God Doesn't Waste A Thing, Kim Kossie McKee's Story (cont).

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Hey friends, welcome to the Her God Story podcast where you will always hear a good

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story to encourage and inspire you in your walk with God.

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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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I'm so glad you've tuned in to hear the rest of Kim Kossy McKee's story.

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If you missed our previous episode, you might want to listen to that one first so you get

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the full story, but you'll also be blessed if you decide to start here.

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Matthew 633 says, Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will

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be given to you as well.

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Kim has lived those words.

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Since January 2019, she's been a bivocational pastor.

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She's the Community Relations Director for the largest contemporary Christian radio station

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in America, which is KSBJ in Houston, while also serving as senior pastor with her husband

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Kerry of Latter Day Deliverance Revival Church.

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That church was founded by her parents, Bishop Roy Lee McKossy Jr. and his wife Barbara.

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The faith journey that brought Kim to this place has clearly been directed by the Lord

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every step of the way.

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Now let's get back to Kim's story.

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God took you on such a circuitous route to get to KSBJ, but I bet if you look back, and

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I bet when you look back, because I'm sure you do, you see all the things that God was

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teaching you and putting in your life that you would need for this role, the role that

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you had.

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Absolutely nothing, absolutely nothing has been wasted.

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In fact, one of the things he spoke to me is that had he not been able to entrust me

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to work at Star of Hope with the mission for the homeless, he could not have opened any

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of those other doors that he had for me.

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And it was there that I learned, you're talking about learning unconditional love and seeing

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the best in the body, you know, and even strangers, you know, it's a lot of goodness and a lot

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of people who want to help, who want to see people's lives come together.

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And absolutely, it was just amazing.

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And it still is.

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I look and see that all of those were building blocks for where he wanted to take me.

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Because I say all the time, he doesn't waste anything.

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He's weaving a tapestry and with some things, as the song says, we understand it better

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by and by.

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And sometimes we may never understand, but we trust, we trust the plan of God.

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Well, he did the same for me.

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I mean, I started as a computer programmer and then I became an event planner.

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And then, you know, I mean, now I'm then I was in international ministry.

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God took me places like you would think, who is this?

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She doesn't know what she wants to be when she grows up, but it was all directed by the

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Lord.

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Yes, Jodie, I knew of you before you started working with Doug Stringer.

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Yeah.

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How did Doug get Jodie?

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Seriously, I admired you.

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I did, you know, just seeing another young woman that was so dedicated to ministry and

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which is why God, he intends for all of our lives to be an inspiration.

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Yeah.

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To someone else.

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Even, I can't tell you how many times I've been able to share my journey with someone

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who may be struggling or their dream might seem to be fading.

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But you know, God tells us there's that scripture, despise not the day of small beginnings.

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I read that this week.

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Absolutely.

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Yes, ma'am.

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That's right.

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So you stepped into the role of KSBJ and you were building that program from scratch.

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So where did you begin and what did God do and show you through that?

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Well, as with any new experience, bright-eyed, I'm bushy-tailed, I'm excited.

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They told me that I would find some, even though there had not been anyone in this position

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that I might, I should be able to find some contacts and some file folders in this office.

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And I go and there is a folder.

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One.

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Looking, like, okay, this must be some heavy hitters in this one folder.

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But one of the names that was in that folder was Doug Stringer.

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Somehow, I don't know if he first called me or I pick up the phone and called him, but

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it was a divine appointment because he was, it was as if I told someone meeting Doug was

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like meeting the body of Christ because he was so well connected and so unselfish and

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so helpful.

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He literally, he started telling me about the networking meetings he would have, ministries

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coming together.

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I'm telling you, Doug just, he helped me in so many ways, you know, to be able to begin

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to quickly build a network, you know, from churches to nonprofit organizations, friendships

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that I carry with me to this day.

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And I remember just even praying saying, Lord, bless me to be that kind of a leader that

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is so unselfish and so giving that'll just pick up a phone and make things happen.

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You know?

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And so, yeah, it was just tremendous.

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You know, you might think you don't have much to work with, but if God can give you just

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that one smooth stone, that one slingshot, whatever he does make available, he can use

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it to get the job done.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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And so that's how it was.

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I was able to build that community relations department up for about 14 years and then

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drum roll please.

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I could not imagine what would be more fulfilling than that job because I was on mission trips

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and scheduling mission trips and organizing trips and all kinds of outreach, both locally

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and abroad.

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And then the station, well, the Lord spoke to my heart that we needed to have an even

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stronger, more strategic prayer ministry.

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So I wrote a vision for a prayer department and I presented it and at the time it wasn't

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the time, but in the fullness of time, when we got to that point to where those conversations

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ball to the top, then I was approached, Kim, would you want to apply for a position of

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director of prayer initiatives?

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Wow.

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Yes, and as the, and Jolee again, how God miraculously works.

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Before that position became available, one of my sisters in the Lord invited me to go

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with her to Africa to a prayer conference.

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And when I tell you that was a prayer encounter, like never before, we're in a stadium where

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the floor is shaking and with people praying and where people were bringing mattresses

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so they could stay all night and pray.

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Talking about an impartation that happened during the trip.

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Wow.

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Yes.

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So when this, when they tell me about this opportunity, I'm going, Whoa, Lord, you're

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serious.

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You sent me to a prayer conference in Nigeria where some folks are praying and calling down

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the power of God.

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And so that last two years, I was able to serve in that capacity where we gave birth

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to prayer stations in Houston.

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We didn't come up with the idea.

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The idea was through YWAM.

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We were doing all kinds of prayer from the jails to downtown Houston on corners.

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We literally took prayer far beyond praying with people over the phone to praying to the

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public square, if you will.

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You saw some amazing things happen during that time.

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Yes, ma'am.

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We saw, in fact, I can remember taking, we went to a, took a prayer station to this one

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place where they were having a graduation, I believe it was like one of these job readiness

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training programs.

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They're having a graduation.

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We took a prayer station so we can pray with graduates.

