So most of you know how much we love adventure. My favorite TV shows are the shows that keep you on your seat. We are all about doing fun and crazy things... These things range from wearing red lipstick to driving across the country at midnight.
Unfortunately, in little bitty Eldridge, Alabama there's not much adventure and we're not able to just "go" like we used to be able to. We're grown ups now and have to make sure we are responsible. This is what we told ourselves anyways as we accepted the pastor position at Eldridge Baptist Church.
So on the day we decided to calm down and become responsible I (Kayse) remember thinking "Oh great. There goes my fun in life." I thought that because through most of the crazy and spastic things I have done I have learned huge, I mean HUGE lesssons in life. Particularly those from God Himself. I guess that's why I get a thrill out of doing things out of the ordinary. Because God is definately NOT the ordinary.
I guess since we couldn't partake in any adventure, the adventure just HAD to come to us. I could have never dreamed we would have this much adventure by being at a 140 year old church that is made up of many older, sweet, gentle, people.
And was I wrong... Let me share with you my first adventure of Walker County.
It was about three or four weeks into our wonderful marriage on a Sunday afternoon at one of our SWEETEST members of our church's home. I will keep her unnamed just for the sake of mystery! I will tell you a little about her though. She has 10 CHILDREN. I REPEAT 10 CHILDREN.
Whoo.
So we were over there one afternoon visiting with the entire family and eating lunch. It was about that time when everyone was finished eating but some were sitting in the dining room drinking coffee, some were sitting on the front porch discussing sundays sermon and the kids were outside playing.
Me and Blake were at the dining room table drinking coffee with several of the family members when we see a girl limping up to this ladies house. I have to look twice to see what's going on. One of her eyes were as big as a baseball and she was crying and scared. My first reaction is to look away. I thought maybe she had been in a car accident or something. I quickly found out that someone had done this to her. Luckily one of the granddaughters is a nurse and she goes back to keep this girl alive and awake. There was a little bit of comotion because one of the family members were having flashbacks of when it happened to them. So quickly, I put my big girl pants on and said "Okay, Lord. I have to be here for YOU and for My husband. Needless to say my husband who fears nothing was already in the bathroom praying with this girl. MMM Gotta love him!
So I march in there and begin to examine for myself what was going on. She had two horizontal slits on her neck from a knife. That was enough to tell me that whatever was going on was serious. She had been stabbed in her cheek, back of the head, and right by her collar bone. My heart sank as I watched this girl being to pass out. The nurse of them family was keeping pressure on her major wounds but she was still losing a LOT of blood. Blake begins to ask her questions about her family to keep her from passing out. Unfortunately they were questions that made her very upset and caused her to cry harder which used more energy. We needed the energy she was using to cry to keep her from passing out. I watch as her head goes back and her eyes rolling in the back of her head and think "Oh my goodness. We're losing her." At that moment I throw on my Barbara Walters 20/20 face and start asking her a TON of irrelevant questions. First question was "What is your favorite food?" BAM I got a smile and she replied "Lasagna." We began to talk about lasagna and kept on asking her to stay with us. We asked her a few more silly questions and the ambulance FINALLY showed up.
Let me remind you... We live in the middle of nowhere. We have no police jurisdiction and definitely no ambulance service.... That's why it took the EMT's so long to get to where we were.
They came in and began to ask her different questions. I really don't think they understood how bad she was bleeding... but... Who knows.. maybe they see this stuff all the time.
Sure enough they get her into the ambulance and she begins to hemorage. If you don't know what they means then look it up! It was NOT good.
Everyone in that house sat back and took a deep breathe. I'm sure most everyone was thinking "What on earth just happened and did we really witness this?"
Blake and I call it an afternoon and decide to leave our sweet member's home. I told Blake that I needed something to calm my nerves so we headed to Jack's to get a milkshake. I will never forget the taste of that milkshake. That was probably the last milkshake I will ever have, too.
Oh.. and the story does not end there.. No, no, no.
Blake and I get back to the church around 4:30 to get ready for Discipleship Training at 5. We hear a helicopter... Let me say this again.. We are in the middle of nowhere. The only other type of transportation that is used out in these parts is a train. We were very surprised to hear and see the helicopter go over the church.
Come 5'oclock we hear from some of our members that the man who stabbed this woman so many times had hung himself.... AND LIVED.... THAT WAS WHERE THE HELICOPTER WAS GOING TO! WHAT??????? HE LIVED?????
