16 THE COURIER NOVEMBER 25, 2004


MEEKS
Continued From Page 1
blew everyone's minds."
- They said the support they
received from friends in their
new community during the
stressful time, however,
reminded them that the path
they chose to get to Plant City


was the right one.
 Don, a former police chief,
is now pastor at Bethany
Baptist Church. Terilynn,
once an entrepreneur bent on
the bottom line, volunteers at
the church and works the full-
time job of taking care of five
children which is three more
children than the family had
this time two years ago.


 Terilynn met Don in 1985
in Chesterville, Va. Don was a
patrolman in the police
department assigned to cover
Terilyn's house'after someone
tried to steal her car. The two
became friends and eventu-
ally married in 1986.
 Terilynn describes Don as a
man of "strength and
character."


 "He's never let me down,"
she said.
 "She cares about others,
and after we became Chris-
tians, that really came out in
her," said Don about his wife.
 Don later worked as a nar-
cotics agent and eventually
became chief of police, and
"two hard years" followed.
After Don busted up a drug
lab, people began threatening
the family. By then, the couple
had two children, Brant and
Caitin, and the fariily moved
to Richmond, Va.
 In 1993, while on a trip to an
Amway seminar, the couple,
who at that time were not
religious, attended Mass by
accident because they thought
it was part of the training. The
pastor made an "altar call,"
asking for all those who
wanted to be the "spiritual
leaders of their family to come
forward."
 Terilynn looked over to see
her husband walking to the
front. When the pastor got to
talking about finances and
"owing nothing but to your
house," Terilynn, who at that
time was intent on becoming
rich, joined her husband.
 They were two of 5,000
people that day who, "went to
the Lord," Terilynn said.
 After their spiritual awaken-
ing, the family began attend-
ing a Southern Baptist church.
Don worked as a counselor for
the Department of Correc-
tions and Terilynn began to
see profit from her Amway
endeavor. They thought
they'd achieved their dream,
with a 3,500-square-foot
home on a golf course and
Mercedes in the driveway.
 But Don "was a Christian
without really doing anything
about it," he said. "I was just
hanging around." He did,
however, feel a calling to join
the efforts of a prison minis-
try. Then, after much prayer,
he said had a revelation. He
told his wife that God was call-
ing him to seminary.
 I wasn't going to argue
with Don, and I certainly
wasn't going to argue with
God," Terilynn said.
 The family packed up some
of their belongings, sold many
of them, and moved into a
900-square-foot apartment at
Southeastern Baptist Theo-
logical Seminary in Wake
Forest, N.C.
 Don earned master's degree
in divinity and counseling in
December 2002. He got his
first pastor position at a
church in Durham, N.C., then
the family moved to Burling-
ton, N.C. Both were troubled
churches, Don said. He said


he did what he could, then felt
the need to move on.
 Though the family had only
driven through Florida once,
on the way to a cruise leaving
from Miami, Don said the
Lord was calling him to apply
to Bethany Baptist Church in
Cork.
 At the same time, the couple
learned through friends about
the plight of foster children. It
was tough to think about chil-
dren who "had nothing and
nobody, when we have so
much love," Terilynn said.
 They met three brothers
whose mother left them on the
doorstep of one of her rela-
tives and never came back.
Within months, Jonathan, 10,
Michael, 9, and Nicholas, 7,
were living with the Meeks.
 Don visited Plant City and
Bethany to get a feel for the
place.
 "It was just a place that was
comfortable," he said.
 He got the job- at Bethany
and they all mbved to Plant
City in February 2003. The
past 16 months have been a
whirlwind, they said. The
family of five, plus two birds
and hamster, lives in an 1,800-
square-foot, four-bedroom
home in Walden Lake.
 The church has grown by
several dozen members and
welcomed the family with
open arms.
 "They are a very loving
group of people," Don said.
 All five children attend a
Christian school in Seffner.
Brant, who at first was against
moving to Florida, said he
likes it just fine, and said he
was impressed by the show of
"faith that everyone had that I
was going to be all right" after
his injury.
 The three new editions to
the family have adjusted.well.
The boys are well-behaved
and can quote Bible scripture
from memory.
 It will be the second Thanks-
giving for the larger family, but
a much more settled one.
 "I'm going to thank the Lord
for a wife who has been the
most precious person I've ever
met, and for a family. that's
just phenomenal," Don said.
 For Terilyn, who said she
came from a broken home, it's
more than she could have ever
hoped for.
 "I never knew what being a
'real family' meant," she said,
wiping tears. "I grieved for
that for a long time, but I'm
thankful that God doesn't
hold anything back. He deliv-
ers.
 "There is nothing else I
could have that would make
life more full."


 Where are the people now?

 What are the lessons learned?

We follow-up with the people and places affected by this year's
hurricane season. Coming in next Sunday's The Tampa Tribune.

 News Channel 8 looks back at The Lessons Learned.
 Monday, November 29, at 6 p.m.

 Go to TBO.com, Keyword: Hurricane 2004 to experience an interactive,
 3-D trip through the eye of a storm.



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