Faith, Family and Hearing God, Paula Mullen’s Story

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Hey friends, thank you for listening to the Her God Story podcast where you will always hear a good story to encourage and inspire you in your walk with the Lord.

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We've recently entered a new year and many churches start the year off with a season of prayer and sometimes even fasting.

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This is a time to set aside to focus more fully on the Lord to get his perspective and direction, basically to recalibrate our lives to better follow Jesus.

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And it's a great practice.

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It trains us to pay attention to what God is saying and paying attention to God's voice and leading are critical to our walk with the Lord.

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Proverbs 4, 20 through 22 highlight this.

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The New Living Translation reads,

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My child, pay attention to what I say.

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Listen carefully to my words.

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Don't lose sight of them.

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Let them penetrate deep in your heart for they will bring life to those who find them and healing to their whole body.

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My guest, Paula Mullen, has spent a lifetime following the Lord.

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From her early years growing up in an immigrant community in New York, Paula loved God and longed to follow him.

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And God revealed himself to her as she pursued knowing him in the only way she knew.

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As she has paid attention to his leading, God has directed her steps into a fulfilling career, a loving marriage and motherhood.

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It's not always been easy, but as Paula has listened to God's word, he has directed her steps.

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Welcome, Paula.

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Thank you. It's good to be here.

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Paula, tell a little bit about growing up in a first generation immigrant family and how from an early age you had faith in God.

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Well, my mother, who I was the first born, so she did not speak any English when I was born.

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She did the best she knew with her limited English abilities.

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So she taught me prayers and all the prayers in Italian and she told me about God and Jesus and how wonderful he was.

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And my mother had a great way of sharing stories and I was captivated.

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So right from the start, there I was listening about Jesus and wanting to know more.

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And you were living in New York being an Italian immigrant, your family really connected into the Catholic community there.

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My father, who was quite a little older than my mom, their marriage was arranged by the families.

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My mother used to always tell me, don't forget that your father gave money to build the Italian Catholic Church.

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And when you read the stories about it, the community came together and the history, the stories are that people gave even their pennies

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because it was a big deal to have a church just for the Italian American community.

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The Polish Americans had theirs and we get ours and then I guess everybody else had their own.

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So that was how it worked out. So yeah, it was great.

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Yeah. And as you were also growing up, you got a real foundation in the Bible by attending Catholic school, which really was a stretch for your family, wasn't it?

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Yes, it was a stretch.

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Now, back then, the diocese funded a good portion of it, but we had to pay for other things.

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And but my parents somehow, I don't even know how they did it, found the money to like pay for the books and the uniforms and different things.

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And God just always came through for things like that.

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I mean, we didn't get to join fun clubs or anything like that.

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But yeah, that's how we went through school.

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And I, for one, had loving priests and nuns that poured into us.

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I know not everybody, some people say, oh, whatever, we didn't, we didn't have it.

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We had very loving people to train us and teach us.

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Yeah.

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And so when you took your first communion and your first confession, they were quite meaningful to you.

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Yes, we, I remember our teacher telling us that we had to write down the prayer that we were going to pray and we got when we received first communion.

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And it was really important to me, but I remember when we first, when we, when I got my, when I received my first communion, they had said to us,

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when you receive your first communion, Jesus will come and live in your heart.

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I believed it.

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I didn't know about making a confession or anything like that, but I believed it.

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And I believe at that time in a seven year old way, I did receive the Holy Spirit.

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And then, I mean, you know, Jesus come live in my heart.

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And then when we were in sixth grade, we received the sacrament of confirmation.

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That's where they told us when you get confirmed, the Holy Spirit come, comes and lives inside you and you can become ambassadors for Christ.

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I loved that idea and I thought I could tell everybody about the Lord and that kind of thing.

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So the foundation was there.

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It was great.

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Yeah.

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So even though you had that rich faith, you went through your communion, your confirmation, something in you knew there was more.

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You really couldn't put your finger on it, but share about that realization.

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And when you made actually the decision to make Jesus your Lord.

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So probably around high school time and around that time, the Catholic charismatic movement was beginning to really take root.

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And we had a prayer group in our high school that had this prayer group.

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And they told us about receiving Jesus and that kind of thing.

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And I just was like, this is what I want.

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This is what I want.

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And I remember praying and asking Jesus into my life, into my heart and I wanted everything that the Bible says that we can have.

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I wanted it.

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And I eventually think I got most of it.

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Yeah.

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If not all of it.

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And there was a particular nun you told me a story about that really made an impact on you.

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So when I was a young girl, I was in this prayer group and it was the math teacher, the principal who was a priest.

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And it was kind of a handpicked group.

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But we would meet every Monday or Monday night or I don't remember Monday night, Wednesday night, whatever.

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And we would go and pray.

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We would talk about the Lord.

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And then we would be assigned and I put that in quotes to do acts of mercy.

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And for whatever reason, I pretty much always chose to go to the nursing home and I went with one of the nuns.

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We would go regularly maybe about once a month or so.

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And I would I did a lot of observing.

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But I remember one time where there was this older woman.

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She probably was cognitively, cognitively impaired or something.

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And she liked the sisters cross, the wooden cross.

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It was really a beautiful cross.

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It was a simple Franciscan style with the brown cross and the habit thing.

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And Sister Caritas, if that was her name, she just took it off and put it on the lake.

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And I was like, so mesmerized at the selflessness of it all.

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At the time, I thought I would never get my neck this away.

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And we stayed friends for many years and she later went on to work with the poor and met some very poor communities in Mexico.

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And she's always lived her life in that way.

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And she was a great example.

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Yeah.

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So once you did accept Jesus as your Lord, you got involved and your mom too.

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And probably some of your other family members in the charismatic, the Catholic charismatic movement, which was actually I got saved when I was going to a Catholic church, not at the Catholic church.

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But we also were involved in the carousel Catholic charismatic movement for a while.

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So share kind of just how that helps solidify your walk with the Lord.

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So with that, I had some really early teachers who really knew the Lord.

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And I will honestly say there was nobody that was ever anti-Catholic.

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And my mother used to go to women's and glow meetings back then.

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And they're still around.

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And at some point they asked her to be on the, I don't know, some kind of committee or something. And my mother was like, there is to be on the committee.

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And I don't know if I speak good enough.

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I'm like, Mom, you speak great.

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Because, you know, by that point, she spoke English.

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But that's where I got a lot even more of a deeper understanding of the Bible.

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And so I loved listening to those ladies.

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I just, I thought they were great.

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And they were good to me.

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So I got even deeper in the Lord.

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And so when I was 17 is really when I made a real commitment to follow the Lord really, no matter what.

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Yeah.

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I was afraid God was going to tell me to be a missionary because I don't know.

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That's what I thought.

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But he did.

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So you really had a really caring faith community.

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And then you went away to college.

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So how did you keep your, how growing in your faith when you had to kind of make it on your own?

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Yeah.

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And the college at that time had recently was a Catholic college, but it had gone independent or private.

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So the religious aspect was removed.

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But it was still, we had Mass every day on campus and that kind of thing.

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But I was still participating in whatever was Bible studies and different things like that.

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So I did that.

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But I still wanted more and more.

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I can't, it's hard to explain, but I just, I just loved the idea of dedicating my whole life to God.

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Probably people in high school probably would have said, oh, she's most likely to be a nun.

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But I wanted a husband and kids, you know, you can't do that.

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And then I went on an internship my junior year.

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And I think that it may have been the pinnacle of my growth time, so to speak, although we're always growing.

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But my, the girl that ended up being my roommate, her mom was a former Catholic and the owner of a Christian book store.

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And they, both my friends and her mom, poured into me like you wouldn't believe.

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As a matter of fact, I even lived with the late, her name was Terry for a few months when I was getting going back to school for something.

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And I lived there rent free.

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Again, another example, God, Pete, help me go through my education.

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So we would Karen and I every morning, we would in particular pick out a certain scripture.

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And we would say, okay, we're going to see you at the end of the day and we're going to talk about how this scripture worked out in our lives.

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And well, and behold, I promise you every single scripture that we picked ministered to us and others that whole time.

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And nobody knew in the program knew we were, we were Christians.

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I think they probably thought maybe we're just like nerdy girls, maybe I don't know.

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But it was, it was just so exciting.

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And Karen, who later became a lawyer and that kind of thing.

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She was really into really digging deep into the word and the history and the word studies and that kind of thing.

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So I learned from, that was a big example of really how to pursue studying God's word.

