A Little More About Our Family
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For many, the truth hurts. When the truth is exposed, these same people will begin to attack and do anything in their power to hurt the one exposing the truth. Today, I'm sharing how our family was attacked for speaking the truth and nothing more.
My husband and I believe the Bible when it says in Genesis 12:2-3 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. ~ We may not agree with everything the Jews believe but God has his hand on these precious people. In the past, I worked for a Jewish man for over a year. He and his family members that worked in the company were the easiest people to get along with. They were caring and compassionate about their customers and if one was not treated fairly, they quickly remedied the problem. In fact, the CFO was fired over a situation dealing with a customer’s account. These men and their wives were open to answering questions regarding their faith and they were open in listening about mine. I can only pray that they will remember what I said in those conversations. Conversations that were pleasant and meaningful.
We also believe and follow II John 10-11 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds. ~ This is something that is a scary thing for someone like me; I am a non-confrontational person. When someone tells me to have a good day, I usually respond with, “Thank you, I hope you have one to.” I try to be nice to people who come to my door. In the past, we have had to deal with many Jehovah’s Witnesses. When I think of those words in the Bible, I have to hold my tongue when they are sent on their way. I don’t hate the person, I hate what they are teaching. I see those ladies and gentlemen as souls on their way to hell. The only way you are going to be able to talk about Jesus and Salvation with a JW is when they are not in their “programmed mode”; that is not going to be at your door.
I don’t know how many of you have walked into a Walmart store and saw a Muslim family come in and the women had their burka on; nothing on those ladies were uncovered, fingers and toes included. To see the hate filled eyes of their husbands and know that you as a lady are being “watched” with disdain. This happened in a North Carolina store, while we were on deputation; the feeling I got was extreme fear that day. I have never felt so unsafe in my life and I hope I never have to feel that again.
When I see Muslim people, I see souls bound for hell. They do not believe in the true God and Jesus Christ; they do not believe in the only way to heaven. This saddens me. The Lord did not call our family to minister to these people. But every time, an opportunity arises, my husband will boldly witness to them. Unlike other people,who hide behind the internet for fear of having their heads removed to be a true missionary to these precious souls. We are not those people.
I can't help but think about the above verse in Genesis. I'm not going to be throwing someone under the bus, because someone else thinks I need to. I'm definitely not going to be throwing someone under there that doesn't plan on hurting me or my family.
It was thrown in our face about our loss of support in 2008 when we lived in western Montana. It was told that maybe our hatred for Muslims was the reason why it happened. Let me make this clear, that is so far off base.
What I am about to tell you is something only a select few outside of our family knows. Five years later, it is time to talk about it. Our former church supported us at 50% of our needed support. It was known that Sanford would get a job in the community to learn the people and for the people to know him. We are the ones who decided that, not the church. I made myself known by joining a homeschool group. Our church voted on the 50% support and everything was good. The church also knew, for outsiders to be truly welcomed in the area, we would be there at least 5 years before being able to have a steady flow of members.
Once we got to Montana, we emailed the pastor on a weekly basis keeping him up to date on all that was going on. When the first check was suppose to be sent, we waited 2 weeks for it. When my husband called and talked with the pastor, he gave some clues as to there would be some problems in the future. At the time, we did not really see the problems but it didn't take long for our eyes to be opened to them. Over the next several months, our support check was not sent unless we called and begged for it. In December of 2007, Sanford called and this statement was said, “if you want to keep being supported, then you need to make sure you are keeping us in the loop.” That was a kick in the teeth for us; we had been sending them updates weekly. In January, no check came and we waited. Sanford began calling and emailing the pastor and could not get a hold of him. All of our calls went straight into voice mail; to prove this to ourselves, I had my sister call the pastor and as quickly as the phone rang, he picked up.
I don't know why we were sent to the area we were. I don't know if our landlord needed to see our situation and know that God is in control in everything. ~ I like to think they are the reasons we were there. I still pray for them every time I think about them.
To this day, we still do not know why our family was stranded by our former church. It is all in the past and we try to not talk about it. Anytime, I hear this pastor’s name and how he is traveling the world or see where his wife is traveling to ladies meetings, I still feel a little hurt about the situation. If I allow what happened to us bring back the bitterness I went through in 2008, the Lord is not going to be able to use us for his glory.
The person who did the accusing, sent me several messages stating my husband was self righteous and out of control regarding his comments and that she would be praying for me. Thank you, dear lady for your prayers, for its situations like these where I see how truly humble my husband really is. He is the one who wanted to keep others from knowing the real reason why we had to return to Georgia. He didn’t want this pastor’s name to be ruined. It was he who went up to this pastor at a local meeting and put his hand out first, spoke first and was forgiving. Sadly, I am not like him. I am thankful the Lord brought two very different people together when he brought my husband to me.
When a statement like “Sanford, I will BE SURE to let people know all about you and your ministry and the testimony you carry! Praying for you! SERIOUSLY!” is spoken to me or my husband; all we can do is shake our head. What a sad testimony this lady has given herself! I can't help but giggle when I remember my childhood pastor calling women like this, Mrs. Ratchet Jaws.
A special friend reminded me of the verse, Romans 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
