Jeff and Suzy Coulter

I was raised in the small town of Williamsburg, Ohio. It has always been a quiet close-knit community where everyone knew everybody. I graduated from Williamsburg High School in 1984 in a class of only 70 students. We went to church at the Williamsburg Pentecostal Church. A full gospel, Spirit filled church that loved one another and helped each other constantly. We watched the church grow from an overcrowded building to a brand new church building that had room to spare. At the center of it all was my mother, Barbara Sue Coulter. A God fearing woman that was so close to the Spirit of God she handed out blessings like candy to everyone she met. Mother and I were prayer warriors and prayed together always, and shook the very foundations of Heaven.

As a family, we moved a lot back and forth from the Williamsburg, Ohio area to the Chattanooga, Tennessee area, having family in both places. We always teased Mom about being part gypsy and she should just go out and buy a wagon. Every so often Mom would receive a calling to go back down to Tennessee but in retrospect I can’t help but think she just missed the mountains and family. I have to admit that I’ve sometimes had the draw to go back down there myself. It is beautiful down there and the people for the most part are some of the best that you will ever meet.

As a small boy, I can remember getting up early on Sunday morning. We didn’t have to worry about locked doors or heavy traffic. Most people back then didn’t even know Williamsburg existed let alone how to get there. There was no highway, no internet and back then, we still had the Blue Law. Time stopped on Sunday and I was literally king of the hill. I would sneak out at dawn and ride my bike to the top of the Main Street hill. I would peddle as fast as I could and race down the hill at what I would call supersonic speed. I would do that repeatedly for hours until finally a car would come through and I knew it was time to go home. Mom would ask what I was doing and the answer was always the same, “Oh just riding my bike.” I often would stay gone all day and never had to worry about going home. We would always have something to eat out of Mrs. Hines’ apple and cherry trees or Mr. Day’s garden. If we wanted to buy a soda, we would scrounge around town to find enough soda bottles to cash in at the grocery store. Sometimes we would ‘sticky finger’ a few pops off the Pepsi truck. The beautiful part of it was when we were done drinking the bottle we would cash it in at the same grocery store. Boys will be boys I suppose.

Moving a lot really took a toll on me, as I’m sure it did my brother and sister. My heart was always in Williamsburg. I loved the school and all of my friends there. To this day, I have no regrets about graduating from there. It was indeed the best days of my life.

Most of all I enjoyed the church life. My friends at the Williamsburg Pentecostal Church were very important to me. We had a close-knit relationship in youth group that was second to none. Our youth pastors were like our second parents and though I am not in close contact with them today, I owe them a lot for always being there for me. They not only opened up their home and resources to all of us but also their hearts. Jeff and Lynn may God continue to bless you both. The heart of my relationship with Christ could be found in that small town. Our lives revolved around God and family. Though we were poor growing up we were always happy and made the most of everything.

I was saved at the tender age of seven years old at the Grandview Church of God, a small mountain church on Suck Creek Road at the foot of Suck Creek Mountain. I just don’t think it gets any more down home than that. It was and still is a God-fearing church that takes care of its own. As I got older and came to terms with myself, I started to realize the most important aspect of my life was my relationship with Jesus. I tried to witness to others not just in word but also in my actions. Though sometimes I would fail, often times I would succeed. I never claimed to be perfect just forgiven. I would often come home from school after a tough day and just pray it away.

Then, finally, I was sixteen! Big man got his driver’s license! I was finally free! I drove to school, I drove to the store for Mom, and I drove everywhere. Today I wish I had my own driver. I was a sophomore in high school and on varsity track. I was a bigger fish in the little pond so to speak. I was simply becoming more confident in who I was and more secure in my role in life. I was becoming more popular with the girls and more admired in my athleticism. I concentrated more on my studies and for the most part improved my grades. I really enjoyed History and Government. In fact, I excelled in those so much that I was invited to go as runner-up to Boys State in Bowling Green, Ohio to participate in a mock government at the University. That’s where I believe that I first became interested in police work. I checked into an Ohio State Highway Patrol recruitment program. I unfortunately did not take it serious enough and haphazardly filled out the application and was not accepted into the program. It’s like anything else I suppose. If you don’t put forth your best effort you will reap poor results.

In spring of 1984 I turned 18 years old and a was an official graduating senior. Yeah man! But what now? I didn’t make any plans and my folks couldn’t afford to send me to college. I just wound up riding my bike around town with aimless aspirations. I previously became acquainted with some of the village employees through a summer youth job program sponsored by the county. I worked at the water works and the village municipal building. I had the privilege of washing the police car a few times. So one night I saw the police sergeant over at the police department. He had commented on the fact that the Chief of Police thought highly of me and invited me to apply as an auxiliary police officer. After finding out the details, I soon found myself riding around in a patrol car. I should have turned and ran but was too intrigued to ignore the opportunity.

I don’t regret my police career but I have to admit that if I had it to do all over again I would have pursued something else. Hindsight is always 20/20 but if I only knew then what I know now I would have run away screaming, hands flailing in the air. The negative aspects of the job and the turmoil caused by internal politics were terribly stressful. So much so, that after 18 years on the job I had to stress out from Chronic Depression. Chest pains at 36 years old were not exactly normal either. You see, as a Christian looking to find a ministry, I was looking forward to becoming a true warrior for Christ and witness to people from behind the badge. In the beginning, that’s what I did. I even wore a “Jesus First” pin on my uniform. I was living as a cop for Christ and was proud of it. I was getting plenty of work and was beginning to settle down. I met my wife Suzy and soon asked her to marry me. Then the bottom fell out of everything. Through the evolution of internal politics, the standing Chief was released and soon a new Chief was hired. Still being young and naïve, I didn’t know how to keep my mouth shut and gave my honest opinion to a fault. The new Chief was extremely sensitive and took everything very personal, even from a young 20-year-old kid that simply meant well. Long story short my hours began to dwindle as he took me off the schedule in favor of someone else he liked more, at least at the time anyway.

Time went by and I was still managing through the turmoil, trying to keep the faith. Then later, as you will read, my mother passed away. That was the beginning of the end of my faith. I lost hope and guidance. I began to substitute pain with pleasure. As you will read later in this book, I lost my way. I fell to the very thing that I was out there fighting against. Once I lost my walk with Christ, it was only a matter of time before I would lose it all and I nearly did. I had thoughts of suicide and lost all hope. God still had a plan in mind for me and didn’t want to let go no matter what I did to reject Him. As you will read, I was hot and cold with God for a very long time. Until finally one day, the enemy decided he was going to try to take me out. He almost won but God prevailed. I was almost lost forever but God cradled me in His tender hands. I should have died twice. Against all odds, I lived and God has taken back what is rightfully His: my immortal soul.