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And you saw the word of God come alive in your life every day.

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Every day.

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And I guess part of it could maybe it's youth, but it was really there.

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And the interesting thing is like, we're kind of not to that extent, but lately I've been sending her and some very few select people, different scriptures every day.

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And not every day, but several times a week anyway.

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And they'll come back and say, that scripture ministered to me.

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And I'm like, oh, I feel like it's back in the day when I was 20 years old and so excited.

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Well, you know, when the Bible, one of the other verses says, when you seek me, you will find me when you search me with all your heart.

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And I think when we look for God in our days, when we pay attention, right, he reveals himself to us and he does work out what we need in our lives.

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He'll show us that scripture to help us walk in a way that pleases him that day.

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And he'll let us know, hey, this is what I'm going to do in your life.

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So I think it is that paying attention.

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You are very intentional about paying attention to what God was saying to you and looking for his hand at work in your day.

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Yeah, yeah.

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And that the paying attention part has been a theme in my life.

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The Italians have a phrase, Atenzione.

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And another phrase that basically means the same thing.

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And so my mom used to say that.

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And then, you know, like when I was going to school, she'd be like, pay attention to your teachers, listen to your teachers, do what they say.

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That kind of thing.

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Yeah.

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So you mentioned you graduated from college and then God opened a door for you to go to DC, a place you had always dreamed about going.

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But that's where God started changing your desires and directions.

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So tell us a little bit about what got you to DC and your time there, what God did there.

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So I attended a post-Baccalaureate certificate program to become a paralegal.

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And I chose the generalist track.

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And so this school, there were two big schools that people went to to do that.

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One was in DC and one was in Long Island and the one in Long Island fit my finances better than the DC one.

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So that's why I went there.

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Otherwise, I would have gone to the DC one.

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So I went and, you know, completed the program.

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And what the school did was you were supposed to give them the name of 100 law firms that you wanted them to send resumes to.

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And you do your own resume.

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I thought, 100 resumes at the time.

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I was like, but I gave them 100 names and they said, you might not even get any interviews.

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Well, I got one interview and another comment that we don't have any positions,

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but I commend your initiative.

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This was a multinational law firm.

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Any attorney will know the name of this firm.

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And there I was, the only paralegal in the DC office.

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Why I got that job.

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All I can say was the Lord, because I didn't have any contacts.

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I didn't know people in that realm other than maybe like my hometown, but I can have a small town.

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They wouldn't have known it.

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So that's how that came about.

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Really was the Lord that opened that door because nothing is no other reason you would have gotten that job.

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No other reason whatsoever.

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And it was an amazing job.

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It was wonderful.

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I was after five years.

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We had very high visible people in the law firm.

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One of them was a former congressman who's passed away and he gave me.

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Twice he gave us personal tours of the of the Congress and my mom came the second time and he just was like, oh, this is, you know, tip on meals chair.

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I got to sit in his chair and stuff like that.

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And so yeah, it was great.

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And I learned so much and living in DC could be overwhelming, but you connected with a community there that I did.

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I did the friends that I made was actually on the bus.

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I heard these two ladies talking about the Lord.

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They were sitting in front of me or behind me.

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I don't remember now.

215
00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:26,600
I was just going to ask them.

216
00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:32,100
I said, ma'am, do you know of a good church now thinking about it?

217
00:17:32,100 --> 00:17:34,700
I'm like, you know, they could have said anything and I wouldn't have known the difference.

218
00:17:34,700 --> 00:17:40,000
And they told me the name of this church and it was the Christ Church Christ Church.

219
00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:44,700
I think they've changed their name, but it was on Massachusetts Avenue.

220
00:17:44,700 --> 00:17:52,100
And I went there and I remember walking in there and there were these, I guess they were elders.

221
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And they were like, hello.

222
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I was like, hello.

223
00:17:56,000 --> 00:18:02,700
And I said, there was somebody on the bus telling me that this was a good church and and they really, really were.

224
00:18:02,700 --> 00:18:08,100
And I, there was a small group of us that were unofficial singles in a group.

225
00:18:08,100 --> 00:18:11,300
We made our own group, but we didn't call it that.

226
00:18:11,300 --> 00:18:23,400
And it was nice to be around professionals who had a love for the Lord and didn't buy into a lot of things that the world say is important.

227
00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:25,400
So that was really neat.

228
00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:29,400
And in DC, you can hear a whole lot of different things, can't you?

229
00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:33,400
And being grounded in a good fellowship was critical.

230
00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:34,800
It was critical.

231
00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:40,200
And we would meet once a week and whatever night it was, and we would pray for each other and pray for our jobs.

232
00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:48,900
I mean, and everyone had very, very great professional jobs for our level of education at the time.

233
00:18:48,900 --> 00:18:55,100
So, you know, some were working it and well, just all these different agencies and different things like that.

234
00:18:55,100 --> 00:18:57,600
So it was, it was great.

235
00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:09,900
And a lot of them were former Catholics and a friend of mine, I remember he was telling his mom that he was born again and the mother was upset.

236
00:19:09,900 --> 00:19:14,300
And, and he said, the mom, don't be upset.

237
00:19:14,300 --> 00:19:20,900
It was the Catholic Church that gave me the foundation to accept Jesus on a different, deeper level.

238
00:19:20,900 --> 00:19:23,300
And, and that was kind of cool.

239
00:19:23,300 --> 00:19:28,600
Yeah, it's like there were other people that really understood.

240
00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:29,600
Yeah. Yeah.

241
00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:35,000
And, and during that time, you had the opportunity to go to Israel, which is an amazing story.

242
00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:36,400
Tell us about that story.

243
00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:45,800
Here, and what's even more amazing was I didn't technically have enough leave time, but I had a roommate who was amazing person.

244
00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:51,500
And she was organizing trip to Israel and this kind of thing.

245
00:19:51,500 --> 00:19:55,200
Now she does a lot of great things in that whole world.

246
00:19:55,200 --> 00:20:01,800
But I was like, okay, I'm gonna leave my boss and, you know, I told my boss and he told me go.

247
00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:04,000
He says, you're never gonna get this opportunity.

248
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,500
So I went, it was wonderful.

249
00:20:06,500 --> 00:20:10,500
And the group, and it was for the Feast of Tabernacles during the Feast of Tabernacles.

250
00:20:10,500 --> 00:20:16,800
And the whole point was to support Israel and support the Jewish people.

251
00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:18,700
You know, we did, we did all the things.

252
00:20:18,700 --> 00:20:28,200
We did, went to Yad Vashem, we went to the garden tomb, all of that stuff, Mount Carmel, everything, the whole Chneel deal.

253
00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:32,600
And when I went there, I actually got baptized in the Jordan,

254
00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:35,800
which I don't think I would have done in the U.S.

255
00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:43,000
because I felt like I didn't want to offend any of my former teachers, but I'm like, I'm in Israel.

256
00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:46,300
It's got to be okay to be baptized in the Jordan.

257
00:20:46,300 --> 00:20:54,400
And the group that I was with, they were, I think they were Lutherans, evangelical Lutherans and this couple pastors.

258
00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:58,500
And so they were really nice with the people.

259
00:20:58,500 --> 00:20:59,700
Loved that trip.

260
00:20:59,700 --> 00:21:02,200
It was life changing, life changing.

261
00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:03,700
And God spoke to you there.

262
00:21:03,700 --> 00:21:04,900
That's right.

263
00:21:04,900 --> 00:21:20,700
So I was overlooking the, where Jesus did the Sermon on the Mount, the attitudes, which is interesting because I took a voice speech class at my college and one of my final speeches was the Beatitudes.

264
00:21:20,700 --> 00:21:26,000
And this little nun came up to me and there's a content there and everything.

265
00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:35,600
She was Italian and she spoke to me in Italian, she figured out that I know understood Italian, but she told me she kind of kind of kind of got close to me and she says,

266
00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:41,100
listen to the Lord, he's trying to tell you something here.

267
00:21:41,100 --> 00:21:43,600
And I was like, yes, I was like eating it up.

268
00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:49,700
Of course, I love the nuns because, you know, there are authority figures to me that I care about.

269
00:21:49,700 --> 00:21:54,400
And I wrote to her a couple of times, but I remember when I wrote to her after a few years,

270
00:21:54,400 --> 00:22:00,800
she says, yes, I remember a young woman there and I'm wondering how she was.

271
00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:08,500
I was hoping to see her at her comment because she's back in Rome, but I was living in Italy this a few years ago, but COVID had us all in lockdown.

