My Mom: A brief biography from Charity Ann Smith

My mom was born in Cincinnati and lived here until she was 41, when she and my dad moved back to the farm where he had grown up in southern Illinois.

Born and raised in Cincinnati, she graduated from Princeton High School. She attended Cincinnati Bible College, then took time off to raise two daughters and a son. As her daughter, I can say that she always gave the gift of her time and the gift of her self. She was a person who enjoyed "being," not simply doing.

All her life, my mom created art. She worked with paint, clay, fabrics, stained glass, pastels and all types of found objects.

Later in life, she took the role of a nontraditional student and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Miami University-Oxford with a degree in Fine Arts. She then earned a Master of Fine Arts from Eastern Illinois University. After this, she taught painting, art appreciation, drawing and sculpture at Frontier Community College in Fairfield, Illinois. She was also a sought-after Judge of fine art for several Illinois art shows and competitions. My dad said that at art shows, she "always found something good about each contestant." He also called her a "woman of accomplishment."

My mom was wholly devoted to her faith. She and my dad co-pastored for 35 years at both Fellowship Christian Church in Monfort Heights and Grace Community Church in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. She brought her artistic gifts to serve people in and out of the church her whole life.

As a team, my parents also operated Smith Family Farms, where they raised and sold beef cattle. My mom was active in all areas of the farm, from bottle-feeding orphaned calves to feeding the team of farmers to even naming some of the cows.

She was a woman who was loved by so many people in her short time on Earth.

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Other online stories about Deb include:
Mt Vernon Register-News
Cincinnati Enquirer

It is He whom we proclaim ... For this I labor and struggle ...

Deb and Tom's ministry over the years is lovingly recounted by Gary Sweeten on his Brave Heart blog like this:

Tom Smith came to the University of Cincinati as Campus Minister for the Christian Church and hit the ground running. I was Associate Dean of Students responsible for the Student Groups at UC so Dale Adams, adviser to the Church, brought Tom to meet me at a lunch. Before long Tom had recruited a bunch of students who were excited about the Gospel. Tom was and is a gifted evangelist. He also met a beautiful young woman named Deb who soon became his bride.

Tom and Deb lived among the students at The Carpenter's Houses. There was one for girls and one for guys. God really moved among the students as they learned the Word of God and did His works of love and grace. God used Deb and Tom to spark a revival.

Deb, although about the same age as the students, was a house mother, friend, counselor, worship leader, Bible teacher and nurse maid. She led many a home sick kid through the pain of growing up apart from their moms.

That started about 1970 and developed into a church plant, a national church movement and an international association of Spirit empowered congregations. Deb and Tom were partners who parented three of their own children as well as hundreds of children they "adopted" from around the world.

Their proclamation of the Gospel and hardships over the decades and of late, especially for Deb, bring to mind the following verses of Scripture for consideration:

Colossians 1:24-29

24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of His body, which is the church,

25 of which I am a minister in accordance with God's stewardship given to me to bring to completion for you the word of God,

26 the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past. But now it has been manifested to His holy ones,

27 to whom God chose to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; it is Christ in you, the hope for glory.

28 It is He whom we proclaim, admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.

29 For this I labor and struggle, in accord with the exercise of His power working within me.

(New American Bible)

May God always be Glorified in the proclamation of the Gospel, even if words are necessary.

Thanks be to God for the privilege of bringing our sister and brother before the Throne of Grace, as they have done countlessly for so many. At Tom's urging, the need of the hour is a miracle, and we still believe in miracles!

My Mom

Charity offers this "getting to know Mom" portrait of and accomplished artist and musician, her Mom, Deb:

Deb loves music, both in her home and at worship (the two lines blur). If you enter her kitchen, which was designed to be a combo art studio and eating space, you will see her giant boom box that fills both spaces with music. She listens to a wide variety of music, from Selah to Michael Buble to all types of movie soundtracks. She took many of her personal favorites to work with her as she taught painting and drawing at Frontier Community College. She would tell us about how her students enjoyed listening to music as they painted.

-- Charity