Today, June 11. My beloved is crushed, broken, torn, bruised, and exsanguine. Oh God, help him!

Yesterday, June 10. My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy… His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold. His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend (Song of Solomon 5:10-16).

Jeff and I were married after dating only six weeks in 1979. We were so happy. But our lives lacked one thing until February 1980. Brother Roy Pritts, pastor of Willis Chapel Church of God, and his wife Florence sat at our kitchen table praying with Jeff and me and our first new baby. At age 22, Jeff was surrendering his life to Jesus Christ and I was recommitting myself to the Lord. Under the leadership of Pastor Pritts and with support from other members of Willis Chapel, we began to build a Christian family.

Slowly we became increasingly aware of the need of Jesus and His Word in our lives. Pastor Pritts passed away and we missed him. But Pastor Hiram and Lena Wofford came to shepherd us. We thought our life together with Christ was perfect. We had three small children and were buying our home. At age 28, Jeff was a very respected combine mechanic in great demand at Casey Implement Co.

But on June 11, 1986, our lives changed (more…)