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But one of the people we prayed for was a staff member.

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And I went to, when I was transitioning and cause I moved away and came back and now this

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is post KSBJ now I'm looking for a job when I moved back to, to Texas.

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And I go to a job fair and I meet a girl who immediately connects with me and she says,

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ma'am, I remember you brought a prayer station to my job.

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She said, and I was under a doctor's care for excruciating back pain.

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They didn't know what was wrong.

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I was taking medications.

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Nothing was changing.

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She said, but you and some others prayed for me.

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And she said, I just want you to know that from that day forward, that back, my back

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has been healed.

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I asked the Lord, I said, Lord, even when we birthed the prayer ministry, I say, Lord,

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I know this is a mobile experience for people.

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We're just kind of moving from place to place, but every now and then would you just let

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somebody come back like that leper, you know, just to let us know what you did.

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And I'm telling you everywhere we went, Jodi, someone would reach out.

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They may call our front desk.

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They might write and tell us, I got the job.

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You know, I got pregnant.

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I got married.

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Whatever it was, those things that we were praying the Lord was just letting us know

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that it wasn't in vain that he was in that ministry.

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He had anointed it to accomplish.

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Well, you mentioned Doug Stringer, who's the founder of Somebody Cares, the ministry I

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serve with.

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And our vision is to equip the body of Christ to be a tangible expression of God's love

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to the hurting.

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And one way we do that is through the Widow and Orphans Fund.

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Through our network around the globe, we care for orphans as well as widows who've given

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a lifetime of service to the Lord and who are now in need.

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And you know, in many Muslim countries, pastors and ministers pay the ultimate price for the

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gospel, leaving wives and children with no support.

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And as a company of women, we can do so much together to help care for them.

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We invite you to join our company with a gift at hergodstory.org or go to somebodycares.org

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or hergodstory.org and find out more about what we're doing.

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So Kim, all this time you're working at Star of Hope and at KSVJ, you were still single

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and you were still living at home with your parents.

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God had placed you in a good job with influence throughout the city.

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So why not get your own place?

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Well, I didn't get my own place.

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Well, let me just say, it's not that I didn't try.

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I was trying very diligently to get my own place, but it would never fall into place.

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And I remember the last time that I was, you know, going down that road looking for my

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own place.

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I said, you know, I'm not going to tell anybody because I was around a lot of praying prophetic

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people.

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I said, I'm not going to tell anybody so that nobody can prophesy on me about this.

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I am sitting on my bed with the paper open with everything.

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Just I'm looking at apartments and I'm going through the ads and I get a call from a friend

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of mine that was living in Oklahoma at the time.

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And she said, Kim, God laid you on my heart.

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So I wanted to give you a call.

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And I said, Oh, it's so great to hear from you.

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And she says, I don't know if you're thinking about moving away, you know, getting your

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own place.

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She says, but God said, don't move.

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I'm just holding the phone.

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I'm going, this can't be happening.

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He spoke to my heart and he said, don't just say it.

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In fact, she said, don't move out of your father's house, which was very significant.

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Don't move out of your father's house.

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And so he later spoke to my heart and said, don't move out, marry out.

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Well now I'm prepared for the long haul, Jodie, because there's no prospects in sight.

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Don't know what that's going to, how that's going to all develop.

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But yeah, he, he had his own purpose for why he wanted me to stay under the covering that

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I was receiving from my father.

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Yeah.

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Your mom passed away.

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It's at some point.

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That's right.

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After really served in ministry to your father as well as all that you were doing.

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Absolutely.

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They were married 50 years and by 2001, mom went to be with the Lord.

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And so mother would always tease and say the church was the other woman.

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And we were just so grateful that he had the church in addition to his children, because

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that would have been just such a tremendous void in his life to go from a house full of

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people.

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Cause we stayed in that, that same house 50 plus years for him to live there alone.

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But the Lord wanted me there to be there for him, you know, to, to be there in whatever

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way that looked like, you know, it's not that my other siblings were not a part of, of caring

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for him, but it was God wanted someone to be there.

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He wanted me very specifically and strategically because the conversations we had in the midnight

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hour over ice cream, Jodi, I just can't, I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.

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And there were times he would be talking to me and I would say, he's talking to me as

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if I'm a pastor or something.

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Why these kinds of conversations?

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And he would say, you know, I don't know what all God wants to do with you.

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I don't know the doors he wants to open and that's how he would, you know, position it.

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But at times I would just go, hmm, this is very interesting, you know, that I'm here

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at a time like this or this long, because you're talking from 2001 to 2014.

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So you were also still ministering to the youth in the church.

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You never, I mean, once you started doing that, you know, all three years when you were

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working, you continued to really pastor the youth in the church and it started gaining

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some notoriety in the city.

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Tell us about that.

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Absolutely.

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One of the things that I pledged early on is that I wanted to, that I was going to remain

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celibate and live a life of abstinence and that was before I even knew that there was

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such a thing as true love waits.

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But once I heard that there was something that was familiar to a lot of young people

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in different denominations who were officially and ceremonially taking pledges and wearing

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true love waits rings.

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And so that was something that I wanted to align with.

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And so I began to do that, you know, right there in the heart of the inner city, you

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know, where many times there was a lot of teenage pregnancy or untimely pregnancies,

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you know, just wanted to be able to encourage young people that there's one way that's absolutely

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guaranteed where you won't have to worry about being a teenage mom.

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It's abstain.

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Yeah.

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Just don't just let's read, let's keep it in the context that God intended for it to

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be.

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And so I began to host true love waits workshops, true love waits ceremonies, not just at our

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church, but in other places.

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And it just became a far bigger message and a greater platform than I ever imagined because

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I was working in radio.

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So God did some very unique things with that.

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And because it was so unique in an age of where promiscuity is really lauded, it caught

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the attention of the news, one of the news stations.

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Well it sure did.

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So a movie came out called a real, I think it was called a real 40 year old Virgin, I

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00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:57,160
think was the name of the movie.

247
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I heard of it.

