God Renewed My Love When I Forgave, Darlene Davis’ Story

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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 the Lord.

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

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author and traveler on this journey of faith.

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I encourage you to take a moment and follow or like this podcast on your favorite streaming

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platform so you won't miss the stories of any of my amazing guests.

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You know, 2 Timothy 3:16 -17 in the New Living Translation says,

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All scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize

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what is wrong in our lives.

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It corrects us when we're wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

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God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good work.

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The Bible, the Word of God, is powerful.

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And my guest, Darlene Davis, has been corrected and taught and prepared and equipped by the

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Word of God and she has experienced the wonderful benefits and blessings of following the Lord

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for many, many years.

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I've known Darlene since I was young.

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She and her husband Bill and their entire family were part of the same fellowship group

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as my family.

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She has seen the good, the bad, and the ugly in our life and she's overcome by the Spirit

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of God.

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Darlene is a powerful and transparent minister, a lover of people, a servant of God, a wife,

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a mom, and a grandma.

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And over the years, she has shared biblical truth in a relevant way at marriage seminars

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to women's groups and in a variety of Christian conferences.

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You'll be surprised and blessed by what you hear.

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I know it.

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Welcome, Darlene.

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Thank you, Jody, for having me on.

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I'm just honored to be here.

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Darlene, life was kind of tough for you when you were growing up, but you had a praying

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grandmother.

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Tell us a little bit about her and how you came to know she was praying for you.

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When I was about 37 years old, I had my youngest son, Kent, and he was in a four-year-old

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kindergarten.

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And I would pick him up every day and go and visit my grandmother.

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She was in a nursing home.

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And I asked her one day if she would please give me some of my heritage, my Christian

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heritage, because she was a godly woman.

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And so this was the first story that she shared with me, and I didn't appreciate it at the

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time, but I am so glad that she shared it with me now.

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She said that my mother and father and my brother and sister had come out to visit out

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in the country in Plant City.

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They were on a strawberry farm, and my mother was eight months pregnant with me.

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She said that she was standing at the back door looking out of the screen at my brother

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and sister running around with the chickens.

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And my father came up behind her and said, Mabel, I want you to know that those kids

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out there don't mean any more to me than the chickens they're running around with.

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My grandmother was devastated, she said.

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And so she said that she prayed for me in the womb like she's never had prayed for

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a grandchild before.

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And I attribute that to God watching over me my whole life.

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He was with me in the womb when I was knit together, and he has been with me up until

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today.

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Well, that is a really godly heritage.

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But you know, when you were born, life wasn't really easy.

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Your father ended up abandoning the family.

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So tell us about some of the struggles of your family in those early days and how that

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actually opened the door for you to be introduced to Jesus.

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Well, like you said, Jody, my father did abandon my mother with the three children.

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And life was very difficult.

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My mother had to work one full time job, two part time jobs, and she even mowed neighbor's

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lawns on weekends to have enough money to support three children.

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One of her jobs happened to be at a bar a block from our house.

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And I was about eight years old.

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And we would play in the back room of this bar.

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And when we got hungry, we'd come and sit at the bar and she fixes a hot dog or hamburger.

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Well, back then, air conditioning was not the thing.

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And so the doors were open to this bar.

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And a Mrs. Dot Walker lived across the street with her husband and two children.

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And she would see me sitting up at the bar eating.

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And she was just so concerned.

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So she went over and asked my mom if I could go to church with her.

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And my mom said yes.

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And so at eight years old, I started going to church with Mrs. Walker.

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I loved it.

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I can remember my Sunday school class when I was eight years old.

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Mrs. Hicks, Mrs. Nell Hicks was my Sunday school teacher and a mentor in my life.

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And she would end our little Sunday school class singing a little chorus into my heart,

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come into my heart, Lord Jesus, come in today, come into stay, come into my life, Lord Jesus.

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And I remember the Sunday morning at eight years old that I sang that song and knew that

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I had asked Jesus into my heart.

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Well, I remained in the church.

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I went all the time.

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If the doors were open and I could get a ride, I was there.

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And as I become a teenager, I was always there.

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And I had my two best friends, Kathy and JoLynn.

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And we did a lot of stuff together.

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And I would spend time at their house with their families.

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And I got to see what it was like having a Christian family.

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They didn't fight like we fought.

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They didn't do anything like we did.

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And I wanted one of those myself.

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So I asked the Lord through the years as I was at their house and I would witness godly

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communication and things among the family.

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I said, God, I really do want one of these one day.

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And he always remembered.

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I asked him that even though I didn't remember, you know, that happens.

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But he's faithful, isn't he?

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Once you made that decision to follow Christ, you saw him protecting you even at a young

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age.

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I mean, it was your grandmother's prayers and your decision to follow Christ.

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And tell us about how you saw him protecting and guiding you even at a young age.

