A lot has changed since we featured Charlotte Evans Russell in the October 2019 issue of Birmingham Christian Family where she shared her transformational faith story that began in foster care, addiction and then to life as a pastor’s wife.
Charlotte Evans Russell is shown here with stepdaughter Kelbee and husband Jon holding their daughter Amelia Grace.
Russell is a popular social media influencer who started her Instagram account, @charlotteshappyhome, as a creative outlet for her photography while she remodeled her historic home in Gadsden, Ala. and developed a dedicated group of followers she likes to compare to a really big small group. Through her social media and her website, she shares stories about her family life, faith, and lifestyle tips. Her online following has grown exponentially, from around 35,000 on Instagram to more than 120,000 today. Her career has transformed in a relatively short time. Her family has grown too.
New Mom. Her followers have engaged with her story in recent months as she shared her pregnancy with the world on social media. Her daughter, Amelia Grace, was born August 1, 2021.
Charlotte Evans Russell gave birth to her first child, Amelia Grace, on August 1, 2021.
“I am so in love with that girl,” she said. “For years, I thought I would have boys and was shocked to find out I was pregnant with a girl. I took the news hard to begin with, but then I had a conversation with the Lord.” She adds, “He showed me that He wanted to surprise me with this gift that will be so special because I will get to give the love of a mother that I never had. I will see what I could have experienced if I had the love and acceptance she will have. Almost like He is redeeming my childhood through her.”
“The Lord just began to introduce her to me,” she said. “I got her name immediately. That was the first thing I needed to do,” she said. The Russells decided on the name, Amelia Grace, which means “work of the Lord” and that name took on a very personal meaning for them. “At 38 years old, I had a very healthy pregnancy and was able to have a natural childbirth. It was a beautiful experience that I will never forget,” Russell said. “We had worship music playing during labor and delivery. Amelia was born to the song “Oceans” by Hillsong. The amazing thing about it was I spent an hour praying over her two nights before to that song on repeat! It was as if the Lord was saying He heard my prayers and He answered them.”
Remembering that special day, Russell says, “The moment she was born I cannot even explain the love and joy that I felt,” adding, “My heart is so full because of Amelia that I no longer have a desire for a son. In fact, she is all that I want! It’s amazing to me how God can do that.” Charlotte and Jon currently pastor at Fearless Church in Chattanooga, Tenn. They are commuting but are about to begin building a house which will give them a lot of new material for her social media business.
Russell shared her entire pregnancy journey with her Instagram followers. Follow along with over 120K followers @charlotteshappyhome.
From Hobby to Career. This past year, the Russells started an LLC to better manage the business generated from her social media work and her blog. Although she originally started sharing design tips on Instagram while the couple remodeled their historic home in Gadsden, she has transformed her material into more of a lifestyle brand which generates a full-time income for her. She attributes the online growth to building relationships. “I love sharing my life with my Instagram tribe. They are more than just followers to me,” she said. “They have been present for so many milestones already. I share daily in stories and am able to connect on a more personal level there. I love and appreciate how invested they are in our lives. I believe that is where the success comes from. Being able to connect and relate with your audience.” Being a social media influencer, businesses reach out to Charlotte to feature their products on her posts. She says she only works with products she personally loves or things she believes her followers will enjoy.
Russell loves to add simple touches of fall throughout her home. She and her family live in Gadsden, Ala. in a home built in 1901 that they recently remodeled.
Fall Designs. Autumn is a colorful time of year which offers many inexpensive opportunities to bring life to the home. For people looking for design tips this time of year, Charlotte has a few helpful hints. “Pumpkins are a fun, easy and affordable way to decorate for fall,” she said. “You can use them indoors on a tablescape or outdoors on your porch. Be sure to soak them in bleach water if you want them to last all season long!” Another helpful design tip for the fall is to use fall plants around the house or to incorporate fall colors throughout the house with blankets, pillows and other accessories. Getting an entirely new look to celebrate the season doesn’t have to involve a large scale, expensive makeover. “Think about the colors you see as the trees are changing. If you sprinkle those colors throughout your house, it will look like the fall,” she said.
“Addiction is no respecter of persons. It can touch anyone.”Those words from Micah Andrews, CEO of The Foundry Ministries, give a glimpse into the impactful work done to provide faith-based substance abuse recovery for thousands of men and women from all situations and walks of life over the last fifty years.
Since its inception in 1971 as the Bessemer Rescue Mission, the ministry has reshaped the lives of those battling addiction in our community through programs designed to heal in both physical and spiritual ways; today it operates three campuses (the Men’s Program in Bessemer, Women’s Program in Bessemer, and Foundry Farm in Cullman), runs two thrift stores (in Pelham and Cullman), provides recovery and aftercare services, offers rescue programs for individuals in poverty, and looks to a future where more ministry opportunities can be offered.
Micah Andrews became CEO of The Foundry Mnistries in 2016, replacing long-time Executive Director Bill Heintz. Today they celebrate the lives saved over the ministry’s 50 year history and seek to save more.
Addiction Recovery at the Heart of its Call.More than 100 people die of drug overdoses in the United States each day–a fact that compels the work of The Foundry Ministries.“We are laser focused on faith-based substance abuse recovery,” Andrews said. “We’ve had a variety of ministries over the years, but we’ve really narrowed our efforts to long-term abuse recovery. We want to bring hope, healing, and restoration to the body, soul, and spirit.”
The Foundry’s campus locations house men and women who come to the program from different places and for a variety of reasons.According to Andrews, more than one-third of its residents come from court referrals. “Instead of going to prison, we’re going to give you the chance to get well,” Andrews said.The other two-thirds come by choice— “either their choice, or their Momma’s choice, or their spouse’s choice.”
The Foundry Ministries celebrates the grand opening of its store in Pelham in 2017. There is also a thrift store in Cullman.
The process to get into one of the campuses is a simple one, Andrews said and involves an online application, a follow-up assessment, and acceptance. Andrews said that there are few reasons why anyone is denied access, and the one-time intake fee of $495 is the only expense required.It’s an option that is often the last in a person’s life but is one that has worked for thousands of men and women.In 2019 alone, The Foundry Ministries served 831 program participants, provided 1,000 nights of shelter, served 3,500 neighbors monthly with assistance, and provided 920 meals daily.
Residents in The Foundry’s program become part of a five-pronged approach that includes: counseling, care management, classroom environments, employment readiness training, and aftercare.“We provide a multi-year contract, but what happens when your time is up? We want to be there for our men and women. We give them a lifetime access to services,” Andrews said.
Real Life Testimonies.The men and women who arrive at The Foundry do so from a myriad of backgrounds. They may have owned their own business, but then lost it and their home because of addiction.They may have never had a job before because they became addicted at an early age.They may be homeless. Or a single mother. Or a victim of generational addiction. Or someone who was in an accident and became addicted to painkillers.“We’re usually a last stop option,” Andrews said.
Dustin Cox came to The Foundry straight from court, after he was given the option of going to prison for ten years or staying on probation while getting help for his addiction.“I literally stayed at The Foundry for two years with an ankle bracelet on,” Cox said.
The Foundry thrift stores sell furniture, clothing, books, housewares, toys, and other items. The stores provide 65% of the ministry’s operating budgets, and also serve as workforce training for Foundry residents.
