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Josh and Katie Braddy Back home at Broadmoor
● How to stay hopeful in 2021 ● New year, new look for MCL!
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contents JANUARY 2021 VOLUME 15, NUMBER 7 PUBLISHER
MS Christian Living, Inc. EDITOR
Katie Eubanks katie@mschristianliving.com
CHRIS BATES
MANAGING EDITOR
When we get “above the treeline” spiritually, we can see further and get clarity, columnist Chris Bates says. See page 8.
Suzanne Durfey ART/GRAPHIC DESIGN
Sandra Goff SALES
Suzanne Durfey, Ginger Gober CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
columns
Josh Braddy’s first Sunday as lead pastor at Broadmoor Baptist Church, June 22, 2020.
8 Outside In Above the treeline
10 Modern Motherhood Time to surrender our expectations for 2021
STEGALL IMAGERY
12 Health & Wellness
Katie and Josh Braddy at the MCL cover shoot at Broadmoor.
Chris Bates, Libbo Crosswhite, Chris Fields, Janie Maloney, Sarah McLaughlin, Brenna Weaver, Neddie Winters COVER PHOTOGRAPHY
Stegall Imagery DISTRIBUTION ASSISTANTS
Michelle and Randy Fortenberry, Rachel Schulte, Jerri Strickland, Bob and Rachel Whatley
Why do we ignore warnings from healthcare leaders?
14 Mission Mississippi Moments Greater Depth: Going Deeper with God and with One Another in 2021
16 This Is My Story
Mississippi Christian Living 3304 North State Street, Suite 201D Jackson, MS 39216 Phone 601.790.9076
mschristianliving.com
Seeing God’s perfect timing on the Mobile Bay bridge
cover story 18 Josh and Katie Braddy Back home at Broadmoor
in every issue
Mississippi Christian Living is committed to encouraging individuals in their daily lives by presenting the faith stories of others and by providing information that will point every person, at every stage of life, to a deeper, authentic, personal, and lifechanging encounter with Jesus Christ. Views expressed in Mississippi Christian Living do not necessarily represent those of the publisher. Every effort has been made by the Mississippi Christian Living staff to insure accuracy of the publication contents. However, we do not guarantee the accuracy of all information nor the absence of errors and omissions; hence, no responsibility can be or is assumed. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2021 by MS Christian Living, Inc.
6 Editor’s Letter 34 Quips & Quotes 34 Advertiser Index
Mississippi Christian Living is published monthly and is available for free at hightraffic locations throughout the tri-county area. Subscriptions are $29 a year.
26 Lagniappe Even during a pandemic, residents are not alone at St. Catherine’s Village
28 Food for Thought
feature
Fresh and healthy recipes for the new year
24 Kiel Higginbotham Sharing the gospel through Mississippi FCA
30 Christian Commerce Book Rack offers books, coffee, community and hope
The testimony of Daniel Awabdy
32 Tough Questions How do I remain hopeful in 2021?
Coming Next Month Pastor Donavon and Alice Thigpen of ONE Church — on church planting, marriage, race and more
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EDITOR’S LETTER
Why repentance is the ultimate ‘New Year’s resolution’
H
KARI THOMAS
ello and happy new year, friends! You’ve
I adopted Dally from Community Animal Rescue & Adoption (CARA) via the Chipper & Coco pet store in Jackson.
6 JANUARY 2021 ❘ Mississippi Christian Living
probably noticed a few new things on these pages already. First, we’ve got a new logo! We’re also using a different set of typefaces throughout the magazine. We started looking at the logo and fonts last year in order to keep our look fresh, and of course what better time to debut it all than in our January edition!* We’ll also be premiering a newly redesigned MSChristianLiving.com this month, which will serve much the same purpose — and also has given us the chance to streamline our online navigation.** On a personal note, I adopted a new kitten a few weeks ago. I named him Dallas “Dally” Winston after a troubled character, one I’d love to save, in S.E. Hinton’s classic young adult novel “The Outsiders.” Thanks to a loving home, feline Dally is sure to turn out better than fictional Dally! I’m sure many of you are working on New Year’s resolutions. They might be cosmetic, like our new logo. They might involve a new friendship (cross-species or otherwise). Personally, I should probably eat better and save more money. My prayer, for you and for me, is that we’d consider how the pursuit of our goals will (or will not) bring us closer to Christ. There’s nothing inherently wrong with many of our resolutions. But if we focus on any objective at the expense of our fellowship with God, then either our motivation or our goal itself is off base. So as I pursue certain goals this year, I hope I’ll remember above all to delight myself in Christ (Psalm 37:4). I often forget that Jesus is delightful. He’s the best Person to spend time with, and growing my relationship with Him is more rewarding than anything. Also, it’s amazing how much discernment I often lack simply because I haven’t read scripture or spent time in prayer on a particular day. To that end — delighting ourselves in the Lord and pursuing His path for us — we could use some repentance in 2021. Repentance is like the best kind of New Year’s resolution: Instead of resolving to do the same kind of things we’re already doing, but better, we turn away from our sin and toward the Lord who loves us. In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal
their land.” Forget goals and resolutions for a minute — our country needs healing today, not just from COVID-19 but from the ways we’ve shoved Jesus out of our lives in order to pursue our own ends, individually and collectively. I believe God uses all of our life’s events to draw us closer to Him (see Romans 8:28). Sometimes, when we don’t listen during the good times or when we ignore His commands, He speaks louder — through crisis, if needed. For America, I believe this can apply to everything from 9/11 to the Great Recession and the current pandemic. (Check out “The Harbinger” and “The Harbinger II,” two books by pastor Jonathan Cahn, for specific details that parallel biblical prophecy.) Note that in 2 Chronicles 7:14, God calls His people to humble themselves and turn from their wicked ways. We can’t just piously “pray for” unbelievers, or politicians and voters from across the aisle, as though we aren’t also culpable. Unless we can say we’re without sin (nope! see 1 John 1:8), we’re all culpable. Please know, this doesn’t mean we should freak out in terror or wallow in guilt. Repentance means we get before God in humility, agree with Him that we’ve sinned, receive His pardon freely given through Jesus’ death on the cross, and then turn from our sin and seek Him with all we’ve got. He’s not just a judge — He’s the lover of our souls — and the pleasure of His presence far outweighs the “discomfort” of repentance. That, I believe, is the path to the best year possible. Y
3 ‘must-reads’ in this issue ● Our cover story on Broadmoor Baptist Church Lead Pastor Josh Braddy and his family (page 18).
● Neddie Winters’ column about Mission Mississippi’s exhortations for believers in the new year (page 14).
● Brenna Weaver’s column about how to stay hopeful in 2021 (page 32). *Thanks to Noble Motive design studio in Hattiesburg! **Thanks to AgoraEversole Marketing Agency in Jackson!
Katie Eubanks katie@mschristianliving.com
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OUTSIDE IN
by CHRIS BATES
Above the treeline B
eing above the treeline is an amazing experience. I have had the fortunate opportunity to do so many times, and the feeling is always similar.
