ImageWe are the Lee3 – Randall, Abby and Henry.  This is written from Abby’s perspective.

Randall is the leader of our trio. He was born and raised on a farm outside of Augusta,AR.  He has a love for the outdoors because of his upbringing.  He has wisdom beyond his years and the ability to fix just about anything. Jesus came to live in his heart at age 17. He earned an ag business degree at ASU and moved to Memphis,TN to go to work in the real world. This is where he met me.

I am Abby and I am the crazy glue that holds our little trio together. I was born and raised in Fort Smith,AR. My upbringing was different than Randall’s. I lived in a subdivision in the middle of town and had never visited a farm until I met his parents. I asked Jesus to come live in my heart at age 9. I earned a degree in speech communications/public relations at UCA, after attending OBU (the other one…in Oklahoma) and the community college in my hometown. I like to experience life a lot and it took me a while to learn what God’s direction was for me, as you can see! I met Randall on a blind date on New Year’s Eve during my last year of college. I moved to Memphis after finishing school to live with my aunt and uncle, with hopes Randall would ask me to marry him!

He did. Randall and I married in 2003, after meeting each other 13 months earlier. We just knew it was meant to be.  We lived in Memphis for about a year and then built a home outside of Byhalia,MS. I had never lived outside of city limits before, so it was a new experience for me. I grew to love it and the 45 minute commute to Memphis each day for work. We enjoyed serving in our local church and being able to travel in our spare time. We were content and comfortable and then God moved us.

Randall accepted a new job that required us to move to Jonesboro in the summer of 2008. It was a bittersweet time. I loved my job and having family near. I cried a river as I drove my car over the Mississippi River into my home state, knowing it was the last time I would cross it as a resident of Mississippi. God knew best though…He always does. We adapted to the change and slowly grew to love our new place in life, but felt something was missing.

That something was Henry Patton. He was born in December 2009. Our world is such a softer, more meaningful place because of Henry. Loving and teaching him about Jesus is such a sweet reward. It is so neat to see how God changes your priorities when you have a child. We are learning as we go and relying on God to show us how to help mold and make him into the man God wants Henry to be. Henry is full of personality and loves life. He is strong-willed and passionate about his things and his people. I pray God uses all of these traits to do great things for the kingdom. Henry loves to pray and sing his Bible songs. It is the sweetest sound in the whole world.

Our trio came to Nettleton after a long and exhausting search for a church to call home. We started visiting in late 2010 and joined in May of 2011. We were able to dedicate Henry on the same day we joined the church. It was such a blessing to find a church family to attach ourselves to. The love and acceptance extended to us by NBC has been more than we could have ever asked for. The preschool ministry is what has made the biggest impression on us. The way they have loved Henry and cared for him from the very beginning touched our hearts. We hope our family extends that same love that was shown to us. It is a joy to serve and also be served at Nettleton Baptist Church.