By Emily Williams
The Lovelady Gala has named Sherri Burgess, author and wife of Rick Burgess of the Rick and Bubba Show, the honoree of this year’s event.
When Burgess received the news that the Lovelady Center wished to honor her, it was a welcome surprise.
“I have a heart for ‘the least of these’ or anyone in need,” Burgess said.
The Lovelady Center provides faith-based community re-entry programs to women who have been released from incarceration in an effort to keep them from returning to the prison system.
“I met with a lot of women and their testimonials are very powerful,” Burgess said. “A lot of them have been abused, neglected and hurt by life. A lot have turned to drugs and alcohol for comfort, but what the Lovelady Center does is direct them to true life, a way to break those addictions and find purpose and meaning in life.”
The secret to the Lovelady Center’s success, she said, is that they are founded in faith. “They are doing what God calls us to do, to love on people who are struggling and to help them get back on their feet, but not just sending them out and giving them material possessions or even teaching them a skill,” Burgess said.
After participating in mission trips as far away as India and Africa through Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Burgess decided it was time to focus on a mission closer to home. With so many good causes to choose from, she said she struggled with the question of which one to focus on.
“Our family normally serves around Christmastime at the Jimmie Hale Mission,” she said. “We always enjoy going and serving a meal there, but I wanted to do something deeper, like leading a Bible study.”
At about the same time, the Lovelady Center reached out to her, Burgess said. She now is planning to lead the women at the Lovelady Center in a Bible study later this year.
“It had been in my heart for so long to work with a downtown mission,” she said. “They came to me, and it just fit things together.”
Burgess is creating her Bible study to go hand in hand with her book “Bronner: A Journey to Understand.”
Much like the ladies who seek aid and guidance from the Lovelady Center, Burgess has seen her own share of hardship, which she chronicled in her book.
In 2008, the Burgess’ lost their youngest son, Bronner, in an accidental drowning. Burgess said she was “utterly crushed” after his passing, but she turned to her faith and her family for support.
When she decided to write a book, her children supported her as she sacrificed time with them to spend time by herself, often in her family’s cabin in Jemison, as she wrote.
“This was something that was so hard for me,” she said. “It was emotionally and spiritually demanding. It took a long time to write because it took a long time to figure it all out myself.”
Burgess said her husband gave her confidence to write the book, reading every chapter after she finished it and raving about her work.
“He just loved it,” she said. “He would say, ‘I can’t wait for people to get their hands on this. There is so much in here that is going to help people.’”
Through her book, Burgess has addressed the question, “Why did this happen to me?” A question many women at the Lovelady Center struggle with.
“This book is a culmination of everything that I learned about God through losing a son, but it was more of a calling than anything else,” she said.
Through her work with the Lovelady Center, Burgess said she hopes to help lift the women of the center as she was lifted in her time of grief.
This year’s Lovelady Gala, “Three Times a Lady,” will be held Feb. 18 at The Club. The evening will include dinner, dancing and a live auction. Tickets are $125 per person. For more information, call Yvonne Pope at 936-1403 or visit www.loveladycenter.org.