Experiencing God Changes Us, Linda Morrison's Story

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Hey friends, you know I love a good story, especially when it's a God story that encourages,

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inspires, and equips us in our walk with the Lord.

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I'm your host, Jodie Chiricosta, ministry leader at Somebody Cares America and International,

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author and traveler on this journey of faith.

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Welcome, I am so glad you tuned in.

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Have you heard about our Her God Story podcast clubs?

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You know that you can start one?

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It's easy.

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Just gather together a few friends, neighbors, or colleagues to talk and encourage each other

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in your journey of faith.

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It's very simple.

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Listen to the same podcast, download our prepared episode questions from hergodstory.org, and

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then discuss over your favorite refreshments.

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It's also a great way to reach out to friends who might not know Christ yet.

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Include them in the conversation and see what God will do.

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Gather some friends and try it out.

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When you do, email us at prayer at somebodycares.org to let us know so we'll be praying for you.

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Have you ever experienced God?

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Maybe you're wondering what I even mean by that.

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Well Ephesians 3:19 in the New Living Translation says, may you experience the love of Christ

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though it is too great to fully understand.

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Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from

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God.

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Experience in God's love is experience in God for God is love.

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There are so many ways that God expresses his love to us and we experience it when we

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have eyes to recognize his love working in our lives.

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My guest, Linda Morrison, loves to experience God and chooses to focus on his goodness in

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the midst of every situation.

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As a housewife and mother of two, Linda learned the joy of spending time with the Lord.

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Eventually, God asked Linda to start a volunteer prayer line that now receives calls and texts

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from all 50 states and catch this 61 countries around the world.

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The prayer line Linda started serves somebody cares as well as various other ministries.

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And God has done some amazing things through it.

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I know you're going to enjoy hearing from Linda some of those testimonies as well as

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her own.

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So welcome Linda.

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Well, thank you.

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I am so honored to be here, Jodi.

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I always admired you as a person and I love serving somebody cares America served with

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somebody cares camp of as well and and still do and it's just an honor.

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I love what you guys do.

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Great ministry in itself.

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Well, it has been a fabulous partnership being able to have 24 seven prayer and text

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line for people to call in and we've had a lot of wonderful testimonies which we're

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going to get to a little bit later.

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But Linda share about your family and what shaped you and your faith in the early years

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of your life.

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Well, I was born a Catholic and I say this honestly, I do not remember a day in my life.

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I didn't love Jesus.

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Now that doesn't mean I had a personal relationship with him or given my life to him.

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I loved him.

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I believed in the cross and in the blood of Jesus.

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I believe in the I just believe, believe, believe, war my little cross.

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And as a Catholic said my little Hail Mary's and went to confession and all of those things

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you're supposed to do and went to Catholic school was terrified of the nuns terrified.

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If you knew me if I was just actually sharing this with my daughter today, if you'd known

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me as a little girl, you would never think I would be doing what I'm doing today, which

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sit back in the corner and literally bite my nails and pray they didn't call on me.

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I just did not want to be called and I never ever wanted to get into trouble.

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I was really sold out for that.

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Yeah, totally different person.

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But I did learn to really love Jesus to be obedient and to honor God and that I think

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is some of the things that were good things from the Catholic Church is that you do honor

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God and at least I did.

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I always love to pray for other people and when people tell me about their prayer requests,

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I love to talk to God about them.

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But I never knew if God was going to answer my prayer.

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What is the difference?

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I always felt like I was a little popper out there with a little tin cup outside the King's

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castle and I knew the King was good and I knew the King was loving.

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But what do you put a quarter in my cup?

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I didn't know.

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Maybe he just passed by.

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So yes, I believe prayer in prayer didn't work.

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I wasn't so sure that I would get my answers.

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And so that was a really special time in the sense that I never really felt like God was

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really with me.

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I felt like he was way up there and omnipresent and oh, so awesome.

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But he wasn't really in my heart.

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And something else that's very interesting being a young Catholic, I wanted, when I was

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getting ready to go to college, I lived very close to Pepperdine in Malibu Beach and I

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don't know if you've heard of that college or even aware, but it's right on the top

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looking down at the beach in California.

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It's gorgeous campus.

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Yes, I didn't go there because they were going to teach me a non-Catholic Bible study and

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I was having none of that.

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None of that.

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It wasn't Catholic.

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It wasn't okay.

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So I went ahead and went to Cal Lutheran and enjoyed it for a while and ended up moving

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to Arizona.

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My parents moved to Arizona, so I went ahead and went with them.

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But before that, I also, like I said, I just continued with that.

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I went into beauty school and I just was enduring, just enjoying my life, but really never knowing

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Jesus, never really knowing Him.

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So as a devout Catholic, you knew that something was missing in your relationship with God,

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but you weren't really sure what to do about it.

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You weren't experiencing a relationship with God in a real way.

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It was very, very religious.

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No.

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So how did God draw you to Himself along the way?

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What was that journey for you?

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Well, that was kind of interesting because as a teenager, I had a little girlfriend who

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was going to a Protestant church.

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She brought me to her youth group and she had me pray the prayer of salvation with her.

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I took a little pamphlet home and I thought, oh, this is okay.

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I'm Catholic.

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I'm going to heaven.

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I don't know.

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We're not really, I just couldn't understand the purpose of that.

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I had baptized and I was taking communion.

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I was okay.

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So I did it, but I didn't mean anything to me really.

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And then I moved to Arizona as I just shared a minute ago and met my husband there.

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And really from our first date, we just sort of clicked, which many of us probably do,

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but on our second date, we started talking about our faith.

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He really didn't have a specific church that he really loved, but he was definitely sold

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out on the Bible and he totally was interested in praying.

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And so even from our second date, we prayed together every single date.

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From our second date until to this day, we prayed breakfast in the morning before breakfast

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and at night before we go to sleep.

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It just was a natural for us.

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So then we said, okay, you know what we're going to do?

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We're going to go to church together.

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Well, he knew I was a devout Catholic.

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So every other Sunday, we would go to Catholic church and the opposite Sunday, he would open

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the phone book, close his eye and wherever his finger put, that's where we went to church.

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And I'm telling you as well, I was like, Christian, we went to some churches and, oh,

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so we couldn't settle on a church.

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But we did end up going and saying, well, we'll just go ahead and be Catholic.

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My husband became Catholic for me.

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And we were comfortable just doing that for a while and getting involved in the church.

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I did little things, cleaning the church, became very close to the Catholic priests.

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There, my husband and I.

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And then we had two children and they were 10 months apart.

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So that was pretty, pretty wonderful.

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And we were just involved in our family going to our little Catholic church, doing the little

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things there.

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And it was good.

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It was very good.

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But I was also very close to my parents and they loved to water ski.

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So I've been water skiing since I was five years old.

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From April 1st to October 30th was a rule in my family that you went water skiing every

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single weekend.

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So I was a strong skier, not fancy, but strong and hardly ever fell because, but I didn't

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go really fast either.

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I just moseyed along.

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I fell.

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And I didn't really feel like I hurt myself that bad.

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But when I looked in the rear view mirror when we got in the car, my eye was really

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swollen up.

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And the swelling didn't go away for two weeks.

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So I said to my husband, you know what, I think I need to go and see a doctor.

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Something's really wrong.

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Am I high?

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So he takes me to this doctor.

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He takes the two kids.

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And remember, they're 10 months apart.

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They're two and three years old.

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They're just, they're just running around like little, like, they're adorable, but you

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know, they're not settled in little well-behaved children.

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He's sitting in the waiting room and I go in and this optometrist throws a reader gyrgis

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in my lap and he says, read it.