272
00:22:08,500 --> 00:22:13,000
So I never, I never did get to see her in person.

273
00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:14,200
Yes, I loved him.

274
00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:15,400
Israel was great.

275
00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:22,800
So when you got back from Israel, you started thinking about a future or maybe you were thinking about it before.

276
00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:29,500
But the Lord kind of directed you in a different way than being a congresswoman or an attorney.

277
00:22:29,500 --> 00:22:33,000
And what kind of opened that door for you?

278
00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:37,900
What happened was a number of attorneys would come into my office.

279
00:22:37,900 --> 00:22:40,100
I had my own office, which was a big deal.

280
00:22:40,100 --> 00:22:40,600
Have an office.

281
00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:42,500
It was not a window office.

282
00:22:42,500 --> 00:22:43,900
That was an office.

283
00:22:43,900 --> 00:22:49,800
I mean, the window office is, you know, and they would kind of close the door and they would tell me their problems.

284
00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:54,000
And I was, I was not as outgoing then as I am now.

285
00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:58,600
So I, you know, probably looks like, you know, more of a listening ear and I would be listening.

286
00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:06,400
And most of the time it was about their conflicts, either with their, mostly about with their secretaries.

287
00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:11,700
And I kept thinking to myself, okay, I don't think the problem is you.

288
00:23:11,700 --> 00:23:14,300
I don't even think the problem is the secretary.

289
00:23:14,300 --> 00:23:20,600
I think the problem is, is that one or one or both of you are mismatched in your careers.

290
00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:25,300
You know, maybe, you know, I don't know, you know, like maybe you're more detailed, right?

291
00:23:25,300 --> 00:23:26,500
And they're not.

292
00:23:26,500 --> 00:23:35,900
And so I would go home and talk to my roommate who she's very, she was in the journey and she'd be like, you know, you can do either.

293
00:23:35,900 --> 00:23:38,400
You can either go to law school or you can be a counselor.

294
00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:40,500
You can get a master's in counseling.

295
00:23:40,500 --> 00:23:41,600
I was like thinking about it.

296
00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:42,400
I'm thinking about it.

297
00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:50,300
And to be honest, I chose the counseling program because it fit into my budget again.

298
00:23:50,300 --> 00:23:59,700
I couldn't justify taking out such a huge law loan, law loan for law school and having to pay it back.

299
00:23:59,700 --> 00:24:01,200
And besides, I like the subject.

300
00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:03,500
So I went to Regent University.

301
00:24:03,500 --> 00:24:03,800
Yeah.

302
00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:09,500
How did you get, how did God direct you to Regent because that was a fledgling CBNU at the time?

303
00:24:09,500 --> 00:24:09,900
That's right.

304
00:24:09,900 --> 00:24:10,900
It was CBNU.

305
00:24:10,900 --> 00:24:16,300
My mom would watch 700.

306
00:24:16,300 --> 00:24:19,500
And she loved the pet carrapazón.

307
00:24:19,500 --> 00:24:23,800
And she would send her little, you know, $10 jack to Pat.

308
00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:28,100
And I actually, I was in the hospital when I was a senior in high school.

309
00:24:28,100 --> 00:24:36,100
I was sick and I was watching TV and I would watch Pat on the show and I thought, that guy's really smart.

310
00:24:36,100 --> 00:24:37,700
And they have a school.

311
00:24:37,700 --> 00:24:41,000
They don't go to school there and I thought, oh, that can never happen.

312
00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:41,500
That can never happen.

313
00:24:41,500 --> 00:24:45,900
So that had been kind of set in my head like a few years earlier.

314
00:24:45,900 --> 00:24:51,000
And then with the help of my old roommate, she, she'd be home.

315
00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:53,100
She's very, you know, she was like directing me.

316
00:24:53,100 --> 00:24:54,200
She was like, did you, did you, why?

317
00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:54,900
Yeah, did you, why?

318
00:24:54,900 --> 00:24:55,100
Yeah.

319
00:24:55,100 --> 00:24:56,800
And we finally applied.

320
00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:58,500
And I was like, oh, they're not going to accept me.

321
00:24:58,500 --> 00:25:00,000
I don't know what I know.

322
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:01,000
And they did.

323
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:02,900
And there I was.

324
00:25:02,900 --> 00:25:06,800
And I really enjoyed the program.

325
00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:12,700
I mean, to me, it was like, I was, it was also a guilty pleasure because it was so easy.

326
00:25:12,700 --> 00:25:17,800
I was like, well, it doesn't take, you know, it was just like, but, you know, I, you know, God gave me the grace for it.

327
00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:18,900
So yeah.

328
00:25:18,900 --> 00:25:24,400
And he provided for you as well because you were able to step right into a job.

329
00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:25,000
I was.

330
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:29,700
And one of the attorneys, one of the associates in DC is like, oh, you're going to Virginia Beach.

331
00:25:29,700 --> 00:25:30,800
I know a lot of lawyers there.

332
00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:32,900
And he gave me a bunch of names to contact.

333
00:25:32,900 --> 00:25:37,500
And I ended up getting a job with one of the bigger law firms in Norfolk.

334
00:25:37,500 --> 00:25:39,800
It's one of the older established firm.

335
00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:42,800
And I got a job.

336
00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:48,500
And so while my friends were making, I was making double what many of my friends were making.

337
00:25:48,500 --> 00:25:52,200
So that really was a blessing.

338
00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:58,600
And the law firm was very accommodating to my schedule and when I need to change it and that kind of thing.

339
00:25:58,600 --> 00:25:59,500
Yeah.

340
00:25:59,500 --> 00:26:02,800
So while you were at grad school, this was a complete departure from anything you

341
00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:04,200
had done in the past.

342
00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:09,900
And what did God do in you while you were there?

343
00:26:09,900 --> 00:26:12,400
Because he was preparing you to impact others.

344
00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:12,700
Yeah.

345
00:26:12,700 --> 00:26:19,900
So I, I realized I didn't want to get a license, a professional therapist license.

346
00:26:19,900 --> 00:26:27,500
I thought I would, I remember my, one of my professors saying to me, you know, they do these reviews

347
00:26:27,500 --> 00:26:28,100
and that kind of thing.

348
00:26:28,100 --> 00:26:32,600
And she said, you know, I think you're a little bit too task oriented to,

349
00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:34,300
she probably said it nicer than that.

350
00:26:34,300 --> 00:26:40,200
But I'm not sure that getting a life, being a licensed therapist would be your thing.

351
00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:47,100
And I remember one of the classes that we had, I had, well, I'm sorry.

352
00:26:47,100 --> 00:26:57,400
What it was is my final project ended up being a project where I designed a workshop for women reentering the workplace.

353
00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:01,700
And of course, as the technical part of it, you know, the statistics and all that kind of thing.

354
00:27:01,700 --> 00:27:07,800
But the thing that I loved was designing that, that workshop.

355
00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:17,500
And I can honestly say that workshop was the basis for the next phase, literally my professional life.

356
00:27:17,500 --> 00:27:23,100
And I worked for a federally funded agency and we would go into low income neighborhoods.

357
00:27:23,100 --> 00:27:28,500
And, you know, each of us had a different city that we tackled.

358
00:27:28,500 --> 00:27:34,200
Most of our clients, the way the grant was written was directed toward low income adults.

359
00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:37,400
But we didn't, we, we saw everyone.

360
00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:42,600
So one minute I can be going into an area that my coworkers are like,

361
00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:50,100
be careful when you're there, that kind of thing, to retiring naval officers talking about their thing of leaving.

362
00:27:50,100 --> 00:27:54,800
And I loved the idea that I knew all the basics with counseling,

363
00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:59,600
because sometimes I would bring up something and be like, you know, maybe you need to explore this a little bit more.

364
00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:03,100
Maybe you need a little bit of medication, maybe a doctor can help you, whatever.

365
00:28:03,100 --> 00:28:10,100
So I could direct them and, and I would be done with them in about six sessions, six or less.

366
00:28:10,100 --> 00:28:14,100
And I did financial aid and fill out the forms and all that stuff.

367
00:28:14,100 --> 00:28:17,200
So which I never thought I would fill out financial aid forms.

368
00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:28,200
But when I was in college, I was selected by the college to be a representative on Capitol Hill for financial aid increases to private university, the colleges.

369
00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:32,300
So even then God was preparing.

