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To God be the Glory 9/14/2009 Editor’s Note: Lisa Miller has been in the middle of an exhausting battle for the custody of her six-year-old daughter, Isabella. Lisa, a former lesbian and now born-again Christian, is being challenged by her former partner, Janet Jenkins, a woman who has no biological ties to Isabella and hasn’t seen her since the child was two.
Close to fifty people gathered outside the Winchester Court House on August 25, 2009, for the prayer support rally for the Lisa Miller hearing. It was a strong turnout, with teenagers from the school Isabella attended while living in Winchester comprising a large portion of the crowd.
The theme for the rally was, “To God be the Glory for the great things He has done and is doing in Lisa and Isabella’s lives.”
Pastor Wright of Keystone Baptist in Berryville opened the rally with the reading of the Virginia State Constitution (which should be protecting Isabella and Lisa). It was after one of Pastor Wright’s sermons that Lisa accepted Christ as her Savior.
Patricia Phillips, former State Director for Concerned Women for America (CWA), spoke. I also spoke; I’m a former lesbian and current member of CWA. Both Patricia and I had attended the rally that took place on the same steps over five years ago when this real-life drama began.
Debbie Thurman, Christian author, publicist, and founder of theformers.com, an online community resource for former homosexuals and those struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction, also spoke.
Several press outlets covered the event, and Katherine Nelson of Crusade Radio facilitated an international radio broadcast of the rally on the Wiley Drake Show.
After the rally, most of the crowd went upstairs to take seats inside the courtroom, sitting in silent prayer while waiting for Lisa’s case. As expected, however, Judge Sharp emptied the court room of spectators just before the hearing began.
Some supporters then went outside, while others prayed with one another in the hall outside the courtroom. The double doors leading into the courtroom had two vertical glass panels which, though covered to some extent, still allowed an obscured view of the witness stand from the hallway.
Once Lisa appeared through that window, the prayers for her increased.
As the noon hour approached, we anticipated the hearing would end, and it did.
The first person to exit the court room was Rebecca Glenberg, the ACLU lawyer for the other side. From the look on her face and the rush she was in to leave, we suspected that the hearing had not gone as she had hoped. Our nerves began to relax just a bit.
Lisa’s support team then exited, coming down to the microphone stand in front of the courthouse steps where the rally had been held earlier. It had been previously announced that Lisa and the Liberty Counsel team would make their statements from there.
Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of the Liberty University Law School, and Rena Lindevaldsen, also of Liberty Counsel and the Liberty University Law School, approached the microphone. I noticed an ease in their faces that I had not seen in five years of following the Lisa Miller hearings.
Even though Lisa had not appeared on the scene yet, Mathew assured us with a little chuckle that she was not in jail.
Mathew and Rena explained what had transpired in the courtroom and what the next steps would be. As the Liberty Counsel’s press release stated:
The ACLU vigorously argued against Liberty Counsel’s requested change of venue to Bedford County, where Lisa lives and Isabella attends school. However, the court ruled that future disputes in this case will be heard in Bedford County.
Lisa appeared after a bit, took the microphone, and - standing between her two legal champions - gave God the glory for all that he had done.
The only word I could say was “WOW!”
Even though the ordeal is not yet over, Tuesday was the first time in a very long time that Lisa has had a victory. It was as if a rainbow had appeared and that the storm that had overshadowed Lisa and Isabella for over five years finally showed signs of beginning to lift.
For more information about Concerned Women for America or to get involved with a local chapter in your state, please visit http://states.cwfa.org/states/.
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Concerned Women for America 1015 Fifteenth St. N.W., Suite 1100 Washington, D.C. 20005 Phone: (202) 488-7000 Fax: (202) 488-0806 |
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