I was born on March 19, 1938, in Florala, Alabama. My mother grew up in Laurel Hill, Florida, about five miles from Florala. My parents lived in Pensacola, but because my dad had to travel with the Florida Highway Department, my pregnant mother went back to Laurel Hill so people could help her.

My dad entered the ministry about the time I was born. He started College at Palmer Junior College, and it closed. He then went to Bob Jones College in Panama City, and it closed. We moved to Notasulga for five years and he went to Auburn with the hopes that he wouldn’t close Auburn. We then moved to Wetumpka for five years. He transferred to Huntingdon, and I remember going to my dad’s college graduation when I was in the fourth grade. It took ten years, but he was disciplined and determined to get that degree so he could be a better minister!

We lived in Wetumpka from the time I was in the second grade until the time I started the seventh grade. We moved to Opelika for the next twelve years.

I loved Wetumpka. I couldn’t spell TV, nor did anybody have one, so we went to the “picture show.” One of the biggest things in my childhood was to go to the Fain Theatre on Saturdays and watch western movies. They always had a serial which was about a 13-part series with some hero who would always get in trouble at the end of the episode, and he would be left in a precarious position. You had to come back the next Saturday to see how he got out of that situation. He always did.

I’ve always been competitive. I remember as a kid we would compete to see who could watch every episode of the 13, which would require going to the movie 13 weeks in a row. So, Saturday at the Fain Theatre was a must for me. I won a few times.

I remember we would discuss how the hero might get out of the quicksand, or the edge of the cliff, or the gun fired at him at the end of each episode. He always got out. The hero was never defeated.

The bigger lesson I learned in life was when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. He is the One who can always make every event in life, regardless of how desperate it seems, turn out okay. My faith in the hero in the serial episode was replaced by my faith in God who loved me so much that He could make a hero out of me.

I learned that God could never be defeated.

I have learned what Paul meant when he wrote, “We are oppressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. That is why we never give up.”  (II Corinthians 4:8ff)

I had a family—a father, mother, and brother who always demonstrated this truth to me. I grew up in churches where people put their arms around people when they were going through deep waters. I played on sports teams where people were a real team and were an encouragement to me. I had teachers and coaches who made God’s power to deliver real to me. I am blessed.

I loved those Saturdays at the Fain Theatre. When the next episode started and the hero was rescued, everybody would break out clapping in the theatre. I want to get up every morning and clap because God never loses a battle and with God all things are possible, and He will always be victorious—in this life and the life to come. God can make each of us a hero when we trust completely in Him! Who wins when you face a big challenge in life?