370
00:28:32,300 --> 00:28:34,900
And I, I enjoyed that job.

371
00:28:34,900 --> 00:28:40,200
It could be a little, you know, stressful sometimes, but overall I loved it.

372
00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:43,300
And then you really were helping people find their niche.

373
00:28:43,300 --> 00:28:52,900
Yeah, yeah, we did interest testing at, you know, you get interested all the different tests that are out there to help you find that.

374
00:28:52,900 --> 00:28:54,300
And I, and I really liked that.

375
00:28:54,300 --> 00:28:57,100
And some people, you know, they would leave.

376
00:28:57,100 --> 00:28:58,400
Yeah, that's, that's it.

377
00:28:58,400 --> 00:28:59,300
I knew that.

378
00:28:59,300 --> 00:29:00,100
Yeah, yeah.

379
00:29:00,100 --> 00:29:02,500
And I'm like, great, this confirms what you want.

380
00:29:02,500 --> 00:29:10,500
Or they could have thought of that because there would be like some jobs that would come up as a match, like funeral director.

381
00:29:10,500 --> 00:29:13,300
I remember that would come up and people would get kind of upset about it.

382
00:29:13,300 --> 00:29:15,600
And I said, no, no, no, you don't need to be upset.

383
00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:17,900
You just need to look at what their basic duties are.

384
00:29:17,900 --> 00:29:19,700
It's really a social job.

385
00:29:19,700 --> 00:29:21,500
It's a compassionate job.

386
00:29:21,500 --> 00:29:25,900
You have to have, you have to pay attention to detail, getting an event off the ground.

387
00:29:25,900 --> 00:29:29,300
And they're like, oh, I never thought of it that way.

388
00:29:29,300 --> 00:29:30,500
And so that was really nice.

389
00:29:30,500 --> 00:29:32,500
Yeah.

390
00:29:32,500 --> 00:29:39,900
And so while you were pursuing what God had called you to do, God was orchestrating things behind the scenes.

391
00:29:39,900 --> 00:29:42,100
To fulfill the desires of your heart.

392
00:29:42,100 --> 00:29:44,700
Share about how you met and got married.

393
00:29:44,700 --> 00:29:51,100
There were about four Regent CBN you guys that took me under their wing.

394
00:29:51,100 --> 00:29:57,100
And they just kind of helped me along and pushing me out there like, okay, you've got to make it known that you're available.

395
00:29:57,100 --> 00:29:59,700
I'm like, I don't know what to do.

396
00:29:59,700 --> 00:30:03,900
Because I know how to be friends, but you know, we've got, you know, with people and that kind of thing.

397
00:30:03,900 --> 00:30:25,100
And so I met Tom at a friend of mine was having, she called me up kind of in a panic, kind of not really a real panic, but just, she says, Paula, we're having a party and it's all guys and we need at least one more female.

398
00:30:25,100 --> 00:30:27,800
And I was like, okay, I'm coming.

399
00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:35,900
And I was proud of myself because it was a Saturday night and I didn't, I felt like I had arrived. I didn't need to be out partying, whatever.

400
00:30:35,900 --> 00:30:38,800
And so I went to the place.

401
00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:42,700
It was an apartment place and Tom answered the door, but it wasn't his place.

402
00:30:42,700 --> 00:30:44,200
It was the girl's place.

403
00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:46,500
And he looked at me.

404
00:30:46,500 --> 00:30:49,500
And again, here, here comes the pay attention part.

405
00:30:49,500 --> 00:30:55,700
The instant he opened his door, the door, he said, you're the Sicilian fish.

406
00:30:55,700 --> 00:31:03,100
And I'll explain what that means in a second, but I knew that God was telling me, pay attention.

407
00:31:03,100 --> 00:31:09,300
And I pretty much knew from that moment on, things were going to be very different.

408
00:31:09,300 --> 00:31:13,300
And so what happened was he told me later, oh yeah.

409
00:31:13,300 --> 00:31:18,100
So there was a progressive dinner that we had had a few weeks earlier.

410
00:31:18,100 --> 00:31:19,600
From your church, yeah.

411
00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:22,600
Yeah, from our single scripted church.

412
00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:24,600
And I was one of the hostesses.

413
00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:28,100
But my, my, you know, my plate was filled, so to speak.

414
00:31:28,100 --> 00:31:30,400
So my, all the slots were taken.

415
00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:32,900
And he said, yeah, yeah, I guess I got there too late.

416
00:31:32,900 --> 00:31:33,800
I didn't get to go.

417
00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:36,400
I had to go to somebody else's house.

418
00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:39,100
And so that's how that started.

419
00:31:39,100 --> 00:31:45,400
But from this, like I said, pretty much from the instant I met Tom, I knew this was serious.

420
00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:47,100
I didn't.

421
00:31:47,100 --> 00:31:54,300
And the thing that really attracted me to him was I never had to guess

422
00:31:54,300 --> 00:31:56,900
where his intentions were.

423
00:31:56,900 --> 00:32:00,500
I knew right off a lot of times, I was like, that game, he played, does he like me?

424
00:32:00,500 --> 00:32:01,300
Does he not like me?

425
00:32:01,300 --> 00:32:02,000
That kind of thing.

426
00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:05,100
No, Tom, and it wasn't like he was like, oh, you're the one for me.

427
00:32:05,100 --> 00:32:09,700
I just, his actions were very deliberate.

428
00:32:09,700 --> 00:32:13,300
But he's a science, the science kind of guy.

429
00:32:13,300 --> 00:32:20,200
So everything's going to be, you know, very laid out, phase one, phase two.

430
00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:26,100
And I think I, you know, was, I'm sure in his mind, he was like, okay, now I'm this age

431
00:32:26,100 --> 00:32:32,100
and so I must get married in the next two to three years.

432
00:32:32,100 --> 00:32:37,000
So you went about your relationship very intentionally.

433
00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:37,300
Yes.

434
00:32:37,300 --> 00:32:40,300
And not frivolously.

435
00:32:40,300 --> 00:32:45,600
And there were a few things that really impressed you about Tom.

436
00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:51,900
Share, you know, as, as you were paying attention to what God was showing, you know, share what a couple of those were.

437
00:32:51,900 --> 00:32:59,800
So I'm, if you meet the two of us, I'm the talker and he's the steady rock.

438
00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:00,800
I guess.

439
00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:10,000
And so like the first time he came to my apartment, he brought these two huge textbooks on compound interest.

440
00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:12,300
Do I have interest in compound interest?

441
00:33:12,300 --> 00:33:14,800
No interest.

442
00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:19,000
But because I was infatuated with this guy, I was willing to listen to him.

443
00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:21,800
And actually the way he explained it made a lot of sense.

444
00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:25,200
And I was like, well, why did I start doing that years ago?

445
00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:30,000
And he was very planned and organized, but not rigid.

446
00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:35,400
I mean, he can change his mind and that kind of thing otherwise, because that's not a good thing.

447
00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:36,900
So it was that.

448
00:33:36,900 --> 00:33:44,400
And he, he, and the other thing is for me, it was really important that whoever I married,

449
00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:47,000
he had to love my grandmother.

450
00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:48,100
Although I love my mother.

451
00:33:48,100 --> 00:33:49,100
I mean, I love my mother.

452
00:33:49,100 --> 00:33:50,300
I loved her dearly.

453
00:33:50,300 --> 00:33:56,700
But if you couldn't connect with Nonna, you couldn't connect.

454
00:33:56,700 --> 00:33:58,000
And my grandmother spoke no English.

455
00:33:58,000 --> 00:33:58,800
She came to America.

456
00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:01,300
I think she was like 59 or something like that.

457
00:34:01,300 --> 00:34:09,100
So she didn't really learn the language and they hit it off immediately.

458
00:34:09,100 --> 00:34:10,300
But my grandmother could do that.

459
00:34:10,300 --> 00:34:18,700
She could be like, you know, she pointed, she smiled and she show you like, so they had their way of talking so much so that when it came to

460
00:34:18,700 --> 00:34:24,400
not when we got engaged, she actually bought his engagement ring.

461
00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:27,700
And of course I got the wedding in form.

462
00:34:27,700 --> 00:34:30,300
And my grandmother lived on SSI benefits.

463
00:34:30,300 --> 00:34:39,500
That's, that's not a lot of money, but she was able to scrape down and help because that's she wanted to show her love.

464
00:34:39,500 --> 00:34:41,300
And at first I wasn't going to let her do it.

