I was raised
in the Mount Carmel area of Hawkins County until the eighth grade when we moved
to Indian Springs. I lived there until I graduated from Central High School in
1971. I then went to Tennessee Technological University, where I met Erwin. We
dated for several years before we decided to get married in 1975. We both
graduated that year with degrees in Engineering-Erwin in Civil Engineering and
me in Chemical Engineering. We moved to Ohio and worked there for about a year
and then moved to Oak Ridge and worked there for a year. Then we moved to Mount
Carmel for a year and then to South Carolina while Erwin worked at Eastman.
Then he was transferred to Holston Defense and then to
Eastman, where he retired from in 2009. In all these times I stayed home and
was mother to three children -- Jonathan, Benjamin, and Sarah. Both boys are
now married and they each have two children. So now I have four
grandchildren-two boys and two girls. They are a thrill and a joy to me. Just
as our children were getting out and on with their lives, I developed breast
cancer. By God’s grace I didn’t have much trouble with the chemo or the
radiation. Then three years later I developed angiosarcoma and had a
recurrence three years after that. I am fine and with God’s help I haven’t
had any trouble along the way.
I was saved
when I was a young girl about 10 years old. We lived in Mount Carmel then and I
had excellent teachers and examples to live by. After we moved to Indian
Springs we went to church at Indian Springs for a while and then to Gunnings
Baptist Church. While in college I took part in the Baptist Student Union and
traveled with their choir for concerts. After Erwin and I moved here we started
going to Indian Springs Baptist and have been here ever since. We worked for
several years with going on disaster relief projects for the Red Cross. It was
always good to be able to help and give God the glory for what we could do. I
do like to write cards to encourage others and don’t do that often enough. But
even more I want to pray for people, our church, and our country.
As you can
see I have lived a pretty normal life and continue to do so. I like to stay in
the back ground and keep quiet. The best thing about my life is that God has
let me lead a quiet life with my family even in the midst of turmoil.
~ Submitted by Kathy Neal
ISBC Women's Ministry
Communications Coordinator
