Betty Brown

In 1957 I was born the sixth child on a farm in rural East Tennessee to very poor parents, neither of which drove a car or ventured very far from home. Our house had no insulation so that ice formed on the inside during the winter and many nights we ate a spoonful of flour to keep from having hunger pains. The only water came from a spring several hundred yards away, and education was not a priority. Unfortunately, the poverty in my life opened the door for me to seek any way out. I thought a man could provide the escape and was into my third marriage before I truly learned to depend on the Lord and use the wisdom He had given me over the years to find satisfaction and joy. I have had careers as a runway model, makeup artist and special events coordinator, and counter manager for two large international makeup companies. But my most rewarding career has been as a mother. In addition to finding personal freedom, I learned how to help my three children rise out of their desperate situations headed toward lives of addictions and abuse. They, too, have found keys to a successful life. Until recently I was a real estate agent selling in a traditional neighborhood development. As a result of selling more than 40 homes in a year, in 2006 I was honored by induction into ACES circle of excellence by the Marketing and Sales Institute. I have left the real estate industry and am pursuing the establishment of a Health Spa that will allow clients to focus on both their physical and emotional health in the journey toward wholeness. My husband and I are the co-founders of Living In Freedom Everyday (LIFE, Inc.), which is a teaching/counseling ministry focused on relationship, parenting issues, and leadership training. It is in the same small town of Madisonville, Tennessee I had escaped through marriage at age 18. The ministry also birthed The Church of LIFE, which we serve as Senior Ministers.