465
00:34:41,300 --> 00:34:47,500
And then I was like, I need to let her do it because this is how she wants to show her respect and love for him.

466
00:34:47,500 --> 00:34:49,100
Yeah.

467
00:34:49,100 --> 00:34:56,600
So your dream as you were pursuing God, what God had for you, you know, your, your dream and you got married, but your, your dreams of a

468
00:34:56,600 --> 00:34:59,300
husband and a family, they seem to be coming right into line.

469
00:34:59,300 --> 00:35:02,600
But things weren't quite so easy.

470
00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:04,300
You had a few hard years.

471
00:35:04,300 --> 00:35:05,300
Tell us what happened.

472
00:35:05,300 --> 00:35:14,200
I had a series of miscarriages and probably an average of one per year.

473
00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:15,700
I got pregnant right away.

474
00:35:15,700 --> 00:35:18,000
Getting pregnant wasn't my problem.

475
00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:20,700
My problem was staying pregnant.

476
00:35:20,700 --> 00:35:23,700
And it was a very, it was a difficult night.

477
00:35:23,700 --> 00:35:31,000
After the fourth miscarriage, I told Tom, I said, Tom, you've got to get me to see the pastor at the church.

478
00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:34,900
And I just felt like I needed that grounding.

479
00:35:34,900 --> 00:35:43,500
I mean, people were praying for us all along, but I went and we had an interim pastor and he was very, very kind.

480
00:35:43,500 --> 00:35:49,200
And he, and he said, I can't tell you why this is happening.

481
00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:54,600
But all I do know is that maybe if you knew, you couldn't handle it.

482
00:35:54,600 --> 00:36:01,600
And for me, that really brought me a lot of, I don't know, not closure, but peace.

483
00:36:01,600 --> 00:36:07,900
I thought, okay, okay, I can deal with that, that maybe I don't understand.

484
00:36:07,900 --> 00:36:14,100
And so then we started the adoption process.

485
00:36:14,100 --> 00:36:20,800
And that, I know the South is stressful and they tell you, okay, you can take many years, blah, blah, blah.

486
00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:23,200
And it didn't take as long as they said it would.

487
00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:28,300
We were originally going for an international adoption,

488
00:36:28,300 --> 00:36:33,100
which you kind of guaranteed.

489
00:36:33,100 --> 00:36:34,400
Child, so to speak.

490
00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:36,400
And an infant, you really wanted an infant, didn't you?

491
00:36:36,400 --> 00:36:37,200
I did really.

492
00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:48,600
And so, so you were going for an international adoption.

493
00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:51,200
And we, yeah, so we were doing that.

494
00:36:51,200 --> 00:37:00,800
And they do this thing where you have to send your stuff off to the state to be vetted.

495
00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:02,000
And they're doing a background check.

496
00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:06,800
And I thought, oh, you know, maybe I've read too many, you know, Mr. Novels.

497
00:37:06,800 --> 00:37:11,900
Maybe this will be the time that I find out that my husband has a secret past.

498
00:37:11,900 --> 00:37:14,000
He did not have a secret past.

499
00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:15,400
He does not have a secret past.

500
00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:17,000
It was me.

501
00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:19,800
And it had to do with my first name.

502
00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:25,800
So because I kind of always went by a different form of my name.

503
00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:32,100
And, oh, and all I had to do was talk to the lawyer and have it fixed.

504
00:37:32,100 --> 00:37:32,900
And we got it fixed.

505
00:37:32,900 --> 00:37:34,200
But then.

506
00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:35,900
So your adoption was put on hold.

507
00:37:35,900 --> 00:37:36,500
It was put on hold.

508
00:37:36,500 --> 00:37:39,600
Because of basically administrative differences.

509
00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:40,500
Yeah. Yeah.

510
00:37:40,500 --> 00:37:43,300
And I had to call a lawyer and I'm like, okay, what do I do?

511
00:37:43,300 --> 00:37:43,700
And blah, blah, blah.

512
00:37:43,700 --> 00:37:45,500
And we took care of it.

513
00:37:45,500 --> 00:37:53,300
And in the meantime, the director of the agency called and said, we are having a very unusual problem.

514
00:37:53,300 --> 00:38:03,300
We suddenly have a number of infant domestic children, babies that are either born or going to be born.

515
00:38:03,300 --> 00:38:08,300
Would you be willing to switch from international to into the domestic?

516
00:38:08,300 --> 00:38:14,200
And I was like, yeah, because it was cheaper and it just was whatever.

517
00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:15,000
So we did.

518
00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:16,300
And easier, quicker.

519
00:38:16,300 --> 00:38:17,500
Much quicker.

520
00:38:17,500 --> 00:38:20,900
And, lo and behold, our child was born.

521
00:38:20,900 --> 00:38:24,000
I was got the call in my office.

522
00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:32,600
I had later moved on from the federally funded agency and I was working at the law school and I was doing all the kids of a student's resumes.

523
00:38:32,600 --> 00:38:36,600
This is basically what I was doing before just just for law students.

524
00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:38,100
And I remember the ladies.

525
00:38:38,100 --> 00:38:40,900
Mrs. Mullen, your daughter has been born.

526
00:38:40,900 --> 00:38:48,100
I was like, oh, we knew that the baby was going to be born any day, but you know, it still was kind of exciting.

527
00:38:48,100 --> 00:39:01,100
And within eight hours, we met our child and I was holding her and rocking her and they put her in a little special nursery and we had privacy.

528
00:39:01,100 --> 00:39:03,100
And she was there for two days.

529
00:39:03,100 --> 00:39:06,800
You know, she was released two days later and we took her straight home.

530
00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:13,200
Well, we took her straight to church and we put her at the altar and we prayed for her and we dedicated her right there.

531
00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:16,700
And it wasn't because I thought this is a magical thing.

532
00:39:16,700 --> 00:39:22,400
I wanted symbolically her first act to be that's what that's what her parents took her.

533
00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:25,800
Yeah, being the mother of an adopted child, having an adopted child.

534
00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:30,400
How have you communicated that with her and how has she received it?

535
00:39:30,400 --> 00:39:34,000
I know, you know, it can be a challenge.

536
00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:37,200
But what was the process that you and Tom decided to take?

537
00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:46,800
There was an elder in our church and I remember he said to us, you talk to her even though she's just an infant and tell her how much you love her and that you adopted her.

538
00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:51,100
So she she knew all that she really did.

539
00:39:51,100 --> 00:39:55,500
So one time another friend of ours adopted the baby from overseas.

540
00:39:55,500 --> 00:40:01,800
We were literally in the Dollar Tree near my house getting her a balloon, the new baby.

541
00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:04,900
And I said, oh, we're going to go see the baby that was adopted.

542
00:40:04,900 --> 00:40:09,400
And she screams out, she was adopted like me.

543
00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:11,200
And I said, yes, yes.

544
00:40:11,200 --> 00:40:12,700
And she was all excited.

545
00:40:12,700 --> 00:40:15,500
Yeah, she had some understanding that she had adopted.

546
00:40:15,500 --> 00:40:16,200
Yes, yeah.

547
00:40:16,200 --> 00:40:21,400
So then she was a very healthy little girl.

548
00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:24,800
And one day she was in kindergarten, I think it was.

549
00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:27,900
And the teacher called and said, you've got to come and get her.

550
00:40:27,900 --> 00:40:29,500
She's not she's not feeling well.

551
00:40:29,500 --> 00:40:32,300
It was really unusual for her not to feel it.

552
00:40:32,300 --> 00:40:44,500
So I went and got her and we were watching Anna Green Gables and she said there's a part in there where they talk about sending her back because, you know, and was so rambunctious and whatever.

553
00:40:44,500 --> 00:40:52,300
And she just she's kind of like, I could tell that something was going in her little, you know, 60 year old brain.

554
00:40:52,300 --> 00:40:53,500
It's just money.

555
00:40:53,500 --> 00:40:55,700
You're going to send me back.

556
00:40:55,700 --> 00:40:59,400
I said, no, I said, we would never do that.

557
00:40:59,400 --> 00:41:01,500
God adopted us.

558
00:41:01,500 --> 00:41:03,300
We adopted you.

559
00:41:03,300 --> 00:41:05,700
And this is the you know, this is how it is.

560
00:41:05,700 --> 00:41:11,300
And she said, who could I was really worried about that.

561
00:41:11,300 --> 00:41:16,200
And and she doesn't she doesn't really talk about it a whole lot when she does.

562
00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:17,300
It's more or less.

