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Dear Women,
Carl and I have been married nearly 27 years. We met while I was a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and he was on the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ. I thought he was "too godly" to be thinking of a relationship when he asked me to go to dinner in the fall of my senior year. So I went feeling safe. I offered to pay for myself, and the rest, as they say, is history. Nine months later we married, headed to Colorado for CCC staff training, and then to Duke University in Durham, North Carolina where Carl and I would open the CCC ministry.
Those were fruitful years. Most of the students, especially those in that first year, are serving Christ all over the world: Japan, Africa, China, America . . . it is amazing. God gave us many spiritual children. We loved them with all our hearts, imparting not only the gospel of God to them but our very lives. They became very dear to us. They still are.
Those years at Duke were also the years when I was told we may never have physical children due to a severe problem with endometriosis. But we knew that if God withheld children from us, it would be for our good and for His glory. There is something incredibly awesome about trusting God's sovereignty. However, resting in His sovereignty did not mean there was not sadness in my heart over this news.
Well, God intervened. Jeremy and Jordan were both born while we were at Duke. And we remembered the prayer we prayed on our knees on our wedding night. We asked God to give us children only if we would be faithful to raise them according to His ways. Not our way. Not the world's ways. His ways. It has not been easy in this worldly culture ~ but it has been right.
After serving at Duke, Carl enrolled at Dallas Theological Seminary and for the next five years of our lives we lived in Texas. He completed and earned his ThM and then went on to Southwestern Baptist Seminary where he earned his doctorate. He also served on the staff of a large Baptist Church as Pastor of Evangelism. While in Texas, GraceAnna and Grant were born.
After Texas, we moved to Beaufort, South Carolina where a little church asked Carl to serve as pastor. That was twelve years ago. If you want to find out more about that "little church," you can click on the CBC link on this website. It is a great church, filled with great people, and every day many more are trusting Christ. Reading about the growing, dynamic church in the book of Acts reminds me of Community Bible Church. Depth and breadth. My husband is a man of impeccable character. When he bleeds, he bleeds the gospel of Christ, his family, and God's church. He loves the people whom God has given him to shepherd.
I see my role in the church like I see my role in our home. Carl's helper.
While in Beaufort, Jameson was born. Now, to let you know just a little about our children:
Jeremy is 26 now and graduated from Liberty University in December of 2003. While a student he served as a Spiritual Life Director for a floor of men and God used him greatly to train floor leaders how to effectively share the gospel with students. He lives in Washington, DC and works in the Bush Administration,office of the Vice President. He's now marriedto a wonderful young woman, Chesed, whom he met at Capitol Hill Baptist Church.
Jordan is 24 and married to his beautiful wife Maureen and they now live in Atlanta where he is working for Bain and Company. He just graduated from Harvard Business School. In May of 2006, they blessed Carl and me with our first grandbaby, Jack Edward Broggi! Then in March of 2008, they blessed us again with our second grandbaby, Luke Alexander Broggi! Jordan got his undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina in Columbia. While there, he served as an RA and led a Bible study on his floor. He was involved in the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ and God used him to lead men to Christ. Still does!
GraceAnna is 22 and just graduated from Clemson University where she majored in early childhood education and was very involved in the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. This fall she is going to Duke University to serve on staff fulltime with Campus Crusade.
Grant is 19 and just finished his second year at the Citadel. He is doing an internship this summer at the White House. He is awesome, has an evangelistic heart just like his father, and makes me laugh everyday. I so miss his presence in our home.
Jameson is 15 and will be a sophomore in high school this next year. He is an avid runner and very disciplined. He is my "baby" yet is becoming a man of God. Well, really they are all my babies.
I am not ashamed or embarrassed to say that apart from my God and my husband, my children are my life. I count it a tremendous blessing and responsibility to have Jeremy, Jordan, GraceAnna, Grant and Jameson. Carl and I welcomed them into our home and always thought we would be welcoming more. But these are the children God has given us. He is God. He can do whatever He wants. My life and my heart are in His hands.
God says that He gives seventy years to us or if due to strength, eighty. I, like Moses, want to present to Him a heart of wisdom with every year as I get older and as I watch my children grow up and leave home. I want God to teach me to number my days.
And that's one of the reasons for this website. See, for some reason, I not only care about my family, my husband, my children ~ I care about yours.
It is my deepest desire to be a small part of bringing revival to the hearts of mothers. A mother can change the world by taking seriously the role God has entrusted to her. Just think about Jochebed. About Hannah. About Elizabeth. About Mary. About Eunice. See, we're in good company. And I want to encourage you with all that is within me to be faithful to your charge.
Love, audrey
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