Stepping out above the treeline in our daily lives, figuratively, can afford opportunities to sync up with God about where we are going. So many of us often look to God when we need Him for help, comfort or answers. Foxhole prayers do not make for the best standard of communication. It may be easy to forget that
CHRIS BATES
the mornings. It can be travel or a vacation getaway to remove us from routine and help us focus on connecting with God in order to plan and be directed. It can be as simple as using moments while driving to turn off the radio, From the Cerro Negro volcano in Nicaragua to ask for His guidance, and try to listen. Our Pike’s Peak and Pearl Pass in Colorado and request for guidance requires that we stop the Glacier National Park in Montana, being on a bustle of groceries, piles of bald mountain top creates an paperwork, and paying bills long odd perspective of the world enough to connect. around. On some of these Many of us were recently excursions I was in a vehicle, reminded at Christmastime that while most others I was Immanuel means “God with us.” hiking or hunting. It is a This is not just a translation; it is a freeing experience to break promise. He promises us that if we through wooded areas that will listen, He is with us for obstruct your view into everything, including helping us boundless vistas as far as the to plan and look ahead. The Word human eye can see. It leaves gives us insight about this little doubt of God’s vastness. communication process with God: These extreme elevations Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Be anxious have literally taken my breath for nothing, but in everything by away, too. Part of the Columnist Chris Bates’ daughter Anna Catherine sits above the treeline on prayer and supplication, with experience, especially while on Cerro Negro in Nicaragua while on a mission trip with her dad in 2016. thanksgiving, let your requests be one particular high-country made known to God; and the peace archery hunt for elk in of God, which surpasses all understanding, will walking with Him can help us to have a Colorado, is that the air is much thinner than a guard your hearts and minds through Christ strategic plan for our day, week, year, and span Southern, lower terrain guy like me is used to. of life ahead. As Billy Graham shared, “when we Jesus.” Physical exertion and mental processing are Robert Schuller wisely said, “let your hopes, come to the end of ourselves, we come to the both impacted. So while the views are not your hurts, shape your future.” With our beginning of God.” By moving out of our own spectacular, it is crucial to be aware of one’s hope resting with God, that clears the way to way, we can then connect with Him. scope and limitations in the moment. use His guidance. Be challenged to rise above God speaks, and it is our part to hear, On one hand, the lack of trees and the clutter to have better vision. The view will absorb, and move forward with the message. To vegetation feels barren. A treeline is defined as not disappoint. do so requires intentionality and focus. Clarity the line or altitude above which no trees grow, Y of vision is essential, just like being above the which is usually between 10,000 and 13,000 treeline. By being in a space to listen, we can be feet above sea level. Trees do not grow above most open to what God has in store for us. An the timberline because of decreased oxygen, Chris Bates is CEO and co-founder of excerpt from Psalm 46:10 gives the perfect high winds, low moisture and cold AgoraEversole a full-service marketing guidance: “Be still, and know that I am God.” temperatures. What that open ground agency in Jackson, and can be reached at Chris@AgoraEversole.com. He and his wife, We can use approaches that fit each of us provides, however, is the perspective to look Stacy, and their children live in Madison. best. It can be through quiet devotional time in out and see so far ahead. 8 JANUARY 2021 ❘ Mississippi Christian Living
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MODERN MOTHERHOOD
by LIBBO CROSSWHITE
Time to surrender our expectations for 2021
A
s moms, I think we always have a running list in our heads of things we want to remember our children by when they’re older. For me, this picture of Russell at
Russell Crosswhite had high expectations for T-ball — and those expectations were met, right down to the end-of-game hat wave that only he bothered to do after the season closer.
10 JANUARY 2021 ❘ Mississippi Christian Living
the last T-ball game of his first season this year will always be a hall-of-famer. Like most everything this past 10 months, COVID-19 altered the end-of-game handshake and replaced it with the hat wave, with the teams on opposite baselines. With all the excitement that the last game brings (read: GIANT trophy for each player), no one on either team seemed interested in the hat wave. Blame it on the hours spent watching baseball with his dad, or his sincere belief that each game was the most important of his life, but Russell did not waver in taking the time to salute his nonexistent fan base. So many things make me laugh about this picture, but mainly the idea of the thoughts that were going through his head. His expectations of FINALLY getting to play T-ball truly matched what he experienced as he gave his final hat tip of the season. I think we all have high expectations for 2021. I mean, come on, surely it has to be better than 2020, right? I’ve heard this over and over: that our expectations, albeit probably pretty low after 2020, have to be met in some capacity. I’m reminded of the expectations I had for my birthday the first year Clay and I were married. I just knew he got me a cat. I had dropped many, many hints, and he was my husband, and since we’d been married a whole month before my birthday, I believed he knew everything I was thinking. Much to my surprise, the box didn’t contain a cat or anything close to it — it was golf clubs. Yep. Pink golf clubs. He was so proud, and I was so confused. This man I’d known since sixth grade and loved so dearly thought that pink golf clubs off of Craigslist would be perfect for his wife, who had been on a golf course only once in her 23 years. If we’ve learned anything lately, it’s that earthly expectations never turn out quite the way we hope. This next sentence terrifies me for what it could mean for my life in 2021, but as I’ve taken notes at church, the Holy Spirit keeps putting the same word on my heart: Surrender. My flesh is terrified of the potential implications of that word, but my faith tells me this could be the beginning of finally having
that freedom from worry that I, and maybe some of you, have longed for. Surrendering was best taught by Jesus as He fulfilled God’s plan for us. More than sacrificing His life for us, He gave us a model for how to live, that we may be empowered by the Holy Spirit to surrender as Christ did to God’s plan. What if we surrendered our expectations of what 2021 is supposed to look like, or what we think we deserve or need? What if we finally surrendered the weight of shame that we’ve carried for far too long? What if we finally surrendered our difficulties, our fears, our kids, our marriages, our finances, our careers (or lack thereof) to the One who’s already held it all together? What if we finally surrendered all the lies we’ve believed about ourselves and our circumstances for the truth of who God has created us to be? What if we surrendered our old ways of trying to control and manipulate and keep up, and the expectations we’ve placed on ourselves to filter and fake and keep our lives tidy? Ellie Holcomb’s song “Wonderfully Made” is littered with gospel truth from scripture and is carrying me through to 2021: What if I saw me, the way that You see me What if I believed it was true What if I traded this shame and self-hatred For a chance at believing You Help me believe it Help me to see me Just like You see me Just like You made me I believe God is calling each of us to surrender and center ourselves back on the truth of Psalm 139:14, “I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” May we not just hear that truth, but believe and surrender to it this year. 2021, we sure are ready for you. Y Libbo Haskins Crosswhite and her husband, Clay, live in Madison and attend Pinelake. They have one daughter, Mary Thomas, who is 7 years old, and a son, Russell, who is 5 years old. She is the high school guidance counselor at MadisonRidgeland Academy and can be emailed at lcrosswhite@mrapats.org.