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Now, I don't know if my reading was poor.

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I'm not sure what was going on.

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But the next thing you know, he says, you have a tumor in your eye and you'll need to

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see an ophthalmologist.

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When he said that to me, he was like, he kicked me in the stomach.

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My legs were like wet noodles.

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I had to get up.

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And so he said, you need to go and have another appointment in two weeks.

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They make me the appointment.

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I can barely walk out of that room.

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My legs are so noodle-like and I have to tell my husband because you know what, 30, 40 years

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ago you died when you had a tumor in your brain.

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There wasn't going to be any hope.

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And I was scared.

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I was scared.

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I can remember to this day how I felt that I would leave these two children and two and

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three years old.

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No, I just couldn't see anybody wanting my children.

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My mother didn't even want a baby.

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She said, no one offered the baby.

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She said, my mother-in-law one day said to me, well, it's your birthday.

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Dad and I will watch the kids while you go to dinner and come right back.

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They weren't bad, but they just were very rambunctious.

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So every day then for two weeks, I put those children down to bed and I sat between their

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rooms and I cry out to God every day.

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Please God, please don't let me die.

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Don't let me die because who will take these children?

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They'll get a wicked stepmother and she'll be mean to them and she won't love them.

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She won't understand them.

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I figured Dave must be a catch obviously.

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Somebody's going to want to marry him, but they won't want my children.

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And I really, it just, I suffered.

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I suffered, frightened, frightened, frightened.

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The day before I was to go in to see the ophthalmologist.

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It was amazing.

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I'm crying out to God and then I stopped.

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I just thought, okay God, I must not be a very good mother.

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Maybe you have somebody really terrific that will really raise these children up to be

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mighty men and women of God.

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They'll be a terrific mother and maybe I'm just not doing the job right.

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So I just release it to you, Lord, have your will in your way.

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Whatever it's supposed to be.

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I just trust you.

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Jody, it was like a lightning bolt went right through my body and I knew, I could hear him

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voices loud as anything safe, finally, and I knew what he meant.

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Finally Linda, you're giving me your life.

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You're not going to be Lord over your life anymore.

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You're allowing me to be Lord over a master of your life.

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And I thought, wow.

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So I was at total peace.

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Got up the next morning, went to that doctor.

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This was also incredible.

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He looks into my eye, this ophthalmologist, and he says, there's nothing wrong with you.

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I'm saying, look again, look again.

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I'm sure there's something there.

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And he's going, you are fine Mrs. Morrison.

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I had like this clean bill of health.

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I'm going to live.

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I'm super excited.

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Go home with my family.

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We're celebrating.

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But the next day and for the next two weeks, I called this doctor every single day.

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I saw a little bubble on my eyelid.

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I think I saw a little, maybe I have a little blood, extra blood in my vein is kind of red.

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He said, Mrs. Morrison, you were fine.

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You were fine.

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This is more every single day for two weeks.

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Well, actually for 13 days, he said I was fine.

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And on the 14th day, he said to me, Mrs. Morrison, I am absolutely sure you were healthy.

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There was nothing wrong with you.

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However, I'm not so sure about your psychiatric health.

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I said, oh, and I hung up and I never called them again.

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And I realized I was still walking in fear.

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I wasn't trusting the Lord.

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But wow, things started popping after that.

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When I started trusting the Lord, everything changed.

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Everything changed.

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I'd be driving down the street with the kids in the car thinking, oh no, I've got to do

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this and I've got to do that.

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Or my dad's showing up and he's always on time and I'm running late and I won't be there

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in time.

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And my heart would start pounding.

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You know, I'm very anxious to be that obedient child.

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And I hear the Lord say, he's going to be late.

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And I'd be, are you with the Lord?

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No, you know, he's always on time.

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He'll be on time.

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No, it's going to be okay.

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Take your time.

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Follow me.

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Turn left, turn right.

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Whatever it was, when I would follow the Lord, it was like, everything was amazing.

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My life just totally changed.

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It was amazing.

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So God used that incident, that scary incident, to bring you to the end of yourself, but right

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into his love.

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I mean, you experienced it immediately when your eye was pronounced perfect.

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How did that change your relationship with God?

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I mean, you talked about it a little bit, but in the midst of being a wife and a mother,

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how did you actually grow in your relationship with Jesus?

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Well I was super excited and I got invited to some Bible studies with other women.

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And I just, I just took every opportunity to grow in the word because that's something,

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you know, the Catholic Church just does not, or they didn't, I won't say they don't know.

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They didn't emphasize in that time.

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And so when other Protestants were inviting me to their Bible studies, I started taking

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advantage of it.

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I also joined Bible study fellowship.

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I joined the agro prayer groups in my area.

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I couldn't get enough of Jesus and of the word.

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And I was like, wait a minute, for example, for me, and I'm not putting anybody down,

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please believe me.

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But I learned that all those years that I was having no meat on Fridays and thinking

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that I was sinning, if I swallowed a piece, all of a sudden I was like, that isn't really

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a sin.

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This isn't really, this isn't, I was so set free.

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And so my time alone with the Lord was so valuable to grow and just really eat the word.

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I just wanted to have more and more of him.

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So then time passed and we moved now from Arizona to California and we were sort of

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on our own.

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I was joining more prayer groups.

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I was a part more of other go-ro groups.

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I also, my aunt was very strong and I lived by my aunt now.

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She was very strong at her face.

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So I was just continuing to grow and pray and it was really wonderful.

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But something else then happened that was kind of interesting was I found a lump in

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my throat.

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So that was like, oh my gosh.

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So I went to the doctor for that one.

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But this time I was at peace.

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My husband was really upset about it.

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Oh my gosh, do you have a lump in your throat or could be cancer?

295
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I went through that as a totally different person.

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Absolutely different.

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And truthfully at that time too, I was also skiing a lot.

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We would do snow skiing.

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I knew my life had changed and I was walking with Jesus because of this.

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When I'd go to fall down in the snow, when I'd be skiing down a hill, I would always

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before David and I, I would yell, David come get me.

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Not anymore.

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I was yelling Jesus.

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That's when I knew my life had totally changed.

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I wasn't, I'm not that I didn't love David, but then I think he couldn't be my hero anymore.

306
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But my first words at any moment of something that would be frightening was Jesus.

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And he always came through.

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After we were there in California for about a few years, David was transferred to Pennsylvania.

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We were pretty excited about that.

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And oh, I did have to have the lump taken out of my throat.

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That did have to happen even though I knew it turned out not to be cancer whatsoever.

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I did take that out.

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And that was right after, just before we moved to Pennsylvania and we bought this beautiful

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home in Pennsylvania coming from California now.

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It was amazing.

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If you've ever been to the Northeast, a lot of the homes are colonial, but I really was

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00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:47,840
used to contemporary fell homes.

318
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So when I moved, everybody was saying, I don't think you're going to be happy.

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They're all colonial fell homes.

320
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And I said, I'm supposed to go.

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00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:56,120
There's going to be there one for me.

322
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You won't believe this, but I would drive it down the street by the kids of school.

323
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And I said to my husband, turn down the street.

324
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And when we did, again, it says right and left, God telling you, talking to you softly.

325
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Not that it is amazing.

326
00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:09,960
I looked in and I said, I see this house for sale.

327
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I said, David, that's my house.

328
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The next day, we hadn't even gone to a real estate agent.

329
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The next day, that's the first house the real estate agent showed me.

330
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And it turned out to be a pastor who built that house.

331
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It was a custom home.

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It was built.

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He had built that house.

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And he had told us later on that God had told him nine months before to build a contemporary

335
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home.

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A California couple was coming.

337
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Unbelievable.