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Yeah.

249
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There you go.

250
00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:05,800
I heard that sparked the interest of a young lady that was a news reporter, a Christian

251
00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:09,360
living out her faith in a secular news outlet.

252
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And so she was talking to one of my coworkers and said, Oh, I would love to find a real

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40 year old Virgin that is living out their faith, that's doing it because of their relationship

254
00:17:19,540 --> 00:17:20,540
with the Lord.

255
00:17:20,540 --> 00:17:21,540
Yeah.

256
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And so she so happened to have been speaking with my coworker who so happened to have known

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that I was doing true love waits and about to do cause she wanted to find a ceremony

258
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that was taking place.

259
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And all of this conversation was taking place in March, April.

260
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Well our ceremony was planned for May.

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And so she connected me with her and she said, Kim, would you mind if I brought Fox 26?

262
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She said, I want to do a story on abstinence.

263
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And she said, if you don't mind me telling your story about being a real life 40 year

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old Virgin, I said, actually 41, 41 years old.

265
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She said, I would love to do that.

266
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And so here we are the day of the ceremony.

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All of these young people, 30 something of them are prepared with their pledge.

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And we have it set up as if it were a wedding of sorts and had a banner, the banner with

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song of Solomon has been over me is love.

270
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And the atmosphere was just amazing.

271
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And she comes and tapes portions of the ceremony.

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And I still have the news clip to this day because it was so special.

273
00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:44,800
And it was just such an interesting reaction, Jodi, from classmates, people that I've known

274
00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:50,760
through the years, you never know who's looking at news or who's listening at something until

275
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you're on it.

276
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When you're the subject, the reactions were unreal to the point I went in the cleaners

277
00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:01,760
that morning to drop off some clothes.

278
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And this was my first test because they were actually kind of making mockery, you know,

279
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they go, were you on the news this morning?

280
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And these ladies were just laughing and they're like, that is not my story.

281
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Better you than me.

282
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You know, that kind of thing.

283
00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:21,680
You know, the enemy was like, now see, you're putting yourself out there to be the laughing

284
00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:22,680
stock.

285
00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:28,040
I have one of those conversations with my dad and he said, you know, you have nothing

286
00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:29,560
to be ashamed of.

287
00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:30,560
That's right.

288
00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:35,800
He's like, now what a lot of these people are doing, they should be ashamed, not you.

289
00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:37,120
You know, yeah, yeah.

290
00:19:37,120 --> 00:19:43,400
He's like, just never, you know, allow the Lord to do with your story what he wants to.

291
00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:50,320
And I will tell you this, Jodi, a month ago, a lady comes to my house with my sister-in-law.

292
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I didn't know her, but she knew my family.

293
00:19:53,360 --> 00:19:59,640
And she begins to tell me how she said, I remember seeing you on the news.

294
00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:05,880
She says, Kim, when I saw you, she said, that blessed me so much.

295
00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:10,880
She said, and I've thought about that many a day as I've been now a widow or a widow

296
00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:12,640
for all of these years.

297
00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:14,320
She said, I said, you know what?

298
00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:16,340
I'm going to keep myself.

299
00:20:16,340 --> 00:20:20,520
So it's like the gift that keeps on giving.

300
00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:26,200
Imagine that for that long length of time, God would still let that testimony be ministering

301
00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:27,200
to people.

302
00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:28,200
Yeah.

303
00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:30,120
And then there was even a follow-up story.

304
00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:31,120
Yes.

305
00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:34,320
At the time that God also ordained.

306
00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:35,320
So share about that.

307
00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:36,720
I am telling you.

308
00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:41,320
So now my Boaz has come.

309
00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:46,440
You know, God has brought the man that he wants me to marry into my life.

310
00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:52,360
One of my friends, when she heard of the marriage on that first phone call, when I let her know

311
00:20:52,360 --> 00:20:56,780
that I was going to be getting married, she's like, Kim, Fox needs to come back.

312
00:20:56,780 --> 00:21:00,360
You need to invite them back to do a follow-up story.

313
00:21:00,360 --> 00:21:02,560
And I said, what are the chances?

314
00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:07,160
I mean, I said, because the girl who did the story, she went to a bigger market.

315
00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:09,680
She doesn't even live here anymore.

316
00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:13,560
And so, and she's like, yeah, but it may be worth a try.

317
00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:19,880
So she, you know, did some preliminary information to find out who to connect with.

318
00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:26,400
And then somebody told me, gave me kind of like a direct line to one of the reporters

319
00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:27,400
of faith.

320
00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:29,560
Then more likely to do it.

321
00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:33,880
And so a lady by the name of Domalee Keith caught wind of the story.

322
00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:37,620
And she said, Kim, I remember that story.

323
00:21:37,620 --> 00:21:39,640
She said, and you're about to get married.

324
00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:43,920
She was like, oh, I would love to do a follow-up.

325
00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:51,160
So she literally, she comes to the radio station on what would be my last time leading chapel

326
00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:53,180
as I'm sharing my testimony.

327
00:21:53,180 --> 00:21:59,440
And she's in the back of the room in tears because she was waiting and believing God.

328
00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:05,160
And so they literally did a follow-up story because she still had it in the archives of

329
00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:06,640
the station.

330
00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:10,720
And seven years later, they do a story as I'm about to get married.

331
00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:19,720
And the way God did with that story, Jodi, by a mistake, a pure fluke, they told my story,

332
00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:25,320
but they had someone else's pictures, a whole nother couple's pictures as a part of the

333
00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:26,320
story.

334
00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:32,120
Well, when they realized it, they ended up running the story two days in a row.

335
00:22:32,120 --> 00:22:33,120
Wow.

336
00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:35,760
Got one of the word out again.

337
00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:42,760
It's so funny to me how the Lord, there was a time that as a kid, I wanted to be known.

338
00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:45,200
I wanted to just be out there.

339
00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:50,760
I mean, I wanted God to be glorified, but I wanted platform, if you will.

340
00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:55,640
But I tell you, we don't get to tell God how.

