My husband moved us to Alabama in July of 2005 as he was transferred for his job. Shortly after our move we were invited by our neighbors to go to their church. This is where we met Sam. I actually met his sweet wife at a ladies bible study before visiting the church. Sam and Kim (and another of our great neighbors) came to our house to visit, and Jim and I accepted Christ that night. Sam pastored our church. There is a scripture in Esther that talks about being placed in a particular place "for such a time as this" (and every time I hear that scripture I can hear it in Veggie Tales voices lol). I certainly believe that God put us here, and Sam's family here for such a time as this. Jim and I were failing miserably at our marriage. And that fact that we are here, after 15 years shows without a doubt in my mind, that God is in control. It is far easier to LET him, than try to do it yourself. Our marriage has been renewed. Another phrase that comes to mind is "It takes a village". Yeah, it does. Without so many great marriages being modeled for us and friends lifting us up I couldn't tell you where we would be. Is it peaches and cream? HA! NO! But we're here, and strong. Only by God's grace.
After a few years of living here and developing these great friendships with people, Sam and Kim have always been so dear to our hearts. Always a smile when we think about them. Genuinely super precious people. When we found out that we were expecting baby number five and that she wasn't well, we had more support than we could count or imagine, more prayers than we know throughout the whole pregnancy. The night I went into labor at 7 months, the first hospital I was taken to asked what kind of pastor I wanted (I am assuming they meant baptist, catholic, etc...). I said " I want MY pastor". And he was there in a flash. He stayed with us the whole time we were at the first hospital, through the news that Vivian didn't make it. We were then sent by ambulance to another hospital to deliver. As soon as she was born, Sam was there the rest of the day, holding her and just being more than he realizes. If you recall, we were transferred here, meaning, no family lives here. And she was born at 7 months - earlier than any of us anticipated, so no one was here. Sam was our family. He stood in that gap and was what we needed. Forever and ever that will be one of the most precious things someone has done for our family. Sam has also baptized me, Jim, Biggest, Middle and my dad. He is ALWAYS going to be OUR pastor - and it's going to be a strange deal for me to call him Sam (equally as weird to type it out) instead of Pastor Sam. Funny note - everyone calls him Brother Sam. We've always called him Pastor, and my dad calls him Preacher. Potato, Potahto :)
God has had his hands on our family - and for the past seven years he has been using Sam as those hands. Now The Day's are moving to Tuscaloosa, Alabama so that Sam can be a pastor to the pastors in the Tuscaloosa Baptist Association. He has a title, lol, and I will get it wrong so I'm going to leave it at that. He has also written a book because he is awesome like that. The absolute least I could do for a send off is get some head shots for his back cover. And, ahem, I have been trying to get Kim in front of the camera with her man for quite awhile. I've been wearing her down successfully, because yesterday she relented. Love you Kimmy! One day we will get your kids in there too :)
Prayers for rest after working overtime on my family Sam! Whoever else God puts in your path is in for a treat - they don't realize what they are in store for! Love you, Love you, LOVE YOU GUYS!
We were cracking up about lizards, and my lack of liking them.
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