if I ever felt I wanted to be baptized. We had been talking about baptism anyway, so I'm like, 'yeah, let's do it.' He goes, 'well, Sunday?' I'm like, 'no, if I'm going to do this, I'm doing it now.' I was ready. We went to the church. I was baptized. I was immersed in November of 1976. It was a Wednesday night and it was colder than heck. I was pregnant with my second child; he was born in November. I was going to church every other Sunday because I worked. We got involved into small groups. One day they announced at church a medical mission trip in Belize. I just looked at Joe and I said, ‘I'm going.’ He goes, 'well, I'm going.’ So, we did. I thought, I'm going down there to save the world. It was all about me saving the world. So God knocked me down a few pegs. I ended up with a heart disease and didn't even know if I was going. Finally, I was allowed to go. I was still feeling that I was going to die because the doctors didn't really give me enough information. I prayed about it and prayed about it. I'm going down there to save these people. Well, they saved me. They absolutely saved me. It was, 'pull yourself up by your bootstraps, and go on with your life.' Surround yourself with Godly people because the world can be so cruel. It will swallow you up. If you relate to other Christians, they'll help you become strong so you can go out and face the world. I've always told my kids that the people you hang around with is the person that you will become. I have nine children. It's just been amazing to see what God has done with us. My name is Kathy and I surrender.”
