God's
Plan of Salvation
Clint's
Support of Wendy During Pregnancy
Clint's Story
I have been a Christian since I
was young boy. I was attending Southside Baptist
Church in Suffolk, Virginia. I found the preacher
and asked him "How do I become a
Christian?" Pastor Hardy told me the plan of salvation and I
accepted Christ. Then he invited me to come up
before the church congregation that Sunday to
make a profession of my faith.
As a child, my home life was full
of many trials. My dad was an alcoholic and died
when I was 13 years old. My mother raised us a
single mother on a limited income. Things were
often hard in one area or another. Even with the
troubles at home, I always felt the Lord had
something special planned for me. I just believed
deep down that I was here for a purpose. I always
felt His Hand upon me.
I graduated from Forest Glen High
School in 1987. I attended some college and
worked at a peanut factory as a supervisor. In
August 1988, I married my high school sweetheart,
Wendy. Wendy and I just knew we were meant to be
together and never questioned it. We discussed
our faith before we talked serious about
marriage. Our marriage has been blessed by the
Hand of the Lord and we are eager to share with
others how He has worked in our lives. I signed
Wendy and myself up under Classmates.com, so if
you went to Forest Glen around 1987 too, be sure
to drop
us a line.
In 1990, I got a job at Siemens
and met a man named David who talked to me about
homeschool. He and his wife were homeschooling
their 5 children at the time. The more he talked
about it, the more I felt like God was leading me
in that direction.
In 1992, Brandon came along after
a long wait for a baby. We were overjoyed to have
a child! I started discussing homeschool with
Wendy a short while later. Wendy was hesitant at
first because it seemed like such a big
responsibility. I shared with her what David had
been telling me and we prayed about it off and
on. The Lord worked in both of our hearts to
reveal His will in this area and we now
homeschool all of our children.
In 1994, Amanda was born. We knew
she was a girl before she was born because we had
been told that she might have Down's Syndrome.
Wendy had the amnio that revealed she was
healthy. We decided that after all of the worry,
we wanted to know who we were having so we found
out her gender and named her. We started calling
her Amanda in the womb. She would turn her head
to her name at birth.
In 1995, we lost a child due to a
miscarriage. We named her Sarah Paige. It was a
sad time for us. We still remember our her due
date each year and share the joyful hope of a
reunion in Heaven with her.
That summer, I went to Italy for
training on screw machines. It was a beautiful
country, the only thing lacking to make my trip
wonderful was my wife and children.
Joshua came along in 1999 after
another long wait for a child. We were both
overjoyed to discover we were expecting another
baby! I delivered him in the hospital with the
Dr. telling me what to do. I learned quite a bit
because the Dr. gave me a mini course on
obstetrics while Wendy gave us good-natured
looks. I learned how to check for dialation and
effacement, etc. Wendy wanted me to be the first
one to hold Joshua as a special gift. I was moved
to know my arms were the first to embrace him.
In September of 2000, an amazing
thing happened to my job situation. Rumors were
always going around about layoffs, cut backs,
etc. at Siemens. I felt the Lord was warning me
that it was different at this time. I shared this
with Wendy and we started praying for guidance. I
started scanning the want ads more seriously and
sent in a few resumes. A friend named Steve had
gotten a job with a food packaging company and
suggested I come submit a resume. Steve put his
recommendation on it. But, he also told us that
another worker had been recommended by another
employee involved in the hiring process and was
pushing for his friend to be hired. It did not
sound positive.
Before the interview, I took
pictures of work I had done at Siemens and tried
to get them developed before I went on the
interview. I was working midnights so the
interview was scheduled for 9 that morning before
I even went home. I took the film to Walmart to
be developed and they could not do it until 8
a.m. I had a 45 minute drive to the interview.
The clerk let me drop it off and she actually
developed the film early for me. I felt this was
the Lord at work. I went on the interview, but it
did not go as well as I had hoped. There was a
power shut down in the plant and the interviewers
were eager to get the plant running again so they
barely listened to me. But, they were very
interested in the pictures I showed them. I came
home and told Wendy that I did not feel
optimistic about the job. We kept praying, but
did not have much hope. A week later, I got a
suprising phone call and a job offer!! And, I was
told that my being hired was a major
accomplishment because so many had applied. After
the obstacles we had seen, we really felt this
was the Lord at work. A week after starting, I
got a phone call from a friend who told me that
Siemens was laying off and cutting back hours.
Then more friends from Siemens started calling
and I helped a few of them find jobs at the new
company.
In November 2000, we found out we
were expecting Caleb. He was born June 2001 at
home. I delivered him myself. It was a thrill I
will never get over. I would not trade that
experience for any amount of money. His head
glided out of the birth canal and he looked at
me. I told Wendy to push one more time and he was
born into my arms. I held him then and just
stared at him while Wendy repositioned herself on
the bed. Then, I introduced my wife to our new
boy.
Shortly after that, Siemens
started laying off more and I was able to help a
man I had worked with named Dennis Smith get a
job. We were able to work closely together and we
became good friends. It was a blessing to work
with another dedicated Christian man who valued
his faith and family. Dennis had a condition
called ITP which is an immune disorder. It had
gone into remission for a long while, but he went
on a trip and caught a virus which caused it to
flare up again. Dennis passed away suddenly June
2002 and I felt like I had lost a brother. My
family stands ready to help his wife and two
daughters whenever they need us.
In September 2003, Bethany Hope
came to join our family. She was born during
Hurricane Isabel which flooded our home. We are
still making repairs and trying to recover all we
lost. Wendy and I ran a popular homeschooling
website together called Homeschool with the Web
for a few years until Isabel caused us to shut it
down. Hurricane Isabel is not something I would
choose if given the option, but having been
through it and seeing God's amazing provision, I
would not want to miss it.
In August 2004 Rebecca Peace was
lost to an early miscarriage. In April 2005, we
lost Josiah Daniel to a 21 week miscarriage.. In
July 2007, we welcomed Emily Joy, who has indeed
been a joy to all of us. We are expecting another
baby January 2009.
In September 2005, I became an
Independent Baptist minister able to perform
weddings, funerals and baptisms as a ministry to
other Christians. I also started People of the
Promise Ministries to increase our family's
outreach. People of the Promise shares God's Word
and helps others in His name. Some of our work
involves helping orphans in poor countries,
helping needy homeschoolers find curriculum,
ministering to our military, sharing the Gospel
through our tract ministry and sending Christian
literature into areas where God's message is not
easily shared. My time is limited, but I believe
God will increase what He set before me.
My interests include my faith, my
family, computers, cars, woodworking, NASCAR,
camping, space travel, computer games, etc. If I
could take any course, it would be flight
lessons. I would love to learn how to fly. I like
Foghorn Leghorn and love to do impressions of
him. I am attending college in my spare time and
going for my Electrical Journeyman's card in
Spring of 2007. I am able to do all of this
because I have the support and encouragement of
my wonderful wife, Wendy, and my five children.
Back
God's
Gift to You
Ideas
for Tract Placement
To New Christians
To Those Who Reject Christ
|