God Wastes Nothing

I am one of those blessed people in life.  Don’t get me wrong, my life has not been perfect but it has been good. One of my favorite sayings is that “God wastes nothing.”  He uses everything to mold us into who He created us to be.

I am a daughter to Jimmie and Patsy Griffith.  I am a sister to Sharron and Tonya.  I am the wife of Randy Howard and mother to Jessica, Destiny, Olivia and Zachary. I am mom-in-law to Brant, Donny, Isaiah and Kara. I am Nana to Chloe, Maximus, Aubree, Nicholas, Titus, Annabelle, Justus, Azariah, Raelin, Jaxon, Zion, Brooke and others who are yet to be born!  I’m Auntie to a few nieces and a bunch of nephews.  More than any of these, I’m a follower of Jesus Christ and I hope that everything in my life is defined first by His name.

 I grew up in a Christian home in which my mom and dad provided a safe and happy haven for my two younger sisters and me. When my parents pass from this life, they’ll not leave us with a lot of money and monetary things to put in yard sales.  The inheritance that they have given us is in memories that created a happy childhood and healthy adulthood.  I’m privileged to have a father who absolutely loves my mother with his whole heart and has committed his life to her. I also have a mother who returns the same affection and life dedication to him.  Together they teamed to provide a wonderful home for us girls.  What more can a child want?  I left my parent’s home to marry my high school sweetheart at the young age of twenty-one.  August 20, 2014, we celebrated our 32^nd wedding anniversary.  My husband is my hero and a man that I completely adore.  All of those years have not been perfect.  A few were quite difficult in fact.  On our 25^th anniversary, Randy surprised me with a trip to Turtle Bay in Hawaii.  While there one evening, we were having dinner when I raised my wine glass to him in a toast, “To twenty-three wonderful years!”  Randy looked at me in slight confusion and said “We’ve been married twenty-five years.”  I said with a smile, “True, but a few of them weren’t very good.”  He thought for a split second, raised his glass and agreed, “To twenty-three wonderful years!” 

Yes, most of the time has been pretty amazing but the hard years are what helped to shape the good ones.  The hard years are always reminders of what is valuable and worth working and fighting for.  Sadly, I know that there are many who have different stories than I have.  My husband has served in the role of a Senior Pastor for over 25 years and was a youth pastor prior to that.  I have counseled hundreds, if not thousands, of precious people throughout the years that have had poor to very bad childhoods.  They’ve looked at me with tears in their eyes telling me of the horrors that they have suffered through.  With compassion, I urge them to “BE what you wanted”.  Be the mother/father that you wanted.  Be the husband/wife that you wanted your mother/father to have.   Be it.  As a servant and disciple of Jesus Christ, it is my call and passion to see men and women have healthy and happy marriages that mirror what God designed marriage to be.  God has given me a vision to see moms and dads raise their children to serve all of their days for Jesus Christ.  I do not believe for a second that this is an impossible dream or goal.  Jesus’ final prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane included, “Father, may they be one, as You and I are One, ….  So that the world will know that You sent Me.”  My heart is to see this prayer request of our darling Savior answered.  We must become “one” in our homes so that we can be “one” with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Having a happy, healthy marriage does not just happen.  Having your children become God-seeking and serving teenagers and adults does not just happen.  We have to determine that we will not fail at it.  Good intentions are not enough.  We must plan it and then work out the details of seeing it brought into reality and not just good Christian rhetoric and lingo.  Let’s do it!  Being a perfect parent or husband/wife is not a pre-requisite to seeing this come about.  If it were, this would be an impossible task.  But it’s not impossible.  With God, All things are possible, right?  So, why not this?  Isn’t He big enough?  Yes.  He is.  Let’s be the generation that becomes the answer to that prayer our Lord prayed so many years ago.  So that the world will know…………. 

All About Me

Hi! I'm Tammy Howard. I am a southern girl living in a west coast world. My husband, Randy, and I are the senior pastors of The Gate Church of the High Desert in Victorville, California.

We have 4 children, Jessica, Destiny, Olivia and Zachary, who are all married and have children of their own. In total, we currently have 12 grandchildren and 1 on the way. I am from Atlanta, Georgia but we have now lived in southern California for 14 years.

Our passion is to guide families through the ups and downs of raising Godly children in this difficult modern world. My blog is set up to share the things we have learned while raising our own four children as well as many other revelations the Lord has shared with me throughout my life.

I hope you will enjoy the stories and the things that I plan to share with you. With four children all within 4 years of each other, we have had our fill of chaos, struggles, laughter, tragedy, adventure and so much more! Please click the "Follow" link at the top right of the page to connect with my blog. Feel free to leave any questions you may have about our family, our life, (or any of the things I share in my posts) in the comments section at the bottom of each post. I promise to respond to everything I can.

Also, if you enjoy my blog, please share with your friends and family. Thank you and be blessed!

TammyMicshelle