by Stacy Burnett

If you want to start a conversation with Lynda Grove, just bring up her family. She absolutely loves talking about her family.

Born and raised in a very large Italian/American family, she grew up in Dallas with three brothers and one sister and more than 45 close relatives. Her family would get together for every occasion, even if it was simply because an aunt decided to bake a cake.

In fact, Lynda’s whole life has been about hospitality and cooking. Her father loved to cook and her mother loved to bake and throw parties—it was a perfect match! Her father was such a great cook that everybody would come over to eat—family, neighbors and friends—and once you came to dinner at their house, you were family. Every Sunday her dad would make a huge pot of spaghetti with what Lynda describes as “the most incredible sauce.” Then, once or twice during the week, he would use more of the sauce on something else. Her family was always together and most always gathered in the kitchen cooking and eating.

I spent some time with Lynda talking about her childhood, her family, her faith and the next big step in her life.

Growing up, who was the most influential person in your life?

I love people, and I get that from my father. He just loves people. If a neighbor needed something built or fixed, he was always over there helping them. He was the type of person who would just give you the shirt off his back. Italians like to cook way too much food and then send it home with everybody. And he was always that way, just a real giver. If you came to our house for dinner, you were family, and that’s how he really felt deep in his heart. Watching him treat people with kindness and warmth really influenced me.

How has your family shaped your faith?

I grew up in a very traditional Catholic family, and they had such a love for God. I never thought it was possible to not love God. From the time I was a small child, it was ingrained in me to love God. It was just as natural as breathing.

Can you tell me about your salvation experience?

God began working in me from the earliest age. I was sitting in mass one day during my fifth grade year, and through His Word, God revealed to me that I didn’t have to go to the priests anymore … that I could go straight to Him. Then, when I was 17, a close friend who went to a Baptist church invited me to a tent revival. When the pastor closed the service, I was shaking. I knew that I was convicted and that I should pray the sinner’s prayer and receive Christ, but back then you had to come down to the front and join the church. I was scared to death. I couldn’t go down there; I couldn’t join this church because I was a Catholic girl. But I knew I had to make this decision. So I prayed, “Lord God, You know that I can’t go down to the front, so I just pray right now and I receive you here and now.” That’s when I got saved.

After high school, what did you do?

I didn’t have the grades for college, I didn’t take the SAT, and I applied really late, but I got into Texas A&M. It was totally God. No one in my family had ever gone away to college. I had just gotten saved, and then I moved away to college. That whole first year God really discipled me, and established an intimate relationship with me. I was steeped in religion and traditions, and I felt like God taught me His ways. I also got involved in a Bible study at the student union on campus.

Immediate Family

We have four children: two girls and two boys. Three are college-age and one is in high school. We have the best time with our kids. We just love hanging out with them.

What is something people might be surprised to know about you?

I think people would be surprised to know that I cut up a lot more than they think. People usually see my quiet side. And that I love to dance, everything from square dancing to ballroom dancing to salsa!

When do you feel the most beautiful?

When I’m all dressed up. I love to dress up; it doesn’t matter if it’s formal or all dressed up for a wedding. It goes all the way to when I was a little girl. I have such neat memories of going shopping with my Mom. We loved shopping together every Saturday at Niemen’s. But we never bought anything. We would try on the most expensive dresses, and then my mother, who was an incredible seamstress, would go home and make them. I’ve always loved dressing up.

When you were a little girl, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a wedding coordinator. I grew up going to fabulous Italian weddings. So everything in my life was about weddings. Around six years old, I began looking at wedding magazines and just dreaming about weddings. Later, I became a caterer and that was a big reason why. I have catered a lot of weddings.

It was while you were away at college that your mom passed away. How did your life change at that point?

My mom had Lupus and had been sick for a long time. Her kidneys were failing, so she went in for a kidney transplant. She was really believing the Lord would heal her. In fact, the doctors said it was miraculous how close the tissues matched. But a few months after the kidney transplant, she came down with hepatitis. Her body was too weak from the surgery and being sick for all of those years to recover. She passed away when I was 21.

