Everyone has a story about their lives. Not many share their stories, and even fewer disclose the hard times — those that have a stigma and are embarrassing to talk about.
When Lisa Stamps, author, former pastor’s wife and retired educator, felt impressed by the Lord to tell her “whole story” — even the “thorny times” — she resisted.
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She told the Lord, “No. I’ve spent my life hiding those so that my family would appear perfectly whole,” she said. “Robert had been in the ministry for so long. He was a deacon for 20-something years and a pastor for 10. You know people expect you to be perfect and he had battled depression, and he had battled addiction and been to Bradford twice.”
But she obeyed God’s prompting even though it wasn’t easy.
“For anybody to be useful, you’ve got to lay down everything — your pride, everything,” Stamps said.
Highs and lows
Stamps recently retired from being one of the few female public school superintendents in Alabama. Having only finished the 10th grade, she had to overcome a lot to get the education needed for this profession. After her father’s death, the family lived off the land and barely made it financially. Isolated, Stamps didn’t learn about the world outside her community until her late teenage years.
“We just had to be tough, and we just had to be strong, and we just had to keep going,” Stamps said.
In her recent release, “Anchors in My Sea,” Stamps discloses the highs and the lows — and much more.
“I’ve sat here and listed the themes of the book and there are a million. It’s a love story of the South. It’s about the devotion between a husband and wife. It talks about country ways and the importance of family and roots.
“It’s coming-of-age. It’s that faith can see you through everything. It’s about perseverance and determination, and it’s about overcoming struggles and tragedy. It’s about setting and reaching goals and going from a high school dropout to a doctorate, and it’s talking about having hope of eternity through it all.
“But the biggest theme of the book is Hebrews 6:19 — that He is my Anchor, firm and secure,” she said.
It also includes the battle over depression and addiction that her first husband had even while serving as a deacon, a Sunday School teacher and later as a pastor. Eventually, he took his own life.
Stamps now understands how important it is to share that part of her story.
“After Robert passed, so many preachers, it seemed like, took their lives. There is a stigma and has to be this unpeeling of layers that those of us in the ministry who were left behind deal with when death comes by choice.
“I think that Christians need to understand that pastors need help. They need encouragement. They need to be looked at as normal human beings. I think it’s something that we automatically think — that pastors are a level above. We do hold them in high esteem, but we do want them to be healthy mentally and physically. We should be ministering to them as well,” she said.
Community is another vital component of Stamps’ life. She may have grown up poor, but it was in a small, tightly knit community. Thus, she has always prioritized surrounding herself with others and staying connected in church.
Stamps began a grief ministry after her husband passed, having “felt the Lord call her to help others during their journey of loss.” For years she reached out and shared resources with others in the same boat.
Through this ministry, she met a man who lost his wife to cancer — Jerry McDonald. Months of talking every day about their experiences with loss led to meeting for dinner. This led to dating.
‘Doubly blessed’
Though Stamps recognizes that not all stories have happy endings, they were married in June 2025. Active at Winfield Baptist Church, they feel they are “doubly blessed” and love serving each other and their families.
“You know, the older you get in the faith as a Christian, you really see a lot. You’re not just like Thomas where you say, ‘I won’t believe until I see.’ But you’ve seen a lot so you do know it. You know the Lord has walked with you through other hard times, and you know there is no other.
“You may feel angry — not necessarily at God but you do feel angry. You have all the emotions that a lost person has, but you know that the Lord has walked with you and proven Himself. And you just know that’s the only place to go. You just realize that He is closer than a brother, and He is a Father to us fatherless.
“I want everyone to know He is the Anchor — firm and secure through all the deep waters that they will go through. But with the hardships, we can really enjoy and be thankful for the good times because that’s more of a taste of what heaven’s going to be like. I just think we just need to remind ourselves that He is our Father through the good times and the bad times and that He will be with us in the deep waters.”
“Anchors in My Sea” can be found at Amazon and other major book retailers.
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