HEALTH & WELLNESS
by CHRIS FIELDS
Why do we ignore warnings from healthcare leaders? “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — His eternal power and divine nature — have clearly been seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” – Romans 1:18–20
mistaken. His love for us won’t allow Him to not correct us, especially since He knows best. He knows the beginning from the end, and He knows the ultimate recourse for disobedience. 2020 introduced us to COVID-19, a disease that favors those who don’t properly care for their bodies, and is caught from those who don’t care enough to love their neighbor as Jesus commands. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we were warned and advised to wear masks and to be socially distant, not 2020 was tumultuous to say the least. It was just for our own sakes, but mainly for the benefit of like we had all types of biblical tribulations wrapped those around us — for those whose health was failing We have had more up in one year. Race against race, nation against aging and other reasons. deaths this past year dueIntoour nation, divided families, divided nations, divided disobedience, we have had more deaths this thoughts — all types of calamities, with COVID-19 as than any year the past year than any year the United States has ever seen the overseer. (Google it). Because of our disobedience, hospitals are United States No type of divisiveness is of God. A kingdom being overrun, not having the accommodations for divided against itself will fall, He says, and this is the has ever seen. those needing critical care for anything other than recourse of us being divided from Him — wrath. For COVID-19. Businesses are failing, jobs are being lost, every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction, debt is climbing, families are being torn apart. and that’s not just the law of motion. I know a lot of us Is it that we look at mandates from the healthcare world as ungodly? like to think of Jesus as some big puffed-up ball of cotton in the sky and How? Would it have been better coming out of the mouths of incapable of correcting His children, but those who think that are wrong. preachers? Would it have been godlier coming from respected men of The Bible is clear about sparing the rod and spoiling the child, and if God, or those we believe “hear from God”? As Christians, we seem to you think that Jesus doesn’t follow His own Word, then you are have an issue with truth based on the source of information. We have a hard time measuring information with the Word of God (truth). At the beginning of the pandemic, I had to listen as Christians claimed God’s favor over COVID-19 for themselves while the rest of the world was dying. Last I checked, Jesus came to save the world, and as His agents, that’s our mandate too, right? So why is it that we have been clamoring for normalcy instead of following simple instructions as if they weren’t from Christ, especially since He knows best? The instructions He gives will always cause us to align with His Word and will never contradict it, regardless of who voices those instructions. Healthcare professionals have been handing out God’s truth for years, but because it comes in the name of science, we Christians neglect it. We skip the natural for the supernatural, when the natural is supernatural. God is the creator of all, so everything is sourced and resourced from Him. If we want to see a better 2021, we must get a better understanding of Him. This year let’s all take time to get to know Him better so He can enlighten our understanding. So for 2021, here are two tips to help you do that: Exercise and eat better. I know you thought I was going to be more profound, but those are the only tips I have. Personally, I’ve listened all my life as preachers told me to pray and read the Word, but it wasn’t until I developed discipline over my physical body that I began to develop discipline in my spiritual walk. The two are intertwined. You can’t be as spiritually healthy as you should be, if you knowingly defy God’s instructions for your physical health. Y
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Chris Fields is the founder and executive director of H.E.A.L. Mississippi and a graduate in kinesiology with advance studies in nutrition. He serves as a clinical exercise physiologist/CPT and is credentialed in Exercise Is Medicine through American College of Sports Medicine. 12 JANUARY 2021 ❘ Mississippi Christian Living
mschristianliving.com â?˜ JANUARY 2021 13
MISSION MISSISSIPPI MOMENTS
by NEDDIE WINTERS
Greater Depth: Going Deeper with God and with One Another in 2021
J
anuary is the perfect time to take a look back and a look forward. I believe
looking back gives us an opportunity to reflect, remember, repent and refocus for the future. When I look back at the dismay, disparity, death, and even the desperation of 2020, I can see and sense God is calling us to a deeper relationship with Him and with one another. Mission Mississippi’s theme for the 2021 journey is “Greater Depth: Going Deeper with God and with One Another.” We are challenging Christians to go deeper in their relationships by “Building One Another Up.” Throughout the New Testament, the writers exhorted Christians to embrace specific actions that would enable them to grow spiritually and function properly. The phrase “one another” is used some 58 times in the New Testament (excluding the gospels), exhorting the body of Christ to grow deeper in their relationships with one another. We are challenging Christians over the next 12 months to embrace and express the following exhortations in deepening our relationships and building one another up: ◆ Loving One Another ◆ Praying for One Another ◆ Forgiving One Another ◆ Accepting One Another ◆ Encouraging One Another ◆ Honoring One Another ◆ Admonishing One Another ◆ Bearing One Another’s Burdens ◆ Serving One Another ◆ Bearing with One Another ◆ Submitting to One Another ◆ Members of One Another
For 28 years, Mission Mississippi has been challenging Christians to heed Jesus’ call to live out the grace of the gospel through GRACISM: The act of extending grace that we have experienced from Jesus Christ to promote living reconciled with all others. Our vision is seeing Christians living out the grace of the gospel unhindered by racism, racial strife, racial prejudice, racial hatred and racial division throughout Mississippi and the world. Our mission is to encourage and demonstrate grace in the body of Christ across racial lines so that communities throughout Mississippi can see practical evidence of the gospel message. The revelation and recognition that racism hinders evangelism is Mission Mississippi’s stimulus for existing. Let’s begin 2021 with Jesus’ plan for evangelism to reach the lost, that we love one another as He has loved us, because this is the cornerstone and capstone of all the commandments and exhortations. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:34-35 We are to live and love in such a way that there is no question about who we are or Whose we are and Whom we represent. We are living billboards to reflect God’s brand! We must be known first of all by our redemptive love. Jesus exemplified redemptive love by humbling Himself to wash the feet of Judas, who was to betray Him; of Peter, who was to deny Him; and of the rest, who were to forsake Him.
Notwithstanding their failures and faults, He loved them all “to the end.” Redemptive love is the result of being born of God, receiving eternal life, and abiding in the light. Human love might superficially impress men with its words and wag of the tongue, but only divine love can express itself in action and reality. The absence of redemptive love will lead to unrighteousness and hatred in relation to others. Secondly, we must be known for our reciprocal love, which means love shared in Christ and shown in Christ. We must make love visible in the home, the church and the world. Unless love becomes visible, it is not love at all. This love knows no differences, distinctions, distrust, discriminations or disharmonies. Thirdly, we must be known for our reflected love. We must reflect redemptive and reciprocal love in ways that will convince the world we are Jesus’ disciples. This can be expressed in two ways, the reflected oneness of love and the reflected witness of love. Nothing is more powerful and wonderful than the oneness and witness of love. Unfortunately, in the world today there is so little reflected oneness, there is no convincing witness. Join us over the next 12 months by embracing and expressing our 12 exhortations for building one another up. Y
Neddie Winters is president of Mission Mississippi, an organization dedicated to racial reconciliation within the body of Christ. A proud alumnus of Alcorn State University, Neddie lives in Clinton with his wife, Tommie.
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THIS IS MY STORY
by JANIE MALONEY
Seeing God’s perfect timing on the Mobile Bay bridge
E
xactly one week after giving birth to our third child, I survived a massive heart attack. This was shocking; I was a healthy 36-year-old with no family history of heart issues. I had open-heart surgery on April Fools’ Day, which has always made me smile. God is truly humorous. But I wondered, “God, why did You spare me? What do You want me to do?” Then about three years later, I realized God would work through me, and that everything is in His timing. My sister Sandy and I had our daughters at the beach. We left early on the last day and had to stop a time or two along the way, because my niece was having ear trouble. Then, on the Mobile Bay bridge, we were suddenly stopped. We could see there was no vehicle in front of the one in front of us. Since Sandy was in the driver’s seat, I jumped out of the car like I was on autopilot. I saw a Jeep had crashed into the bridge, and I saw a man face-down on the pavement. Blood was everywhere. A woman stumbled from the vehicle and, instinctively, I ran to her. I said out loud, “Lord, I need a chair for her.” Instantly, I saw two fold-up chairs that must have been thrown from the Jeep. I seated her as she explained that she’d been coming from the dentist’s office, and that her husband had not been wearing his seatbelt. He did not survive the crash. As I listened, I felt a peaceful feeling, and kept my ears open and mouth closed. I touched her arm lightly — thoughts of my open-heart surgery, and of my nurse softly touching my arm, came to mind. It had comforted me to know that someone was physically with me, so I made a point to do the same. The woman wanted her shoes, which had fallen off in the crash, so I went up to the smoking Jeep. I thought, “OK, this car could so blow up any second … yet I know I’m supposed to be here right now.” I only spotted one of her shoes and could not get into the vehicle. I’m not sure how she’d gotten out of it. As she continued getting her thoughts together, I felt as if we were the only two people on this planet. Eventually, a man joined us. He assumed I was a nurse like him, but I quickly explained I was an interior designer — clueless in this 16 JANUARY 2021 ❘ Mississippi Christian Living
Janie Maloney (back) with her sister Sandy Taylor (front right) and their daughters, from left, Skylar Taylor and Margaret Maloney.