According to Cox, he was at a place where he was ready to change. “The Foundry gave me the opportunity to sit down and be still, focused on the Lord,” he said. “I graduated in 2015, did several years of aftercare, and worked there for 4 ½ years.”Cox credits the “whole person” system for changing his life. He said that he needed to work on all aspects of his life–both physical and spiritual–to truly change.“I learned how to be a healthy person, and I needed all the components of The Foundry,” he said. “I needed to get up and make my bed every morning, get up and go to work, be molded into a healthy person.” Today Cox works for the Recovery Resource Center out of Cooper Green Hospital and makes regular visits to UAB, St. Vincent’s, and other places where those with additions need peer support, assessments for support, and other help.
Andrews shares another story of a 45-year-old methamphetamine addict who convinced his brother to buy him a bus ticket and was thrown off the bus between Mobile and Birmingham because he was high. He was arrested but put back out on the interstate the next day.A doctor and his wife picked him up on the interstate and brought him to Birmingham, where he found himself back on the street and on a park bench. “An older gentleman sat down and asked him what was up with him, and he said that he was trying to get to The Foundry,” Andrews said. “The gentleman dropped him off after work, even though the center was closed. He fell asleep on a stack of clothes and in the morning, he walked through our doors.”
While The Foundry provides life-changing opportunities for its residents, it also offers a lifeline to family members desperate to get their loved ones clean.“Every family deserves hope” has become a key mantra for The Foundry’s leaders, and they take seriously the role of support.“Addiction never affects only the user,” Andrews said. “It has detrimental effects for their entire circle. Families can feel relief that their family member is being taken care of and a respite for them because they didn’t know what else to do.”
The Foundry Ministries CEO Micah Andrews with his wife Karie and daughters Olivia and Ella. Karie is a 6th grade teacher at Springville Middle School. The family attends Church of the Highlands.
For Georgia pastor Rodney Thrift, the ministry saved his son’s life from addiction and set him on a new path.After his son graduated from college with a degree in environmental science, Thrift and his wife saw that he had come home with addiction issues. After getting into more trouble, his son’s alcohol and drug dependence created the need for a stay at The Foundry Farm in Cullman.“He got clean and was also able to use his degree there on the farm to help, and was actually awarded the Servant Leadership Award,” Thrift said. “It was a very positive experience for him. It’s always about wise choices and he had to make that choice.” Thrift was also encouraged by the experience The Foundry offered for his family to stay involved, and today he recommends it to those in his Georgia community who are dealing with addiction. “We definitely trust them, and it works,” he said. “I knew about The Foundry even before my son went there, and I recommend it to others. Sometimes that distance is exactly what they need.”
Rooted in Faith.Andrews often has people ask him, “Is professing faith in Christ a prerequisite to getting help from The Foundry?” and he’s quick to stress that everyone deserves and receives help–but that it’s also their responsibility to introduce Jesus to anyone who comes through its doors.“We can help anyone and get anyone out of substance abuse, but our ultimate purpose is to introduce them to a permanent transformation through Jesus Christ. We offer not just recovery, but we want you to find freedom in Christ so that you don’t have to go back to where you were before.”
The Foundry provides a variety of spiritual opportunities for its residents including Bible study groups led by volunteers four nights a week, counseling sessions, and chapel services.
“We’re going to set the table so that your appetite for Christ is reached,” he said.The Foundry’s resident program provides mandatory chapel services, voluntary small group Bible studies, counseling sessions that come from a Christian discipleship perspective, and baptism opportunities.Andrews himself stepped out in faith when he came to The Foundry Ministries after working with a faith-based addiction recovery program in Tennessee and then 12 years as a youth pastor in Birmingham. “In 2008, I heard God tell me to trust him and step out,” he said. “I had a thriving student ministry, but I decided to step out in faith. I found out about The Foundry one day in conversation, interviewed that night, and was hired the following week.”He started as the volunteer coordinator in fundraising, then served five years as senior director of programs and then as assistant executive director; in 2016, he replaced Bill Heintz as CEO. Andrews said his work is built on a strong foundation of The Foundry Ministries’ former leaders. The ministry was founded by Sam Reynolds, with recovered alcoholic Rev. Bob Bell as its first executive director; following him were Gerald Price, Nelson Hicks, and Heintz.
The Foundry’s Future. As it celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2021, The Foundry also looks to the future with plans to continue offering faith-based substance abuse recovery while also reaching out with new opportunities and programs.Andrews encourages the public to continue supporting its ministries by shopping at The Foundry’s thrift stores (which generates about 65% of the ministry’s operating budget while also serving as training facilities for the men and women in the program), and also welcomes volunteers.“We have a full volunteer department with everything from serving as one-on-one mentors to helping with campus beautification projects,” he said.And through all of its programs and plans, Andrews said that they’ll lean on the ministry’s Biblical mandate and hope from 2 Corinthians 3:17, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.”
The moment that changed Brendt Blanks’ life and career trajectory came in the middle of a church service. The popular lifestyle blogger and social media influencer sat in a pew at Vestavia’s Shades Mountain Baptist when she heard the words from the pulpit: “Give it a go.”
“Having a ‘neutral base’ is my decorating advice for any space in your home,” says Blanks. “When larger pieces are neutral, refreshing your spaces seasonally is a breeze and budget friendly. Simply add splashes of seasonal color with throw pillows or blankets, or add seasonal faux or real plants and stems. You can use smaller-scale decor items to carry your home from season to season.”
Blanks, who worked at the time as a marriage and family therapist at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, had been through some difficult recent days. While “there were wonderful moments,” her work was taking its toll and her father was going through treatments for stage-4 cancer. “A stirring in my heart kept telling me that I needed an outlet to get my mind on other things,” Blanks said, sharing that she’d long loved interior decorating and was often encouraged by friends to share images of her home on social media.
When the speaker at church said those words, ”Give it a go,” she knew that God was speaking to her. She didn’t know much about Instagram or the blogging world, but the words inspired her to start a social media presence using the same phrase (www.shegaveitago.com and @shegaveitago on Instagram). Blanks began sharing pictures and she soon had a loyal following (with currently around 170K followers on Instagram) and then branched out into blogging. Four years ago, in the fall of 2017, she launched her website and made it her mission to make it a full-time job. Today, her blog includes posts on topics related to home decor, crafts, DIY projects, recipes, family, and faith.
“When the speaker said to give it a go, he challenged us to do it however that works in your life,” she remembered. “It couldn’t have been any clearer to me that God was saying ‘I have a path for you, but you’re going to have to just step out in faith.’ That was scary because my step was running into a lifestyle brand in home decor that I didn’t really understand yet.”
Farmhouse Style. Blanks creates engaging and beautiful posts and photographs from a style she likes to call modern farmhouse décor- a trend that’s become popularized by television shows, magazines, websites, and collections from designers like HGTV’s Chip and Joanna Gaines. From her family’s Ross Bridge home in Hoover, she tries to inspire other women on how to create a clean, uncluttered, stylish environment. “It’s a mixing of the traditional look of chippy farmhouse style with a more modern, collected look,” she explained. “A kind of country chic.”
Another look inside Brendt Blanks’ home.
She begins planning for the autumn season several months early, and stresses that a similar style- clean, uncluttered- is perfect for fall and the upcoming holidays. “I stay true to a neutral foundation and then add whatever colors you decide to add,” she said. “When it comes to seasonal decor, you can toss in accessories if you’re on a budget. Throw in an orange pillow, for example, over the neutral color you start with.”
