Born in Dickenson County, VA, I was a late Christmas baby (Dec. 27, 1943). My family
consisted of wise and loving parents, an older and a younger sister, and an older brother. Yes, I was the middle of 3 girls!! I could always brag to my siblings that I was the only one of us whom Daddy never spanked (but Mother sure got me). I could walk to both sets of my grandparents’ homes and my favorite grandparent was my maternal grandfather “Daddy Tom”, whose hair I braided and then tied it in a knot because I did not have a ribbon or band to put on the braid. My “Daddy Tom” just laughed! I could do no wrong in his eyes. I have always had a mischievous streak, and it is a task to keep it under control! (sigh) I am SOOOOOO glad God has a sense of humor.
My local elementary school was a “2-room, entrance way, and 2 cloak room” building. Our rest
room was an “out house”. 1st and 4th grades attended the first half of the day; 2nd and 3rd grades
the second half of the day and somehow we learned everything our city counterparts learned (And paddling was allowed, but the only paddling I ever got at school was in the 3rd grade, and I did not deserve that one. But, I am sure there were others I did deserve but did not get). I started band in the 8th grade playing the trumpet and helped write one of our band’s field shows in my senior year.
I am married to Allen Harbin from Morristown, TN. We will celebrate our 48th anniversary in November. Our first home as newlyweds was in St. Louis, MO, where Allen worked for McDonnell Aircraft. After two years there, Allen went to work for Sperry Farragut in Bristol, TN, and we have lived in northeast Tennessee ever since except for one year in the Philadelphia, PA, area when our children were 5 and 3 years old.
I am the mother of Kevin and Brent Harbin, mother-in-law of Jennifer and Robin, grandmother to Morgan, Ethan, Elaina, Rebecca, Natalie, and Caroline Harbin and love every minute of it!
Hobbies I enjoy are: reading, sewing, fishing, camping, and traveling, but it is difficult to find
time for hobbies. I tell my children and grandchildren that when I become 80 years old (difficult
to believe that is only 11 ½ years away), I plan to get a motorcycle and learn to spit and whistle. I
don’t really plan to do that, but I seriously do not want to be a “dull” or grumpy old lady!
I cannot remember a time in my life when I was not attending church and Sunday School. Although my name was on a church role and I had been baptized, I was not a Christian until that year spent in the Philadelphia, PA area (at the age of 30) and friendship with a dear lady my own age from eastern North Carolina, whom the Holy Spirit gave the ability to see herself in me. She too had been a lost “church member” and she meant to be my friend whether or not I wanted her to be my friend. About 4 months after meeting her, I was finally able to confide in her that I was afraid I was not saved. We prayed together. Finally, one Friday morning as I was driving Kevin to kindergarten, I was talking out loud to God and telling Him that I had done everything that He said I needed to do to be saved and that I needed to know for sure, and He responded then and there with the realization that I was saved. Kevin and Brent probably thought their mom had lost her mind – driving, talking out loud to God, and then saying “I am saved, I AM SAVED”—then starting to giggle with happiness and relief. I will never forget the wondrous awareness that I had taken one step, and it was a step that transported me from darkness into a world of light. I had never realized before that I was living in darkness and that this world of light had been there all the time, but I was unable to see it because, in my own power, I was unable to believe that God would save ME. I could not wait to get back to the church to tell my new family what had happened. Every time I hear or sing Amazing Grace, the words “how precious did that Grace appear the hour I first believed” evoke the memory of where I was and what I was doing
the “hour I first believed.”
My niche in the church for 27 years was the youth and college student ministries and I sang in the choir most of the time. We joined ISBC in May, 1987, and have LOVED being a part of this wonderful church body. I continue to teach Sunday School (the age group has changed a few years) and I hope to get back to the choir very soon.
My professional life has been spent as an RN mainly on Medical, Psych, Oncology, and Same Day Services at Holston Valley Medical Center. I CONTINUE spending my professional life: now working part-time for Wellmont at corporate as a Transfer Coordinator/Nurse Consultant and as needed at the Regional Eye Surgery Center.
My favorite song is “Great is Thy Faithfulness” and my favorite scripture is Colossians 2:13b-14 “He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
having cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was
hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."
Submitted by Kathy Neal
Communications Coordinator