563
00:41:17,300 --> 00:41:21,800
No, I don't really have much desire and that kind of things.

564
00:41:21,800 --> 00:41:26,200
And we've talked about some maybe potential.

565
00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:30,300
I don't know, maybe some health concerns or whatever.

566
00:41:30,300 --> 00:41:35,900
I think when the time comes, she will do that and she has our blessing to do that.

567
00:41:35,900 --> 00:41:36,500
Yeah.

568
00:41:36,500 --> 00:41:37,700
So she really was settled.

569
00:41:37,700 --> 00:41:41,800
I mean, she knew foundationally that you had adopted her for life.

570
00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:42,300
Right.

571
00:41:42,300 --> 00:41:43,600
And that settled her.

572
00:41:43,600 --> 00:41:44,200
Yeah.

573
00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:45,100
Yeah.

574
00:41:45,100 --> 00:41:46,100
Yeah.

575
00:41:46,100 --> 00:41:50,100
So you had been a career woman for many years and really enjoyed it up to that point.

576
00:41:50,100 --> 00:41:52,800
So, you know, you had a new baby now.

577
00:41:52,800 --> 00:41:56,000
What was the transition like away from work because you did choose?

578
00:41:56,000 --> 00:41:56,800
I believe work.

579
00:41:56,800 --> 00:41:57,800
I did choose to work.

580
00:41:57,800 --> 00:42:04,700
So I had a project that I was working on and the project was going to finish in a few months.

581
00:42:04,700 --> 00:42:11,200
And I just was really, I'm really big about keep keeping my word to a much as possible.

582
00:42:11,200 --> 00:42:17,300
So I found a lady, a wonderful woman to watch it for about six weeks, but I hated being away from her.

583
00:42:17,300 --> 00:42:18,800
I couldn't handle it.

584
00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:22,100
And even though she was with somebody we loved.

585
00:42:22,100 --> 00:42:29,800
So I at the end of that project, so I was looking for a nanny, but nobody bit.

586
00:42:29,800 --> 00:42:33,700
Nobody was answering and nobody was applying.

587
00:42:33,700 --> 00:42:38,700
So Tom and I, we felt that that was really, really just me to quit and stay.

588
00:42:38,700 --> 00:42:39,100
No.

589
00:42:39,100 --> 00:42:45,200
And so I did literally like two, three days later, I'm getting tons of applicants, but I was like,

590
00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:45,800
you know what?

591
00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:49,600
I know I'm getting applicants, but this was right.

592
00:42:49,600 --> 00:42:57,700
So in some ways the adjustment was really painless, smooth, all that.

593
00:42:57,700 --> 00:42:59,400
I loved what I was doing.

594
00:42:59,400 --> 00:43:05,500
I didn't feel, I mean, because I had been a career counselor, so I had spoken to many women who had this thing.

595
00:43:05,500 --> 00:43:10,100
Like it's my turn now to be a career, that kind of thing.

596
00:43:10,100 --> 00:43:13,100
And I was like, well, it's really okay.

597
00:43:13,100 --> 00:43:23,700
The only thing that really bothered me was if I was going to be able to have some friends that were a little bit older like me.

598
00:43:23,700 --> 00:43:30,200
It's not that I have anything against the young people, but it's a different type of mothering motherhood.

599
00:43:30,200 --> 00:43:34,500
So I joined the mom's group at our church and.

600
00:43:34,500 --> 00:43:36,800
Because you were a little older when you finally did adopt.

601
00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:37,600
We did.

602
00:43:37,600 --> 00:43:37,900
We did.

603
00:43:37,900 --> 00:43:43,200
That was in my early 40s and there we were.

604
00:43:43,200 --> 00:43:50,000
But my mother and my both grandmothers had babies well into their late 40s.

605
00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:52,200
So I was kind of using them like, okay, they did it.

606
00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:53,500
I can do it.

607
00:43:53,500 --> 00:43:55,600
So yeah, so that's what we did.

608
00:43:55,600 --> 00:44:01,600
And then this particular mom's group had a lot of moms similar to me.

609
00:44:01,600 --> 00:44:02,500
You know, they were older.

610
00:44:02,500 --> 00:44:05,800
Some of them had gone to school with and some of them were adopted moms.

611
00:44:05,800 --> 00:44:16,800
Some of them biological moms and the next thing I know I'm coordinating the mom's group at the church and and I really enjoyed it.

612
00:44:16,800 --> 00:44:17,400
I really do.

613
00:44:17,400 --> 00:44:21,200
Actually, mom's was at the time it was a great organization.

614
00:44:21,200 --> 00:44:35,700
I used to tell the girls, you know, if you really want to go back to work, you should consider being on, you know, either coordinator or small group leader because they do a lot of really good training that you could put into the workforce.

615
00:44:35,700 --> 00:44:37,600
Later on, I didn't even did that.

616
00:44:37,600 --> 00:44:40,000
But so we loved it.

617
00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:52,700
And, you know, I was at church a lot because I attacked it like a job and Catherine always come with me so much so that she felt like she owned the church.

618
00:44:52,700 --> 00:44:54,000
She walked around.

619
00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:57,500
You know, she knew what the offices were.

620
00:44:57,500 --> 00:45:07,700
So one other neat thing that that God did was allow you to live abroad, which would never have happened if you had been if you had kept working.

621
00:45:07,700 --> 00:45:09,200
No, it wouldn't have happened.

622
00:45:09,200 --> 00:45:22,400
And so when I was in college, I wanted to go to France or Italy and to do a year abroad because that's what you do in classic.

623
00:45:22,400 --> 00:45:29,400
You know, but when you're in that kind of an, you know, you go to a classical school and that's what you do. You learn Latin and all this stuff.

624
00:45:29,400 --> 00:45:33,800
But it just wasn't in the box that we just we couldn't have afforded it.

625
00:45:33,800 --> 00:45:36,900
And I was okay with that.

626
00:45:36,900 --> 00:45:46,100
And when I was a little, little girl, I used to my mom and I used to role play and I would always be Paula from somewhere else.

627
00:45:46,100 --> 00:45:52,500
Paula from California, but I was mostly Paula from Washington, DC, and my mother would act surprised that we come home.

628
00:45:52,500 --> 00:45:59,400
And so ever since I married Tom, he's always been he's always looking to advance his career.

629
00:45:59,400 --> 00:46:02,000
That kind of thing.

630
00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:05,400
One was in Australia, one independent order.

631
00:46:05,400 --> 00:46:08,000
And then one day he said, oh, I'm going to apply this is Italy job.

632
00:46:08,000 --> 00:46:09,000
My father.

633
00:46:09,000 --> 00:46:13,000
Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I wasn't really listening to see listening. I wasn't paying attention.

634
00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:13,800
Yeah.

635
00:46:13,800 --> 00:46:28,200
And I thought, okay, yeah, whatever. Well, literally like a year and a half later, two years, whatever it was, he says to me, comes in the room and he looked a little, I thought maybe something happened with his family and something had an accident.

636
00:46:28,200 --> 00:46:31,800
He goes, they just are offering me this job in Italy.

637
00:46:31,800 --> 00:46:38,500
We have like 48 hours to respond to the first phase of the application or whatever it was.

638
00:46:38,500 --> 00:46:43,700
I was like, what? I said, nothing. You haven't gotten any good. No, no.

639
00:46:43,700 --> 00:46:48,000
And so he called his dad and parents.

640
00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:51,400
And so we all decided, go ahead and accept it.

641
00:46:51,400 --> 00:46:53,000
So we accepted it.

642
00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:59,600
And then, you know, you have to go through a few more different things, but every step of the way, he would be progressing.

643
00:46:59,600 --> 00:47:04,300
So I guess it gave me a little bit of time, a tiny bit of time to get used to the idea.

644
00:47:04,300 --> 00:47:11,700
And so we accepted and you know, you give them a three year commitment and then they reevaluate.

645
00:47:11,700 --> 00:47:14,000
And so we accepted.

646
00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:18,600
We moved there in June of 2019.

647
00:47:18,600 --> 00:47:25,000
January 2020, COVID hits hard, really hard.

648
00:47:25,000 --> 00:47:29,700
And Italy basically locked down for the next few months.

649
00:47:29,700 --> 00:47:38,400
And in the meantime, our daughter had to have two separate knee surgeries to reconstruct her knees from.

650
00:47:38,400 --> 00:47:43,500
They think it's a genetic thing that causes them to dislocate.