Blanks partners with companies and brands throughout the year by placing their home decor items in her home. “Brands are wanting to look for authenticity, and I think I’m good to work with,” she said, “and I love brands I can partner with long term.” Such brand connections with companies like Kirkland’s, Antique Candle Co., The Container Store, and Bed, Bath, and Beyond, are just one way Blanks hopes to grow her business. She’s recently added an official intern and staff members, and she and her husband Andy (who is publisher and co-founder of the faith-based YM360 and Iron Hill Press) are looking to expand into other areas.
For her business to succeed, Blanks said that daily diligence and connections with others is important. “It’s not just posting every day, but also growing a community through hashtags with similar people,” she said. “Those people know people, and it goes from there. Connections and relationships are important in any content-producing job.” Another step in her growth is to build on her reputation as a Christian influencer. “I’ve established myself as faith-based, whether that means using Bible verses or encouraging words. I want to continue growing in that way too,” she said.
Brendt and husband Andy Blanks recently lauded “The Big Full Fun” podcast, which gives an insider look into their lives and how they balance work, parenting, marriage, and faith, and still have a lot of fun doing it. The couple’s children attend Hoover schools and range in age from second grade to senior in high school!
Family Foundation. According to Blanks, the support of her husband and other family members has been key to her success and also a challenge for balance and perspective. She and Andy have four children, 17-year-old Saysay (Sarah Francis), 16-year-old Abby, 13-year-old Caroline, and 7-year-old Paul. They, especially the teenagers, have given Blanks a unique perspective on having a career based on social media. “It’s a fine balance with family, and I have to respect their teenage wishes,” she said. “Younger children don’t seem to care, but I’ve had to learn that teenagers don’t always want their names, pictures out there…It’s learning to balance privacy with being honest about what our lives are like,” Blanks explained.
Blanks learned many of her lessons on family and faith from her grandfather who was a pastor at Dawson Memorial Baptist Church in Homewood as well as her parents and other relatives who were strong Christians. “Andy and I have sought counsel many times from our family, and we’ve tried to bring that into our own family,” she said. Blanks came to her own faith at the age of 8 while attending a Girls in Action (GA) camp, and her church and youth group became vitally important in her life. “My involvement in the youth group was huge,” she remembered. “I just had a solid group of friends, we could hold each other accountable, and it helped me grow so much in faith.”
Brendt Blanks and her family lives in Hoover, Ala.
Faith-Based Influence. Today, Blanks tries to incorporate her faith in an industry that might on the surface seem antithetical to such values. When Blanks was just entering the blogging side of her business, she admits she questioned whether being a Christian would hinder her success. She had a conversation with a friend that still resonates with Blanks. “I wondered if my faith was going to limit me and she asked me: If you didn’t have faith as part of you, wouldn’t that take away who Brendt is? That really clarified things for me,” she recalled. Blanks wants people to receive positivity from and be encouraged by her blog and social media accounts. And she wants them to wonder where her positive and affirming attitude comes from. “And then when they see something that is more overt about my faith, I want them to be able to say more and ask me about it,” she said. She adds that she’s asked the question, “Can I pray for you?” on her accounts and knows that some followers have no experience with prayer or other spiritual matters. “It’s led to conversations and it’s such a cool fruit of this,” she shared. “It’s amazing how God can use any avenues, even social media.”
-Cheryl Wray
Cheryl is a freelance writer and book author who lives in Hueytown. She’s married with three daughters and six grandchildren.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6
Chris Stewart and his wife Christy held tightly to these verses during his medical crises. They also kept this quote from TobyMac close to their hearts. “What God is bringing you through at this very moment is going to be the testimony that will bring somebody else through.”
Stewart is visited by (L to R) Alabama head basketball coach Nate Oats and players Kira Lewis and Herb Jones during his hospital stay in Birmingham in 2019.
Chris Stewart’s story is nothing short of miraculous. After two health emergencies nearly cost the popular Crimson Tide Sports Network(CSN) broadcaster his life, Stewart testifies of the blessings he’s experienced because of God’s provision. The current host of CSN’s football broadcasts, play-by-play announcer for Alabama basketball games, and host of “The Nick Saban Show” knows that his recovery from a stroke and near-fatal infection following heart surgery fits the description of “miraculous,” but instead likes to focus on that other word–“blessings.” “It was the absolute worst thing that I’ve ever encountered and also the greatest blessing God has ever given me,” Stewart says of the upheavals that changed his life starting in 2018.
An Unexpected Crisis. Stewart had recently finished broadcasting his 17th season of Alabama basketball and was in the throes of the baseball season (where he also serves as play-by-play announcer for the Tide) when, in the middle of the night in April 2018, his wife tried to rouse him from sleep. She noticed him in an unusual position, grunting slightly; after a second visit from local paramedics to an unresponsive Stewart, he was rushed to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Birmingham. Because of Stewart’s general health and lack of warning signs, it was hard to detect a stroke until a scan revealed a blockage in an artery to his brain. Emergency surgery was necessary. “My doctor, Jitendra Sharma, got me on the operating table as quickly as possible. I had two clots on the brain. He told me that the clot was not budging, and I was running out of time,” Stewart says. “He basically made a last attempt, and the clot busted and passed, and I opened my eyes. That told him that the clot had cleared.”
Crimson Tide Sports Network broadcaster Chris Stewart stands with former University of Alabama quarterback Mac Jones at the 2021 Spring A-Day game at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. Jones is now a quarterback for the NFL’s New England Patriots. Photo: Kent Gidley, Univ. of Alabama
Stewart and others in his life thought that, while the stroke had been scary, that he was well on his road to recovery. He managed to make it back for a baseball game in May near the end of the season. He looked forward to another season covering Alabama sports. Then came the afternoon when Stewart realized something else felt “off” about his health; it was a moment that Stewart, looking back, knows God orchestrated to save his life again. Fifteen months after his stroke, Stewart attended the grand opening of Dr. Sharma’s new weight loss business; while there he admitted that he’d been experiencing some strange symptoms. “I told the nurse practitioner and the doctor that I had a small tingling and tightness in my arm,” he recalls. “He said, ‘Chris, that’s your heart. We gotta get you in for a stress test’.” Stewart scheduled an appointment, then went to Gulf Shores for a family vacation before his oldest daughter went to college; while there, he experienced similar symptoms. He knew that there was a problem. “My Mother died when she was 55 after a second bypass,” he says. ” She died on the elevator after surgery, when I was just 17.” The surgery on August 12 was a success and Stewart followed it with a regular schedule: visits from friends, church on Sunday, and plans to record “The Nick Saban Show” in another week. And that is when his memories stopped. “I didn’t remember anything until the following month,” he says. Stewart had developed an infection and his vital organs–liver, kidney, pancreas–shut down. He developed sepsis, was put into an induced coma for two weeks, and had to undergo dialysis. “My wife told me how I’d gone for tests and nothing was abnormal. I had grabbed her by the arm in the parking lot and said I wasn’t leaving the hospital,” he says. “She saved my life for the second time.” Stewart’s recovery was slow and, this time, even more miraculous. His organs healed, while he also dealt with muscle atrophy, wounds on his tailbone, and almost constant pain. “The word ‘blessed’ is used an awful lot and we encounter blessings every day,” he says, reflecting on the fact that he’s now pain-free, healed, and back to work. “But when I use the word blessed, it’s because I’m not intelligent enough to come up with another, better word.”
