About

I am married to Lynn Anderson. Michael, our son, is married to Whitney. On April 27th 2010, they made us proud grandparents of Camilla Noelle. We work at Piedmont Automotive Products, Inc., Clarkesville, GA My Testimony Tommy Anderson My story begins with loving, caring, hardworking, Christian parents. Hazel and J.R., both, came from large families, typical of their rural heritage in the early 40’s. My mother came from a family of preachers and gospel singers in Stephens County. Daddy grew up on a small farm in Clarkesville. They were married when Daddy was 22 and my mother was 16. As a child, I was blessed. My parents made sure I made it to church…and if not, I had two older sisters that did. Maybe, some can relate to this…if you have two older sisters, it’s like having three moms. Since my mother and Daddy worked night shifts during a lot of my childhood years, that meant my sisters had to look after me much of the time…and they did. We attended the First Baptist Church in Cornelia. I can remember going to Sunday School, choir, B.T.U., R.A.’s, Bible School, and worship services. I didn’t always want to go, but I did…I had a lot of “encouragement” as a child. As I grew up, going to church, I heard a lot of different “church” words…words like sin, getting saved, salvation, eternal life, profession of faith, and baptism…words we hear a lot in church. I learned to recognize the words, but I wasn’t real clear on what they meant. As I got a little older, around the age of 9, I began to understand some things better, but there was still something missing… Later, I learned Somebody was missing. Between the ages of 9 and 10, I came to understand that I was a sinner, and no matter what I did, and no matter how hard I tried, there was nothing I alone could do to change it. Thankfully, God’s Holy Spirit was working in me. Finally, I surrendered. I realized Jesus was the only way. It had to be my decision. My parents, my sisters, my teachers, and my friends couldn’t decide for me. They could try to help me and influence me…and they did, but it had to be my decision and it had to be from the heart. During a spring revival at First Baptist Church in 1964, I asked Christ into my heart. I prayed He forgive my sins and become my Lord and Savior…and He did…I was saved. During one of the revival services, I made my profession of faith at the age of 10. I can’t adequately describe how I felt…joy, humble, thankful, relief, loved, and tingly…yes tingly. My life changed. I was a new Christian and my flame burned bright. I had zeal and energy. I studied my bible, continued in church, and grew as a Christian, but… There was a time in my life when I let my flame die down a little…actually I let it die down a lot. In my teen years, I neglected my obligations and my priorities became distorted. I never stopped believing in Jesus. I just let things get in the way. When I was still very young, 19, God gave me another blessing. Lynn and I were married. As always, she’s right beside me. She’s my best friend and my partner for life. Like a lot of other newlyweds, we didn’t have very much in the way of money or material things…but we had something much more valuable. We had our families, each other, and Jesus. Those were tough years for us, but again I was blessed, because God put someone in my life that also knew Christ. Michael, our son, was born 4 years later (1976). I love him and couldn’t have asked for a better son. As his dad, I am most proud of the kind of loving dad I have watched him become. Unfortunately, for me, during our early marriage years, I remained a lukewarm Christian, but there is something about a wife and child that will get your attention. The tugging of the Holy Spirit helped me re-focus on my priorities and responsibilities. Lynn had attended Bethlehem Baptist Church in Clarkesville her whole life. During another spring revival at Bethlehem in the 1980’s, I re-dedicated my life first to God and then to my family. There have been times, through the years; I wish I had made a lot better use of my life…a lot less for me…a lot more for Jesus. I have had some roller coaster highs and lows. The Good News is God forgives me the lows, because of His grace. If I were to count some of my blessings, I guess the people God put in my life rank at the top of the list…Lynn, Michael, my parents, Lynn’s parents, my sisters, brothers-in-law, pastors, friends, teachers, and many more. All were positive influences in my life, but when I think about Christian service, I think of my Granny Anderson. As a child, I loved to go spend the night with Granny, because grandmothers will cut you some slack when no one else will. I can remember Saturdays, after a long day of hoeing corn; she would go to the back porch and get her big yard broom…a big bundle of straw tied on one end. We would walk about a mile and a half to the church and she would sweep it out. Quite probably, many people never knew she did it. I’ve never forgotten our conversations as I sat on the old wooden pews, while she swept. Then on Sunday mornings, she walked to the church again for Sunday School. She died when I was seventeen. I didn’t realize till years later that Daddy was like my granny…completely selfless, never wanting, always putting family and others before himself, sacrificing……in other words, he was Christlike. I see that same unconditional love in Lynn. Paul tells us in Philippians that we are to have the attitude or the mind of Christ. Even though He was the Son of God, He emptied Himself and took on the form of a slave. He humbled Himself and was obedient even to death… and He did it for me…for all of us. The phrase “He emptied Himself” suggests to me total, loving, self-denial by Jesus. As a Christian today, if I am to have the same mind or attitude as Christ, then I need to empty myself of me and allow the void that’s left be filled with Him. If I’m to be a witness for Jesus, people need to see less and less of me and more and more of Him in my life. tga

Education

• Piedmont College
• Habersham Central High School