341
00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:56,640
That's right.

342
00:22:56,640 --> 00:23:02,520
But it's funny because I, over the course of my life, I've been somewhere or something's

343
00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:07,560
been happening and the Lord has brought back to mind, this is something that you wanted.

344
00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:08,920
This is a little desire of your heart.

345
00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:13,480
I mean, it wasn't a huge life-shattering desire, but this was a little desire of your heart

346
00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:14,800
that I heard.

347
00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:15,800
And here it is.

348
00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:16,800
That's right.

349
00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:20,440
And it's sweet how the Lord will do that for us.

350
00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:21,440
That's right.

351
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:22,440
That's right.

352
00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:27,880
And the beauty is that he does it in his own way and in his own timing.

353
00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:31,560
And sometimes it's humorous how he'll do it.

354
00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:38,360
I have a sister who said, someone told her they saw her singing in Paris, and she added

355
00:23:38,360 --> 00:23:40,160
context to that.

356
00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:43,360
And she ended up singing at a friend's birthday party.

357
00:23:43,360 --> 00:23:46,360
You know, she's like, well, I did.

358
00:23:46,360 --> 00:23:50,360
It was in the concert hall.

359
00:23:50,360 --> 00:23:52,360
So God had you marry out.

360
00:23:52,360 --> 00:23:56,560
I mean, here your Boaz came, he had you marry out and he married you way out.

361
00:23:56,560 --> 00:24:00,240
You moved to California, which that's a big change.

362
00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:04,680
I mean, Texas to California, that was a refining fire time for you.

363
00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:09,000
So what did God do in you?

364
00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:15,360
My mother used to tell me that someday my prince would come, she said, and you're just

365
00:24:15,360 --> 00:24:19,480
going to, because I was telling her, I said, Mom, I'm never going to leave you and dad.

366
00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:25,560
I mean, once I saw how long this was taking, like, let's just dig our heels in.

367
00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:27,800
She's like, oh, yeah, you'll leave someday.

368
00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:32,720
I'll send your prince and you'll go riding out into the sunset.

369
00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:37,600
And if you're heading to California, that's exactly where you go.

370
00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:47,800
So God connected me with a classmate from 30 years ago that I had not seen in 30 years.

371
00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:54,920
And it was he had gone through a painful divorce and his sons told him, well, dad, just to

372
00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:59,560
for social purposes and interaction, at least get on Facebook.

373
00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:04,120
And he didn't want to, because like many people hesitate, he's like, I don't want people all

374
00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:06,840
in my life like that.

375
00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:08,960
They helped him to understand how he could use it.

376
00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:15,880
And once he got on immediately, as you know, it begins to bring all of these people through

377
00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:21,560
algorithms and all that bring all these people from different places and stages of your life.

378
00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:27,480
I was one of those pictures that popped up and he said he began he began to pray because

379
00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:30,320
he knew he was going to marry again.

380
00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:35,880
You know, he said, Lord, I just want you when it is time for me to marry again.

381
00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:40,360
I pray that you'll send someone to me like Kim Kasi from high school.

382
00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:41,360
Wow.

383
00:25:41,360 --> 00:25:43,520
I didn't ask for you.

384
00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:46,000
I just asked for someone like you.

385
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:50,480
You know, he said, and one of those other times that he's looking at pictures, he's

386
00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:53,640
getting ready to come to Texas, which is where he was from.

387
00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:55,320
But he had been there for 26 years.

388
00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:57,080
He was getting ready to come to Texas.

389
00:25:57,080 --> 00:26:00,040
And he sees a picture of me on Facebook.

390
00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:04,560
And I was, I can honestly say it was one of my cutest ever, Jodi.

391
00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:07,680
I was in Hawaii with my sisters.

392
00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:09,720
You know, we're having a photo shoot.

393
00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:11,520
Everyone had to wear white.

394
00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:14,600
And so I'm standing on black rocks.

395
00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:19,400
There's a blue ocean behind me, the winds blowing this beautiful, flowy flare skirt

396
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:21,480
and my hair and all of that.

397
00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:24,760
So of all the pictures, that's the one he saw.

398
00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:27,800
And he goes, whoa, she's well preserved.

399
00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:28,800
She's looking good.

400
00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:33,520
But he said, the Lord spoke to his heart and said, that's your future wife.

401
00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:34,520
Wow.

402
00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:39,680
And he looked up to heaven and said, really, God, really?

403
00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:44,160
He said, and he said, okay, well, if that's her Lord, you're going to orchestrate some

404
00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:45,380
things.

405
00:26:45,380 --> 00:26:52,080
So he went and told his friends, which at the time were not believers, but he told his

406
00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:55,080
friends he said, and they just laughed him to scorn.

407
00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:56,440
They're like, yeah, right.

408
00:26:56,440 --> 00:27:00,760
You've not seen this woman in 30 years and you say this is your future wife.

409
00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:01,980
How?

410
00:27:01,980 --> 00:27:06,840
But anyway, he came on to town and reached out.

411
00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:12,120
He reached out while he was here and wanted to get together.

412
00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:19,840
And I was just I was blown away because of the way things had just got had been speaking

413
00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:21,240
and orchestrating things.

414
00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:28,260
And so when he called, I just I'm wondering, okay, God is you try not to read too much

415
00:27:28,260 --> 00:27:30,920
into things.

416
00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:35,840
But it was indeed God's plan for us to get together.

417
00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:39,620
So it's been now in our ninth year.

418
00:27:39,620 --> 00:27:45,320
So you're in California then, which, you know, your mom said, you know, you will leave and

419
00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:46,520
you eventually did.

420
00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:52,000
So I mean, when that when when God's appointed spouse comes.

421
00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:53,000
Yes.

422
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:57,360
You know, we never know what's a part of the package.

423
00:27:57,360 --> 00:27:58,360
Right.

424
00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:05,240
And honestly, I never imagined because at this point, I'm I'm still living home with

425
00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:12,160
dad, he has advanced stages of Parkinson's and it felt like it would have been the worst

426
00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:14,560
time for me to leave.

