God Loves Us So Much! Mary Beth’s Christmas Story

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Hey friends, welcome to another of our special Her God Story Christmas episodes.

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We hope it will deepen your faith and equip you in your walk with the Lord.

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

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International, author and traveler on this journey of faith. I love the whole

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Christmas season. While a lot of planning goes into the festivities, special

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moments can happen with no planning at all. God moments. When He encounters us

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at an unexpected time in a profound way. I think of Mary on the night of Jesus'

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birth in a stable already exhausted from the trip from Nazareth. She then labors

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to bring Him into the world. When she finally has a moment to rest, a group of

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shepherds arrive with a fantastic tale of angels singing in the sky, glory to

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God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests. After

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seeing Jesus and telling their story, the shepherds left to spread the word to

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others and the little family was all alone again. Peace. God spoke peace. I'm

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sure that is just what Mary needed to hear at that point. Luke 2 :19 says,

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Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. My guest,

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Mary Beth Gilbert, has been pondering a God moment she had at Christmas time

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many years ago. I've asked her to share it with us and hope it blesses you. So

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Mary Beth, tell us that story. Oh I'd love to Jody. I've got lots of Christmas

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stories of course but there's one in particular that was very very meaningful

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and has just stuck with me from the day it happened. But I just love the

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Christmas season so much as we've been talking. I just love all of the the

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decorating and the gift giving and the shopping and the feast, the food,

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fellowship with friends, with family. I like that we extend it all through the

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whole month. I just I love it and I think it is really important that we do

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decorate and we celebrate because God, the Savior of the world, was born for us

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and that deserves such great celebration at least in my home. My husband, my family,

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we'd love to celebrate Christmas and we we have fun every year even as exhausting

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as it is at times we still have fun and I think it's important that we also at

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least for myself I try to find out what is God saying to me through the season

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this year but I have this one special story that I do want to share with you

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because I thought I really understood Christmas but this particular story that

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I'll share in a little bit is something where it was an aha moment and that's

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where I thought oh my gosh Lord I need an aha moment every year every Christmas

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but this one really stuck out to me because as an adopted mom it involved

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our young daughter when she was very young. So as you know we tried to have

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children for many many years my husband and I I never thought it would be a

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problem because my mother had been pregnant every year in her 20s and I

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just thought well if that's the case that's where I'm from I'm her blood it's

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just gonna happen to me you know hands down no problems but as my husband and I

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were newly married and talked about starting a family we tried and tried and

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and nothing happened and I was getting more surprised along the way but as the

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years went on after trying and trying we had many infertility tests I had three

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surgeries there were hundreds of prayers being lifted up for us thousands of

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dollars went into all the testing people were praying over us from all over the

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world I was trying anything I could in terms of like food or vitamins things

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like that that would help me get pregnant but month after month nothing

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nothing was happening so about five years and we were still trying I'd really

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come to my wits end at this point and called a friend of mine who was also a

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pastor's wife and was hoping to get some consolation from her because she had

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struggled with infertility for a while as well. I was hoping that she would

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console me listen to all my woes have a little pity party but she did just the

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opposite so after a brief but sweet conversation she basically directed me

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to hang up the phone and go spend more time with the Lord so I was like okay I

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guess I better do that. My husband happened to be out of the country that

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night he was in South Korea for a ministry conference and so I was all

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alone so I did what she suggested I went and I closed all the blinds in our

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little school housing apartment and I prayed and worshiped the Lord and that

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evening ended up being a very special experience it was so close it was such a

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close time with the Lord so close that the Holy Spirit led me to take communion

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privately in my home over this whole issue of infertility so just between the

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Lord and me from this tiny little apartment I took communion and just said

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to the Lord Lord I will worship you whether you give us children or not and

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that was a real anchor in my life and it brought me peace I was making a

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commitment that whether he answered prayers the way I wanted him to or not I

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would have that assurance that I was gonna worship him regardless and my

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husband actually ended up praying the same thing too at some point in this

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journey but it was just one of those life experiences that night where I just

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felt like I had crawled up into his lap and that he had just blessed me with

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rest peace and just to trust him through it all and as the Lord always does he

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brought beauty and joy out of this pain and disappointment and I learned also

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that in Genesis you know God says that he opens the womb and he closes the room

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and that actually brought me peace because I realized you know I can do all

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these things I can have all these people pray over me but God ultimately decides

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and I found peace in that I didn't have to strive anymore I didn't have to worry

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now I still had to walk that journey out but I did have that anchor of peace that

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came that night as well but really the adoption story that process started in

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my heart way back in 1988 I know I'm dating myself but I was young then but

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in 1988 my husband and I went to Asia to encourage missionaries and one of the

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places we visited was South Korea and while there I grew in love with the

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orphan children and we'd watch them at school and watch them come and go and

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play on the playground and and I mentioned to my husband on the way back

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we were in the airplane on our way back to the States and I said if God ever led

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us to adopt I would love to adopt from South Korea and little did I know that

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actually would be in his plan one day what I thought would happen was that we

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would have biological children first and then adopt from South Korea but instead

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God never saw fit to give us biological children but he did see fit to give us

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our hearts desire to adopt a special little girl from South Korea when she

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was only four months old what a sweetie she she was and still is but that whole

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pain of infertility seemed to just evaporate by the all-encompassing joy