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When I was about 12, I believe, 12 or 13, my mother married an alcoholic and life was

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pretty difficult.

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And he was really a nice man if he was not drinking.

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And I knew he loved me.

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But he drank every day after work and then on weekends.

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So there was very little time that he was not drunk.

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And he was what people call a mean drunk.

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I would go up to him and say, please, please stop drinking.

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Don't drink so much or don't go to the bar and spend all your paycheck.

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And he would get angry with me.

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And I can remember him picking up a wrought iron dinette chair.

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Olders might remember that.

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And it didn't have rubber tips on the ends.

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And he tried to run me through with that.

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And one day and I escaped.

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I ran away.

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I remember saying, wow, God, you're amazing.

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You just saved me from that.

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And I said, I have to be your favorite.

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And my whole life growing up as a young person, I honestly thought I was God's favorite.

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And he was always there to rescue me from I would go to try to drag him out of a bar

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down the street on Fridays.

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So he wouldn't spend all the money and he would get real angry and I would run.

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But God was faithful.

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He always let me get away.

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Also I was in a lot of different things that I could have made big mistakes in my life.

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And God always stepped in and saved me from that.

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I can look back at my younger years too.

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And the same thing, stupid mistakes that we make when we're young.

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We love the Lord, but we're just not quite following every path that he would have us

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on.

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And I can remember many times when I was so thankful God's hand of mercy was on me when

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he very easily could have sent judgment instead.

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Exactly.

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Exactly.

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But you know, Darlene, because your mom taught you to be self-reliant, when you graduated

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from high school, you went right into the workforce.

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And at that time you were still really active in your church.

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In fact, you got active in your church right away when you became a believer.

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So what were some of those tough decisions in life altering choices that you had to make

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in your early twenties?

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And how did you decide what path to take?

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My mother, because she was left by my father, she raised me that there was not a man on

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the face of the earth that you could trust.

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And so you have to be able to take care of yourself.

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So during the summers when other people were running around and doing things, she sent

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us to sewing school.

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Me and my sister, sewing one.

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The next year advanced sewing.

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Typing.

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Shorthand.

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Footkeeping.

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We were not allowed to just laze around.

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And when we were home, we were doing chores, scrubbing floors, baseboards cleaned every

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Saturday.

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I mean, she was amazing.

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She wanted to make sure we were fit and trained.

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She was amazing.

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So I worked and I did a little modeling.

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And I saw in the newspaper that there was a call for people to come and try out to be

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Jackie Gleason girls.

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Now that's another one.

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You have to be really old to know what a Jackie Gleason girl is.

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But anyway, I went to try out and they hired me.

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So I went to sign the contract and my mother said, now Darlene, you read that contract

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because you're going to be signing something that you legally are going to have to stick

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to.

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So I went in and he just thought I would sign it because it was a lucrative job.

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And I would only have to move to Miami because that's where the show was.

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But I read it and it said that I had to smoke because any of you oldies would know that

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the Jackie Gleason girls walked around in back of him on his variety show and they had

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these long cigarette things that they were smoking.

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And I said, oh, I can't sign these because I don't smoke and I cannot smoke.

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He said, well, oh, you just have to pretend.

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And I said, oh, no.

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I can't do that.

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They'll think I'm smoking.

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And my mother thinks that's the worst sin in the world.

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I just can't do it.

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So I walked out of there and I did not take that job.

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And I just thank God for that, how he intervened, how that would have probably wrecked my life.

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But then again, my praying grandmother, she had prayed for my protection my whole life

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and God was doing that and he was protecting me.

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And you also were in a relationship with a young man heading toward marriage.

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That was a hard decision to make as well.

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Tell us about that.

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We dated five years and we were engaged the last one or two.

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I had never heard the scripture of not being unequally yoked with an unbeliever.

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And so I just thought when we got married, he'd come to church with me, but he would

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not go to church with me before that, maybe once.

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I can maybe remember him and my mother came once with me to church, but that was it.

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And that relationship I talk about in a little bit and how it came to an end when I'm giving

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the rest of my testimony.

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We were headed to marriage, but God intervened again.

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That whole time period, it was kind of during the Jesus movement, this Jesus revolution

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movie that is out now.

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It was that same timeframe.

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And during that time, there was a really great hunger for the Lord in our nation.

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And youth in your church were no exception.

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So you would take them to hear various evangelists and Christian speakers that came to town and

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you ended up actually marrying one of those speakers.

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And how did that happen?

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Now this is a story, Jodi.

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Well, I'm at church all the time, like I said, and by now I'm in my early twenties, maybe

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at this time, maybe I'm 23, 24.

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And I was getting all my teenage girls, I had them in my class, my Sunday school class,

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and I had some of them I'm in contact with today.

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But I have Debbie and Patty and Rhonda that we still are friends and I visit and see them.

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So it was a lasting thing with the Lord that we built.