Chris Stewart has hosted “The Nick Saban Show,” each week during football season, since 2011. He’s also the host of “The Nate Oats Show” during Alabama basketball season. Photo: Kent Gidley, Univ. of Alabama
Reliance on Faith, Family, & Friends. Stewart grew up in a Christian home outside Birmingham in Fairfield, attending a small Methodist church as a youngster and graduating from Central Park Christian School. Today he and his family- wife Christy, daughter Anne Raylee (20) and sons Parker (16), and Hudson (10)–regularly attend Green Valley Baptist Church in Hoover. His faith has been key to making it through the challenging health crisis, and other pivotal moments in his life. “Like everyone who is a believer in Christ at any level, we tend to cling to Him in times of tragedy. You cling to God and Christ and if you’re not a believer, you cling to whatever your life preserver is,” he says, “but nothing has pushed my faith more and also proven His existence more than this.”
Chris Stewart and wife Christy live in Hoover with their three children, Parker, Hudson and Anne Raylee (L to R).
Stewart says that he also learned about the goodness of others during his illnesses and recovery. “I was reminded of the goodness that does exist in people from the kindness they showed me,” he remembers. “It was from friends and total strangers, and it still happens almost daily. I’ll encounter someone who will come up and say something extremely kind or tell me that they prayed for me.” Stewart knew that the Alabama family would display such kindness, but he was equally struck by the responses from Auburn fans, and coaches. “Maybe even more meaningful was going to Auburn for the first time after all of it and to have Bruce Pearl reach out to me and shake my hand right before tip-off. And then others from Auburn whom I’ve never met, came up to talk to me. The kindness shown to me has absolutely blown my mind,” he says.
Stewart treasures his friendships with Coach Nick Saban and his wife Terry, especially as he recovered from a stroke in 2018 and infection from bypass surgery the following year. Photo: Kent Gidley, Univ. of Alabama
Back in the Booth. Stewart found his way back in the broadcasting booth for the first time at an Alabama basketball game, then segued back into action for football season. Working Alabama games has been a “full circle” moment for Stewart, who grew up not far from Legion Field in Birmingham and watched his father work as an usher in the stadium. “The caravan of Alabama buses would go by our house, and I attended my first game as an usher when I was 12. I still remember that it was Alabama against Arkansas State,” he says. His family had idolized former coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, and now he relishes the opportunity to work with Saban and other Alabama leaders. “I work with the best people,” he says. “Having watched Coach Bryant and Charley Thornton do his show, it’s sometimes unbelievable to know that I’m now doing the same thing with Nick Saban.” Stewart has been recognized as the Alabama Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sports Media Association on five occasions and was inducted this year into the University of Montevallo Athletics Hall of Fame. Looking at his life and career, Stewart maintains that his blessings have fallen like dominoes. “I can see how one domino fell into the other to get me to the next step,” he says. “We all have those in our lives, and I can see it many times over. The dominoes have all been directed by God and they fall where He wants them to fall.”
-Cheryl Wray
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When Hobby Lobby’s David Green and his wife Barbara host a family gathering, things can get a little crowded. The founder and CEO of the crafting and home decor giant traditionally hosts birthday gatherings each month for their family, which includes 43 children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. They also gather for holidays at a location they like to call their “Legacy House.”
Hear from Hobby Lobby’s Founder David Green (center) on October 21-22 at the Legacy Grandparenting Summit at Shades Mountain Baptist Church here in Birmingham, www.legacycoalition.com/summit. Green is seen here at the Hobby Lobby Corporate Office in Oklahoma City with wife Barbara and their three children who work with them in the business.
“We have a house just for family get-togethers, and we celebrate everybody’s birthday. We encourage them and honor them and believe me there are a lot of birthdays each month,” Green said, laughing. “Family is extremely important to us, and we try to lead by example. We’ve done that, our kids did the same thing, and now our grandkids.”
Green stresses the importance of family in both his personal life and business dealings. (Green will be one of the keynote presenters at the upcoming Legacy Grandparenting Summit at Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Birmingham on October 21-22.)
His thoughts on family and business, in fact, can be summed up in the word “legacy.” “We don’t want to spend all of our time on things that are temporal,” he said. “We want to make a difference for Christ, to always be in ministry.”
Humble Beginnings. David and Barbara started the business that would become Hobby Lobby with just a $600 loan from their local bank and a simple plan to make picture frames. “We were working at TG&Y and in 1970 we decided to go into business ourselves,” Green recalled. “We borrowed the money and bought a miter to make frames. We opened our first store in 1972, with around 300 square feet in Oklahoma City.”
David and Barbara Green break ground at the first Hobby Lobby headquarters in 1994.
Barbara noticed that women in the community were taking small frames and grouping them together on a wall; she took that small home decor inspiration and saw a need for a business to meet the trend. They shipped the frames to art and craft stores, paying their seven- and nine-year-old sons seven cents for each frame they glued together. “We opened our second store in 1975 and left TG&Y,” Green said. “Barbara worked the first five years without any pay at all, and God continued to lead us. And here we are today.”
Hobby Lobby today has 900 stores and is the largest privately-owned arts and crafts retailer in the world with 43,000 employees. Its corporate headquarters include more than 10 million square feet of manufacturing, distribution and office space in Oklahoma City. “As the years went by, we continued to be blessed by this opportunity,” Green said. “And as we got older, we decided we had to follow after Christ and let Him lead us.”
A Ministry Model of Business. Green said that generosity and ministry are at the heart of his business plan, and he puts his “money where his mouth is.”Hobby Lobby currently gives half of its earnings to ministries, and once a month, board members decide where the money will go.“We have about 300 requests a month, and we’re involved in 60 or 70 ministries with five or six that get the bulk of our help,” he said.
The scope of their giving impacts such groups as One Hope, which has put a billion Bibles into the hands of children; Every Home for Christ, which tasks itself to distributing the Gospel to homes around the world; and the Museum of the Bible, an interactive museum in Washington D.C. “The purpose of Hobby Lobby is ministry…to do what we can do to lead people to Christ,” Green said. “That’s what drives us.”
The coronavirus pandemic challenged the management of Hobby Lobby and affected the livelihood of its employees. Green said that was the most difficult aspect of the changes in 2020 and 2021- the way it impacted the people who depend on Hobby Lobby. The company shut down completely in April of 2020, with a payroll of approximately $90 million a month and $40 million in rent. Green had to let 35,000 employees go for a period of time.
David Green cuts the ribbon while Barbara looks on in the early 1980s in Enid, Oklahoma, at the grand opening of one of Hobby Lobby’s first stores.
“We didn’t know if we’d even survive or not and found ourselves on our knees every day asking for God’s mercy and help,” he remembers. “But all of our stores have been open now since mid-May of that year, and we’ve more than made up for our losses. It was especially nice to be able to welcome our employees back.”
Green has shared his philosophy of generosity in the book Giving it All Away…And Getting it Back Again; it details his family’s own journey toward understanding this purpose, and challenges readers to leave a legacy that goes deeper than money. “We believe it is by God’s grace and provision that Hobby Lobby has endured,” he said. “God has been faithful in the past and we trust Him for our future.”