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this little one brought into our hearts and our home and I don't know if you've

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ever had anything like that where you're going through something and then God

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touches you or he does something or shows you something that all of a sudden

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the sting of whatever it was the stings out it's still there but it doesn't

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sting anymore it just that that pain just evaporated and adoptive moms know

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that at some point there will come a time where you have to talk to your

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children about their adoption and when our daughter Maria was a baby actually

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baby through toddlerhood every evening after reading her a story before bedtime

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I would sit in the rocking chair and then turn her and place her on my lap

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where her head would be down at my knees and her face would be looking up at my

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face and we would have what I call our sweet face-to-face time and that's when

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I would just try to pour in positive affirmation to her even at that young

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age just you were created by God you are loved you you were wanted you are

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special you're valuable and the Lord has a beautiful plan for your life and I

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would just pour these things into her and she would just stare at me and smile

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and just like she was taking it all in and I believe she was at least it was

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getting into into her spirit so we would have that sweet face-to-face time but

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one night and this is where this is the Christmas story that has stuck with me

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all through the years one night during the Christmas season when our daughter

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was almost three years old she saw pictures of Mary when we were reading

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one of the Bible story books about Christmas and she saw that Mary was

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pregnant with Jesus and noticed her stomach was was real big so she said to

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me mommy I came from your tummy I said honey you came from my heart thinking in

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literal terms she said your heart must have been real big to which I replied it

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was so big it was this big and I stretched both of my arms wide open and

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her precious little face looked at me with amazement because she was thinking

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literally my heart was probably like a stomach would be when a woman's pregnant

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but what happened at that moment I'll never forget because that night during

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that Christmas season was at that moment it was that aha moment where I realized

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even more Jesus stretched out his arms on the cross because his heart was so

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big for me I came from his heart I was adopted by him and I tell my daughter

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you're adopted twice I'm only adopted once but you get to be adopted twice so

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this is a good thing a positive thing but isn't isn't it true though for us

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how God's heart is so big for me and for you and filled with so much love but

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that presence that came into the room that night on that rocking chair with my

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little girl sharing with her she came from my heart not my stomach ended up

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being a time where God's presence so filled that room that I've never

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forgotten that story and every year at Christmas time I'm reminded of it more

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and more and I asked God I think we need a fresh aha moment every year but that

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was one that was so so special to me and has always always stayed with me so I

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just wanted to say during this Christmas season it's always a good thing to crawl

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in your father's lap and just take time to pray with the Lord during the season

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rest trust him it's crazy out in the world at this time in in some places but

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just hammering that anchoring time for me it's in the mornings that's when I

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have my quiet time trusting his ways with whatever's going on being thankful

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cherishing good memories making good memories for that particular Christmas

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season however maybe we try to add something new each year in but I also

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try to ask the Lord show me something new and special this Christmas like what

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what does it give me another aha moment like you did that night long ago when I

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was reading to my daughter but just to be helpful to smile because there's a

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lot going out there and trust him always just trust him through the season and

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trust him through even the ups and downs and I just realized more and more

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through the years that as I crawl up into his lap especially during this

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special Christmas season that God sent his son Jesus to be born which is what

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we're celebrating because his heart was so big so full of love for us and then

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Jesus took it further and stretched out his arms on the cross to die for us

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because his heart was so big for for me and for for all of us thank you Mary

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Beth you know I periodically ask God for a fresh revelation of his love it's one

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of those things that's hard to fully understand Romans 8 38 and 39 says I am

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convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor demons neither the

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present nor the future nor any powers neither height nor depth nor anything

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else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is

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in Christ Jesus that is an amazing kind of love it's the kind of love exhibited

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when God who so loved the world gave his one and only son which we celebrate at

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Christmas so that whoever believes in him will not perish but will have

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eternal life of course that was John 3 16 with a little commentary of mine but

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John 3 17 goes on to say God did not send his son into the world to condemn

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the world but to save the world through him no condemnation pure unadulterated

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love my hope is that you have a God moment sometime this Christmas season

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and that he gives you a deeper understanding of his great love for you

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one so profound you can treasure it up in your heart and ponder it like Mary

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did the glorious night that the Savior of the world became man let me pray for

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you heavenly father thank you for loving us so much that you sent Jesus not to

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condemn us but to show us your love father I ask you to plan a special

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encounter during this Christmas season with each person who listens to this

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podcast give them an aha moment so they understand more fully the depth of your

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love for them and father because you are so good and you long for us to know you

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more fully I know that you will do what I've asked I pray this in the precious

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name of Jesus amen thank you for tuning in if you missed Mary Beth's full God

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story you might want to check out episodes 13 and 14 and on the her God

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story org website you can get a free six-week downloadable devotional on

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women of the Bible to use now or to start the new year off right if you

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prefer a printed copy you can purchase a 12-week devotional book at our online

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go to the widows and orphan fund we encourage you to also join the growing

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pray with you on our 24-7 prayer and text line you can give us a call anytime

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at 855-459-care or email us at prayer at somebody cares org if you enjoyed this

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episode please share it with friends or family members and dear friends I bless

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you now with the words the angels sang over the shepherds in Luke 2 verse 14

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glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests

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Merry Christmas her God story is a ministry of somebody cares America and

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international to find out more about or support the ministry go to somebody cares

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