427
00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:15,560
Yeah.

428
00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:20,400
But but in earnest, Carrie and I were both praying because he was open to he said, Kim,

429
00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:26,040
it may be that God wants me to move to Houston, you know, but we were praying and you're kind

430
00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:31,400
of suspended in mid air because you're not going to want to leave your job and alert

431
00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:32,680
either.

432
00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:37,920
You know, and it's a it's one thing to just resign and go from one job to the next.

433
00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:43,400
But it's another thing you're resigning and you're moving cross country and you've not

434
00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:45,840
moved away for all of these years.

435
00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:52,720
And so God did make it plain that it was for me to move and go to California.

436
00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:59,440
And that ended up being a whole nother leg of the faith journey, because that was as

437
00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:07,280
close to Abraham as I probably had ever been to leave country, country, kindred, everything

438
00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:11,640
familiar to go to this new land.

439
00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:13,400
Nobody knew me.

440
00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:19,040
Nobody knew about the radio station, no track record, no friends.

441
00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:24,880
That was the first in my life, because even when I went away to college, about 14 people

442
00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:31,120
from my high school went up, but now I'm in this place where I'm trying to figure out

443
00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:32,120
it.

444
00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:36,160
And, you know, I had had a lot of people to say, well, Kim, California, that's a that's

445
00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:39,760
a great place of opportunity, especially for media.

446
00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:43,040
And so you you shouldn't have a problem at all finding a job.

447
00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:49,000
And I didn't think I would either, because my resume, I thought, was really strong.

448
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:57,160
Yeah, the same God who opens doors can put a deadbolt on him to until he's ready.

449
00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:02,800
And so once again, I'm starting to get the rejection because now I'm shooting for the

450
00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:07,040
moon, Jodi, but I felt I had a right to shoot for the moon because I got a career under

451
00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:08,040
my belt.

452
00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:09,040
Right.

453
00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:13,880
You know, and I would get close the interview here and an interview there.

454
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:16,280
But doors just weren't opening.

455
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:22,600
And I just remember those moments of, you know, Kerry goes to work and I'm at home and

456
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:26,440
just saying, God, who am I now?

457
00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:33,400
I mean, really, all I am is Kerry's wife and your daughter.

458
00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:37,040
And he said, can that be enough?

459
00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:40,800
Can that just be enough for this season of your life?

460
00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:45,400
You know, and so I had to get to a point of acceptance.

461
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:47,280
And God was dealing with Kerry, too.

462
00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:52,840
You know, while he's dealing with me, he's dealing with him till he got to a point, because

463
00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:58,400
if you know anything about living in California, it's very expensive, you know, and if you

464
00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:05,020
have to able-bodied people who can work, ideally you want to, you know, and we got to a point

465
00:31:05,020 --> 00:31:10,720
to where he said, you know what, Kim, I think you just need to just relax.

466
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:12,240
He said, I've got us.

467
00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:17,720
I mean, God is taking care of us, and if it's not as well for you to work in this season,

468
00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:19,160
then don't worry about it.

469
00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:22,160
Just use this time to get renewed.

470
00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:25,320
Because honestly, Jodi, I didn't realize how tired I was.

471
00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:31,200
I had been at such a hectic pace for years.

472
00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:35,120
And so honestly, for about the first six months, I was sleeping.

473
00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:37,640
I'd fall asleep right while he's talking.

474
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:42,720
And while he's every Sunday, my favorite place to be was while he's looking at football,

475
00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:48,800
I'm on the couch just snoozing it out, you know, and but still after the six months though,

476
00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:51,720
now you're thinking, okay, God, I'm rested.

477
00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:54,080
Ready to go.

478
00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:55,080
Let's do this.

479
00:31:55,080 --> 00:32:02,000
But he had me to begin to just those words came back, spin yourself.

480
00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:04,520
In other words, began to serve.

481
00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:09,880
So the pastor asked me if I would consider overseeing the women's ministry.

482
00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:10,880
And I did.

483
00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:18,480
I began to volunteer with the food bank that was what we would do on on the church grounds.

484
00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:21,920
I would fill in a Sunday school teacher.

485
00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:28,520
So I just, again, just start start serving and just finding fulfillment in that.

486
00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:33,800
And I started getting involved in like the Chamber of Commerce going to meetings and,

487
00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:34,880
you know, things like that.

488
00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:40,760
So that I because I'm the type, Jody, it's like I want to feel connected and in the know,

489
00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:44,760
you know, what's what's happening in the environment and in the community.

490
00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:50,040
And so I went to volunteer at the library and so just started doing things, just just

491
00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:51,480
settling into that.

492
00:32:51,480 --> 00:32:59,360
And really, I was thinking, well, I'm just kind of evidently God is going to bless me,

493
00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:01,320
bless us to go back home.

494
00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:05,960
But there was no sign that that was going to happen anytime soon either.

495
00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:10,960
You know, and so we would have those conversations that maybe what if this is it?

496
00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:12,880
What if it's for us to just stay here?

497
00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:17,600
We just had to say, well, if it is, then God's will be done.

498
00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:20,480
Yeah, you did come back to Houston.

499
00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:21,880
Yes, we did.

500
00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:22,880
We did.

501
00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:27,480
My carry began to talk.

502
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:30,960
His faith just began to to arise in that area.

503
00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:34,960
He just started telling me, you know, Kim, I'm ready to go.

504
00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:36,560
I want to go back home.

505
00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:37,880
He said, I want to go back home.

506
00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:42,520
I've been away from my mother and my family for such a long time.

507
00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:47,280
One Sunday, I knew this was different when he at the end of the message, because he was

508
00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:50,680
the assistant pastor and he's preaching that particular Sunday.

509
00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:53,200
He said, this is the last Mother's Day.

510
00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:54,680
I'll be away from my mom.

511
00:33:54,680 --> 00:33:57,600
He said, I've been away for 26.

512
00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:00,840
He said, this one, I'm going back home.