Green makes the same salary as he did 20 years ago, and he said that his future plans are quite simple: to earn as much money as possible in a “good and ethical” way so that the company can do more ministry. “We can’t say we’ve arrived, while people still need to know Christ, whether it’s in Hobby Lobby, or in other investments,” he said.
Leaving a Legacy. That legacy of generosity and Christ-led living extends today to his family’s work with the company the Greens founded. The board of Hobby Lobby includes members of the family, with son Steve serving as President, son Matt serving as Ministry Investment Officer, daughter Darsee Lett serving as Vice President of Art/Creative, and son-in-law Stan serving as Executive Vice President.
The Green family gathers in 2017 at the Museum of the Bible grand opening. Pictured are Mart, Diana, Steve, Jackie, Barbara, and David Green, and Darsee (Green) Lett and Stan Lett.
“At every monthly board meeting we talk about who we want to be and how we want to follow after Christ,” Green said. “We try to be an example in business of that. We don’t always get it right, but we strive to represent Christ well.” Green said that one of his life goals comes from 1 Timothy 2:7, which says “This and this only has been my appointed work: getting the news to those who have never heard of God, and explaining how it works by simple faith and plain truth.”
Another verse that rings true to Green’s life and business model is Matthew 6:20-21, which encourages believers to “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
In the way Hobby Lobby is ministering in the world- and in his own family’s influence- Green’s “treasure” is obvious.
-Cheryl Sloan Wray is a freelance writer and book author who lives in Hueytown, Ala. She’s also the coordinator of the Southern Christian Writers Conference.
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Hundreds of special guests from throughout Alabama – including the governor – converged on Jacksonville State University’s(JSU) campus in April for the inauguration of its 13th President, Dr. Don C. Killingsworth, Jr. But before the pomp and circumstance of a university investiture ceremony, the president gathered at his church, surrounded by friends and family, for a humble prayer service dedicating the day – and his tenure – to God.
JSU President Don Killingsworth with his wife, children, JSU mascot Cocky and family pet Oliver at the President’s home.
Held early on inauguration morning at First United Methodist Church(FUMC) of Jacksonville, the Blessing Service was led by four local clergy: Rev. Steve West, pastor of FUMC Jacksonville; Rev. Robert Fowler, rector of St. Luke’s Episcopal of Jacksonville; Rev. Derek Staples, pastor of First Baptist Church of Jacksonville; and Rev. Fred Smith, pastor of The Bridge Christian Center in Anniston. “It’s a great pleasure to stand here with my esteemed colleagues who serve sister churches,” said Rev. West during the event. “I believe it is important as faith leaders to come together and express our comradery and our mutual support when there are important occasions that bind us together as a community. It says a lot about Don Killingsworth that we are here together today. In all the busy activities of this day, he wanted to make sure we pray.”
A two-time JSU graduate, Dr. Killingsworth was named President of the University on June 23, 2020, having served as acting president since October 2019. He has dedicated his entire career to JSU. Upon graduating from the University with a bachelor’s degree in geography in 1999 and a master’s degree in counseling in 2001, the former Student Government Association President worked for more than a year as a consultant for American College Testing, Inc., the provider of the ACT college entrance exam. Dr. Killingsworth returned to his alma mater in 2002 to support student success as coordinator of academic advisement. Soon after, he was named director of government relations by former President and mentor Dr. William Meehan. He was later promoted to chief government relations and community engagement officer. In 2016, he received a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Alabama.
Don Killingsworth with JSU’s Mascot, Cocky.
A native of Alexander City, Ala., Dr. Killingsworth is married to JSU alumna Kristi Killingsworth. They have two children: a five-year-old daughter, Collins, and a two-year-old son, Jack. The family enjoys living on campus in the President’s House with their dog, Oliver. Their faith is an important part of their lives. They are active members of FUMC Jacksonville, where the children attend Sunday School and Mrs. Killingsworth serves on the Kids First board and helps with Vacation Bible School. Dr. Killingsworth, until recently, ran sound on Sunday mornings.
For an institution rocked by a catastrophic tornado in 2018, followed just two years later by a global pandemic, a steady leader with a strong foundation rooted in a higher power seems Heaven-sent for the university. Rev. Fowler remarked on the university’s ability to overcome obstacles while reading from Psalms 101 at the Blessing Service. “Leadership is challenging, that is no secret, and setting a positive example while motivating a staff and faculty is not for the faint of heart,” Rev. Fowler said. “I know Don is up to the task – we all do. He’s not only confident and optimistic, but he is supported by good people who care about making JSU a place where our young people, and even those at the school who aren’t so young, receive the training they need to meet life’s challenges.”
President Don Killingsworth’s name was added to the “Presidents of Jacksonville State” sign in front of Bibb Graves Hall. This addition was celebrated with an unveiling on November 6th, 2020.
Rev. Staples spoke on the importance of servant leadership during the service, drawing similarities between Killingsworth and retired President Dr. Meehan, quoting Matthew 20:25-28, “And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.” Meanwhile, Killingsworth’s former college classmate, Rev. Smith, said becoming JSU’s president was a goal he set for himself 20 years ago. “This was a God inspired vision, a God inspired dream,” he said. The highlight of the service was a performance by the JSU Gospel Choir. Under the direction of Dr. Cory O’Neal, the student ensemble brought the congregation to its feet singing “I Owe It All” by Norman Hutchins. Piano and organ musical arrangements, including the hymn sung at Gamecock football games, “I’ll Fly Away,” rounded out the ceremony.
The Saturday before the inauguration, Easter Weekend, the First Family invited the entire community to the lawn of the President’s House for Family Fun Day. Children enjoyed an egg hunt, coloring with Cocky the mascot, storybook readings from the Imagination Library, Kona Ice, and a petting zoo. The event was such a success that the University is considering making it an annual celebration. Local families also enjoy a Fall Festival hosted by the Student Government Association each October, as well as kicking off the holiday season at JSU in Lights in December at the President’s House.
“JSU is a public institution with students and employees from all over the world,” President Killingsworth said. “We recognize and respect that the JSU family is comprised of people who hold diverse religious beliefs. It’s not our job to indoctrinate anyone, but rather teach our students to think critically so they can form their own opinions and sustain their own values. Personally, as it says in Joshua 24:15, ‘for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’’
This Month We Celebrate Our 21st Year Of Publishing Birmingham Christian Family.
Here’s a look at just a few of our most popular cover stories. Using your device you can access each story directly using the QR code. Or if you prefer, simply visit www.BirminghamChristian.com/Issues and scroll to read your favorites online.
October 2019
Charlotte Evans Russell
Happy Home social media sensation Charlotte Evans Russell gives her powerful testimony of surrendering her life to Christ after experiencing many hardships as a child.
March 2021
Brenda Gantt
The viral superstar Brenda Gantt serves up down home cooking with side of Jesus.
May 2020
Ashley Gann
Alabama’s first female Chief Meteorologist, Ashley Gann shares on how to weather life well.
March 2020
Trudy Cathy White
Daughter of Chick-fil-A founder, S. Truett Cathy, Trudy Cathy White, retells how her parents lived out their faith in all aspects of their lives. Plus her own memories made in Birmingham as a Samford student and the youngest operator of a Chick-fil-A.