situation! As he checked on her, I went over to her husband and started to pray over him. Another woman had now joined us, and she called the survivor’s sister to meet her at the ER, as the ambulance was arriving. I wanted to go in the ambulance, but they explained it would be too complicated for my family to get to me. I went back to our car and leaned beside my sister’s window. She said, “All I could think of as I watched you was the Good Samaritan. You were the only one that got out to help.” Fifteen to 20 minutes had passed, but it felt like everything had gone in slow motion. I found myself emotional because it hit me: “God, You just worked through me!” I said, “Sandy, the last story I read before I went to bed last night was about the Good Samaritan” (from the “Mark of The Lion” series by Francine Rivers). Everything had happened to get us where we needed to be so I could serve in that exact moment. I cried off and on, not from sadness but from
amazement over what I had experienced. I thanked God, and I asked Him to keep what I saw on that bridge from haunting me. It never has. God will use us to further His kingdom, to be His hands and feet, if we will stay in His Word, communicate with Him, and be willing and available to serve. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10) When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. (Romans 12:13) And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful. (Titus 3:14) Y Janie is married to Steve Maloney, and they live in Ridgeland with their three children. They attend Christ United Methodist Church in Jackson.
If you aren’t sure whether you have a relationship with God or where you’ll go when you die, please don’t put this magazine down until you’ve read the following:
✝ THE PROBLEM
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. – Romans 3:23 For the wages of sin is death… – Romans 6:23a The natural result and consequence of our sin is eternal death, or hell (Revelation 20:15), separated from God. This is because God is completely perfect and holy (Matthew 5:48), and His justice demands that sin be punished (Proverbs 11:21).
✝ THE SOLUTION
…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. – Romans 6:23b But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8 Jesus Christ died in our place on the cross and took on the punishment for all our sins (Isaiah 53:4-6). Then God raised Him from the dead (John 20)!
✝ HOW TO RECEIVE SALVATION
If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. – Romans 10:9
✝ IS IT FOR ANYONE?
Trust in what Jesus has done for you — His death for your sins and His resurrection — and trust Him as Lord.
✝ THE RESULTS
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. – Romans 10:13
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. – Romans 5:1 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38-39
✝ WHAT TO DO NEXT
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. – Romans 10:17 If you decided to trust in Jesus, grow in your faith by reading more of God’s Word in the Bible. We recommend the gospel of John (it comes just after Luke) as a good starting point — or Romans! Finding a church close to you that teaches faith in Christ is another important step. It’s crucial to spend time with other believers so we can encourage each other in our faith. If you have questions about anything on this page, please contact us at 601.896.1432, or send us a message on Facebook @MSChristianLiving, Instagram @mschristianmag or Twitter @MSChristLiving. mschristianliving.com ❘ JANUARY 2021 17
COVER STORY
by KATIE EUBANKS
Josh and Katie Braddy
STEGALL IMAGERY
Kids, COVID, and coming home to Broadmoor
Gideon Tamirat Braddy, 12, gives the camera a deadpan smile as his baby sister, Lydia Jane, has a come-apart during the MCL cover shoot. Let’s face it, everyone had at least one moment like this in 2020! Middle child Mara Joy looks on.
F
un fact: The name Picayune, as in the Mississippi town of 11,000 just east of the toe of Louisiana, comes from the Latin “insignificant nothing.” That’s where Josh and Katie Braddy hail from: Insignificant Nothing, Mississippi. But God has done more for them than they could ask or think — even when His path for them was long and winding and didn’t necessarily line up with their plans. Josh and Katie have known each other since junior high, and sat at the same lunch table with the same group of friends in high school. But they didn’t think about dating then. They both attended the University of Southern 18 JANUARY 2021 ❘ Mississippi Christian Living
Mississippi, where Katie got Josh’s number from a friend at the Baptist Student Union. “Then Katie calls me one day and asks me to go to a date party, and I said YES — and she said, ‘with my friend,’” Josh recalls. “I never would’ve asked a boy on a date (myself),” Katie says. Later, Josh and Katie both were called to Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg, where a mutual friend of theirs had had a stillbirth. In the process of praying for their friend, they reconnected. “I think that’s when God turned the light switch on (between Josh and me) that had been off for a long time,” Katie says.
They started emailing (this was before texting was so easy!) and talking on the phone. Then Josh “needed Katie’s help” formatting a paper — also over the phone. “Then he asked me to a church softball game he was playing in…” Katie says. “I wanted you to see me in my prime, girl,” Josh interjects. “Strutting his stuff…” Then they went on their first date, to Bop’s in Hattiesburg, right after Josh had played two softball games. They both wore T-shirts and athletic shorts, and “I smelled terrible,” Josh says. “It was a perfect summation of who we are,” Katie says. “We’re pretty laidback.”
Despite some body odor — and their friends circling Bop’s in their vehicles and spying through the windows — it was a pretty good first date. “We bypassed the ‘getting to know you’ stuff because we already knew each other,” Katie says. In fact, they started talking about their dreams for the future. At the time, Katie thought God was leading her to a mission field far away. “I thought, ‘I can’t let this guy get in the way of my plans.’” But the most important topic of conversation? Foster care and adoption. Each of them said they wanted their first child to be adopted, God willing. They didn’t know if they’d be having children together, but adoption is what they both wanted — for good reason. Josh Braddy was actually born Josh Roubion. His biological father died when Josh was 4. “When my mom remarried when I was 8, he adopted me and gave me his last name,” Josh says. “He was and is a really good dad. That helped me understand the gospel more clearly, us being adopted into the family of God as His children (when we trust in Christ). (And) my family grew up doing foster care.” Katie, too, had experience with a form of adoption: “When I was in sixth grade, my dad was a Scoutmaster, and one of his scouts needed a place to stay, and we invited him to stay forever … He came back after college and lived at home (with us).”
MARRIAGE AND GETTING ‘PAPER PREGNANT’ Soon, there was little doubt in Josh or Katie’s mind that they were going to marry each other. They were both still living in south Mississippi at the time. One day, Josh got a job offer from First Baptist Jackson (FBJ) to become their new minister of recreation. As an athlete, he was sure he’d enjoy the job, but he turned it down. He had no reason to move to Jackson — he thought. Later that same day, Katie told him she’d been accepted to occupational therapy school at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. Josh still didn’t think the FBJ job was for him, so he called his buddy Kevin Cooper, who was the student pastor at First Baptist Brandon. Instead of sending Josh’s resume out like he asked, Kevin hired him as the church’s college pastor. After Josh and Katie both moved to metro Jackson, 11 months after their ice cream date, they got married. They lived in an apartment
with a view of the Pearl Walmart — “what every girl dreams of,” Josh quips — and soon started the adoption process. With a passion for international missions, they felt led to international adoption. After praying over a bunch of adoption agency brochures for a week, the Braddys chose All God’s Children International, out of Portland, Oregon. They chose to adopt from Ethiopia. “We were told (we’d only have to wait) nine months. ‘Paper pregnant,’ basically, is what they called it,” Josh says. But it didn’t work out that way. Through the tail end of Josh’s time at First Baptist Brandon, plus his two and a half years as a student pastor at Broadmoor Baptist Church in Madison, he and Katie waited to be matched with a child. “(The process) was incredibly expensive, and
Josh and Katie before their wedding in March 2007.
Katie and Josh had known each other for many years by the time they dated as young adults. “We bypassed the ‘getting to know you stuff’ (on the first date),” she says.
The Braddys’ most important life verses are engraved on the inside of each other’s wedding bands.
Josh, kneeling, is ordained into ministry as his dad Willie Braddy, right in red shirt, looks on. mschristianliving.com ❘ JANUARY 2021 19
STEGALL IMAGERY
Gideon always has a smile ready for the camera!
