Sherri Burgess had it all.
As the wife of Rick Burgess of morning radio’s The Rick & Bubba Show, Sherri Burgess enjoyed a wonderful life. She had a strong marriage, beautiful children and lived in a good neighborhood.
“We were happy,” she said. “Life was great.”
Then on Jan. 19, 2008, tragedy struck and the Burgess family was devastated. The Burgesses’ two-and-a-half-year-old son, Bronner, drowned in the family pool.
“I didn’t expect this earth-shaking suffering to come my way,” she said.
But “during the months following Bronner’s death, the Lord came close. Stepping back, I see the bigger plan.”
It was in 2007 that Burgess felt God calling her to speak to women, but she didn’t know the topic.
In November of 2007, Gena Rutledge, coordinator for Birmingham-based MOMS — Making Our Mothering Significant — invited Burgess to speak at the group’s kickoff meeting in January 2008.
“I told [Sherri] God impressed upon my heart for me to ask her,” Rutledge said. “She got excited and told me God had laid it on her heart six months earlier that she was supposed to be speaking to women.”
Burgess said she saw Rutledge’s invitation as a confirmation from God about what she felt was a calling.
“During that time, I prayed and asked God to give me His message, Burgess said. “I had no idea God was using that time in His Word to prepare me for the days to come.”
And in those days to come she found the reason for the preparation.
“The day of her first scheduled speaking engagement (with MOMS) ended up being the very morning of Bronner’s memorial service,” Rutledge noted. “Although unable to be there, Sherri felt God had given her a clear message from His Word that morning.”
“Sherri gave us her notes,” Rutledge said. “Brenda Ladun (of ABC 33/40), who also was speaking that morning, read Sherri’s notes word for word. It was so precious.”
And from that point on, Burgess began sharing her journey through suffering with women and has witnessed God at work. She also made it back to a MOMS event in the fall of 2008.
“So many people have come to know the Lord because of Bronner’s death,” she said.
Her first opportunity to speak came in May 2008, three months after Bronner’s death, at First Baptist Church, Center Star, in Killen, in Colbert-Lauderdale Baptist Association.
“I cried all the way up there and back,” she said. “That church was important to me because I feel that is where my ministry began. There was a sense of a new beginning inside that church.
“Each time I have spoken, there has been healing occurring, knowing there is a purpose. I know God has His hand on me. He is leading me and I have given Him the reins of my life.”
In August 2008, Burgess spoke at her home church, Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Vestavia Hills, in Birmingham Baptist Association.
Susan Forehand, director of women’s ministries at Shades Mountain Baptist, said, “So many women prayed and walked with her through it all. We wanted to hear what God had been teaching her if she was ready to speak about it.
“She’s humble and not afraid to ask God some tough questions. She continues to be a wonderful example of how one walks through this kind of tragedy. She goes back to the source for all her answers — God.”
Sheila Keedy, director of women’s ministries at Gardendale’s First Baptist Church in North Jefferson Baptist Association, said Burgess’ visit with the women there earlier this year is still being discussed.
“They keep talking about the strength they saw in her as well as how confident she was in her relationship with God,” Keedy said. “The hope she shared in her message, though painful, has great purpose.”
Burgess explained, “The cross is where we need to go when we experience suffering. There we see God’s love and purpose.
“This life is just a journey we are taking to get to our real life. Here, God is refining us to be the people He wants to get us ready for true life in heaven.
“I have learned my life isn’t about happiness. It is about me growing to be more holy because God is holy.”
To contact Burgess, e-mail sherriburgess@mac.com.
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