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Everybody had told him, don't waste your money.

339
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But we came and we loved the house and we became part of their church.

340
00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:47,320
And that was an amazing experience that we really, really grew with them.

341
00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:54,040
There were definitely people who believed in God in every area, trusting in him for healing,

342
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and trust.

343
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I so grew.

344
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The Catholic church, we sort of just completely left behind.

345
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We only went to this church and grew, grew, grew in faith in what God was doing.

346
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And it was really neat.

347
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And then I ended up again becoming part of a globe.

348
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And now I'm the treasure of this aglow group.

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And it was really good, but I never wanted to be the president because the president

350
00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:19,320
had to actually pray over people.

351
00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:24,840
Now, I loved praying for people, but what I didn't like was when they gave me their

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details, like if they had a sore toe, I would get a sore toe talking to them.

353
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And I didn't like that at all.

354
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I was like, oh, some people are telling me about their, their, their, I'd say, oh, oh,

355
00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:38,440
that's enough.

356
00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:39,440
That's enough.

357
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I'll pray for you.

358
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No worries.

359
00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:44,520
But if they went into detail, oh, I just, because we really didn't want to hear it.

360
00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:50,280
So when I was in an aglow meeting and I was so happy one day, just doing, like again,

361
00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:55,320
doing only the treasure job, we were talking to the speaker.

362
00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:56,920
We always had a guest speaker.

363
00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:00,080
And the guest speaker had said, you know, just talking and talking.

364
00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:03,480
And then suddenly one of the people were talking about their health issues.

365
00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,520
Well, I started being funny and saying, you know, you guys, I can't handle that.

366
00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:08,240
I can't, I don't want to hear all the details.

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00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:12,720
And I was just being humorous and not being cruel, just lightly as they knew that I didn't

368
00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:14,440
like to hear the details.

369
00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:17,840
That speaker pointed her finger at me and she said, do you know why?

370
00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:22,880
Do you know why you start getting a pain in your toe when other people are telling you

371
00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:23,880
about their toe?

372
00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:25,680
And I said, no, why?

373
00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:29,600
She said, because you are an intercessor, you are feeling their pain.

374
00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:34,560
You are so committed and just like Jesus, taking on the feelings of other people who

375
00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:35,560
took them to the cross.

376
00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:39,680
He said, she said, you're having those because you're identifying with them.

377
00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:44,760
But after you give it to Jesus, you can let it go, it's not yours.

378
00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:46,800
I was transformed that day.

379
00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:50,120
I didn't, I didn't carry it anymore and I could hear people.

380
00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:54,480
And the next thing you know, I was the president of the chapter of aglow in Pennsylvania.

381
00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,280
So I loved it and I loved praying for people.

382
00:19:57,280 --> 00:20:01,760
And it was just an amazing time for me to now have people come in line and lay hands

383
00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:02,760
and pray for them.

384
00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:06,880
But just think how much I didn't want to actually hear those things.

385
00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:10,040
And that was the very thing I was supposed to be doing.

386
00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:15,320
And Linda, you also started teaching some Bible studies using John Blackabee's experience

387
00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:17,840
in God.

388
00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:18,840
Why that study?

389
00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:23,280
I mean, what principles from that book really transformed your relationship with the Lord?

390
00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:31,000
I love that book because it really does talk about joining God with what he's doing.

391
00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:35,000
When you see what he's doing, ask God where you fit.

392
00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:39,640
That's exactly what happened in my life because he is doing great things.

393
00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:41,200
It's just like in aglow.

394
00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:43,360
I was to be the president of that group.

395
00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:45,000
I was supposed to pray for people.

396
00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:46,840
So I saw what was going on.

397
00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:52,320
But until I spent the time in prayer, speaking God, did I not know where my position was

398
00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:54,600
to actually pray for people?

399
00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:59,040
All through everything, anytime in my life, if you watch what's going on and you are praying

400
00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:04,840
and seeking God's thanks, you, you hear his voice, you say, oh, and you're praying.

401
00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:07,800
And you sit right in doors open and it just fits.

402
00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:09,360
You just fit.

403
00:21:09,360 --> 00:21:14,560
It's really, really important to me to watch what's going on and to pray and to seek God

404
00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:17,520
where I'm supposed to help out.

405
00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:20,000
And that's what really, really touched my heart in that book.

406
00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:23,840
It's really talking about, he was, they were building a church, Henry Blackabee and Claude

407
00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:24,840
King.

408
00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:27,440
And Claude King turned out to be a very close friend of mine later on.

409
00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:32,280
I had an opportunity to meet him personally, but it's extremely important that you keep

410
00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:33,280
your eyes open.

411
00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:38,640
It's really important to see where you're going to fit into things to do what God's

412
00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:39,640
calls you to do.

413
00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:40,640
Yeah.

414
00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:42,480
And that really leads to the next part.

415
00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:48,320
I mean, as your children were getting older, the Lord began to call you aside during the

416
00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:50,920
day to spend more time with him.

417
00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:52,120
That's exactly right.

418
00:21:52,120 --> 00:21:54,120
Share, share about that.

419
00:21:54,120 --> 00:21:55,520
That was very strange.

420
00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:59,680
I would take the kids to school at 730 in the morning.

421
00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:03,360
And then I do, you know, obviously now I'm a glow president.

422
00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:05,640
I am teaching Bible studies.

423
00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:07,800
And in fact, really, I had three Bible studies a week.

424
00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:10,400
I had the one with the women with experiencing God.

425
00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:16,280
We had the couples Bible study on Friday nights and then my husband and I did one in for the

426
00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:17,280
youth group at our church.

427
00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:24,160
So I was really busy person, but having my own home and to clean and take care of.

428
00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:27,600
I would be walking by my blue chair.

429
00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:32,080
All of a sudden I hear the Holy Spirit say, come sit down.

430
00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:33,600
I can promise you this.

431
00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:37,160
I would be four and five hours in that chair and prayer.

432
00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:39,080
And it felt like just a few minutes.

433
00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:40,080
I would get up.

434
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:41,920
Things got done.

435
00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:44,720
I have no idea how everything just sort of fell in place.

436
00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:46,160
My house was still clean.

437
00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:47,560
My food was still on the table.

438
00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:49,120
My kids were still picked up on time.

439
00:22:49,120 --> 00:22:55,560
It was like, it was, it was, it was so amazing to just be in that moment with God.

440
00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:58,760
I just praying and being in this presence.

441
00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:00,680
Oh my gosh, I loved it.

442
00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:01,680
I love it.

443
00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:02,680
I love it.

444
00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:03,680
I love it.

445
00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:07,160
So yes, that was transforming for me four and five hours a day, almost every day of the

446
00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:08,160
week.

447
00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:09,160
Yeah.

448
00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:15,240
And out of those times with the Lord, God birthed in you a desire to offer a prayer line,

449
00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:18,440
something that you were, you know, hands off a few years before.

450
00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:24,120
No, not me, but now God's saying, Linda, I want you to offer a prayer line.

451
00:23:24,120 --> 00:23:25,200
How did he do that?

452
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:26,200
What was that story?

453
00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:27,680
What, what's behind that?

454
00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:30,640
Well, that's a wonderful opportunity there.

455
00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:32,000
Let me share that.

456
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:33,680
So I was in a glow.

457
00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:35,680
I was the president of a glow.

458
00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:36,680
My chapter.

459
00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:40,040
So there's about 70 people in our chapter in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

460
00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:46,040
I was very close to the woman who was the state prayer coordinator over Pennsylvania.

461
00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:50,920
And she and I had done many little prayer things throughout the Harrisburg area, praying

462
00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:53,960
on mount tops for the cities and all of those things.

463
00:23:53,960 --> 00:24:02,200
And she called me and offered me this wonderful opportunity to be the prayer person lays on

464
00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:06,960
to the Capitol in Harrisburg, to the senators and the House of Representatives, you know,

465
00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:10,240
and to go in and say, I'm Linda Morrison, I'm representing the aglow.

466
00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:11,880
Can I pray for you?

467
00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:13,880
You know, what an honor, right?

468
00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:21,240
But at that exact same time, I was also noticing something unusual and I was just give you a

469
00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:23,160
little background to this.

470
00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:27,360
Where we lived in Harrisburg, we actually lived in Mechanicsburg, there was this little area

471
00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:32,400
and it was kind of countryish, you know, the area was really a normal little suburb.

472
00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:36,480
But you had to come down this little country road to get out of that area.

473
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:41,280
And almost every day I drove past this little like house, this older house.

474
00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:43,160
There was no grass ever.

475
00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:48,560
There was a giant, I mean, huge old oak tree in the middle of the property.

476
00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:50,400
The drapes were always closed.

477
00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:53,720
There was a dust deal truck in the yard.

478
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:59,360
But there were signs of life and that was that had barbed wire around this, not barbed

479
00:24:59,360 --> 00:25:03,040
wire, excuse me, they had chicken wire around this tree.

480
00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:07,000
And it probably went out about three or four feet in a big circle around the tree and every

481
00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:15,080
day they had fake sheep, they had fake goats, excuse me, fake sheep, a pig and geese in that

482
00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:17,360
little pen and they would move them.

483
00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:18,360
They were fake.

484
00:25:18,360 --> 00:25:20,360
They would move them around every day.

485
00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:23,440
I would have to look over to see where they were every single day.

486
00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:28,360
You never saw anybody in front of the house, no matter what time of day you went out.

487
00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:29,360
Totally closed drapes.

488
00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:37,640
But at Valentine's Day, there were little construction paper hearts and windows.

489
00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:40,760
And at Easter, little plastic eggs hung from the tree.

490
00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:44,080
I don't know who would do that, but that's what it was.

491
00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:48,640
It was fascinating to me and every day I would make up stories in my mind, who is in there?

492
00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:50,760
I wonder if it's a little girl that lives in that house.

493
00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:54,360
I would just make up things in my mind, right by.

494
00:25:54,360 --> 00:26:00,360
At that same time that I am being asked to do this, wow, powerful thing at the capital

495
00:26:00,360 --> 00:26:05,640
of Harrisburg in Pennsylvania, they're gone.

496
00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:10,640
Suddenly, those animals are picked up and gone.

497
00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:11,640
The truck is gone.

498
00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:16,240
No more life in that house at all.

499
00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:19,520
I felt devastated.

500
00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:21,960
Why didn't I ever knock on that door?

501
00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:24,640
I prayed for so many people at my church.

502
00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:27,480
We went out and did all these ministries with a glow.

503
00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:29,920
Why didn't I ever knock on that door?

504
00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:31,480
See if they needed help.

505
00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:34,200
Did they need somebody to go to the grocery store?

506
00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:35,200
Did they know Jesus?

507
00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:36,200
I don't know.

508
00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:39,200
Did they stay home a much-veiled day in the dark?

509
00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:41,960
I have no idea so to this day.

510
00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:46,360
When I saw that, I was devastated.

511
00:26:46,360 --> 00:26:48,280
I was talking to my friend about it.

512
00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:51,720
We were having lunch at a little coffee shop.

513
00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:54,320
The vision just came to me just like that.

514
00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:55,960
Oh my gosh.

515
00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:57,440
I needed to start a prayer line.

516
00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:01,440
I needed to have a prayer line for people who don't go outside of their house.

517
00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:05,360
Who prays for those people who don't go to church?

518
00:27:05,360 --> 00:27:08,800
Who prays for those people who find out they have cancer?

519
00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:10,440
They have nobody.

520
00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:14,480
So yes, it was an honor to go to the Capitol and pray.

521
00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:16,840
But there's pastors there.

522
00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:18,520
All kinds of people go there.

523
00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:22,440
But who's there for those people that are indoors, inside their house?

524
00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:26,080
So this is what the Lord showed me.

525
00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:27,960
Get volunteers.

526
00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:28,960
Get a phone line.

527
00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:31,600
Be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

528
00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:33,960
I told my vision to the pastors.

529
00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:37,000
I had about 35 pastors that I knew through a glow.

530
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:38,000
They loved the idea.

531
00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:41,880
I went to Fox News and I said, this is what I want to do.

532
00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:44,280
They helped me for free make commercials.

533
00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:45,280
We had to pay.

534
00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:48,240
The pastors paid to put the commercials on TV.

535
00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:52,480
And we had commercials that said, God cares and so do we.

536
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:55,480
Only God holds your future and only God can change it.

537
00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:58,720
And at that same time, don't forget, the psychics were on TV.

538
00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:01,040
It was 1997.

539
00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:02,440
They were going strong.

540
00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:07,240
So Fox News and some of the others that we were on carry our commercials.

541
00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:10,320
Have Jerry, Judge Judy, Jerry Springer.

542
00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:15,920
When those commercials came on for psychics, we were on right after that.

543
00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:20,080
So we were on those commercials and it was wonderful.

544
00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:21,240
People started calling us.

545
00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:24,360
Oh my gosh, the salvation that happened.

546
00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:27,440
People that had spent, one lady had spent $800 a month.

547
00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:29,480
Now imagine that's over almost 20 years ago.

548
00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:31,040
It is 20 years ago.

549
00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:34,400
Spent $800 a month on psychics.

550
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:35,400
We even had a gentleman.

551
00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:40,240
Oh, I don't know if you have time for this story, but it is an amazing story of a young

552
00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:45,640
man who was one of the psychics on the televisions who met me at Staples.

553
00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:50,160
When he found out what I did, he said, I can't believe that I'm meeting you.

554
00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:53,400
He said, I called your number and I got saved.

555
00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:56,960
So that was, oh my gosh, it was amazing.

556
00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:58,360
He saw it on the commercial.

557
00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:02,520
He said, and he was talking to his demons and he felt like they were going to kill him.

558
00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:05,200
And he decided that he called the prayer line instead.

559
00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:07,920
So God did a divine appointment with him there too.

560
00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:10,120
One of the pastors was actually on the phone that night.

561
00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:11,120
So he got saved.

562
00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:12,120
It was amazing.

563
00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:13,120
Wow.

564
00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:16,680
It was a wonderful time and we did a lot of good work for that.

565
00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:17,680
Yes, we did.

566
00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:18,680
Right, so Lord.

567
00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:22,840
Well, you know, friends, there are a lot of people all over the world who need to experience

568
00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:25,720
a tangible expression of God's love.

569
00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:29,840
Some like widows as well as orphans, they have special needs that we as a company of

570
00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:31,520
women can meet together.

571
00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:34,960
Would you consider joining us with a special gift to help?

572
00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:39,400
Just go to hergodstory.org and click on the widow and orphan tab at the top of the page.

573
00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:44,240
Now, Linda, you stepped out in faith to start that prayer line and God brought you a group

574
00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:49,880
of pastors and Fox News and others to help you get that going.

575
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:56,080
But that initial prayer line was limited in your area, in several states around you.

576
00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:59,240
But after a few years, the support for it dwindled.

577
00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:00,240
Why?

578
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:01,240
What happened?

579
00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:02,840
And what did you learn from that?

580
00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:08,000
Well, exactly what I said, I had all these volunteers from McGlowe and we were doing

581
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:11,080
really well as being the better alternative to the psychic network.