BRINGING GIDEON HOME
The Braddys’ first picture with Gideon as a family.
neighborhood in Madison. Oh, and they were all using All God’s Children International. The Braddys were thrilled to meet Lee and Jenni Smith and Jody and Alison Schmelzer. The three couples are still friends today. In 2012, Josh accepted a position as senior pastor at New Palestine Baptist Church, back in his and Katie’s hometown of Picayune. As they were about to pull out of their home in Madison, with the moving truck behind them, Josh said to Katie, “We’ll be back here one day.” He elaborated: “I don’t know what that means. We might be old (when it happens).” He just felt they weren’t done in Madison yet. “I looked at him and said, ‘You’re insane,’” Katie recalls.
Mara Joy in the courtroom on her adoption day in 2017.
Mara Joy Braddy is “sweet and spicy at the same time,” Katie says.
STEGALL IMAGERY
we were incredibly poor,” Josh says. “But God always showed up with people at the exact right time, with the exact amount we needed for our next milestone.” Another crazy way God showed up: The Braddys heard about two other local couples who also were adopting from Ethiopia. “Local” meaning they lived in the Braddys’ same
In June 2012, around 8 p.m., Josh got a call from the number he recognized as his and Katie’s social worker who was helping them adopt. “She said, ‘Are you sitting down?’ We ran home, opened the computer, and saw Gideon for the first time,” Josh says. The then 3-year-old boy had big brown eyes and was smiling. The Braddys found out later just how toothy and beautiful that smile could get. “It makes me want to cry (reliving that memory),” Katie says. In just a couple of months, they would officially be parents to Gideon Tamirat Braddy. They flew to Ethiopia once for the initial visit, and once to bring him home. They almost missed their flight from Ghana to Ethiopia on the first trip, Josh recalls. When they brought Gideon home, they flew 18 hours from Ethiopia to Washington, D.C. One hour in, Katie became “deathly ill,” Josh says. “We don’t know what I had, but two other women had gotten typhoid,” Katie says. “I was in and out of consciousness, lying on the bathroom floor on the plane. It was the sickest I’ve ever been.” Meanwhile, “Gideon didn’t speak English. We communicated with him through the flight attendants,” Josh says. “He was terrified, but excited to be on an airplane.” When the flight attendants opened the bathroom door to tell Katie they’d landed in D.C., “I just said, ‘No,’ and closed the door,” she recalls. Josh had to sling her over their luggage on the rolling cart as they walked to their next terminal. Then “a lady came up to us and started wiping my face and praying over me,” Katie says. “We saw her family, and some of her kids looked like they were adopted.”
20 JANUARY 2021 ❘ Mississippi Christian Living
STEGALL IMAGERY
Lydia Jane Braddy as a newborn, left, and at the MCL cover shoot.
After they finally arrived home, “it was Gideon learning English, learning to have a mom and a dad, and us learning to be a mom and a dad,” Josh says. “Then we decided, let’s make our lives even more fun and do foster care.”
MARA JOY AND 1 IMPORTANT PHONE CALL The Braddys hadn’t even finished their paperwork to foster when they got the call about a Mississippi newborn who was on a feeding tube because she didn’t know how to eat. She was not yet 4 pounds. “Katie gave her a bottle when we got there, and that was the first bottle she took,” Josh says. Eighteen months later, in 2017, Mara Joy officially became a Braddy through adoption. Then in early spring 2019, the Braddys found out they would soon have another child, this time the old-fashioned way. Shortly thereafter, Josh received a phone call from Broadmoor Baptist Church as they searched for a new senior pastor. Perhaps he was right — he and Katie weren’t finished in Madison.
PREACHING AND PARENTING IN A PANDEMIC As you might expect, “The Broadmoor team was really thoughtful (in their pastor search),” Josh says. Translation: They didn’t rush. “Looking back, you’re so grateful they were deliberate,” he says. In the meantime, Lydia Jane Braddy was born in November 2019. By the time Broadmoor selected Josh as their new senior pastor in spring 2020, the pandemic was in full swing, and his church in Picayune was meeting virtually. He’d been there eight years, and didn’t want to say, “By
the way, see ya” via Facebook Live, he says. In May 2020, New Palestine started meeting in person again, and Josh was able to say a true goodbye to his church family. On June 22, the day after Father’s Day, he started work at Broadmoor. He has yet to experience his new role outside the confines of COVID-19. Is he frustrated by that? “I feel more hopeful than frustrated,” he says. “There are some frustrating aspects. (But) we’re able to move more methodically and intentionally. We’re not starting something back just to fill a space.” In other words, the pandemic has effectively killed off cultural Christianity, and that’s OK, he says. “I’ve been incredibly excited to see our staff get excited about a new way to do church that’s intentional and gospel-centric.” Throughout their many moves around Mississippi, Katie has worked as an occupational therapist. But “when we moved in the midst of a pandemic, I decided to wait and see if school was going to make (before going back to work). Then we decided to wait for the kids to get adjusted,” she says. “It’s been a different adjustment, but it’s been fun. I feel busier than I ever have, chasing babies at home.” As for the dream she had of living on the mission field: “I’ve learned that being married to a pastor is a ministry. I feel like my ministry is him, which I know is weird-sounding. I’m a stress reliever, a sounding board, and a burden carrier. He’s a dream-driven and big-picture kind of person. That can be a lot to shoulder.” It’s not just the general pressures of pastoring that can be burdensome. When asked to name his favorite Bible verse, Josh cites John 10:10, where Jesus offers His
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THE BRADDY KID NAMES “I’m that weird person who wants everyone to have a Bible name,” Katie Braddy says. We don’t think it’s weird at all! Here are the stories behind the Braddy children’s names: Gideon Tamirat Braddy, 12 “If we had a son, we were going to name him Solomon,” Katie says. “But when we saw Gideon, we said, ‘He does not look like a Solomon.’ Then one night we were in bed and I was praying, and I punched Josh and woke him up and said, ‘His name is Gideon.’ And (Josh) said, ‘It is!’ “Gideon means ‘mighty warrior.’ Tamirat is his birth name that his mom gave him, and that’s very special to him.”
While waiting to be matched with their first child, the Braddys met the Schmelzers (left) and the Smiths (right), who were using the same adoption agency to adopt from the same country.
followers abundant life despite the devil’s efforts, because “mental illness has always been a struggle and a passion of mine … depression and anxiety,” he says. “(At one point) it was debilitating. But through counseling, medicine and proactive measures … it’s become a strong platform that I use, to put the stigma away and help people find freedom.” “We just try to live as transparently as we can,” Katie adds. “We’re just two people who love Jesus passionately — ” “ — and we’re broken, and Jesus loves us,” Josh finishes.
22 JANUARY 2021 ❘ Mississippi Christian Living
John 10:10, Josh’s favorite verse, is engraved on the inside of Katie’s wedding band. And on the inside of Josh’s wedding band is Ephesians 3:20-21, which talks about God doing “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.” If Katie had to pick a “life verse,” that’d be it, she says. “Josh will tell you, I struggle really, really bad with anxiety. … I’m always expecting less because I don’t want to be disappointed. “(But) God’s always taken the things I’ve imagined for my life and made them so much greater — for His glory.” Y
Mara Joy Braddy, 4 “Her birth name was Marilyn. With the uncertainty of fostering, we didn’t want to confuse her, so we wanted to keep something that was close to Marilyn,” Katie says. “Mara means ‘bitter,’ but (Mara Joy is) a reminder that God turns bitter waters sweet,” she says, recalling God bringing water out of the rock for the Israelites, and Ruth’s motherin-law Naomi, aka Mara, finding hope after a bitter backstory. “(The name) embodies who (Mara Joy) is,” Josh says, and Katie agrees, saying, “She is all of spicy and sweet at the same time.” Lydia Jane Braddy, 1 “We loved the idea of her being a leader in the church (like Lydia in the New Testament),” Katie says, and “Jane means ‘God is gracious.’ “We didn’t know how much she was God’s grace to us. … But it’s been a blessing this past year (in the midst of the pandemic) to see, life does go on. We get to see her progressing.”