513
00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:07,480
And we honestly did not see how this was going to happen, because it was by our estimate,

514
00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:11,600
it was going to cost us about ten thousand dollars to be able to move.

515
00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:14,920
Because again, he had been there 26 years.

516
00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:16,240
So it wasn't just two people.

517
00:34:16,240 --> 00:34:18,640
We have all this stuff.

518
00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:25,200
And we put it, the request on the refrigerator with all of the estimates and God through

519
00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:27,360
a miracle.

520
00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:30,200
He did in fact move us back home.

521
00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:31,200
Wow.

522
00:34:31,200 --> 00:34:32,200
Yeah.

523
00:34:32,200 --> 00:34:33,200
Yep.

524
00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:41,400
He did it by his own hand from Kerry's cousin driving, being an 18 wheeled driver, an 18

525
00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:42,400
wheeler.

526
00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:44,200
We didn't realize that was the profession.

527
00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:48,520
I didn't that that was something he was doing and certainly didn't know if he had a license

528
00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:52,160
to do it, you know, in cross country like that.

529
00:34:52,160 --> 00:34:57,280
But the tickets we were going to use to go home for the holidays ended up being a ticket

530
00:34:57,280 --> 00:35:04,080
to fly him to into town so that he could come and help.

531
00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:07,960
He helped us finish packing and all of that.

532
00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:14,600
And in what, two days, two or three days, we were back home in time for Thanksgiving.

533
00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:15,600
Wow.

534
00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:17,600
Huge moving truck.

535
00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:20,240
He drove it for you.

536
00:35:20,240 --> 00:35:21,240
Absolutely.

537
00:35:21,240 --> 00:35:22,240
Absolutely.

538
00:35:22,240 --> 00:35:27,080
And that was really perfect timing because your dad at this point, he had, I mean, he

539
00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:30,880
had faithfully pastor the church for over 60 years.

540
00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:36,460
And with Parkinson's, he really couldn't take that on anymore, that full weight of that.

541
00:35:36,460 --> 00:35:39,000
So he was looking to the future.

542
00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:44,120
He came to you about leading it, which as the youngest of nine and you know, you had

543
00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:49,880
several brothers in the ministry, that must have been interesting conversation and transition.

544
00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:54,640
So how did that all transpire without blowing up into a big family?

545
00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:55,640
A risk.

546
00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:56,640
A risk.

547
00:35:56,640 --> 00:35:57,640
Absolutely.

548
00:35:57,640 --> 00:35:58,640
Absolutely.

549
00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:04,520
Well, one thing about it, I know that my father has, I'm sure this is something that he has

550
00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:08,000
prayed about throughout his ministry.

551
00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:13,040
And even though the youngest, my mother says that I was the first one to profess a call

552
00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:14,720
to ministry.

553
00:36:14,720 --> 00:36:20,480
And she said, because she would often, she would say, Lord, with our sons, I know someone

554
00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:25,000
is a preacher, but my parents both made a decision.

555
00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:30,800
They said they did not want to be these parents who they say where mom called them and daddy

556
00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:32,120
sent them.

557
00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:36,520
You know, they wanted us to know that it was God's calling.

558
00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:39,280
And so I professed that call to ministry.

559
00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:47,120
And then all of the years serving as a pastor, you know, pastoring the youth of the church.

560
00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:54,760
And so I still though, had not seen myself as being, even if I was to pastor someday,

561
00:36:54,760 --> 00:37:01,480
I didn't consider I was to pastor that church with such a legacy and such a spiritual giant.

562
00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:08,800
And so when dad first talked to me about it, honestly, Jodie, I said nothing to no one,

563
00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:09,800
not even Carrie.

564
00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:14,760
I just did like Mary and pondered it in my heart and said, Lord, if this is you, I want

565
00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:18,320
you to talk to my other siblings about this.

566
00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:22,320
Please, you know, confirm it and all of that.

567
00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:29,080
And honestly, one by one, different ones would came to me and say, Kim, did that express

568
00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:35,040
to you that he wants you to be the pastor of the church?

569
00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:43,080
And so at this point I was serving in an associate pastor role, but as it happened, Jodie, thankfully

570
00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:49,120
my older sister and brother had already been serving as assistance to my dad.

571
00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:54,560
And so when he first passed, I didn't have to have to step directly into that role.

572
00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:59,920
And quite frankly, I don't feel like I was in the emotional space to do that.

573
00:37:59,920 --> 00:38:07,320
I was able to, I had some recovery time and some sobering time to continue to pray this

574
00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:10,020
through if that was to be.

575
00:38:10,020 --> 00:38:16,400
And then our family came together and our board came together and prayed about what,

576
00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:20,120
who would be God's choice for the role.

577
00:38:20,120 --> 00:38:31,600
And sure enough, here I am now, you know, we're in January of 2019 is when we on January

578
00:38:31,600 --> 00:38:36,040
one, you know, accepted roles as senior pastors.

579
00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:40,320
Both me and Carrie were installed in April.

580
00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:46,120
And my dear friend, once again, Doug Stringer is the officiant, the same man who married

581
00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:52,640
Carrie and I was there to usher us into this new season of our lives.

582
00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:54,360
And he was the perfect person to do that.

583
00:38:54,360 --> 00:38:59,240
Jodie, he had shown my father such great respect throughout the years.

584
00:38:59,240 --> 00:39:02,880
I have pictures of Doug kneeling down before my dad.

585
00:39:02,880 --> 00:39:07,940
I have pictures of Doug laying prostrate before my father, you know, to pray with him and

586
00:39:07,940 --> 00:39:09,000
pray for him.

587
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:17,880
And so it was a daunting task and thought of, you know, I remember praying saying, God,

588
00:39:17,880 --> 00:39:28,440
how are we going to fill this void of such a huge spiritual giant, you know, and the

589
00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:33,600
Lord just spoke to my heart and said, just do what he did.

590
00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:37,120
He said he fasted, he prayed, he obeyed.

