Barb Hicks

The first outing of my life was to church. As a young child I sat on the pews of the church Sunday morning, evening, midweek and all special services. When I was old enough I began attending the Children’s Church. Basically all I remember from that time was we sang songs. There is one song that was etched into my memory that the Lord would later use as one of the memories I heard as He was       drawing me to Him. It was “give me EARL in my lamp, keep me burning.” The mispronunciation of “oil” has never left my memory. By the time I was 6, my parents stopped taking us to church but occasionally I attended with my grandmother and my uncle who was an evangelist. When I was between 10 and 13 I attended a mainline denominational church with my neighbors. I had knowledge of Jesus but I do not remember any experience of salvation until I went to a Billy Graham meeting in Pittsburgh. I remember my sister and I both going forward in response to the altar call. I never had anyone to mentor me or disciple me so that was a short lived commitment.

I went through some difficult circumstances as a teenager. My friend Jim was in the military stationed in Viet Nam and we would write to each other. He always said he was going to marry me. He received his honorable discharged after his 14 month tour of duty in Viet Nam in October. That is when we began to date. We became engaged on Christmas and married the following May. I was only 17 and I was so happy with my life and excited to be married. After only a short time, things in our marriage started to fall apart. Jim had PTSD from his service in Viet Nam and at that time, this was an untreated condition for discharged veterans. I also had unhealed trauma issues in my life. I began attending church again and I even was the youth leader. I was in church but I was not in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things become new.”

I had the desire to have a baby but at the medical opinions of three doctors I was told I was physically unable to have a baby. One evening after youth group, as I was leaving the church, the Lord spoke to me that was I was going to have a son. Three months later I was pregnant with my son. Three years later I had my second baby, a little girl. Again the doctors told me, I could never have another baby. As time went on, my marriage continued falling apart. After ten years of marriage and having two small children, I filed for divorce.

Several months had passed and we had our preliminary hearing for the divorce. My attorney told me it would still be several months before the divorce would be final. However, when we went to court on that Friday, the Judge had other plans. He told us to come back to court on Tuesday, the day after Labor Day, and our divorce would be final. I went home that day feeling ok with the decision the Judge had made but God had other plans. That evening my nephew, 10 years old, had run away from home. My husband Jim had stopped at the house to make arrangements to take the children over the weekend.  I told him about our nephew and he decided to go help look for him. While he was gone, the Lord spoke to me again for the second time of my life. He said, “If you go through with this divorce, this is the kind of life your children will live.” I knew He was referring to the fact my nephew’s parents were divorced and I had seen the hurt, anger, sadness and destruction that divorce had on his life.

When Jim returned to the house, having no luck finding our nephew, I told him that maybe we could go to church on Sunday one last time as a family, if I didn’t have to work. He agreed. I really thought I would be working because I had volunteered to work over the holiday weekend. When I went to work the next day, my name was not on the schedule to work so I let Jim know that we could go to church.

On Sunday we went to church together as a family. There was a Gideon speaker talking about putting Bibles in the hospitals and passing out bibles to all of the 5th graders at public schools. At the end of the Gideon’s talk, the pastor gave an altar call. Jim and I both went forward and gave our lives to Christ. We went back to church together that evening although we had not reconciled. On Tuesday morning, my telephone rang. It was my attorney. He said “I don’t know what happened but the Judge has postponed your divorce indefinitely.” I had our son call Jim and tell him he could come home. We attended church regularly and we became involved in ministry. I was a Sunday School teacher and together we led the Children’s Church Ministry. We were good church attendees but we did not put enough time and effort into developing a relationship with the Lord or each other. Our marriage always seemed to be on a roller coaster and we were never sure if it would survive.

I spent much time studying the Bible and searching for answers. The Holy Spirit led me to begin writing the things I was learning. I showed it to my pastor and he encouraged me to continue to study and write because not only would it help Jim and I in our marriage, my pastor wanted me to share it with other couples. Jim and I began small groups in our home using the materials I had written. Many couples said their marriages were saved from divorce because of the teaching they received and applied to their lives. Jim and I had dealt with many major issues in our marriage. As we began to work through those things the Lord healed our marriage. We learned that doing things our way or the way we had been taught was not always the right way. We needed to apply the Word of God to every area of our lives, including our marriage, in order to be prosperous and successful in our relationship.

We spent the last 20 years of our life together working for the Lord and serving others. Jim began his own business and I worked as the Business Administrator at our church and bookkeeper for Jim’s business. Before beginning that position at the church, the Lord had directed my steps so I could become a certified tax preparer. That knowledge was also beneficial to where the Lord was taking me and it was the direct link to my position at the church. The Lord has used that training over and over again to help many different churches with payroll tax issues and various needs in the ministry.

Through a mutual friend I was introduced to Chris and Coria. From the first time we met, there was a connection between us. From that first meeting I always knew it was a God connection and that somehow the Lord was connecting us together for more than just friendship. Once again my knowledge with church financial issues became the link that the Lord used to connect me to this ministry.

A lifelong dream since childhood was to become an author. Over the years I have written many different teaching materials, Christmas plays and other materials for churches. After several prophetic words all confirming that I would write several books, I wrote and published  my first children’s book in 2018 followed by another book a year later.

In 2021 my marriage ended. After several major health issues and Covid, my precious Jim went home to be with the Lord. This has been the hardest event of my life that I have ever experienced. The Lord has promised to be my husband and to take care of the widows. I thank God that He has surrounded me with people who care for me and help me through this part of my journey. He has always been faithful to me and I know He always will be faithful to me. I will never understand the reason why Jim had to go so soon but I chose to trust the Lord. He is sovereign and He knows what is best and necessary.

Obviously the plans the Lord has for my life are not complete at this time. I know that part of those plans is with Life with Christ. It is exciting to be a part of what the Lord is doing in this earth. To see lives changed and hope restored. To see the purposes and call of God come alive in so many as they find their value and identity in Christ. It is amazing to see the Lord work through the dedication of two people to fulfill the call of God on their lives as they touch the lives of so many to bring salvation, healing, hope and restoration through the Word of God, all to the glory of God.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."
​Proverbs 3:5-6