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FEATURE STORY
by SARAH MCLAUGHLIN
Kiel and his wife, Lara, with their sons, Jett (left) and Lake.
KIEL HIGGINBOTHAM Sharing the gospel through Mississippi FCA
“W
e were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us,” the apostle Paul wrote in his epistle to the church at Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 2:8b, ESV). And today, if Kiel (pronounced like Kyle) Higginbotham — the new state director of the Mississippi Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) — wrote a letter expressing his vision for the Mississippi FCA, it would likely mirror that of the apostle. Some may wonder where Kiel’s vision came from and how his journey led him here, yet for Kiel, his position as state director is an extension of not only his childhood, but of those who poured into his life at every step of his journey. Kiel grew up in the church, but it wasn’t until his time at East Central Community College that Kiel remembers his faith became personal and real to him. 24 JANUARY 2021 ❘ Mississippi Christian Living
Reflecting on his journey with Christ, Kiel remembers that “I never knew a time when I didn’t know the name of Jesus. I knew He had a general love for me … but it wasn’t really until college that I really started to understand what His truth and unconditional love could look like in my life.” Two experiences in college became steppingstones for Kiel by showing what Christ’s love could look like in his life and paving the road for his future. As Kiel began playing baseball at East Central, his coach — who was an FCA Huddle sponsor — gave Kiel the opportunity to share his faith with his teammates in the Huddle. As Kiel shared with his friends and teammates what Christ had done in his life and what Christ meant to him, he began to see a vision for what sports could be. He realized it could be more than winning or losing: It could be a platform for sharing Christ. “It was a small moment,” Kiel remembers,
“and I don’t think I knew at the time … but looking back, that was the start of my ministry.” After sharing part of his testimony at East Central, Kiel remembers another opportunity and transformational moment he had during his time attending Belhaven University. Walking across campus one day, Kiel heard about an Olympian named Chad Hedrick. Hedrick was an American speed skater who famously wrote the letters CGIM on his skates, an acronym for “see God in me.” Kiel remembers hearing how the acronym served as a reminder to the Olympian — and everyone watching — that Hedrick was skating for the glory of God. The news touched Kiel and inspired him to make bracelets with the same letters for his Belhaven baseball teammates. As Kiel gave the bracelets to his teammates, he encouraged them to give glory to God by using their talents to serve Him. Those times at East Central and Belhaven
faith in action and make disciples of became the foundation for Kiel’s involvement with FCA. When Kiel others, then they can encourage more graduated in 2011, he began people, mobilize more people … off of coaching baseball at Hinds the pews and into the community.” Community College, where he met One way FCA accomplishes this is by the previous state director of FCA, emphasizing and expanding their Huddle Bill Buckner, who encouraged Kiel Groups. In many ways, a Huddle Group to become more involved with the is almost like a Bible study. organization. Following Buckner’s “A Huddle is a small group of coaches advice, Kiel took a position with or students, centered around God’s Word. FCA in December 2011. The goal of our Huddles is that those Since then, Kiel has served in attending would be equipped to study almost every possible leadership and apply God’s Word to their lives — position with FCA. From 2011–2015, and empowered to lead others to Christ.” he served as an area representative, In many ways, then, a Huddle Group is where he was a direct presence and FCA partners in the Democratic Republic of the Congo pray over a direct application of FCA’s initiative to encouragement in high schools and the site that will one day be the discipleship facility and house increase discipleship among teams, schools FCA ministry and teams. middle schools. As all area directors and athletes. Although FCA previously do, Kiel traveled to schools and had large Huddle Groups, the ministry has communities and taught coaches continued to evolve, the organization has begun also developed smaller groups in addition to and athletes. There Kiel engaged, equipped and their campus-wide Huddles. shifting its mission in order to create deeper empowered people to become closer to the Kiel explains that since team members roots for Christ and to make a lasting impact Lord, all while using athletics. spend hours together every day, the team is a with schools, coaches and athletes. Kiel explains In 2015, Kiel became the Jackson area wonderful opportunity for discipleship and that many of these changes center on adjusting director of FCA, where his position centered ministry to take place. For example, from 2019– the areas staff members cover, discipleship, and on hiring staff. As Kiel remembers, his goal as Huddle Groups. These three things, Kiel area director was to think about hiring staff 2020 the ministry had more than 500 Huddle explains, are vital to his mission members and volunteers whom Groups meeting regularly across the state in an — and FCA’s mission — of God would use to effectively effort to grow FCA’s discipleship initiative. creating Christian athletes and share the gospel. After two years Internationally, as well, Kiel oversees disciples throughout the state. of serving as the Jackson area Mississippi’s involvement in a multi-state Sports really is Kiel explains that, when he director, Kiel became the initiative which sends FCA members to east one of the only was an area director, he covered Africa to support and advance the work God is southwestern multi-area around 30 schools in the Jackson already doing there. The hope of this initiative is director, where he oversaw a things that can area, and now the area directors large part of Mississippi and to go on trips and, as Kiel explained, “help naturally bring are beginning to cover around FCA’s involvement in that part countries in east Africa advance what God is of the state. Ultimately, this led people together five to 10 schools together. already doing and already leading them toward.” “We shrink to grow,” Kiel said. him to accept the position as Kiel was able to travel to Uganda as a part of this from different “We can shrink the area our staff Mississippi’s state director in initiative. There he served and helped the covers in order to grow the depth of September 2020. cultures and community find resources to build a soccer field their relationships with the athletes In many ways, all of the backgrounds. in one of their towns. Ultimately, they were able and coaches.” As FCA adjusts the previous things combined — his to use the field as a means of sharing the gospel areas their staff members cover, it time in college and the positions allows the staff to visit schools more with those in the community. he took with FCA after As FCA expands and grows under Kiel’s frequently and develop stronger relationships with graduating — paved the road to the position leadership, and as he continues to oversee the the athletes and coaches. Kiel now holds, and built the biblical vision he ministry in Mississippi, he humbly As these relationships develop, the now has. Today, Kiel explains why he’s grown acknowledges that the ministry is only possible possibility of focusing on discipleship becomes to believe in FCA as a powerful mission field: by God’s grace and the help, strength and greater. Kiel believes that FCA is ultimately a “I really believe the Lord has positioned FCA constant support of his wife, Lara. Kiel is also well for such a time as this. Sports really is one of platform God has created to make disciples, to thankful for all of the people who invest their unify people, and to fulfill the Great the only things that can naturally bring people Commission. While Kiel believes FCA has laid together from different cultures and time, prayer, resources and energy to serve and a foundation for sharing the gospel, he wants backgrounds. What better place is there than volunteer with FCA. to build on that foundation and create more sports to show the ultimate unifying thing, that Visit mississippifca.org to volunteer, donate, and opportunities for people to put their faith in is, Jesus Christ.” It’s with this goal in mind that learn how you can be praying for Kiel, his family Kiel leads the Mississippi Fellowship of Christian action through discipleship. and his team as they continue to share the gospel Athletes and continues to shape the ministry. “I believe God has so much for these by sharing life with athletes throughout Mississippi. Over the past three years, as FCA has athletes and coaches. If they begin putting their Y
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mschristianliving.com ❘ JANUARY 2021 25
LAGNIAPPE
submitted by ST. CATHERINE’S VILLAGE
Even during a pandemic, residents are not alone at St. Catherine’s Village
O
ne drive past the grounds of St. Catherine’s Village, and Barbara Dorr knew it was where she wanted to retire. Fast forward a few years, and she and her husband, Lee,
were fortunate to have the opportunity to move into independent living at the life plan community in Madison. Residents since 2011, Barbara and Lee have made the best of their experience at St. Catherine’s Village, even during a time when restrictions and guidelines have been put in place because of COVID-19. “Activities may be much smaller … like fewer people in an exercise group, or less attendance at church services … but they
are still happening,” said Barbara. “And for now, we receive our meals to-go rather than dine together, but we still have the chance to interact. We believe in making the best of the situation. After all, we’re all in this together.” Not one to stay cooped up, Lee gets out early in the morning and spends time in the resident garden. He noted that both residents and staff take the mask mandate seriously and wear them consistently. “We’re fortunate to have so much space outside. We can walk around the lake and still social distance. That’s a tremendous feature,” said Lee. “If we lived on our own, life would be very different.”