582
00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:15,680
I felt that these commercials were getting into those homes where people never left their

583
00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:17,560
home and stayed home all the time.

584
00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:23,640
But when the psychic started getting sued on television, then our insurance company also

585
00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:26,400
felt that they did not want to carry us anymore.

586
00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:30,040
And our pastors, when we talked about it and our board said, well, our job is done.

587
00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:31,040
God's finished.

588
00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:33,200
We don't have to do this anymore.

589
00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:35,120
And I was really relieved, quite frankly.

590
00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:36,480
It was a lot running that.

591
00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:40,080
And of course, it was never as big as this because it was a limited area, just little

592
00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:45,000
bits of Ohio, little bits of Pennsylvania, some of Maryland and that.

593
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,440
But it was not the extent that we have now.

594
00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:49,560
But I'm telling you, I was exhausted.

595
00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:51,920
And so I was glad to close it.

596
00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:57,000
However, two months later, we had 9-11.

597
00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:03,960
And again, I was just so sad because I closed the prayer line and now I could have been there

598
00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:07,320
with some business cards and all kinds of things to minister.

599
00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:10,120
I had over 100 volunteers that could have been praying for people.

600
00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:12,600
And I couldn't go because I didn't have my team.

601
00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:14,160
I had nothing.

602
00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:18,720
And I said to the Lord, yes, Lord, I'm grateful Billy Graham is there and many pastors are

603
00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:19,720
there.

604
00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:20,720
They probably don't need me.

605
00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:22,320
But I want to be there.

606
00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:44,680
And if I ever, ever get another chance to start this prayer.

607
00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:49,080
Back to the Lord, just calling me back, just being alone with him in prayer for my kids

608
00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:50,880
were off in school and stuff.

609
00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:58,200
Yeah, but a few years later, you moved to Florida and God prompted you to get that prayer

610
00:31:58,200 --> 00:31:59,920
line started again.

611
00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:02,600
This time, it really took off.

612
00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:07,440
Share a little about how that happened, the tremendous growth you've seen.

613
00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:13,120
And remember, this is all as you're working as a volunteer from your home.

614
00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:17,120
You don't have a big ministry backing you up.

615
00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:19,120
Yes.

616
00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:22,480
No, we did not.

617
00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:23,480
We did not.

618
00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:25,720
Before it was the pastors.

619
00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:29,320
And then as I say, we close occasionally if I needed extra money, David, give it to me.

620
00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:33,120
But honestly, we just did that then and then, but we were close.

621
00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:34,360
And now we moved to Florida.

622
00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:36,520
Dave's kind of retired.

623
00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:39,680
And we're looking for church.

624
00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:44,720
And while we're looking for church, we meet this pastor and he says, you know, I'm thinking

625
00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:46,200
about starting a prayer line here.

626
00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:49,160
You know, just putting a sign in front of our church and saying, you know, here we have

627
00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:50,160
prayer.

628
00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:53,440
And I said, well, I just so happened to already have a manual written, you know, and prayers

629
00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:56,120
put together and I could help you.

630
00:32:56,120 --> 00:33:00,640
So here's my again, I'm experiencing God, I'm spending time, I'm looking around at what

631
00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:02,680
God's doing and I'm now joining God.

632
00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:04,400
Now at the time, I didn't think about it that way.

633
00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:07,360
But now that we're talking about it, it falls into place.

634
00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:09,240
You're looking around where, where's their need?

635
00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:10,880
How can I fill it?

636
00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:12,720
So we opened that prayer line.

637
00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:16,160
However, interestingly enough, it's very expensive.

638
00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:20,520
Because in those days, there wasn't the technology that we have now.

639
00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:25,280
So in order to have a prayer line from home, so all the volunteers could be at home as

640
00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:29,600
well and not have a prayer center, we needed to use an answering service.

641
00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:32,680
So that really was an additional cost.

642
00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:36,680
So we were with our church for about three months until we met Daniel Bernard from Somebody

643
00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:37,680
Cares Tampa Bay.

644
00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:42,520
And he said, you know, I'm feeling like I'd like to have a prayer line.

645
00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:45,440
He said, great.

646
00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:48,040
My pastor was like, go, this is really expensive.

647
00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:50,800
So, so we still were the prayer line for our church.

648
00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:54,720
But then we came under Daniel Bernard and Daniel changed a few things, which was really

649
00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:55,720
nice.

650
00:33:55,720 --> 00:34:00,760
He came up with the idea of having the referral part of our ministry so that we meet the felt

651
00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:03,000
needs of people just like Jesus.

652
00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:05,920
He prayed, but he also said the found 5000.

653
00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:07,640
He knew they were hungry and he did that.

654
00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:08,640
It was powerful.

655
00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:14,200
So we added that to our ministry and we were working with Somebody Cares and Tampa Bay and

656
00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:19,560
Daniel Bernard, and it was, it was a wonderful time after about, and I think I met you.

657
00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:23,400
That was the first time I met you, but we were not part of Somebody Cares America yet.

658
00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:29,040
And so, but then Daniel, after a couple of years said, Linda, this ministry is too extensive.

659
00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:31,520
And I said, I know.

660
00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:38,240
So again, here's another divine appointment at Somebody Cares Pasco County with Daniel

661
00:34:38,240 --> 00:34:43,400
and just presenting, you know, the ministry, always looking for volunteers and those kinds

662
00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:44,400
of things with you.

663
00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:48,160
You need a lot of volunteers to run this ministry 24 seven.

664
00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:52,000
And I, I talked to Dan and he said, you know who you need to talk to?

665
00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:53,560
You need to talk to the joy FM.

666
00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:57,640
I bet they'd like to have a prayer line and they were super excited about it.

667
00:34:57,640 --> 00:34:59,720
They said, yes, we want to have a prayer line.

668
00:34:59,720 --> 00:35:05,880
So then we just began to become part of joy FM and everything just started really going

669
00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:07,080
quickly, very quickly.

670
00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:12,880
Joy FM was advertising us in here in Florida and then with their affiliates in North Carolina,

671
00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:16,800
South Carolina, Georgia and Missouri.

672
00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:19,200
Now, I think they're also in Alabama.

673
00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:26,840
So we really got a lot of exposure for volunteers as well as just people calling us as and in

674
00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:30,760
addition, they had the apps.

675
00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:35,920
So we were really beginning to grow and meeting people from around the world actually because

676
00:35:35,920 --> 00:35:38,200
of their apps, people call all over.

677
00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:43,800
And then during that time, I also remit Doug Stringer and that that was really cool because

678
00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:48,280
he said, Linda, I want to donate some money and plant seed into your ministry.

679
00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:50,120
And I wrote him a little note thanking him.

680
00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:53,600
And the next thing you know, it's part of your ministry.

681
00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:58,960
But it's been amazing all the different ways that I didn't, I didn't go looking.

682
00:35:58,960 --> 00:35:59,960
Just God just.

683
00:35:59,960 --> 00:36:00,960
Yeah.

684
00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:05,520
So I mean, you were looking at what God was doing, but you weren't looking for your own.

685
00:36:05,520 --> 00:36:10,720
You were saying, God, how do you want me to fit into your plan, which is really what we're

686
00:36:10,720 --> 00:36:11,720
all called to do.

687
00:36:11,720 --> 00:36:12,720
We're all part of the body of Christ.

688
00:36:12,720 --> 00:36:15,600
And if the body is going one way, we need to go with it, right?

689
00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:18,960
Not go off on our own little tangent.

690
00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:24,800
So I know, Linda, you have thousands of testimonies of how God has used the prayer line in people's

691
00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:25,800
lives.

692
00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:27,080
So you can't recount them all.

693
00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:31,560
And I know we could talk for hours about them, but just share three or four memorable

694
00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:36,320
calls and what God did.

695
00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:41,080
Let me just say an overview first.

696
00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:42,080
We, you're right.

697
00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:48,640
We have some amazing miracles of tumors, dissolving, diseases being healed, marriages restored,

698
00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:53,160
coma patients waking up, all that running around, wait, children coming back instantly

699
00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:54,160
when they call.

700
00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:55,640
And it's just been wonderful.

701
00:36:55,640 --> 00:37:01,480
But some of the things that touch my heart, just small little things like some of the

702
00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:06,200
churches that we work with may have a little business card and they have their people in

703
00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:10,640
their church carry around this little business card and it has the number for their church

704
00:37:10,640 --> 00:37:12,320
with their own phone number.

705
00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:15,640
And they call and they'll say, was this a divine appointment?

706
00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:20,960
Is this, was this God that I found this in the gutter or on a bus bench?

707
00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:24,200
And we've been able to just, just bring those people to salvation.

708
00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:26,600
One particular guy, he was super excited.

709
00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:28,160
He finds our number.

710
00:37:28,160 --> 00:37:30,040
He knows it's a God thing.

711
00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:33,320
This is life to Christ makes the volunteer stay on the phone.

712
00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:35,560
Cause he says, I want to flush down the toilet.

713
00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:37,560
All of my drugs don't hang up.

714
00:37:37,560 --> 00:37:41,280
So she had to flush in the toilet, but praise the Lord.

715
00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:42,800
He stayed and he continued.

716
00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:46,360
And a lot of the things that we are able to do is when somebody does give their life to

717
00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:50,240
Christ, we try to make sure that they get into some kind of a discipleship program.

718
00:37:50,240 --> 00:37:52,720
So that's been excited, exciting.

719
00:37:52,720 --> 00:37:57,240
We had just recently two young girls in Chicago who called us.

720
00:37:57,240 --> 00:37:58,920
Oh my gosh.

721
00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:02,960
They were being attacked by gang members, really harassed, harassed, harassed.

722
00:38:02,960 --> 00:38:05,200
They were hiding in a hotel room.

723
00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:10,640
Their sister did not make it to the hotel room and had only 14 years old was raped by

724
00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:12,280
these, these young men.

725
00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:14,240
So she got back to the room.

726
00:38:14,240 --> 00:38:16,360
They was trying to take care of her and watch over her.

727
00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:17,800
They called the prayer line.

728
00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:20,960
They were so upset, blessed a little heart.

729
00:38:20,960 --> 00:38:24,400
We were able to pray with them, but we didn't just leave it there.

730
00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:27,640
That's the part of our referral team that really was part of what Daniel had come up

731
00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:28,640
with.

732
00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:31,880
The referral team immediately jumped into action.

733
00:38:31,880 --> 00:38:36,000
We were able to call someone that was able to go and pick those girls up, take them to

734
00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:37,440
a safe house.

735
00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,520
We found out that they received Christ.

736
00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:43,280
They were gotten into a new home in another state.

737
00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:47,520
They're in a church and had jobs and were able to take care of their 14 year old sister.

738
00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:51,160
Those are things that are miracles that we were able to do.

739
00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:52,160
Absolutely wonderful.

740
00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:55,680
And all they had done was look up the prayer line and call the prayer line.

741
00:38:55,680 --> 00:38:57,520
So God just moved mindlessly.

742
00:38:57,520 --> 00:38:59,840
It was blessings.

743
00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:04,320
Another recent one was the girl that had just been in sec.

744
00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:05,920
This is a very interesting story.

745
00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:11,520
The girls were eating, drinking it, and not drinking alcohol, but just having iced tea

746
00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:13,880
and a little lunch at a restaurant.

747
00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:18,840
And one of the girls after lunch had been taken into sex trafficking.

748
00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:19,840
They had stolen her.

749
00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:21,400
They followed her home and took her.

750
00:39:21,400 --> 00:39:23,240
It was quite an interesting story.

751
00:39:23,240 --> 00:39:25,480
Anyway, she did escape.

752
00:39:25,480 --> 00:39:32,440
And when she did escape, she stole somebody's phone and she just called into Siri and she

753
00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:34,600
said, Siri, I need prayer.

754
00:39:34,600 --> 00:39:36,200
She didn't even want to call the police.

755
00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:37,400
This is the interesting part.

756
00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:40,840
This has happened more than once where people who are in trouble do not call the police

757
00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:41,840
first.

758
00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:45,480
They think that the prayer line, I'm thrilled that they looked to God first.

759
00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:50,440
When we heard this, we prayed with her and then we continued to stay in contact with

760
00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:53,760
her and got the FBI involved and she was rescued.

761
00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:58,480
Those are powerful things to do for children that are in trouble.

762
00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:05,360
That doesn't happen every day, but we have some very great opportunities to help people.

763
00:40:05,360 --> 00:40:06,960
Sometimes they don't want to call the cops.

764
00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:12,560
Who knows what they're doing that they don't want to have exposed or like this young girl

765
00:40:12,560 --> 00:40:17,480
thinking one of the girls that called us one time, she was afraid that the police were

766
00:40:17,480 --> 00:40:19,120
in on what was happening to her.

767
00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:21,160
So she was afraid for us to call the police.

768
00:40:21,160 --> 00:40:26,600
So there's a lot of times where people call us for miracles and prayer and just for peace.

769
00:40:26,600 --> 00:40:29,520
God does something even more.

770
00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:37,200
You've had many, many people pray, the salvation prayer, receive Jesus and then you've been

771
00:40:37,200 --> 00:40:40,280
able to connect them with churches where they're growing in the Lord.

772
00:40:40,280 --> 00:40:44,520
Its stories go on and on and on, which like I said, we don't have time for them all, but

773
00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:47,320
God is so, so good.

774
00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:52,920
Now Linda, after hearing those stories, some of our listeners to this story might want

775
00:40:52,920 --> 00:40:55,320
to get involved and volunteer for the prayer line.

776
00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:57,200
They might have been saying, God, what are you doing?

777
00:40:57,200 --> 00:40:58,800
How can I get involved?

778
00:40:58,800 --> 00:41:01,360
So how can they get information and join you Linda?

779
00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:02,360
I would love that.

780
00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:05,720
Now you don't always get all the scary calls like those two calls.

781
00:41:05,720 --> 00:41:08,440
And there's also different kinds of calls we prevented.

782
00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:13,360
A lot of things have happened, but I will say it's extremely rewarding and the volunteers

783
00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:14,360
love it.

784
00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:15,840
They love it because it is rewarding.

785
00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:19,640
And many of them have said to me, Linda, I got more out of this being on the prayer

786
00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:24,240
line than I have anywhere else and more than I give out.

787
00:41:24,240 --> 00:41:30,120
So if you are interested, please email Linda at yourprayerteam.com.

788
00:41:30,120 --> 00:41:32,120
And our onboarding team will get back with you.

789
00:41:32,120 --> 00:41:33,720
They'll answer your questions.

790
00:41:33,720 --> 00:41:35,200
There's all kinds of information.

791
00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:38,280
And there is a training and that's the beauty of it.

792
00:41:38,280 --> 00:41:42,320
If you're called to prayer and you'd love to pray or you're afraid to hear the stories,

793
00:41:42,320 --> 00:41:45,720
it's still probably your calling.

794
00:41:45,720 --> 00:41:47,560
We're all called to pray and minister.

795
00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:51,760
But we will train you and it is not a scary thing.

796
00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:56,000
It is an honor to hear people's concerns and lift them up.

797
00:41:56,000 --> 00:41:58,320
And there's so many people hurting today.

798
00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:02,560
As we all know, a lot of people are not going to church.

799
00:42:02,560 --> 00:42:06,480
And even when they do go to church, many of the churches I'm learning because of our prayer

800
00:42:06,480 --> 00:42:08,440
line are not praying for people.

801
00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:12,520
They don't have, you see it on TV that you see these big prayer lines, but in general,

802
00:42:12,520 --> 00:42:15,600
a lot of smaller church, a lot of churches don't have prayer.

803
00:42:15,600 --> 00:42:20,840
And so we haven't opened this door of opportunity to pray.

804
00:42:20,840 --> 00:42:24,240
And I found out that several people that were in their own churches and everybody thought

805
00:42:24,240 --> 00:42:25,960
they were already saved were not.

806
00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:27,600
They don't want to go up front and tell anybody.

807
00:42:27,600 --> 00:42:30,080
So this is a great opportunity for salvation.

808
00:42:30,080 --> 00:42:31,720
We receive a lot of salvation.

809
00:42:31,720 --> 00:42:34,160
It's a great opportunity for ministry.

810
00:42:34,160 --> 00:42:37,520
I think of it as a missionary, missionary field.

811
00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:38,520
Truly is.

812
00:42:38,520 --> 00:42:41,600
So give your email again and we will have this email in our show notes.

813
00:42:41,600 --> 00:42:44,760
So if you're listening and you want to get involved, check out our show notes.

814
00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:47,160
But Linda say the email again.

815
00:42:47,160 --> 00:42:52,200
It's Linda@yourprayerteam.com, yourprayerteam.com.

816
00:42:52,200 --> 00:42:55,160
So listeners, there's volunteer opportunities right there.

817
00:42:55,160 --> 00:43:00,280
If you feel a nudge from the Lord, you need to email Linda and get involved.

818
00:43:00,280 --> 00:43:03,000
There's lots of things, lots of ways you can help.

819
00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:05,160
You can be on the prayer receiving end.

820
00:43:05,160 --> 00:43:11,560
You could even be on the referral team to help with those who need more assistance after

821
00:43:11,560 --> 00:43:12,920
they call.

822
00:43:12,920 --> 00:43:16,400
So Linda, you've had some ups and downs in life.

823
00:43:16,400 --> 00:43:18,680
It hasn't all been roses for you.

824
00:43:18,680 --> 00:43:19,680
Just like everybody else.

825
00:43:19,680 --> 00:43:21,600
How have you made it through?

826
00:43:21,600 --> 00:43:25,880
Well, I truly absolutely have to stay positive for the things that we hear on the prayer

827
00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:29,480
line, the depression, the people are going through hard, hard times.

828
00:43:29,480 --> 00:43:31,240
You could just get weighed down.

829
00:43:31,240 --> 00:43:35,800
And even with my own life, I have a grandchild who is special needs and they said that she

830
00:43:35,800 --> 00:43:37,720
would never, she would never walk.

831
00:43:37,720 --> 00:43:39,480
She would never do anything but get out of bed.

832
00:43:39,480 --> 00:43:43,360
God made miracles in her life by staying positive.

833
00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:45,640
We have to believe God is a miracle working God.

834
00:43:45,640 --> 00:43:48,360
I have to always be in prayer.

835
00:43:48,360 --> 00:43:53,640
I have to look at God's word and see those positive things and not allow the enemy to

836
00:43:53,640 --> 00:43:55,600
say, well, this happened.

837
00:43:55,600 --> 00:43:57,560
This must be a spiritual warfare time.

838
00:43:57,560 --> 00:44:02,720
This happened, but I don't want to give the enemy any glory, but I can see God moving and

839
00:44:02,720 --> 00:44:03,720
see the miracles.

840
00:44:03,720 --> 00:44:09,440
So my eyes are always looking at Jesus and the miracles and believing that.

841
00:44:09,440 --> 00:44:10,440
It's not easy.

842
00:44:10,440 --> 00:44:15,280
I'm not going to say, oh, I'm just, you know, but I do, I really have a happy personality

843
00:44:15,280 --> 00:44:20,640
and I really want to stay focused on what Jesus does and see that joy and victory in

844
00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:21,640
Jesus.

845
00:44:21,640 --> 00:44:22,640
I'm totally sold out.

846
00:44:22,640 --> 00:44:26,200
God is always working everything together for good, no matter what it is.

847
00:44:26,200 --> 00:44:27,200
I really do.

848
00:44:27,200 --> 00:44:28,200
Yeah.

849
00:44:28,200 --> 00:44:30,360
So it's not the power of positive thinking.

850
00:44:30,360 --> 00:44:36,080
It's the power of believing God's word and believing that what he says is true.

851
00:44:36,080 --> 00:44:37,080
Absolutely.

852
00:44:37,080 --> 00:44:40,400
I'm always looking at his promises, always hanging on his promises.

853
00:44:40,400 --> 00:44:41,400
It's true.

854
00:44:41,400 --> 00:44:42,400
I do.

855
00:44:42,400 --> 00:44:44,760
I say Psalm 91 over my family every single day.

856
00:44:44,760 --> 00:44:48,840
I'm just, my husband and I do every single morning and night as part of our prayer.

857
00:44:48,840 --> 00:44:53,760
I pray Psalm 91 as we sleep and Psalm 91 as we go throughout the day.

858
00:44:53,760 --> 00:44:56,880
And also David and I take communion every day together as well.

859
00:44:56,880 --> 00:44:59,600
I just don't think there's any better place than to be in Jesus.

860
00:44:59,600 --> 00:45:01,920
He wants a relationship with us.

861
00:45:01,920 --> 00:45:03,560
That's what he created us.

862
00:45:03,560 --> 00:45:04,880
Prayer is just a relationship.

863
00:45:04,880 --> 00:45:05,880
He's our best friend.

864
00:45:05,880 --> 00:45:11,640
Jesus is our best friend and it is worth developing the very best friends you can have with Jesus.

865
00:45:11,640 --> 00:45:16,920
So Linda, as we close, would you share about a woman in the Bible who's inspired or encouraged

866
00:45:16,920 --> 00:45:18,800
or taught you something?

867
00:45:18,800 --> 00:45:20,800
I loved Esther.

868
00:45:20,800 --> 00:45:25,240
I loved the fact that she was very obedient to her uncle.

869
00:45:25,240 --> 00:45:32,040
She was also obedient to the gentleman who took care of her that was watching over the

870
00:45:32,040 --> 00:45:33,040
women in the harem.

871
00:45:33,040 --> 00:45:34,280
She said, what should I do?

872
00:45:34,280 --> 00:45:35,760
What should I bring to see the king?

873
00:45:35,760 --> 00:45:36,760
She was obedient.

874
00:45:36,760 --> 00:45:40,040
She didn't think she had it all.

875
00:45:40,040 --> 00:45:41,760
She was humble.

876
00:45:41,760 --> 00:45:43,880
She thought that wise counsel.

877
00:45:43,880 --> 00:45:46,680
She thought of others more than herself.

878
00:45:46,680 --> 00:45:50,480
When it was time, she could have stayed in that castle and never revealed who she was,

879
00:45:50,480 --> 00:45:55,040
but she was honest and she did what she was supposed to do.

880
00:45:55,040 --> 00:45:56,640
I loved how she prayed fervently.

881
00:45:56,640 --> 00:46:00,480
She had everybody praying with her to get this done.

882
00:46:00,480 --> 00:46:01,880
And she waited on God.