He was on his way to the SAME hospital as the young lady he did all of that stuff to.
Talk about a wild and crazy Sunday. After that Sunday I fell into this deep valley and was scared of every little thing. Blake was still selling insurance and was out until sometimes 9 or 10 pm. I am in this new location, no friends or anything. I am scared to death sitting inside our itty bitty house jumping at every "off" sound. I stayed inside for the majority of the day and even when I went outside to check the mail you would think I was James Bond 007 or something rolling on the concrete making sure no one knew I existed so no one would come and cut me up like the girl in Eldridge.
This fear drove my life for several weeks. My sweet husband was so understanding and so sensitive to the emotions that I was dealing with.
I know I sound completely crazy for being this fearful but you just had to have been there. I have never seen anything like that in my entire life... I had never even heard of anything like that happening unless it was on the Memphis news.. and even that was rare. AND I was a Criminal Minds fanatic. So of course I tried to analyze the guy who did this and came to the conclusion he was after me next because I was a part of saving the girls life.
Thankfully, God did not keep me in that place of fear.
Several weeks after we had experienced this crime Blake preached a message out of Ephesians. It was Ephesians 4 to be exact... If you've never read the book of Ephesians then stop reading this and go do so. It is so rich in truth... Well.. the whole bible is, really.
Okay. Ephesians. While he was preaching Ephesians 4 he made reference to 1 Corinthians
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
(1 Corinthians 15:55 ESV)
He was referring to that later part of Ephesians 4 on how we as Christians walk now that we are a new creation...
All of the sudden it hit me... Christ did not die so I could walk around scared of every person in Walker County. He died so that I may be saved and share the glorious gospel to the people around me. How am I doing that if I am scared of death? And more importantly WHY am I scared of death?
As a Christian, death is a bittersweet thing. Truth is "to be absent with the body is to present with Christ" so death does not hurt.... yea sure... I may have physical pain at the end of my life but as far as death itself it has no victory over me and it has no sting. I can't even feel it because as soon as I die I will be present with my Creator... My Savior... My Everything.
So a million things were going through my feeble little mind. I know who Jesus is and I know the power He has over death... I had to come to grips with the fact that a SOUL is more important than my life. I was extremely challenged that day. It's like God was telling me I had nothing to be scared of because I am HIS. So no matter what ended up happening to me I will always be in His arms
We ended up moving to Eldridge that October. It was a very bold step seeing as how we are 100 yards from the person who did all of this to that girl.. Oh.. and we found out no charges were made and they were back together.
You can tell that Blake just LOVES pictures. Man he's foiiiiiine!
So... to wrap it up...
A few months after we moved in I got a knock at the door. It was a sweet couple that asked if they could borrow my phone. Of course I said yes.. and as most of you know.. I never have it with me so I had to hunt for it! Blake was in the back and I told him to come to the door and he said "Hey guys" (and said their names). I froze. I could not even breathe. I couldn't believe it was really them. I did not recognize her and I had never even met him. Here comes that fear again.
I hurried to the back and prayed that God would remind me that death has no sting... and that these people need Jesus more than they need anything in this entire world.
Needless to say, after that day of meeting them I have gotten a little better. They have come to the house several times since, we've given them a ride to Jasper, and they've even came to our church twice.
These two individuals have stolen mine and Blake's heart. We know without a doubt they are struggling with drugs... big time... but want them to see the grace of God through us because their souls are worth it to us. We've had many conversations about the "what if" scenarios and we both agree that even through something tragic we will love them.
It is so important to love people despite their faults. Even when it's against you. Think about Jesus... He loved us... even though we continuously drive His name into the dirt. I know, I know... God is also about justice... I know this.. BUT justice was done at the Cross. Am I right?
I believe God is sovereign and knows exactly why he had Blake and I go through that... He has a plan for us living 100 yards from both of them.. He knows why they choose to come to us. Will we get taken advantage of? Yes.. more than likely. Will we get frustrated with them because they just aren't getting it? Yes. Often. But is God's grace greater than their sin and worth all of it? You bet.
So think about the people in your life that are hard to love and encourage and LOVE THEM ANYWAY. Not for YOUR sake and for YOU to feel good... but for the love and grace of Christ to shine through you. It's all for HIS glory and His name's sake.
Now go read Ephesians 4!
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