651
00:47:43,500 --> 00:47:48,500
And the first time we had to wait a while because we got to wait for the hospitals to open up and have whatever.

652
00:47:48,500 --> 00:47:51,000
And so we went for the first surgery.

653
00:47:51,000 --> 00:47:55,400
So you actually came back to the States for the surgery, didn't you?

654
00:47:55,400 --> 00:47:57,700
So it took a while for you to be able to travel.

655
00:47:57,700 --> 00:48:03,400
It did. And Tom had to go up the chain to get permission and all this stuff.

656
00:48:03,400 --> 00:48:12,000
But you know, the timing was right and then it opened up and so we came back the first time and we stayed with friends and they brought a bed downstairs.

657
00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:20,200
So Catherine didn't have to go upstairs and that, you know, that surgery takes about four to six months to complete.

658
00:48:20,200 --> 00:48:23,000
That surgery went really well.

659
00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:25,500
She basically exceeded all the guidance.

660
00:48:25,500 --> 00:48:30,000
So went back to Italy.

661
00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:34,800
Maybe a couple of weeks after she got back, the other knee goes.

662
00:48:34,800 --> 00:48:41,500
And we knew that this was a possibility, but we really, I mean, the way that we didn't realize it would be so.

663
00:48:41,500 --> 00:48:43,800
So we thought it would be later, like in her life.

664
00:48:43,800 --> 00:48:46,600
But and I was like, oh my God, what should I do?

665
00:48:46,600 --> 00:48:52,700
And I called my friend and she said, the one friend that I stayed with and she's just don't worry about it.

666
00:48:52,700 --> 00:48:53,900
Come back, come back.

667
00:48:53,900 --> 00:48:55,100
We'll go through this together.

668
00:48:55,100 --> 00:49:00,900
And so Thomas in Italy, you know, doing his work, you know, all that kind of thing.

669
00:49:00,900 --> 00:49:06,000
And we are and then the second surgery was very difficult.

670
00:49:06,000 --> 00:49:08,100
It was very different than the first surgery.

671
00:49:08,100 --> 00:49:14,900
And I could tell from when I went in the room, you know, in the recovery room with the atmosphere to change.

672
00:49:14,900 --> 00:49:16,400
And she says, mom, this is so different.

673
00:49:16,400 --> 00:49:18,500
This is not like the first one.

674
00:49:18,500 --> 00:49:25,000
And so she finally was making some headway with it.

675
00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:31,300
Well, and behold, she's in a, she's a passenger in a car and their hit head on.

676
00:49:31,300 --> 00:49:35,500
She was in a very terrible, very terrible car accident.

677
00:49:35,500 --> 00:49:42,000
Someone said that there was no earthly explanation how the people came out alive.

678
00:49:42,000 --> 00:49:46,600
But what it did was it really impacted that bad knee.

679
00:49:46,600 --> 00:49:52,700
And she's still in therapy two years later, physical therapy for the knee and now a little bit of the hip.

680
00:49:52,700 --> 00:49:58,100
They said, you know, there's a terrible there, but it is what it is.

681
00:49:58,100 --> 00:49:59,000
As they say.

682
00:49:59,000 --> 00:49:59,400
Yeah.

683
00:49:59,400 --> 00:50:07,500
So, you know, Tom was in Italy, you were back in the States staying with friends, but you really saw God provide all along the way.

684
00:50:07,500 --> 00:50:15,200
I mean, first of all, being able to stay with a friend who let you stay for months, but share some of the other ways that God made provisions.

685
00:50:15,200 --> 00:50:22,600
So after the second surgery, maybe about two months later, a realtor called and said,

686
00:50:22,600 --> 00:50:32,400
you know, your tenant, because we were renting our house out, your tenant wants to, wants to know if he can be, they can be released from the lease.

687
00:50:32,400 --> 00:50:40,500
And I was like, yeah, because by that time with the timing, Tom's time in Italy was coming to an end.

688
00:50:40,500 --> 00:50:41,800
And so that's what we did.

689
00:50:41,800 --> 00:50:45,200
And the guy, you know, I think he was a newlywed and they wanted to buy a house.

690
00:50:45,200 --> 00:50:47,200
So it was a win-win for everybody.

691
00:50:47,200 --> 00:50:50,200
And then I had an empty house.

692
00:50:50,200 --> 00:50:54,100
So because your stuff was still in Italy.

693
00:50:54,100 --> 00:50:56,100
It was in Italy and in storage.

694
00:50:56,100 --> 00:50:56,400
Yeah.

695
00:50:56,400 --> 00:51:00,800
You know, so and I couldn't get to storage and get to the story.

696
00:51:00,800 --> 00:51:04,100
So we, I went to Ikea.

697
00:51:04,100 --> 00:51:04,900
God was so good.

698
00:51:04,900 --> 00:51:19,100
I bought some beds, two beds, table, four chairs, you know, Ikea furniture and people from the church, some guys from the church put it all together.

699
00:51:19,100 --> 00:51:20,800
They didn't charge me anything.

700
00:51:20,800 --> 00:51:32,100
And the one, one of the guys had just that week before put in a whole Ikea, excuse me, whole Ikea kitchen in his house.

701
00:51:32,100 --> 00:51:37,400
So he knew exactly and they had the tools and everything.

702
00:51:37,400 --> 00:51:39,400
And I have to say it was really nice.

703
00:51:39,400 --> 00:51:41,100
I mean, it was, it was great.

704
00:51:41,100 --> 00:51:49,000
And yeah, God just came through and, and we were near her doctor so we could get the care she needed.

705
00:51:49,000 --> 00:51:52,900
And, and then I, yeah.

706
00:51:52,900 --> 00:51:57,800
And it was a tough road, but through it all you've, you've really, you've grown in the Lord.

707
00:51:57,800 --> 00:51:59,400
You've seen Catherine grow in the Lord.

708
00:51:59,400 --> 00:52:03,000
Sometimes that can really shake faith.

709
00:52:03,000 --> 00:52:03,300
Yeah.

710
00:52:03,300 --> 00:52:07,600
Can it, but the Lord has used it.

711
00:52:07,600 --> 00:52:08,500
The pain.

712
00:52:08,500 --> 00:52:09,000
Yeah.

713
00:52:09,000 --> 00:52:09,500
Yeah.

714
00:52:09,500 --> 00:52:10,200
Yeah.

715
00:52:10,200 --> 00:52:12,700
To bring you all closer to him.

716
00:52:12,700 --> 00:52:13,200
Yeah.

717
00:52:13,200 --> 00:52:18,200
And you know, the Bible, God doesn't promise us everything's going to be smooth.

718
00:52:18,200 --> 00:52:19,900
You will have troubles.

719
00:52:19,900 --> 00:52:23,400
And, and, and that's, and that's what it is.

720
00:52:23,400 --> 00:52:28,100
And that's, I mean, there was a, you know, that's, that's what sees us through.

721
00:52:28,100 --> 00:52:39,200
And I think, you know, having a good foundation based on truth because we all probably have,

722
00:52:39,200 --> 00:52:44,200
you know, life experiences that shape us that are not truth.

723
00:52:44,200 --> 00:52:48,100
And if you know the truth, it will set you free as Jesus.

724
00:52:48,100 --> 00:52:48,900
Yeah.

725
00:52:48,900 --> 00:52:51,400
And so, yeah.

726
00:52:51,400 --> 00:52:57,700
So it's been a long road and, and would I do it again?

727
00:52:57,700 --> 00:53:01,700
I mean, I don't know that I want to do some of the, some of the things again, but yeah, I would.

728
00:53:01,700 --> 00:53:02,500
Yeah.

729
00:53:02,500 --> 00:53:03,800
Because.

730
00:53:03,800 --> 00:53:10,100
So how have, you know, in these times, what would have been some of those foundational

731
00:53:10,100 --> 00:53:16,000
aspects of your faith that have kept you through some of those trials?

732
00:53:16,000 --> 00:53:22,400
So when, when we were back to the internship days, one of the scriptures at that time that

733
00:53:22,400 --> 00:53:26,900
really minister to me and my roommate would always say, I can do all things.

734
00:53:26,900 --> 00:53:28,600
Surprise, just right.

735
00:53:28,600 --> 00:53:33,300
And sometimes, you know, we say that, you know, it's kind of a rote kind of thing because

736
00:53:33,300 --> 00:53:40,100
it's one of the people we call quote that a lot, but we can do hard things.