883
00:46:01,880 --> 00:46:04,720
She didn't try to push things herself.

884
00:46:04,720 --> 00:46:07,440
Seeing God's timing is extremely important.

885
00:46:07,440 --> 00:46:11,080
Again, we're looking at what God's doing and then we join him.

886
00:46:11,080 --> 00:46:16,040
If she would have revealed what she wanted to do the first night she had dinner, I wonder

887
00:46:16,040 --> 00:46:20,560
if it would have worked as well because it was then that he started building those gallows,

888
00:46:20,560 --> 00:46:21,560
if you remember.

889
00:46:21,560 --> 00:46:22,560
He built the gallows.

890
00:46:22,560 --> 00:46:26,000
Those were finished when she had him over for dinner the second night.

891
00:46:26,000 --> 00:46:27,600
She didn't know what was going on.

892
00:46:27,600 --> 00:46:30,160
She had to wait for the gallows to be built.

893
00:46:30,160 --> 00:46:33,520
She just waited on God to say, now's the time.

894
00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:34,520
I love that.

895
00:46:34,520 --> 00:46:35,520
I love that about her.

896
00:46:35,520 --> 00:46:37,520
So that's why I love her.

897
00:46:37,520 --> 00:46:40,080
Yeah, I love that too.

898
00:46:40,080 --> 00:46:46,720
I referenced Ephesians 319 earlier in the conversation and that came from Paul's letter

899
00:46:46,720 --> 00:46:48,760
to the church in Ephesus.

900
00:46:48,760 --> 00:46:54,800
That verse is just one part of a prayer that he prayed for them and us.

901
00:46:54,800 --> 00:46:56,440
But there's more to that prayer.

902
00:46:56,440 --> 00:47:03,200
Ephesians 3, 16 through 19 says, I pray that from God's glorious unlimited resources,

903
00:47:03,200 --> 00:47:07,520
he will empower you with inner strength through his spirit.

904
00:47:07,520 --> 00:47:13,280
Then Christ will make his home in our hearts and you will trust in him.

905
00:47:13,280 --> 00:47:18,320
Your roots will grow down deep into God's love and keep you strong.

906
00:47:18,320 --> 00:47:24,520
And may you have the power to understand as all God's people should how wide, how high,

907
00:47:24,520 --> 00:47:27,320
how long, how deep is his love.

908
00:47:27,320 --> 00:47:32,160
May you experience the love of Christ, though it's too great to fully understand.

909
00:47:32,160 --> 00:47:37,440
Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from

910
00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:38,800
God.

911
00:47:38,800 --> 00:47:44,560
You know, God's love for you, dear friend, is also wide and long and high and deep.

912
00:47:44,560 --> 00:47:48,360
And God wants you to experience him through his love for you.

913
00:47:48,360 --> 00:47:51,920
He longs to call you aside and have an intimate relationship with you.

914
00:47:51,920 --> 00:47:54,800
He wants you to join him in what he's doing.

915
00:47:54,800 --> 00:47:58,960
He wants to answer your questions, meet your needs and fill you with peace and joy.

916
00:47:58,960 --> 00:48:02,240
Linda, would you take a moment and pray for our listeners?

917
00:48:02,240 --> 00:48:03,920
I do want to encourage everyone.

918
00:48:03,920 --> 00:48:08,160
It doesn't matter what you're doing as long as you are doing it for the Lord.

919
00:48:08,160 --> 00:48:09,160
It's amazing.

920
00:48:09,160 --> 00:48:14,040
As you just look around, even in my own neighborhood, we've done things in my neighborhood to bless

921
00:48:14,040 --> 00:48:15,160
the neighbors.

922
00:48:15,160 --> 00:48:17,960
There's always opportunities.

923
00:48:17,960 --> 00:48:22,560
And so Father God, I ask you to bless every single one of our listeners.

924
00:48:22,560 --> 00:48:25,200
Lord, we're all called to something different.

925
00:48:25,200 --> 00:48:31,000
When we think of my grandmother, who just was a happy, just a precious woman of God

926
00:48:31,000 --> 00:48:32,560
who just took care of her family.

927
00:48:32,560 --> 00:48:39,320
She never did any work anywhere or did anything or led anything in her church, even ministry,

928
00:48:39,320 --> 00:48:41,000
Lord God, nothing.

929
00:48:41,000 --> 00:48:46,840
She had a goal and that was just to help me to grow up to be a woman of compassion and

930
00:48:46,840 --> 00:48:47,840
to love you.

931
00:48:47,840 --> 00:48:51,360
Lord Jesus, each one of us has a place.

932
00:48:51,360 --> 00:48:54,120
You wrote in your book, in Psalm 139.

933
00:48:54,120 --> 00:48:56,760
It says you wrote in your book about us.

934
00:48:56,760 --> 00:48:58,480
You sang over us.

935
00:48:58,480 --> 00:49:00,520
You have a plan for us.

936
00:49:00,520 --> 00:49:06,480
So Lord, don't let anyone feel like less than, but rather that you're putting them in that

937
00:49:06,480 --> 00:49:12,240
place, let them open their eyes to look around and see what you're doing and have the confidence

938
00:49:12,240 --> 00:49:15,560
to just go forward so that you can use them.

939
00:49:15,560 --> 00:49:18,560
Give them that opportunity to spend time alone with you, Lord.

940
00:49:18,560 --> 00:49:22,280
Just tell people that I've spent five hours a day sounds unimaginable.

941
00:49:22,280 --> 00:49:27,760
But Lord God, you will come in into the very thing they're supposed to do and I know you

942
00:49:27,760 --> 00:49:28,760
will.

943
00:49:28,760 --> 00:49:34,920
I know you will, Lord, and I just bless them, each woman and even men who would hear me today,

944
00:49:34,920 --> 00:49:42,240
that they will completely be rejoicing that they're in your plan, safe in your will, doing

945
00:49:42,240 --> 00:49:47,440
what you have them to do, building a relationship with you and serving you every day of their

946
00:49:47,440 --> 00:49:48,440
life with joy.

947
00:49:48,440 --> 00:49:53,640
I ask this in Jesus' name, I cover them with the blood of Jesus.

948
00:49:53,640 --> 00:49:57,600
Cover them with protection and joy and peace in you.

949
00:49:57,600 --> 00:49:58,600
Amen.

950
00:49:58,600 --> 00:49:59,760
Thank you for tuning in.

951
00:49:59,760 --> 00:50:04,320
In our show notes at hergodstory.org, you'll find scriptures and the other information

952
00:50:04,320 --> 00:50:05,600
that we talked about.

953
00:50:05,600 --> 00:50:09,640
And don't forget to sign up for our emails and get a six-week devotional on Women of

954
00:50:09,640 --> 00:50:11,920
the Bible that you can download for free.

955
00:50:11,920 --> 00:50:16,880
Or you may want to purchase a 12-week Her God Story devotional for just $12 knowing

956
00:50:16,880 --> 00:50:20,760
that all the proceeds will go to our Witte One Orphan Fund.

957
00:50:20,760 --> 00:50:25,280
And if you enjoyed this episode, consider starting a Her God Story podcast club.

958
00:50:25,280 --> 00:50:28,360
You can find more information at hergodstory.org.

959
00:50:28,360 --> 00:50:33,800
We'd love to pray with you and so would Linda at our 24-7 prayer and text line.

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Now you know more about it, so give us a call anytime at 855-459-CARE or email us at prayer@somebodycares.org

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And now dear friends, I bless you from Ephesians 3:19.

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May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to fully understand.

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Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from

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God.

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Her God Story is a ministry of Somebody Cares America and International.

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To find out more about or support the ministry, go to somebodycares.org.