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An active member of the St. One of Barbara’s claims to fame — Catherine’s Village community, Barbara she ran the Olympic torch. “AT&T, where is looking forward to having events I worked at the time, was bringing the reinstated. She has chaired the green torch from New York to Los Angeles for team, volunteered for various the 1994 Olympic Games. As an AT&T committees and helped put together Pioneer (volunteer), I was asked to carry Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s programs. it for a portion of the route. So of course Lee also has participated in many I said yes!” activities, like the history club and coffee Today the torch is on display in her groups. “Lots of folks here socialize more independent living apartment. The than I anticipated,” he said. couple have a residence with a balcony so A longtime Mississippi resident, they can enjoy the fresh Mississippi air. Barbara calls St. Catherine’s Village “the And Lee can do what he loves — cooking. best place we could be. There’s nothing As the chef in the family, he finds the like it in Mississippi. The staff is kitchen convenient “for one — me.” outstanding … like a family.” While Barbara jokingly agreed and said, Barbara fell in love with St. Catherine’s “The only reason I have a kitchen is Village immediately, it took a little more because it came with the apartment.” convincing for Lee. The best thing about St. Catherine’s “When we first looked at St. Catherine’s Village, according to the Dorrs, is that it Village, my wife sold me on it because we is truly like no other place. Barbara could move into a patio home,” he said. St. Catherine’s residents Lee and Barbara Dorr. invites people to come and visit — they Prior to meeting Barbara, Lee had never have good people to show you around. been to the South, let alone Mississippi. But more than 50 years “Life really is better when it’s not lived alone,” she said. Y later, he feels right at home. And as he deals with some heart issues, he is “so glad we are here because of the continuum of care.”
mschristianliving.com ❘ JANUARY 2021 27
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
recipes by KATHERINE COWGER
FRESH and HEALTHY recipes for the new year
ORANGE ALMOND FLOUR COOKIES WITH DARK CHOCOLATE AND PISTACHIOS 3 5 ⅓ 1 1
cups almond flour tablespoons unsalted butter, melted cup maple syrup teaspoon vanilla extract teaspoon orange zest Pinch of pink salt ½ cup dark chocolate chunks 1 teaspoon coconut oil 2 teaspoons lightly salted pistachios, chopped Orange zest for garnish
In a bowl, mix almond flour, melted butter, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and orange zest until smooth. Place dough onto plastic wrap and form into a log. Wrap log and place in fridge about 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper. When dough has chilled, slice into ¼-inch-thick discs. Place on baking sheet and bake 12–14 minutes. Remove cookies from oven. (They may look under-done but will continue cooking on the pan and firm up the more they sit on the pan.) Once cookies have cooled, place them on a wire rack. Melt dark chocolate and coconut oil, and dip half of each cookie in the melted chocolate and place back on wire rack. Once each cookie has been dipped in chocolate, top with pistachios and orange zest. Note: I like to keep these in the fridge! 28 JANUARY 2021 ❘ Mississippi Christian Living
ORANGE PECAN-CRUSTED PORK TENDERLOIN 1 4 ⅓ 2
pound fresh pork tenderloin tablespoons organic orange marmalade cup raw pecans, chopped cloves garlic, minced Salt and pepper to season Extra virgin olive oil
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Trim the tenderloin and season with salt and pepper. Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat with extra virgin olive oil. Sear pork on each side about 2 minutes on the stove until golden brown. Meanwhile, chop pecans and, in a bowl, mix chopped pecans and minced garlic. Once pork is seared on each side, coat one side with orange marmalade, and top with pecan and garlic mixture. Place skillet in preheated oven about 12 minutes or until internal temperature of pork is 145 degrees. Remove skillet from oven and place pork on a cutting board. Let pork rest at least 5 minutes, then slice and serve immediately.
ROASTED BROCCOLINI AND KALE WITH LEMON AND FETA 1 bunch broccolini 1 bunch Lacinato kale 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil Salt and pepper 1 teaspoon lemon zest Feta cheese for topping (or goat cheese)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash kale and broccolini and place on a lined baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast about 15 minutes or until broccolini is tender when pierced with a fork. Remove from oven and place on a serving platter. Top with lemon zest and feta or goat cheese. Serve immediately.
Katherine Cowger is a freshman from Madison studying health sciences and nutrition at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. In her free time, she enjoys working out, running, and spending time in her kitchen.
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sittersllc.com mschristianliving.com â?˜ JANUARY 2021 29
CHRISTIAN COMMERCE
by SARAH MCLAUGHLIN
Book Rack offers books, coffee, community and hope
I
n 2018, Christy Soloveichik stepped away from a job she’d had for 20 years in order to pursue God’s next steps for her and remain close with her family. As Christy stepped out in faith, she began praying for the Lord to lead her in what He purposed, and she asked that He would provide for her. By God’s grace, within a week of stepping away from her job, Christy discovered an email from the previous owner of The Book Rack — a well-known used bookstore in Jackson — explaining the store was being sold. Longtime residents of Jackson are likely familiar with the bookstore and may have memories there, especially with the store’s previous owners, Margaret McMullin and the McCoys. Christy found herself with the same familiarity. When she realized The Book Rack was being sold, memories of visiting the store with her mother came back to her. The Holy Spirit began whispering to her, encouraging her to reach out and pursue the opportunity to buy the bookstore. She believed God was calling her not only to manage The Book Rack, but to see
“Anything (you) could be interested in, we have,” said owner Christy Soloveichik of The Book Rack’s 30,000+ used books.
