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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
Liz Huntley, who wrote the book 'More than a Bird,' was the keynote speaker for the breakfast. The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
Pauline Parker a faculty member of Vestavia Hills High School read from Matthew chapter 6. The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
Sharon Bolden, Executive Director of Children's Village introduces the guest speaker. The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
Liz Huntley who wrote the book 'More than a Bird' was the keynote speaker for the breakfast. The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
Liz Huntley who wrote the book 'More than a Bird' was the keynote speaker for the breakfast. The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
Liz Huntley who wrote the book 'More than a Bird' was the keynote speaker for the breakfast. The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
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Frank Couch
Vestavia Mayors Prayer Breakfast
The 26th Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast held at Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama Tuesday April 26, 2016. Photo by Frank Couch
Liz Huntley was five years old when the family life she thought she had was turned upside down – her father was arrested for drug dealing and her mother became addicted to heroin and then committed suicide.
Huntley and her four siblings were divided among their relatives and at her grandmother’s house, Huntley was sexually abused by her uncle.
Those early years of her life could have crippled Huntley’s growth but, as she shared at the Vestavia Hills Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast on April 26, other influences in her life were stronger.
The 26th annual Prayer Breakfast, held at the Vestavia Country Club, included a performance of the national anthem by Just Singin’, the high school a cappella group, and comments from Mayor Butch Zaragoza. The mayor thanked city employees and council members, state legislators, local pastors and judges for their community service and attending the breakfast.
Quoting Mister Rogers, Zaragoza said when the crowd left the breakfast, it would be a “beautiful day in the neighborhood.”
“It’s truly a blessing from God that we have the community we have here,” Zaragoza said.
A Bible verse reading by Pauline Parker, the president of Leadership Vestavia Hills, followed the mayor’s comments. Parker chose Romans 5:1-5. Impact Family Counseling Executive Director George Casey, VHHS Student Government Association President Ashlyn Lovell and VHPD Lt. Brian Gilham gave prayers of thanksgiving, for Vestavia’s youth and for the rest of the world.
Huntley, the morning’s keynote speaker, is an attorney at Birmingham firm Lightfoot, Franklin and White, on the Governor’s Task Force for Prevention of Sexual Abuse in Children and on the boards of trustees for Auburn University, University of Alabama School of Law and the Farrah Law Society. She was introduced by Executive Director Sharon Bolden of Children’s Village, a Birmingham children’s group home that Huntley works with.
Huntley started her address by saying that she gives credit to God for both the good and bad things that have shaped her life so far.
“People always say, ‘You’re so bold about God,’ because sometimes we feel like we have to be,” Huntley said. “He can take a terrible situation and turn it into something really beautiful.
She added that underprivileged children need community help not only because they have fewer resources, but also because many have the grit and resilience to become great community leaders in the future. Huntley pointed to herself as an example of the effect that early intervention can make.
“It’s all about inspiring hope in those who don’t have the opportunities we’re afforded,” Huntley said.
The change in Huntley’s life started with her church preschool in Clanton, where the teachers’ affection drove her to seek their approval through learning. She then went to first grade at a newly integrated public school and the teacher – who Huntley said reminded her of “Wonder Woman” actress Lynda Carter – saw the intelligence and strength in her young student rather than her background.
“She spoke hope into me,” Huntley said, adding that the teacher continues to be close to her family. “She was and still is my Wonder Woman.”
Struggles with her home life continued through school, but there was always a person in her life to temper the effect it had as Huntley grew up. She remains an advocate of providing quality pre-K education, and encouraged the Prayer Breakfast audience to find ways to impact the lives of young children who need it.
“He [God] reaches through the hearts of people to touch you,” Huntley said.
After the breakfast, Huntley signed copies of her book, “More Than a Bird.” She said the title came from a church service she attended at 8 years old, when she first began to commit to her Christian faith. Huntley recalls the pastor reading Matthew 6:26: “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”
A portion of the sales from her book supports Children’s Village.
“If he’ll take care of the birds, he’ll certainly take care of his children,” Huntley said. “Because God has given you a little extra, he expects you to use it to help others."