She and I were very, very close. I was a brand-new Christian, so my faith was really shaken up. I didn’t understand. I had to go back to school immediately. I grieved longer than normal because I was so busy in school, and the grief just hit in spurts. It took me a long time to realize I was avoiding God. I finally realized that either God is faithful and true or He’s not. I had to make a conscious decision to believe that He was still faithful even though things didn’t turn out the way I thought they were supposed to. At that moment, the spirit of grieving and oppression were broken off of me. From that point on, everything changed.

Then during my junior year, I spent time with a small group of friends, and they began hungering for the Holy Spirit. I was very intrigued by that. I just wanted more of God. It was also about that time I met Kevin [one of Gateway’s Elders and an Associate Senior Pastor].

So you met your husband, Kevin, at Texas A&M?

The people I was hanging out with were really sold out for God and seeking Him, but when I met Kevin, I saw this maturity and solid faith in him that was incredible. It just tipped me over to the other side. I said to God, “I want what he has.” That really opened me up to the Holy Spirit. It was during this time that I was baptized in the Holy Spirit.

 

Tell me about your first date.

Our first date was the Aggie Bonfire. It was really funny, because it was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and two of my brothers surprised me by coming to visit, and they came with me on our first date. They are big brothers ... like Mafia Italian big brothers. They would pull me up to the front to see the bonfire, and I would ease back to be with Kevin, and they would pull me up again.

But you got a second date, so that was good.

Yes.

Without brothers?

Without my brothers. This time it was with his brother. We were all at A&M together, and our second date was with his older brother and sister-in-law.

Tell me a little bit about Kevin’s background.

He has a phenomenal heritage. He comes from a long line of missionaries and pastors. His parents were missionaries in Japan, and he and his three brothers grew up in a tiny three-room house with paper thin walls (literally, Japanese paper walls and doors) separating the rooms. He grew up in a quiet home environment where he had to be very sensitive to others in the house.

When I went to dinner at his house for the first time, I had to watch his mother’s lips to know what she was saying because I couldn’t hear her. They all talked very quietly. Then, Kevin decided to come to Dallas to meet my family! We got to my house, and he expected to meet my dad, my three brothers and my sister ... and we walked in and there were at least 40 relatives there. My aunts and cousins were all over him and were talking loudly, saying, "Oh, he’s gorgeous! Where’d you meet him?" And they were all hugging and kissing him. It was a HUGE shock to him. It was just like the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Kevin was in the high tech industry for 22 years, but ultimately followed in his parent’s footsteps by going into ministry. At the same time, you were running a successful catering business. When did God call you to take the big step of faith and go into ministry?

Actually, it began building when we started going to Gateway. Pastor Debbie asked me to be a section leader and help with our women’s conference. That birthed in me a heart for women. Then two years ago, God began stirring up the desire to pour into and shepherd women. I was thinking, “Okay, God, I’ll just have a small group and minister to women.” But God had other plans. I’m passionate about seeing women in an intimate relationship with the Lord because nothing can compare to it. I’m passionate about seeing women discover their calling and live in their destiny. My heart’s desire is to see God move in the lives of women right where they are.

Where do you think that passion was birthed?

Even though I was the fifth child and grew up in a huge family, I felt so lonely for most of my life. All of my cousins and brothers and sisters were matched age-wise, but there was no one my age. They all hung out together, and I was by myself. So, I spent a lot of time in my room alone and the only thing I really had was my love for God that was instilled in me by my family. It was in those times that I would tell God how lonely I was, and He was always there for me. Even in those tiny moments, He was meeting with me right where I was. That’s where my intimate relationship with Him began. God literally taught me the basics of Christianity—just God and me—as I read my Bible in my room.

What would you like to say to the women of Gateway?

We often look at our lives and see fragmented pieces, but I desire for women to really see their lives the way God does. I believe that all the fragmented and broken pieces ... every strength, every weakness, every personality trait, everything He has created us to be ... are made perfect when we allow Him to put the pieces together. It’s like a beautiful mosaic filled with His light, and it shines so beautifully. He has intricately woven us together in such a way that only we can reveal His glory in that particular way. Even Paul said, “I glory in my weakness because He is revealed through me.” He sees from the beginning to the end … all of our imperfections … and He looks at us and says, "It is very good."