591
00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:39,760
He said, just, just do that.

592
00:39:39,760 --> 00:39:44,280
It just one day at a time, one, one step at a time.

593
00:39:44,280 --> 00:39:48,160
And he gave me one word, the word tailwind.

594
00:39:48,160 --> 00:39:51,480
And I remember I said, tailwind.

595
00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:56,600
I looked it up and it said, I knew it had something to do with planes.

596
00:39:56,600 --> 00:39:59,560
And it said, it's a wind blowing from behind.

597
00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:01,840
And he said, do you know what that wind is?

598
00:40:01,840 --> 00:40:04,640
He said, that's the wind of the Holy spirit.

599
00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:08,720
I was, that's what I did to bring the ministry to where it is.

600
00:40:08,720 --> 00:40:16,240
And my same spirit will, will lead and guide the ministry into the future that I have for

601
00:40:16,240 --> 00:40:17,240
it.

602
00:40:17,240 --> 00:40:19,160
He, he has proven himself to be faithful.

603
00:40:19,160 --> 00:40:24,120
We started out the first year was a renovation because that was the last thing that was on

604
00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:25,800
my father's heart to do.

605
00:40:25,800 --> 00:40:29,640
He wanted to do some renovating and the church and some upgrades.

606
00:40:29,640 --> 00:40:32,840
And so that was the first thing we wanted to do.

607
00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:41,440
And then the next two years we were in pandemic mode, you know, just like, Whoa, okay, Lord.

608
00:40:41,440 --> 00:40:50,280
And I can tell you, Jodi, I hear my father's voice just so clearly all the time, all the

609
00:40:50,280 --> 00:40:52,160
time, you know, both of them.

610
00:40:52,160 --> 00:40:53,160
Oh yeah.

611
00:40:53,160 --> 00:40:54,160
I was going to say both fathers probably.

612
00:40:54,160 --> 00:40:55,160
Yeah, yes.

613
00:40:55,160 --> 00:40:58,160
Both of them, both of them.

614
00:40:58,160 --> 00:41:02,400
Just leading and guiding us every step of the way.

615
00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:03,400
It's been amazing.

616
00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:08,920
Kim, I am sure that you have some foundational practices that have kept you grounded in your

617
00:41:08,920 --> 00:41:13,200
walk with the Lord through all the easy times and the challenging times.

618
00:41:13,200 --> 00:41:18,520
And you know, these are things that I'm sure, you know, anybody, any believer out there

619
00:41:18,520 --> 00:41:19,520
can do.

620
00:41:19,520 --> 00:41:22,240
What are those things that have been crucial in your life?

621
00:41:22,240 --> 00:41:23,240
Sure.

622
00:41:23,240 --> 00:41:33,960
Well, always having, there's always someone or some people in my life that can be confidants,

623
00:41:33,960 --> 00:41:39,320
some intercessors, some accountability people in my life.

624
00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:40,840
That's a staple.

625
00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:45,720
And I'm also an avid journaler, a journal all the time.

626
00:41:45,720 --> 00:41:51,160
And back from the time I found a fabric cover journal that I just thought was pretty in

627
00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:55,040
my sister's car, I asked her about it and she said, you want to have it?

628
00:41:55,040 --> 00:41:57,760
And I said, yeah, actually I do.

629
00:41:57,760 --> 00:42:02,960
And I started out using it as a prayer journal where I would write prayer requests I had

630
00:42:02,960 --> 00:42:04,920
for all kinds of things.

631
00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:11,600
And then it became more of a cathartic, dear God, my letters, my musings, my struggles,

632
00:42:11,600 --> 00:42:12,600
whatever.

633
00:42:12,600 --> 00:42:21,120
And so now Jodi, I met about, I probably have 42 journals that are filled with just experiences

634
00:42:21,120 --> 00:42:22,120
in God.

635
00:42:22,120 --> 00:42:27,400
And every now and then I'll get one off of the top shelf just randomly and just open

636
00:42:27,400 --> 00:42:33,560
it up and say, wow, 2001, I was crying about blah, blah, blah.

637
00:42:33,560 --> 00:42:35,720
And look what God did.

638
00:42:35,720 --> 00:42:36,720
Yeah.

639
00:42:36,720 --> 00:42:41,320
It's encouraging when we go back and we can see God's handprints, God's fingerprints

640
00:42:41,320 --> 00:42:42,920
in all our lives.

641
00:42:42,920 --> 00:42:48,400
So journaling, having prayer partners, having one of the things that was important to me

642
00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:52,200
when I got my new home, I wanted a war room.

643
00:42:52,200 --> 00:42:59,920
So we dedicated what would have been a laundry room on the second floor, which I had never

644
00:42:59,920 --> 00:43:05,800
wanted that on the second floor, but we were able to turn it into, they say some people

645
00:43:05,800 --> 00:43:09,800
would use it for storage, but we looked at each other, Kier and I at the same time, we

646
00:43:09,800 --> 00:43:11,800
said prayer room.

647
00:43:11,800 --> 00:43:16,320
So that's our space where we can go in there one-on-one.

648
00:43:16,320 --> 00:43:23,920
I've learned the practice and I'm learning the practice of waiting on God literally for

649
00:43:23,920 --> 00:43:29,240
him to, in case he wants to speak something to my heart.

650
00:43:29,240 --> 00:43:33,680
It's so easy to go into your prayer room and just talk to him, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk,

651
00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:34,920
talk and pray.

652
00:43:34,920 --> 00:43:42,120
But I've been going through Andrew Murray's 31 day devotion on waiting on God and practicing

653
00:43:42,120 --> 00:43:43,120
that.

654
00:43:43,120 --> 00:43:49,880
It has been an experience that has been, it makes me feel even more connected to my parents

655
00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:57,040
because I remember church services where they literally would wait, just sit in silence

656
00:43:57,040 --> 00:44:01,440
to see what God wanted them to do or what God wanted to say.