the store as an opportunity for ministry. for people throughout the Jackson area. Today, Christy not only owns and manages Christy says that, “If you’re a believer, life is the store, but she’s also been responsible for its a ministry — and this is a part of my worship expansion and growth. In January 2020, The to God, being used by Him to connect with Book Rack — which sat in the Canton Mart people through The Book Rack.” Square shopping center in northeast Jackson — Christy often prays with customers, shares moved to a larger space in the gospel with them, points Canton Mart Square. As the them to the perfect book, and store moved just around the takes time to connect with each Everyone who corner, it doubled in size and person who walks through the added a café, which offers door. She knows that “everyone walks through coffee, tea and Wi-Fi to who walks through our doors is our doors is customers as they browse created in the image of God.” created in the the store’s expansive used Today, you can visit The book selection. Book Rack at 1491 Canton image of God. Christy explained that The Mart Road, enjoy a cup of – Christy Soloveichik Book Rack offers every genre coffee, find a new book to read, of book imaginable — from and connect with others in the vintage to Mississippi authors, Jackson community. To make cookbooks, fiction, young adult, Christian and the experience easier, The Book Rack now has newly published favorites. Christy explained an option for readers to browse their collection that, for readers, “Anything they could be and order online via their website, or to do interested in, we have.” However, readers curbside pickup. No matter the season, The typically shop there because of the store’s Book Rack offers a wonderful selection of expansive collection of fiction, romance and books, community and hope.Y Christian living titles. While many come to the store interested in Sarah McLaughlin is a junior at Mississippi the collection it offers, Christy takes interest in College, and plans to graduate with a B.A. the customers themselves. Her mission and in English education. She attends vision for The Book Rack is a God-given one, as Pinehaven Presbyterian Church in Clinton. she believes God wanted her to make the store a You’ll often find her reading, listening to vinyl records, and drinking coffee. place of connection, inspiration and community
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30 JANUARY 2021 ❘ Mississippi Christian Living
I’ve worked as a coach, teacher, and administrator both at Hartfield and at other excellent schools. I’ve found that Hartfield Academy is different. The fulfillment I get from being a part of God working through our faculty is extremely rewarding. I truly feel like I’m a part of a school community that is making a difference in the lives of students, both now, and for years to come. -David Horner, Head of School
FIND YOUR WHY (601) 992-5333
hartfield.org
WINNER
mschristianliving.com ❘ JANUARY 2021 31
TOUGH QUESTIONS
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32 JANUARY 2021 ❘ Mississippi Christian Living
by BRENNA WEAVER, LPC
How do I remain hopeful in 2021? ANSWER: That is a great question!
perplexed, persecuted and struck down, but we The first thought that came to mind was, are not without hope. “Our only hope is in Jesus.” While true, it Another verse that came to mind as I seemed a bit trite and lacked practical considered your question was Hebrews 12:2. It application. So let us flesh it says, “Let us fix our eyes on out a bit. Jesus, the author and For many, 2020 was a perfecter of our faith, who for taxing year. There were (and the joy set before Him We are hard still remain) many endured the cross, scorning its pressed, perplexed, shame, and sat down at the uncertainties and lifealtering situations to persecuted and right hand of the throne of navigate. As I ponder the struck down, but God.” When there are year behind us, I am moments when you do not we are not reminded of 2 Corinthians feel particularly hopeful, look without hope. 4:8, “We are hard pressed on to Christ. every side, but not crushed; If reading the Word proves perplexed, but not in difficult, create a hymn or despair; persecuted but not abandoned; worship music playlist with songs that point to struck down, but not destroyed.” Jesus. Music is a good way to express the One way to remain hopeful in 2021 is to goodness of God and maintain hope. A favorite read God’s Word and reflect on His truth. song of mine is “In Christ Alone,” written by Find a verse or two that inspires you to hope Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. The very first and meditate on it daily. Maybe use a journal lines state, “In Christ alone my hope is found / to expand your thoughts on how and/or why He is my light, my strength, my song.” It cannot the verses help you. We are hard pressed, be any clearer than those words.
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A LAWYER’S TRUE THRILLER ABOUT “The Greatest Love Story Ever Told!”
No other set of books, except the Bible, will prepare the reader for an abundant life NOW and for a glorious ETERNITY better than Hallelujah, Love & War and The Sound of Glorious Marriage Music. These books can be reviewed and purchased at amazon.com. Select Books and type in “by Joe Ragland.”
“AgoraEversole has really guided us along the way and it has been a true partnership. We started with one store and now we have multiple locations and our e-commerce website.”
Also, you can pray that the Lord would increase your hope. Matthew 7:7 states, “Ask and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Prayer allows direct communication with our Heavenly Father. Go before Him and share your desire for hope in the new year. He hears (1 John 5:14, “And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us”), and He cares (1 Peter 5:7, “casting all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you”). Use a prayer notebook to write down your prayers. Pray about them with a friend or family member. Ask others to pray for you. Like Philippians 4:6 encourages, “make your requests known to God.” In 2021, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23). Happy New Year!
-Manda James
ATTY JOE RAGLAND, J.D., LL.M., LL.D.
Co-Owner, J. Olive Co.
Personal Injury Trial Attorney/Workplace Injuries Tel. 601-969-5050 • Info: www.raglandministries.org Click CONTACT to subscribe to Ragland Newsletters
Remember to Shop Local this holiday season!
You will be moved by the keepsake letter written from a father to his daughter diagnosed with leukemia that was inspired by the one common denominator to all things good — the act of giving. Now available at amazon.com
EGBO
Y Brenna Weaver is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Ridgeland working with clients 18 years and older. She has experience as a secondary education teacher and children’s therapist. When not working, she enjoys reading, eating good food, and traveling.
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egbosmiles.com mschristianliving.com ❘ JANUARY 2021 33
QUIPS & QUOTES ADVERTISER INDEX
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CUT OUT THE SCRIPTURES AND QUOTES AND PLACE THEM AROUND YOUR HOME FOR DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT!
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ADVERTISING PARTNERS
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AgoraEversole Marketing Agency ..............33 Belhaven University...................................................2
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ~ PHILIPPIANS 3:14, ESV
New Year’s Day is a good time to fix one’s eyes on the only One who knows what the year is to hold. ~ Elisabeth Elliot
Behold, I am making all things new. ~ from REVELATION 21:5, ESV
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
The Book Rack ..........................................................30 Broadmoor Baptist Church ..............................23 C Spire..................................................................................3 Canopy Children’s Solutions.............................21
~ ROMANS 12:2, ESV
Choose Life Mississippi ........................................13 Covenant Caregivers ..............................................15
Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. ~ HEBREWS 12:1B-2A, ESV
Everything’s Gonna Be Ok!...............................33 Fireplace Chimney Sweep Solutions........32 Gateway Rescue Mission...................................27 Hartfield Academy....................................................31 H.E.A.L. Mississippi ...................................................12
Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading. ~ Oswald Chambers
Ability is what you’re capable of doing, motivation determines what you do, attitude determines how well you do it. ~ Lou Holtz
Insight Group Real Estate .................................22 Joe Ragland .................................................................33 Lifeline Children’s Services...............................23 Mascagni Wealth Management ...................36 Miskelly Furniture ........................................................5
We are thankful for the past grace of last year, and we are confident in the future grace for the new year.
By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain.
Pegasus Senior Living.............................................7 Pine Grove Treatment Center............................9 Sitters, LLC....................................................................29
~ 1 CORINTHIANS 15:10A, ESV
Southern Farm Bureau Life
~ John Piper
Insurance Company ..........................................29 St. Andrew’s Episcopal School .........................11
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ~ 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17, ESV
~ EPHESIANS 2:10, ESV
St. Catherine’s Village ...........................................26 St. Dominic’s Comprehensive Stroke Center ..........................................................35 Stegall Imagery..........................................................23 Sunnybrook Estates ...............................................14
The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year, but rather that we should have a new soul. ~ G.K. Chesterton
TrustCare Kids..............................................................15 Twin Lakes ......................................................................31 Written in Stone, LLC.............................................32
34 JANUARY 2021 ❘ Mississippi Christian Living
Charles Lee
Brandon, MS
“Now I just want to praise the Lord, and say, ‘Thank You, St. Dominic’s!’”
One morning, father and husband Charles Lee of Brandon woke up to discover he was having a stroke. His wife called 911, and he was rushed to
St. Dominic’s Comprehensive Stroke Center where a team of experts removed an inch-long clot from his brain. Charles made a full recovery and is now back Comprehensive Stroke Center
stdom.com
to enjoying his favorite pastime: fishing.
Skilled Hands and Compassionate Hearts.
MASCAGNI WEALTH MANAGEMENT, INC. IS A REGISTERED INVESTMENT ADVISER REGISTERED WITH THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION.