With love, anything is possible: an interview with Rachel Ammons

 I would like to introduce you to four of my very precious friends from College Church of Christ. These four beautiful ladies agreed to share their testimonies, in an interview format, at our annual Ladies' Night on Sept. 5, 2014. Each lady represents an different segment of womanhood and motherhood, and I believe you will be truly encouraged by each story. Today, I will start with the story shared by Rachel Ammons:

RACHEL AMMONS

Rachel Ammons is a mother of two young children, her daughter, Riley, is 2, and her son, Sage, is 3 1/2 months old. Rachel is married to Kris. 

Rachel was born in South Korea in 1978, where she was left as an orphan as a tiny baby. Through God's grace, Rachel was adopted by her parents, Ron and Carol Chitwood, who were stationed in Japan with the Air Force at the time. Her parents especially requested a little girl because they knew the fate of girl orphans. They were left to make their living on the street, as prostitutes, while the boy orphans were abuducted into the military when they were "of age". Rachel has since discovered, through research, that she was adopted through an organization headed by a godly man named Dr. Kim who prayed over each and every baby who was adopted (around 45,000 of them!)

Rachel grew up in Kansas with parents who loved her and taught her to love God. She played all kinds of sports, and became good enough at soccer to win a college scholarship. Although Rachel's mom was more of a homemaker and Rachel was more of a tom boy growing up, they became very close as adults. Rachel and her mom talked on the phone pretty much every day, just to catch each other up on their lives.

Rachel's mom, Carol, loved children and looked forward to being a wonderful grandma! She taught cradle roll in their local church and would be a "local grandma" to the families stationed in the military in their church.

When Rachel and Kris moved to Clovis and were expecting a baby, it seemed like the perfect time for Rachel's mom to move to California and be near her grandbaby-to-be! But, her mom had been taken very ill by this time and was not able to travel. Rachel's mom was a hard-worker and the forced-rest from her illness was very difficult for her, but she was in a great deal of pain.

Carol Chitwood was blessed to meet her granddaughter, Riley, once, before Carol passed away, when Riley was six months old. 

It has left Rachel and Kris with many happy memories of Carol, with her wonderful hospitality and hard work on behalf of others. While Rachel misses her mother every day, she is grateful that her mother is not in pain anymore, and that she is using her gifts to serve Jesus and the other saints in heaven!

When Rachel was asked what the best gift her mother gave her was, she thought about it, because her mother was such an intensely loving and giving woman. She remembered a time, years ago, when her mother hosted a baby shower for an unwed mother in her church. It was considered kind of scandalous at the time and many of the parishioners did not attend the shower. But, Carol Chitwood insisted on showing the love of God, even to people who don't get everything right in this life.

"My mother believed," Rachel said, "that, with love, anything is possible!"

Posted by Mama O.