Church Planter's Wife

We had lived in Louisiana for about eight months. It was culturally an adjustment moving from the Midwest to the South. It was fun learning the cultural norms. My children had to learn to say “Yes, ma’am” and “No, sir” instead of “Yes, please” and “No, thank you” or they would be corrected immediately, especially by the ladies. Northern manners don’t transfer to Louisiana. These are the fun learning experiences we had. But eight months into this church planting business and something I never expected occurred. 

It was Martin Luther King Day and I was taking my third child to one of her newborn appointments. It was just the two of us. My husband was thankfully keeping our oldest two at home. This is one of the joys of church planting—a somewhat flexible schedule. I digress. Anyways, I am loading our third child into the van to take her to a baby well-check and I see something in our driveway. I had grown accustomed to newspapers and ads in plastic bags in our driveway. So I walk toward the road to grab what I thought would be something routine, and instead I see something very unexpected. It was a plastic zippered sandwich bag with sand and pebbles inside along with a flyer. I thought to myself, “What a creative way to distribute information without it floating away.” This is where my fascination ended, because I read what was inside. It was a recruitment flyer for the KKK. Overnight, or in the wee hours of the morning, the KKK had driven by my house and threw their propaganda on my driveway! I was shaken up.

If you know me or my family you will know why this is so bothersome—aside from the fact that racism is disgusting and appalling. You see, my husband and I are an interracial couple, and racism is not something that is tolerated in our house. When I found this flyer, I felt violated. I felt unsafe. I could not believe what I was seeing. Thoughts came flooding in. “This is the 21st century right? Where did God send me and my family? Are we safe? Why would someone do this on MLK Day of all days?” Which is exactly why they did it. If these people knew who was inside our house sleeping when they placed the flyer in our driveway would their actions have been different? I don’t know and I don’t want to know. Thankfully I haven’t received any other recruitment materials from the KKK. Thankfully we have moved to a neighborhood where solicitation in general is prohibited, but I will never forget that MLK Day. And honestly this experience, along with a few others, have really helped to solidify our call as a family.

I am very thankful for all of the people that have gone before us to fight for racial equality so that my family can exist, so that my children get to experience a world where they have friends of all colors, shapes, and sizes. I hope that my children never experience the stings of racism. I hope the same things for you and for your family. God loves each of us. God created each of us. God loves diversity. We are all created in His image. Let’s keep that love going.