November 2017
Adoption as a Calling: Duck Dynasty
Duck Dynasty stars, Korie and Willie Robertson, are passionate about adoption and consider it their calling. Korie reflects on the beauty of an intentionally large family and the need for adoptive families in the U.S.
February 2021
Bryan Stevenson
Author of the bestselling book turned movie, Just Mercy, and Founder of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Bryan Stevenson explains how God has called us to be agents of mercy.
November 2020
Ashley McMakin
Ashley Mac’s founder, Ashley McMakin, testifies to how faith has been essential to running a business and being a wife and mom during the pandemic.
February 2020
Gaither Vocal Band
The Gaither Vocal Band Birmingham Connection: Grammy Award WinningWes Hampton
July 2019
Kathy Lee Gifford
Emmy Award Winning Today show host Kathie Lee Gifford is fulfilling her mission of hope, grounded in God’s Word.
June 2020
Galu Tagavailoa
Father of football superstarTua Tagovailoa shares with us how faith drives how he leads his family.
September 2017
Bill Clark
UAB Head Football Coach Bill Clark explains how his faith has helped him during the rebuilding of the team.
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A love for music started at a young age for the Wolaver family. The six siblings, that make up the Annie Moses Band, grew up in a musical home where classical music was consistently played and a love for music was common ground- eventually leading all six to attend the Juilliard School and become professional musicians.
Members of the Annie Moses Band include: Jeremiah (electric guitar),Gretchen (violin, mandolin and harp), Alex (viola), Annie (violin and lead vocalist), and Benjamin (cello). In addition to playing instruments, all of the siblings sing.
The Roots of a Mission. The family’s love for music started well before any of the siblings were born. During the Great Depression, the Wolaver siblings’ great grandmother- Annie Moses- was a very poor sharecropper’s wife. “She worked cotton fields, but her daughter had extraordinary musical talent,” explains Annie Dupre, the lead vocalist for the Annie Moses Band. Even though the family didn’t have money for music lessons, Annie Moses had a passion for music that she passed on to her daughter, Jane, who passed it on to the Wolaver’s mother, Robin. Dupre shares that her mother attended music school at Oklahoma City University where she met and fell in love with their father, Bill. The couple married and started writing music together. Soon after, they composed a hit song for the Christian Music Artist Sandi Patty called “Make His Praise Glorious.” This accomplishment moved Bill and Robin to Nashville, Tenn., where the Wolaver children grew up, honed their craft, and still live today. “It’s ironic now, looking back, that the message of the song “Make His Praise Glorious” would very much be the missional calling of our music,” Dupre reflects, adding, “Our early mission as a family was to praise the Lord with the string instruments, to give God the very best of our skill, and hopefully to make His praise glorious.”
Annie Dupre is named after her great-grandmother, Annie Moses. Without her sacrifice of picking cotton and saving for her daughter to have piano lessons, the love the family shares for music may not be as lasting through the generations.
A Spiritual Discipline. The Wolaver brothers and sisters grew up with a firm foundation in Christ. “A knowledge of Jesus and a knowledge of what it means to follow Him was at the core of our childhood and education,” Dupre says. The Wolavers instilled in their children that music was a spiritual discipline. “The perspective of our music growing up was that part of being made in the image of God is being made a creator of sorts.” Excellence was a key ingredient. “It’s like King David said, ‘I will not offer to the Lord that which cost me nothing.’ (2 Samuel 24:24) We are going to give to God something that involves sacrifice.” This mission has taken many forms over the years from attending the world-renowned school of artistic education, Juilliard School in New York City and performing as a family for nearly 20 years. The siblings also established and run the nonprofit Annie Moses Foundation. The mission of the foundation is to “empower a new generation of young artists with the excellence and spiritual integrity to transform our world for Christ.”
“The arts are more influential in our world and culture than any other thing,” Dupre says, adding, “When you create a powerful voice- that voice can go into any sphere of influence.” Dupre believes that stories- whether read or watched or listened to- make up the deepest part of our subconscious. “It’s incredibly important that the people of God are part of what’s being made for our culture to listen to and watch,” Dupre believes. Before the siblings perform, they pray a type of two-part prayer- a logistical prayer for skill and a prayer for their performance to inspire the audience. The band has performed all over the country including venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Grand Ole Opry. They have traveled to Europe and Asia and even to North Korea with the contemporary Christian and Christian Rock band Casting Crowns for missional performances.
The latest album release from the Annie Moses Band, Tales From My Grandpa’s Pulpit, tells the story of the Wolaver family. April 29 the band will perform songs from the project live at Covenant Presbyterian Church.
Reflecting on 2020. As a family of musicians, COVID-19 “was pretty devastating,” Dupre says. “When you make your living playing music and somebody says actually you can’t do that and it isn’t safe for people to hear your performance in person, it’s pretty hard.” The Annie Moses Band had to cancel 40 plus shows in 2020 and are hoping and praying for brighter days ahead. “The last year has made me feel very small and insignificant and powerless.” In response to this, Dupre has leaned on the truth that “the work we are here to do is to believe in His Son and if you get up each day and seek the face of God, you’ve done the work.” Dupre has sought to reprioritize things in her life and focus on what is truly important. “I want to be a person full of truth and discernment because I feel that there are a lot of lies and manipulation in the world today.” Dupre adds that she wants to reflect the love of the Savior to everyone with whom she comes in contact.
Performing Again. On April 29, 2021, you can hear The Annie Moses Band perform live right here in Birmingham as a part of Samford University Legacy League’s Scholarship Celebration! “Expect to hear Annie Moses favorites and songs from our new album, Tales From My Grandpa’s Pulpit,” says Dupre.The new project, which releases April 16 in coordination with Gaither Music Group, features a variety of hymns and Americana songs that have played a role in the family’s faith journey. In addition, there are original songs that tell “funny stories” about the family and others that carry their missional message of praising the Lord like “Heaven’s a Heartbeat Away”, written by Dupre and her sister Gretchen. To learn more about the performance and purchase tickets, visit www.samford.edu/legacyleague.
-Melissa Armstrong
Did you enjoy reading this article? Check out our full April issue here.
Brenda Gantt considers herself a humble home cook, but her online following has made her a viral superstar. With more than two million views on some of her Facebook Live cooking videos, Gantt has introduced Southern cooking to fans from around the world. Ultimately, though, the Andalusia, Ala. cook and host of “Cooking with Brenda Gantt” says that her newfound popularity has given her the unexpected opportunity to share her Christian faith with a huge audience. “A lot of people who comment will say that my cooking is great, but my talks about Jesus are the icing on the cake,” she said.
Unexpected Stardom. The coronavirus pandemic had just begun when Gantt was asked by several church members–mostly young married men– to share with them how to make homemade biscuits. They even offered to pay her if she’d give them instructions. Instead, she recorded a video on her personal Facebook page of herself baking the biscuits. She shared it with the church members who had requested her recipe, and word quickly spread. “I always cook a big Sunday lunch so that one particular Sunday I got onto Facebook and thought I’d just show them how to make biscuits. I put it on my personal page and then they could just watch it there,” she remembered, laughing. “People on my page are people in my town and at my church. I figured that would get them off my back.” The video was shared thousands of times!
