Tonight was a monumental moment in the life of the Mid-South Love Home and my life personally. For those of you who have heard me share my testimony or for those who have read what is written under the "Our Story" tab at the top of this page, you know that God used the incredible couple, Bill and Ruby Burdett, instrumentally in my life as He began to prepare me for this season of ministry. Well, Bill passed away this week and I just left his visitation and wanted to share with you about Ms. Ruby!
Isn't it just like God to use someone during their time of grieving to encourage someone else?!? I spent about three or four minutes with Ms. Ruby and was inspired and encouraged more than I could have ever dreamed! You see, she has walked this path! She and Bill "paved the way" on this path and when she spoke to me, I hung on every word! I am hearing from someone who KNOWS what I am going through and who has words of wisdom to pass along! When I first knelt down to talk to her, she asked, "Well...how's it going?" and I said, "We are rocking and rolling!". She said, "Well, you're going to be rocking more than you're going to be rolling!" We giggled and then she said, "One day you won't even have a dime and then the next day you'll have 15 cents! God will provide!" Then she told me, "We did this ministry for 32 years and I don't regret a minute of it!!" When asked how many girls she thought they had helped, she said that it was over 600!! She also said that it is a ministry that takes two. She told me that someone asked if she was going to continue to help girls and she said, "No. There's no way to do this ministry alone." I left her side tonight with plans of a mutual friend picking her up one day and taking Ms. Ruby on a "field trip" to my house so that she can see it for herself. I just told her that it is very important to me that she knows that the legacy that she and Mr. Bill left is being continued!!
As I walked away, my heart was so encouraged! Then, I got in my car and the song on the radio said, "I'm not strong enough to be everything that I'm supposed to be. I give up. I'm not strong enough. Lord, right now I'm asking You to be strong enough...strong enough for the both of us"!! That is what it is all about! I cannot do what He is asking me to do! BUT...He is strong enough to do it through me!
I have experienced fear over these past 6 months as the Mid-South Love Home has become a functioning reality! I know that "God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind"! 2 Timothy 1:7 Therefore, the fear that I have experienced is from the evil one who seeks to steal, kill, and destroy! I have allowed my mind to entertain thoughts of fear and have realized that the opposite of fear is FAITH!! I had so much faith from like November to August and then when circumstances looked fearful, my faith wavered and I let myself fear! I am sure that if you have followed this blog closely, you have probably sensed that in my "voice" from time to time! BUT...I am here to say that "My God shall supply ALL my need!" and "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want"!!! It is time for my faith to be strengthened again and I have renewed faith after speaking to Ms. Ruby and hearing her words of "No regrets!" Don't you want to live a life of no regrets? I know I do!!! I don't want to just live "safe". I want to step out on the water and I want to do it with NO FEAR!! That is just what God promises me! He doesn't ask me to even try to do this on my own! There is no possible way I could do that! He is with us and He is going to strengthen me and Brad and our children as we continue to walk down this path that He has put us on!!!
So, thank you for following our "story" as it unfolds. Thank you for allowing me to be transparent with you as God refines me and grows my faith! Someone told me that God is much more interested in what He is going to do IN me than what He is going to do THROUGH me! I want to be purified! My life verse is Malachi 3:3 "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness." My heart's one desire is to be holy, set apart for Him, ready to do His will! I don't want Him to stop refining me until I look just like Jesus!!
Please continue to pray for this ministry and the young women God has brought and is going to bring to us! We cannot do this ministry without you and your prayers and support!
I desire to honor the life, memory, and legacy of Bill Burdett tonight...and the life and legacy of Ruby Burdett and thank God for them and the role they have played in the life of the Mid-South Love Home!!
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