Ever since Angela Smith’s son and daughter were born, she’s been passionate about helping them get an education that puts God at the center.
“I wanted to homeschool my children. I just really wanted God to be personal to them in everything that they learned,” she said. “I wanted them to know God was their Creator, and I wanted them to be able to learn Scripture in with their math and their history.”
That was the first thing that came to mind when leaders at North Phenix Baptist Church, Phenix City, approached her about becoming the church’s part-time secretary in 2008. It felt like something that might draw her away from the commitment she had made to her children.
“But I talked to the pastor, and he said we could put a desk in the office, and I could homeschool them there, as long as I didn’t mind having flexible hours,” Smith said.
They decided to try it, and it worked.
About eight years later, nearby Emmanuel Baptist Church began sharing North Phenix’s facilities while they built their new building, and Smith began helping them occasionally on a volunteer basis.
“When they moved into their new building, their pastor said, ‘Would you be interested in being a part-time secretary at Emmanuel in the morning and come to North Phenix in the afternoon?’ I told him my husband and I would pray about it,” Smith said. “But I knew quickly that the Lord was leading me to do that.”
They made the same arrangement as North Phenix — Smith could homeschool her children at church. Everything worked great.
And a few years later, she and her husband, Victor, found out another way God was using her situation as an unexpected financial help — their daughter, Victoria, wanted to go to Judson College.
‘Fell in love’
“When she toured Judson, she just fell in love,” Smith said. “I thought, ‘The Lord will have to pay for this, because I don’t know how this is going to happen.’”
They talked with staff members of the financial aid office, and Smith told them she was a church secretary — at two churches.
It wasn’t long before leaders at Judson decided Smith’s two part-time positions could count as one full-time position to make her eligible for the secretary’s dependent grant at the college.
“I worked just enough hours to make that possible,” Smith said. “It took care of a lot of her school.”
A step ahead
God was always a step ahead of them, she said, and once again He was paving the way for the Smith children’s education.
“He knew exactly what we needed when we needed it.”
And that didn’t stop. When North Phenix Baptist decided to close its doors in late 2020, the church that moved into its building — New Beginning Baptist Church — decided to keep Smith on as their secretary.
And North Phenix left behind enough money to pay for Smith’s position until June to help them get started.
“All I can do is brag on the Lord,” Smith said.
And Victoria, who finished her classwork in December and graduated from Judson on April 30, is already teaching fourth grade at an elementary school in Seale.
“She’s loving it, and they love her,” Smith said. “The Lord has blessed her.”
He’s blessed all of them, she said. “Nothing happens by accident with the Lord, and I strongly believe that.”
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