Gantt said that the first video looked quite different than hers do today. “I held my phone in one hand while I made the biscuits with the other. I went slow and told them exactly what to do. The phone was just pointed at the bowl, and I cut out the dough and put them on the pan,” she said. “I didn’t cook them because I didn’t know how to cut two videos together.” Despite the amateurish nature of that first video, it garnered an immediate response. Within two weeks, it had hit a million views on Facebook. “My friends must have shared it with everyone. I was just shocked,” Gantt recalled. “People kept messaging me or texting me asking me to cook other things. ‘Please show us how to cut up a chicken. Please tell us how to make fried pies. Do you know how to cook perfect rice?’ I didn’t realize how desperate people were to know how to cook.”
Despite its popularity, Gantt’s show is planned in a very organic way. She usually goes live with whatever recipes are on her mind at the moment. “I just do videos when I want to,” she said. “I’m not on a television show, not on a cooking channel. I’m my own boss, so if I have a hankering to make something I will.” For instance, one morning when she wanted hot chocolate; she went live and showed how to do it homemade with real cocoa.
Gantt also uses her cooking skills as the owner and operator of Cottle House, a historic Andalusia home built in 1905 by the Cottle family. Gannt and her husband purchased and renovated the home into a Bed and Breakfast in 1996. Nearly 25 years later, the B&B continues, actually thriving during the pandemic. “We’ve been blessed,” she said.
Although the growth of Gantt’s popularity comes as a surprise to her, she acknowledges that there is something important that her viewers get from watching her. She provides authenticity and friendship. The start of the venture coincided with the start of the Covid pandemic; that and the ensuing times of quarantine created a special situation for her videos. “People are lonely. They’re going through a time like no other,” she said. “I guess there’s something soothing about me teaching them how to make biscuits. It’s like you’re in the kitchen with a friend.”
Gantt’s Facebook audience continues to grow, with almost two million follows; most of her cooking videos receive anywhere between five and 20 thousand likes and an almost equal number of shares. With viewers from around the world, she exclaims that having someone from Australia ask her, “What are grits?” can sometimes feel unbelievable. For Gantt, in fact, it can all feel unbelievable. “All I can say is that it was all the Lord,” she said. “It’s been a shock to me, and I know God has a sense of humor. It’s overwhelming but wonderful.”
An Early Love of Cooking. Gantt came to cooking honestly–learning at the feet of her mother and grandmothers. Both her grandmothers were excellent cooks, and she still remembers the experiences of eating in their homes. “One of my grandmothers cooked a big lunch every day for the people who worked in her fields,” she said. “At suppertime, you’d eat what was leftover along with a big pot of coffee. If there weren’t any leftovers, she’d always make a big pan of biscuits and you’d have that.” Her own mother was a baker, and “all of her stuff was delicious.” Cobblers, apple rolls, pies, cakes, biscuits…the creations learned from her relatives made her the cook she is today. “My mother made me stay in there with her while she cooked. And if I wasn’t cooking with her, I’d set the table or dry and put away dishes,” she recalled. “I may not have been cooking all the time, but I was with her.”
According to Gantt, there are now generations of people who don’t know how to cook. “I recently talked to a woman in her 50s or 60s, and for some reason, that group didn’t learn to cook. We talked about why, and she said her mother would shush her out of the kitchen and not involve her. Maybe that’s it,” she said, “but there are other reasons too. Restaurants started popping up, we had frozen dinners around that same time.” It’s not just that generation that was affected, Gantt said. Millennials and young people–even children–seem to have a newfound interest in learning how to cook and bake. She recently hosted a small group of girls from a local church camp, teaching them how to make biscuits. “These were girls 8 to 10 years old, and I gave them each a bowl of flour, tiny black skillets, all the ingredients,” she said. “As I made the dough in my bowl, they had to make it in their bowl, get their hands dirty, knead it. They just had the best time.”
“There are so many people out there who are hurting, and they might not see anyone for months. They tell me that they get up and see if I’m on Facebook. It’s something they look forward to.”
Sharing the cooking experience has always been something Gantt has treasured with her own family–which consists of grown children Dallas and Hannah, their spouses Anna and Walt, and grandchildren Isabella, William, Bay, Cate, and Banks. Gantt’s husband, George, passed away in 2018. “My husband had vascular dementia and I took care of him, but it was very quick,” she said. “After he died I sorta wondered, ‘What was my mission?’” She said that her family is supportive of what her “mission” has become. Besides social media, Gantt also shares her cooking through The Cottle House, a bed and breakfast she owns in Andalusia. “It’s a 1905 farmhouse with a wraparound porch. We redid it and it has that country feeling,” she said. “I cook breakfast every morning for guests, and they tend to want to eat together these days. People are coming from all over the United States, and I think they need that connection.”
Sharing her Faith. Gantt, a member of Bethany Baptist Church in Andalusia, said that talking about Jesus comes as a natural part of her conversations while cooking on social media. “Sometimes you don’t know what else to say, and I talk as I cook,” she said. “I don’t really plan on saying a particular thing. It’s just whatever comes out, comes out.” The response she’s received from nonbelievers has been especially meaningful, and she feels like she somehow resonates with them. They see a friendly face with a natural faith. “They say that they feel a connection to me and my faith,” she said. She’s received messages, letters, and even phone calls from individuals–Christians and non-believers–who said her videos made a difference in their lives. One came from an atheist who said she was “drawn” to her. “I wrote back and said that if she wanted to understand me more to just read one chapter of John,” she said. “I don’t want to be too pushy. If you say too much, you can turn off some people. It can be touchy. But you can do it the right way.” Another phone call came from a man who said she saved his life. “I picked up the phone one day and there was a man on the line from Ohio,” she recalled. “One day I’d been teaching how to fry fatback and started talking about a headless chicken that lived about 18 months because his heart was somehow still beating. His body was going through the motions, but he wasn’t really alive. I explained that a lot of people were like that headless chicken. Going to work, having babies, going to parties, going to church. But inside they’re dead, they’re lifeless. They don’t have Jesus in their hearts, so they aren’t really living.” The man on the phone said that the story stopped him dead-in-his-tracks. After hearing Gantt on the video, he called his mother and then his fiancé and told them they were going to start going to church and Bible study. “He told me that he knew he was that chicken,” she said, “He knew he was just existing.” Experiences and conversations like that one are what make Gannt’s newfound viral success so important–and that keeps her grounded. “Don’t put me on a pedestal. I’m just a sinner saved by grace,” Gantt said. “I’m just a regular lady who loves to cook and loves Jesus.”
-Cheryl Wray
Cheryl is a freelance writer and author who also loves to cook. Her most recent book is Notes from a Quarantine: Essays, Stories, and Poems now available on Amazon. She lives in Hueytown, Ala.
Did you enjoy this story? Read this article where Brenda shares about making the most of holidays with family and friends. You will also find some of her recipes here.
If you have a Miracle that you would be willing to share, please email melissa@christianfamilypublications.com. Subject Line: Miracle Moments or call 205-408-7150. Miracle Moments are shared each month in Birmingham Christian Family thanks to our sponsor Molly Maids of Birmingham.