737
00:53:40,100 --> 00:53:44,500
We don't want to do hard things because who does?

738
00:53:44,500 --> 00:53:51,700
And if you keep putting your faith in God and somehow if you can separate what you can

739
00:53:51,700 --> 00:53:57,400
understand from what you do understand that God is there, you can do this.

740
00:53:57,400 --> 00:53:57,800
Yeah.

741
00:53:57,800 --> 00:53:58,800
You can do this.

742
00:53:58,800 --> 00:54:04,200
So as we close, Paula, would you share about a woman of the Bible whose story has inspired

743
00:54:04,200 --> 00:54:06,700
or encouraged or taught you something?

744
00:54:06,700 --> 00:54:09,300
There are many wonderful women in the Bible.

745
00:54:09,300 --> 00:54:14,000
And years ago, I read this book, All the Women in the Bible, Of the Bible or whatever it was

746
00:54:14,000 --> 00:54:14,500
called.

747
00:54:14,500 --> 00:54:15,900
I think it also was Dr. Lockyer.

748
00:54:15,900 --> 00:54:16,700
And I love that book.

749
00:54:16,700 --> 00:54:19,300
I read it like three times.

750
00:54:19,300 --> 00:54:26,100
You know, Deborah was a judge, Esther stayed the nation, you know, like, I don't want to

751
00:54:26,100 --> 00:54:28,700
save any nations.

752
00:54:28,700 --> 00:54:32,900
But out of them all, he started the whole thing.

753
00:54:32,900 --> 00:54:41,700
But Mary, I think sometimes, sometimes people don't think about her enough.

754
00:54:41,700 --> 00:54:44,500
She was an example of motherhood, adopted mother.

755
00:54:44,500 --> 00:54:55,500
I mean, her husband was Jesus Foster father and her willingness to say yes and follow

756
00:54:55,500 --> 00:54:55,800
him.

757
00:54:55,800 --> 00:54:59,300
And, you know, when Jesus wanted to turn the water into wine, she says, do whatever he

758
00:54:59,300 --> 00:55:00,400
tells you.

759
00:55:00,400 --> 00:55:05,500
I mean, that's a pretty big thing to, you know, entrust someone with, especially if you're

760
00:55:05,500 --> 00:55:08,900
a mom, you want to be in charge.

761
00:55:08,900 --> 00:55:10,500
And she was a young girl.

762
00:55:10,500 --> 00:55:13,500
You know, 14, 15, whatever she was.

763
00:55:13,500 --> 00:55:20,100
And I think she's, I think women should learn from her, have that spirit of yes.

764
00:55:20,100 --> 00:55:23,800
And, you know, why, you know, we don't know why that chose her.

765
00:55:23,800 --> 00:55:28,500
I mean, I mean, there are lots of reasons why, but you may not really know that, but

766
00:55:28,500 --> 00:55:32,600
just know that you're in the place where you're supposed to be.

767
00:55:32,600 --> 00:55:40,300
And Mary is a wonderful example to mothers, to women, to men, too.

768
00:55:40,300 --> 00:55:41,300
She was great.

769
00:55:41,300 --> 00:55:41,800
Yeah.

770
00:55:41,800 --> 00:55:46,500
I mean, she didn't know all the answers when God said, you're going to get pregnant, but

771
00:55:46,500 --> 00:55:48,700
she said, be it unto me according to your will.

772
00:55:48,700 --> 00:55:49,300
Right.

773
00:55:49,300 --> 00:55:55,100
And that's a, that's a scary, that's a scary prayer or conversation to have.

774
00:55:55,100 --> 00:55:56,900
Lord, be it unto me according to your will.

775
00:55:56,900 --> 00:56:03,300
But when we know that God is a good God, we can say that with confidence, knowing that

776
00:56:03,300 --> 00:56:04,600
everything's going to be okay.

777
00:56:04,600 --> 00:56:06,200
Yeah.

778
00:56:06,200 --> 00:56:11,700
In the world, not so much, but when you're in God, then yes.

779
00:56:11,700 --> 00:56:12,300
Yes.

780
00:56:12,300 --> 00:56:13,500
Yeah.

781
00:56:13,500 --> 00:56:17,800
You know, Solomon was arguably the wisest man who ever lived, apart from Jesus, of

782
00:56:17,800 --> 00:56:19,500
course.

783
00:56:19,500 --> 00:56:26,000
And he repeatedly tells readers in the Proverbs to pay attention to the Lord.

784
00:56:26,000 --> 00:56:31,900
Proverbs 22, 17 through 19, similar to the verse I started with at the beginning, reads

785
00:56:31,900 --> 00:56:37,300
in the NIV, pay attention and turn your ear to the sayings of the wise.

786
00:56:37,300 --> 00:56:42,200
Apply your heart to what I teach for it's pleasing when you keep them in your heart

787
00:56:42,200 --> 00:56:48,400
and have them all ready on your lips so that your trust may be in the Lord.

788
00:56:48,400 --> 00:56:53,900
You know, throughout Paul's life, she's paid attention to when God has spoken to her and

789
00:56:53,900 --> 00:56:58,000
she has placed her trust in him wholeheartedly through the ups and downs, good times and

790
00:56:58,000 --> 00:56:59,300
difficult ones.

791
00:56:59,300 --> 00:57:02,000
And God has proven he is faithful.

792
00:57:02,000 --> 00:57:05,900
God wants to lead you and guide you to, dear listener.

793
00:57:05,900 --> 00:57:11,100
So pay attention to what he's saying to you, follow after him, and you will find he's

794
00:57:11,100 --> 00:57:13,400
always faithful to you as well.

795
00:57:13,400 --> 00:57:16,300
Paula, would you take a moment and pray for our listeners?

796
00:57:16,300 --> 00:57:18,100
Yes, I'm glad to.

797
00:57:18,100 --> 00:57:25,500
Father God, we come before you and Lord, wherever your person is that you want to reach, let

798
00:57:25,500 --> 00:57:28,200
them stop right now and pay attention.

799
00:57:28,200 --> 00:57:30,800
You pay attention that you want their heart.

800
00:57:30,800 --> 00:57:33,300
You want everything from them.

801
00:57:33,300 --> 00:57:37,300
And all you have to do is to ask Jesus into your life and say, I'm sorry for the sins

802
00:57:37,300 --> 00:57:39,100
I've committed.

803
00:57:39,100 --> 00:57:40,100
Help me, Jesus.

804
00:57:40,100 --> 00:57:41,100
Help me.

805
00:57:41,100 --> 00:57:42,600
Help me through this journey called life.

806
00:57:42,600 --> 00:57:47,600
Father, I ask that you bless everyone that hears this, whether it's today, tomorrow,

807
00:57:47,600 --> 00:57:49,600
15 years from now.

808
00:57:49,600 --> 00:57:52,900
Let your Holy Spirit just rest on the ear of the good listener.

809
00:57:52,900 --> 00:57:56,500
I would be grateful and thank you, Jesus.

810
00:57:56,500 --> 00:57:57,500
Amen.

811
00:57:57,500 --> 00:57:59,240
Well, thank you for tuning in.

812
00:57:59,240 --> 00:58:03,300
Check out our show notes at hergodstory.org for scriptures and other information we talked

813
00:58:03,300 --> 00:58:04,300
about.

814
00:58:04,300 --> 00:58:08,340
And remember to get your free six-week devotional and a women of the Bible there.

815
00:58:08,340 --> 00:58:12,420
We'd also love to pray with you on our 24-7 prayer and text line.

816
00:58:12,420 --> 00:58:21,200
So give us a call or text anytime at 855-459-CARE or email us at prayer at somebodycares.org.

817
00:58:21,200 --> 00:58:25,700
And now, dear friends, I'll read Mark 4, 24, and 25 and speak a blessing over you from

818
00:58:25,700 --> 00:58:26,700
them.

819
00:58:26,700 --> 00:58:31,420
Jesus said, Pay close attention to what you hear.

820
00:58:31,420 --> 00:58:36,860
The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given, and you will receive even

821
00:58:36,860 --> 00:58:37,940
more.

822
00:58:37,940 --> 00:58:42,200
To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given.

823
00:58:42,200 --> 00:58:47,700
May you have ears to hear and a heart to understand all the Lord your God is saying to you.

824
00:58:47,700 --> 00:58:51,700
Her God Story is a ministry of Somebody Cares America and International.

825
00:58:51,700 --> 00:58:56,700
To find out more about or support the ministry, go to somebodycares.org.