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.

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 said 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. December 22, 2009 we gave an early welcome to Hannah Michelle. We are hoping God blesses us with another child in the near future.

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 able to do all of this because I have the support and encouragement of my wonderful wife, Wendy, and my seven children.

Back
God's Gift to You

Ideas for Tract Placement

To New Christians

To Those Who Reject Christ