My name is LeTrese and I’m married to Travis (in case you didn’t know ;).  I feel so blessed to be a part of the most rockin-awesome church ever!  But how did I get here?  Let me give you a "little" background. 

I grew up in the small town of Welch.  You pretty much know everyone there.  For a short period in my young life, due to my parents work situation, my older brother and I lived with my grandma (aka Gammy).  She is disabled, so needless to say, she didn’t drive anymore.  She was raised in church and also raised my Mom in church.  When she was able to drive herself, she always was at church.  However, growing up, I can’t really say I was raised in church.  Anyway, having the values that my Gammy has, she always wanted for my brother and I to be in church, but never could seem to get my parents to actually go with us or at least make us go.  So when we lived with her, she always would call a friend and she made sure we had a ride to church on Sundays and Wednesdays.  I always enjoyed going…there always seemed to be a variety, lol.  I would go to VBS at almost all the churches in our small town; the Christian Church and the Baptist Church.  But the one I was always the most comfortable at, was the Assembly of God.  It was the one, that even as a child, I knew that special things were happening there.  You could just feel it.

As I grew older, and was back at home with my parents, I wasn’t going to church regularly.  Mainly, to be honest, with my parents not going or making my brother and I go, it was more of a priority to sleep in on Sunday’s.  Now, my parents would take us, if we wanted to go.  I’m not blaming them for my not going to church and I do not begrudge them one bit for how I was raised.  I believe you can’t blame how you were raised on how you’re living your life now.  Your life changes with you.

My senior year in High School, I started dating Travis, who I had already known for a few years.  In case you don’t know, Travis was raised in Emmanuel Temple Church from the time he was 8 years old.  His family, however, as you surely know are very church involved.  At that time, I wasn’t an unbeliever, I loved the Lord, but I wasn’t really serving Him.  I really believe the Lord brought Travis to me, because he’s the one who brought me back to church.  I readily admit, I was getting up early on Sunday mornings to go to church with Travis, not because I was really excited about church, but because I was really excited to see Travis J.  But after I started going, I thought wow, it brought back such good memories of my young days at the Assembly of God.  Again, I could feel that the church was so alive!  The people, everything, just amazing!  I was so blessed that Travis gave me a chance, even though I wasn’t in church.  It’s just the Lord working in our lives.  Anyway, we got married after dating for one year, 2/20/99, at ETC, with Pastor Bruce officiating.  That was the beginning of how I came to ETC.  I came to the Lord again and re-dedicated my life to Him.  Not too long after that, I was baptized.

There were a few years in the beginning of our marriage that we weren’t serving the Lord to the fullest.  We weren’t in church faithfully, I’m ashamed to say.  The Lord had brought us together and the least we could do is make it to church and give Him praise for all He’s done!  You know, looking back on it, things just weren’t that great for us then.  Our relationship was perfect, but we were just getting by.  Being raised in church, Travis knew that we had to get back in church.  He understood the importance of serving the Lord.  So, about 4 years ago, we got back in to church, faithfully.  Since we have been faithfully serving the Lord and faithfully paying our tithes, things always seem to go in our favor.  We have the favor of the Lord in our lives.  I’m not saying that everything is peachy all the time.  We encounter storms, but man, it’s the Lord that gets us through those storms.  He always, without fail, provides for us.  Praise the Lord!  I’m also working on getting my parents to come to church.  My Mom loves ETC, but has a hard time getting my Dad to go.  My Dad believes in God, loves to watch Jesus of Nazareth and the Ten Commandments on TV, but for some reason has a hard time coming to church.  I minister to them and pray for the Lord to work in their hearts.  I love them so much!

In case you don’t know about Travis, he has a calling on his life to play music for the Lord.  When he was just a young man, he and his family were at a church revival.  A man called Travis out, handed him a bass guitar, and told Travis that the Lord said to give him that bass.  From then on, Travis has been playing music.  What a gift he has been given!  And yes, the bass that he plays every Sunday is the same bass that was given to him as a young man.  He cheerfully plays music for the Lord now, which is what he is meant to do.

Just a little personal info…….Travis and I do not have any children…yet.  We do have a girl dog-child, Chyna, who is 8 years old.  She is for sure our baby!!  But, we are planning on having a child within the next couple of years, which is also when we’re planning on starting construction on a new home.  Travis is living his dream - owning his own business.  He is so blessed with going to a job every day that he loves.  The Lord, again, provides and blesses abundantly!  We love to take road trips, UFC, going to NASCAR races, NHRA Drag Races…well, pretty much any kind of auto racing, lol!  And we both love music; which is another reason we were made for each other.  I’ve always been such a music lover and feel like I should be doing something in music.  I’m taking guitar lessons now so maybe I can play for the Lord in the future.  I’m having a blast learning!

So, now I think we’re all caught up.  We are so thankful and blessed to have ETC and our church family.  Man, what can you say??  Serving the Lord is awesome!  Our church is alive and great things are happening!  So exciting!