By MACKENZEE SIMMS | Staff Writer

MONTEVALLO – After losing her two-year-old son in the winter of 2008, Sherri Burgess turned her tragedy into her testimony, which she shared at the National Day of Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, May 2 at the American Village.

Burgess is a Christian writer, speaker and author of the book, “Bronner: A Journey to Understand” that recounts the journey of her and her husband, Rick Burgess, of the “Rick and Bubba Show,” after the loss of their youngest child.

Ultimately, Burgess shared that the only reason she was able to cope with the loss of her son was through the safe haven of prayer.

“Yes, I lost a child. I had to bury his physical body,” Burgess said. “Without the understanding of eternal life in Christ and apart from God’s power, I would have been crushed, devoured by grief. But God fought for me. He held me in His hand and comforted me, so that I could stand up and raise my hand in praise to God in the midst of that awful storm.”

Burgess presented her testimony to a crowd at American Village in Montevallo, gathered in observance of the National Day of Prayer. Designated by the United States Congress in 1952, the National Day of Prayer is celebrated on the first Thursday in May every year and is a long standing American tradition.

“Prayer is so important,” Burgess said. “It’s also mysterious because prayer is communion with God—a holy, omnipotent and powerful God—who we can’t see with our physical eyes, so we have to learn how to look for God with spiritual eyes.”

She shared that this enigma of prayer alluded her for years and that her understanding of prayer is constantly evolving.

“For much of my life, I thought about prayer in the wrong way,” Burgess said. “I thought it was about what I had to say to God.  But more and more, I’m finding that it’s really more about what He has to say to me, and how He is changing me and my perspective about who He is and how He works in my life.”

Through prayer, Burgess claims that God taught her many lessons after the death of her son, the primary lesson being how to shift her frame of thought to better understand how suffering in life contributes to a greater plan.

“What I did was pray, and God provided answers for me,” Burgess said. “He, in his kindness, allowed me to see my son’s earthly death from His perspective, so that I could hopefully help others to see that there is purpose behind their pains.”

In acknowledgement of the power of prayer in Christian life and in observance with the National Day of Prayer, the American Village National Prayer Breakfast ended in fitting fashion with a prayer.

“I pray not only that our prayer lives will be different because of what we have talked about this morning, but that our walk with you in general will be deeper and that will hunger and thirst for you more and more all the days of our lives,” Burgess said. “I pray this in the precious and holy name of Jesus, amen.”

The National Day of Prayer Breakfast was held at the American Village, sponsored by the Lucille Ryals Thompson Colonial Chapel and cosponsored by the American Village Citizenship Trust.

According to the president and CEO of the American Village Citizenship Trust, Col. Alan B. Miller, American Village is not only dedicated to celebrating the founding of the United States of America, but is also committed to remembering the hardships and struggles faced by our founding fathers.

“The story of our founding is a story of perseverance and growth through faith,” Miller said. “I think Sherri Burgess’ story, likewise, is one of perseverance through faith and serves as a reminder to all of us that many times when we’re facing incredible adversity that the best way for us to move up is to allow God to move us through.”