The Preacher’s Son and the Bartender’s Daughter

A preacher’s son and a bartender’s daughter…not a likely couple! But Jehovah Roi – the God who sees – was setting His plan in motion. I was born in a small Illinois town to Dick and Shirley Seals, baby number five out of seven. Mom and dad worked in night clubs in our small town. Gulfport probably had a population of about 500, but it had 7 bars! Dad was an awesome guitarist/vocalist with a band and my mother was a bartender. I remember many times helping Mom wash the ashtrays on Saturday or Sunday morning to get ready for another night at the Western Club!

All through my childhood, I remember “church” people offering to come by and pick me up for Sunday School and church. God worked through faithful people to bring little old me to His throne. All through the gospels, we read of how people “brought” paralytics, the blind, the demon-possessed, and the sick to Jesus because He was their only hope. Praise God that others “brought” me to Jesus and I realized that He was my only hope as well.

Our family was always struggling financially and emotionally. Seven kids and my parents lived in a SINGLE wide trailer for many years right on the Mississippi River in Illinois. There is such a thing as too much family “togetherness”! Because my parents did not have a personal relationship with Christ for most of their lives, they lived with no hope. There was a lot of anger in our home. Thanks to the people who took me to church each week, I saw a totally different way to live. The “church people” had a real joy and peace, even among similar circumstances. I kept thinking to myself, “That is the way I want to live!”

Now that I am a parent, I am very grateful to my parents for doing the best they could with what they had. I have no clue how Mom kept up with the laundry, managed to put meals on the table, and work full time! Thank goodness my Dad could do just about anything. He was continually “building” onto whatever we happened to be living in to accomodate 7 children.

We moved to Alabama when I was 9 years old, and again, God placed people around me who took me to church every Sunday. I accepted Christ as a 12 year old at Union Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in the Henson Springs, AL community during their annual revival. I think the whole church was praying for me and my mother. We were saved the same night, and later, we were baptized in a cow pond together! I will never forget the feeling of the squishy, muddy bottom of the pond and the warmth of the water as we identified ourselves with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection! It took longer for my dad, but he was saved about 10 years ago. Of course, I had my ups and downs trying to live the Christian life during my teen years. But now, I had a moral compass in the person of the Holy Spirit who convicted me when I got off track. When I was 17, God brought a wonderful man into my life, Tim Hollis (a preacher’s son). I knew I would marry him after our second date!

In the past couple of years, God has been tugging my heart more and more toward ministering to women through the teaching of the Word. Last year, I attended a training that allowed me to write a personal mission statement. My mission statement is the word SHINE and each letter represents something:

I know this personal mission statement came from a combination of my life experiences and God’s guidance. All through my childhood, even though I knew my family could not afford to send me to college, I didn’t settle for no. Jehovah Jireh (the God who Provides) made a way for me to attend. My calling into the teaching field allowed me to impact people and hold them in high esteem every day. Through teaching at UBC and keeping a Bible blog, I share the gospel. The bottom line is that I expect God to do great things each and every day! God  did a great work in that He changed the hearts of my parents and me.

Exodus 33:15 is a great bow to top off this testimony. God had told Moses that His presence would not continue with the Children of Israel because of their great sin. Moses began pleading with God and said these words: “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.” As I look back at my life, I can see the presence of God all over it. It wasn’t in the form of a cloud like it was for the Children of Israel wandering through the dessert – but His presence was just as real. He was shadowing me from the time I was born in a tiny town that had 7 bars, through the years in the single-wide trailer, until the day I was saved. His presence continues with me now, and like Moses, I do not want to go anywhere without His presence leading the way!