657
00:44:01,440 --> 00:44:07,280
And so those were just some of the things, you know, praying, fasting, just making that

658
00:44:07,280 --> 00:44:14,840
just a part of my discipline and especially those times when you have difficult decisions

659
00:44:14,840 --> 00:44:21,480
to make or you're seeking God for direction or his guidance or there's a stronghold in

660
00:44:21,480 --> 00:44:24,920
your life or someone else's that needs to be broken.

661
00:44:24,920 --> 00:44:31,240
You know, just using those spiritual weapons, you know, the arsenal that he has given us

662
00:44:31,240 --> 00:44:39,280
that ensures victory every time because it may not always look like victory at that moment,

663
00:44:39,280 --> 00:44:40,800
but it is.

664
00:44:40,800 --> 00:44:46,520
If God is in and if he's orchestrating it, he's bringing us to the other side and it's

665
00:44:46,520 --> 00:44:49,280
always going to be a place of bounty.

666
00:44:49,280 --> 00:44:54,960
So Kim, as we wrap up, can you share about a woman in the Bible whose story has inspired

667
00:44:54,960 --> 00:44:59,880
or encouraged or taught you something and how her story relates to yours?

668
00:44:59,880 --> 00:45:04,640
There are so many, but I'm going to say Ruth.

669
00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:12,080
I'm so inspired by her story because not only do you have these two widows who are connected

670
00:45:12,080 --> 00:45:21,080
for destiny, there's so much I read into her commitment to Naomi here, you know, united

671
00:45:21,080 --> 00:45:29,540
by their struggle, but then also united by the blessing of what God did for them.

672
00:45:29,540 --> 00:45:36,520
So I admire her faith that she is, both of them are walking into the great unknown and

673
00:45:36,520 --> 00:45:39,500
she's also committed to this older woman.

674
00:45:39,500 --> 00:45:46,320
And I thought of my father, you know, how I was committed to him in every way that I

675
00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:47,320
could.

676
00:45:47,320 --> 00:45:55,040
And at the end of the story of Ruth and Naomi, they both end up blessed tremendously.

677
00:45:55,040 --> 00:46:04,080
And so that's how my life has been, you know, while God has required me to walk by faith

678
00:46:04,080 --> 00:46:10,560
all throughout my life and especially my personal life, because again, I got married for the

679
00:46:10,560 --> 00:46:14,240
first time at 47 years old.

680
00:46:14,240 --> 00:46:18,720
It didn't need to happen a day sooner than it did.

681
00:46:18,720 --> 00:46:22,400
When I was 25, yes, I thought it should have been happening then.

682
00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:23,400
That's right.

683
00:46:23,400 --> 00:46:28,320
Yeah, but God, his ways are perfect.

684
00:46:28,320 --> 00:46:34,440
And so Ruth, I've always admired, especially the passage when she says, entreat me not

685
00:46:34,440 --> 00:46:38,240
to leave thee nor to return from following thee.

686
00:46:38,240 --> 00:46:40,480
For where you go, I will go.

687
00:46:40,480 --> 00:46:42,300
Where you lodge, I will lodge.

688
00:46:42,300 --> 00:46:47,200
Your people will be my people and your God, my God.

689
00:46:47,200 --> 00:46:48,920
Where you die, I will die.

690
00:46:48,920 --> 00:46:50,560
And there I will be buried.

691
00:46:50,560 --> 00:46:58,720
And it's just such a beautiful passage that bespeaks commitment, deep commitment, and

692
00:46:58,720 --> 00:47:04,520
that I want that to be a hallmark of my life and my relationships, that I want to be committed

693
00:47:04,520 --> 00:47:08,800
and I want to journey in faith every step of the way.

694
00:47:08,800 --> 00:47:09,800
Amen.

695
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Well, in Matthew 5 16, Jesus says, let your light so shine before men that they may see

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your good works and glorify your father in heaven.

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This is a verse that Kim uses as the guide for life.

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First Peter 2 12 reiterates that instructing us to live such good lives among unbelieving

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neighbors that even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your good deeds

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and glorify God.

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Those good deeds are to flow out of our love for God, not out of our struggle.

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So they're not hard or laborious.

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It's joining God in his work like Kim has done all her life.

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Ephesians 2 10 says we are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works,

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which God prepared in advance for us to do.

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God has good work prepared just for you to do with him.

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When we walk with the Lord and allow him to use us that good work flows it out effortlessly

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and God is glorified.

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Kim, would you take a moment and just pray for everyone who listens to your God story?

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Father, in the name of Jesus, Lord, we just thank you for this opportunity.

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Lord, in this platform to share of your goodness.

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And I just want to pray for the women who will be listening to my story.

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Lord, God, I just pray that they have found encouragement, Lord, in their journey of faith.

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Lord, those who are waiting on you, whether they're waiting for spouses, waiting for opportunities,

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God, for prayers to be fulfilled, for loved ones to be saved, waiting for bodies to be

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healed, waiting for clarity.

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Father, no matter what it is they're waiting for, Lord, give them that blessed assurance

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that when you come through, Father God, no matter when, no matter how long it might take,

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that it will have been worth the wait, Father, because you make all things beautiful in your

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timing.

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So bless these women tremendously, Lord God, and bless them to be a blessing.

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In Jesus' mighty name we pray.

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Amen.

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Amen.

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Thank you for tuning in.

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Links to the scriptures and other helpful information can be found in our show notes

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at hergodstory.org.

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There you can also sign up for periodic emails.

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You can get a free Her God Story devotional and you can find out about the Somebody Cares

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Widow and Orphans Fund.

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If you need prayer, please feel free to call or text the Somebody Cares 24-7 prayer line

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at 855-459-CARE or you can email us at prayer at somebodycares.org.

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We'd love for you to share Kim's story with friends and be sure to follow the podcast

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so you don't miss an episode.

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And now, dear friends, I leave you with a blessing from Philippians 2-13 and Matthew

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5-16.

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May the Holy Spirit work in you to both will and do His good pleasure so that your light

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will shine before others and that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father

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in heaven.

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Amen.

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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.