There’s a courtroom scene in Just Mercy, the widely acclaimed film based on the bestselling book by Bryan Stevenson, in which the lawyer fights for a case to be dropped against an unjustly accused Monroeville, Ala. black man. In the argument, the lawyer played by Michael B. Jordan forcibly proclaims: “That’s not law. That’s not justice. That’s not right.” Jordan, playing Stevenson, wins the case and Walter McMillan, who had been sentenced to die for murder despite overwhelming evidence proving his innocence, is freed. Those words uttered in the courtroom symbolize the work of Stevenson, the founder and director of the Equal Justice Initiative(EJI) in Montgomery, Ala. The non-profit law office and human rights organization is dedicated to exonerating innocent death-row prisoners, eliminating excessive and unfair sentencing, confronting abuse of the mentally ill, and aiding children prosecuted as adults.
Founder of the Equal Justice Initiative(EJI), Bryan Stevenson is seen here in Montgomery at The Legacy Museum established and operated by EJI along with the Memorial for Peace and Justice. Learn more at www.museumandmemorial.eji.org.
Forged in Faith. Stevenson was born and raised in Delaware to a family with a long Christian faith tradition. He said that faith, in fact, is what gave him the strength to attain dreams that seemed impossible as a child growing up in segregated schools and society. “Without faith, it was impossible to imagine that I could be a lawyer,” he said. “Faith is all about affirming the importance and legitimacy of believing things even if we haven’t seen them happen before.” Stevenson went on to graduate from Harvard Law School and has argued cases in front of the United States Supreme Court. He moved to Atlanta after receiving his law degree and joined the Southern Center for Human Rights, then was appointed to run the Alabama regional office for the organization. In all of his work, Stevenson leans on the faith of his growing-up years in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and points especially to the words of Micah 6:8 as his guiding principle. Its words– “He has shown you what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”–were instilled in him by the church. “We took the words of Micah seriously,” he said. “What does God require of us? The answer is to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly. We lived that out, and I came to realize that the absence of justice and mercy have very much implicated us as a society. God calls us to be agents of mercy.” When funding for the Southern Center for Human Rights dried up, Stevenson founded the Equal Justice Initiative to expand his work on behalf of the poor, incarcerated, and condemned. His time in Alabama, he said, has reinforced in him the importance of living in faith. “Being in Montgomery, I’m fully aware that I’m standing on the shoulders of people who had enough faith to make changes happen,” he said.
Bryan Stevenson stands next to Anthony Ray Hinton, a man wrongly convicted of two 1985 murders in Birmingham. He was sentenced to death and on death row for 30 years. The EJI worked for his freedom, which happened in 2015.
Spreading the Word. One of Stevenson’s most important roles is that of educator. Any conversation with him starts with the communication of facts–statistics and numbers that can be overwhelming, but that strongly state the need for incarceration reform. “For much of our history we have had around 200,000 incarcerated individuals, but in the 1970s it changed in a radical way and we went from that 200,000 to 2.2 million,” he said. “And we now have the highest rate of incarceration in the world, with 5% of the world population and 25% of those in prison.” He added that 70 million Americans have criminal records and that there’s been an increase by 800% of incarcerated women; especially alarming is the reality that 1 in 3 black boys, 1 in 6 Latino boys, and 1 in 15 boys in general are expected to spend time in prison during their lifetimes. While Stevenson said that there are plenty of legitimate prison convictions in the country, what stands out is unnecessary incarceration for a variety of reasons–excessive punishment for smaller crimes, undue imprisonment for drug convictions, and incarceration for individuals with mental health issues. “This great increase in incarceration doesn’t really correspond to an increase in crime,” he said. “We need to shift our focus and give people a chance to recover. Our punitive program has made that harder.” Stevenson added that over incarceration has a huge impact on communities–especially poor communities– in the United States. “It’s important for us to recognize this is a central issue in American life and that affects millions of us,” he said. “It’s become a critically important issue not just for family, but also for economics.” Through the EJI, Stevenson and other lawyers fight cases and also work at educating the public on such issues. “Learning is an action item. It’s something you can commit to it,” he said. “We have daily calendars that tell the history of racial inequality and other issues. Our website teaches about slavery, reconstruction, and so forth. That kind of education can be transformative.”
Bryan Stevenson stands in 1993 with Walter McMillan, a man wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death row for six years for the murder of an 18-year-old dry cleaning store clerk in Monroeville, Ala. Stevenson successfully argued that Stevenson was with family 11 miles away at the time of the crime, that witnesses had lied on the stand, and that the prosecution had illegally suppressed evidence that could have helped McMillan. The story was the basis of the 2019 movie Just Mercy.
The EJI also operates The Legacy Museum and The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, both located in Montgomery, which work to educate visitors on the legacy of injustice and inequality and the fight for changes in society today. The museum uses exhibits to educate on the “slave trade, racial terrorism, the Jim Crow South, and the world’s largest prison system”; the memorial honors the 4,075 African-American men, women, and child victims of systematic hanging, burning, and other torturing in the United States. Stevenson believes that the nation still needs to experience moments of “truth and reconciliation” about its past and believes such educational tools can help that happen. “We shouldn’t fear the discussions of race and justice, because I think there’s something better for us in America,” he said. The museum and memorial have been recognized for their innovative and powerful ways in educating, with Town and Country saying it “should be a requirement” for every American to visit.
Just Mercy. Stevenson’s work became widely known after the publication of his memoir, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, in 2014. It recounted his years as a lawyer and focused on telling in alternating chapters about his efforts to overturn Walter McMillan’s wrongful conviction and his work on other cases. McMillan had been convicted in 1987 and sentenced to death (despite a jury’s recommendation of life imprisonment) for the murder of an 18-year-old girl in Monroeville, Ala. Stevenson won the case against McMillan after bringing to light police coercion and perjury. The book was a New York Times bestseller and won many awards including the 2015 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. The 2019 movie adaptation of the book starring Jordan, Jamie Foxx, and Brie Larson was met with widespread acclaim and brought Stevenson’s work to the forefront again.
A young Bryan Stevenson(back left) is seen here with his mother(far right), grandmother(center) and siblings. His mother, especially, stressed the importance of education and equality to Bryan at.an early age.
Focus on the Future. As time has gone by, Stevenson’s work and that of the EJI have evolved. His most recent efforts have focused on the plight of America’s vulnerable populations–the poor, mentally afflicted, and children–and how they are unfairly incarcerated. “We’ve been doing more work with children, because of the toll the system puts on them. In the past, the term ‘super predator’ has been used even on children,” he said. “I’ve represented 9- and 10-year-olds who were classified as that.” He said that it’s “unhealthy, unwise, and immoral” to not realize that children need special protection. One of the cases he’s argued in front of the U. S. Supreme Court included a landmark 2012 ruling that banned mandatory life-imprisonment-without-parole sentences for children 17 or younger. “We are judged by the way we take care of our most vulnerable population,” he said. Stevenson admits that his work can sometimes be overwhelming, but that he lives in hope for what’s to come in the country. He’s encouraged by the newfound recognition that “there are too many people in our jails,” from figures on both the left and right sides of the political spectrum and adds that his faith in Christ energizes his work. “My faith convinces me that no one is beyond hope, no one is beyond redemption, and no one has lost their value,” he said. “I definitely believe we can get to a better place.”
-Cheryl Sloan Wray
Author of new e-book, Notes from a Quarantine: Essays, Poems, and Stories available on Amazon
Coordinator of the Southern Christian Writers Conference
Hueytown, Ala.
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