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So I'm at a youth revival with my girls.

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And this denomination that I was a part of had a big youth revival, even though we were

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a small church.

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Youth revival at the end of the school year to keep you charged up for the Lord until

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the fall because there wasn't any curriculum that you went by.

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And so I went the first night with my girls and this man that's leading, he's a young

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man and he starts out singing choruses and clapping hands.

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And in my denomination, you did not clap your hands and you didn't sing it unless it was

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in the hymnal.

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And so I was a little put off by that, but I said, I can handle it.

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So then the man who came to speak all week said, I have a young man with me that has

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a fabulous testimony.

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He's a recent friend of mine and for this first night, he's going to be here to share

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this testimony.

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He introduced Bill Davis.

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So Bill Davis gets up and he shares his testimony, which was mortifying to me, me that has never

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had a cigarette unlit in my mouth.

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And here this man gets up and said he robbed banks, that he was a $100 a day heroin addict,

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that he was in prison and jail four and a half years.

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I was, I thought, my goodness, he is disgusting.

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And so after he finished sharing, he was standing at the front.

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And so I decided, I've got all these girls.

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I look like I have some type of leadership.

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I better go and say something to him.

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So I went up and shook his hand and I said, I was impressed with your testimony.

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And he said, I didn't give my testimony to impress anyone, but to lead them closer to

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Jesus.

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I thought, oh my goodness, he is disgusting.

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And so I decided I would not go back the rest of the week if this is the kind of meeting

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we're going to have.

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So I went home, tried to go to sleep.

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I could not sleep.

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And I used to go to sleep really easily.

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So I tried, you know, all the typical counting sheep, doing everything.

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And all of a sudden I said, I know what I'll do.

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I'll read my Bible.

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I always fall asleep when I read my Bible.

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So I just did one of those where you just open it up and it opened up to the second

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chapter of Acts.

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And I said, why did I open up to that?

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I just taught a few months ago this to my Sunday school class.

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All of this is not for today, but I could not go to sleep.

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And I said, okay, Lord, if you'll let me go to sleep, I'll go back tomorrow night.

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I'll go the rest of the week to the revival.

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Close my eyes and went right back to sleep.

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But I had said, please give me a piece.

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So I walk in with my girls the next night and I had a piece about it.

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And it was good because Bill Davis was not there.

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So we had great services.

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And I noticed that Jim and Donnake, who were the music and youth leaders, were by the end

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of the week, they were really are the middle of the week.

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They were just full of joy.

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They're always great, but they just seemed more joyful.

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And I said, what in the world happened to y'all?

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And they said, well, we were Monty prayed for us and we were baptized in the Holy Spirit

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last night.

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Uh-oh, you're going to lose your job, which they did not too long after that.

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But I became I had this godly jealousy.

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I wanted that.

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I mean, I've always loved the Lord, but I wanted that joy that I did not have that extra

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joy to come along with it.

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And so I kept going to the meetings.

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And the last night of the revival, Monty had a friend named Kenny Graham, who lived over

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in Clearwater.

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I think he was 17 at the time, almost 18.

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And I think he was a senior.

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And so he came over to the meeting so he could see Monty.

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So I'm up at the front of the church.

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I did not know Kenny.

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I'd never seen him before in my life.

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And he walks up to the front of the church and he said to me, God sent me here tonight

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to tell you if you marry the man you're engaged to, you'll be unequally yoked and he will

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not bless your home.

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I have to tell you that was powerful.

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I did not know what a word of knowledge was, but I didn't need to know because the Spirit

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00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:05,440
of God lived within me and I knew that was truth.

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I immediately broke my engagement and that's a long story.

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I won't go through that, but it was just me and Jesus and I was just going to get everything

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00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:15,720
that I could.

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I heard that Monty was going to be two weeks later, was going to be speaking in Lakeland

292
00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:25,220
at Lakeland First Assembly and then Carpenter's Home.

293
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And I went and I was the first one up there when they asked if anybody wanted the baptism

294
00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:33,400
in the Holy Spirit and I received the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

295
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It was an awesome time in my life.

296
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I don't know if what I would have done if I had not had all of my friends and the people

297
00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:47,040
at that church because they all my life were there for me.

298
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They loved me.

299
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I don't know if they particularly like the new me because I was a little bit radicalized.

300
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But anyway, that is what I was then.

301
00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:04,080
So I'm at home and I'm reading the newspaper and I see that Bill Davis is going to be in

302
00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:07,320
town again giving his testimony.

303
00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:14,060
And I thought, wow, I did not know that he had been in Atlanta with Kenny Graham preaching

304
00:19:14,060 --> 00:19:16,880
in the streets of Atlanta on Peachtree Street.

305
00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:19,280
They saw miraculous things happen.

306
00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:25,320
So this was like Jody said, we're talking in the early 70s, late 60s and God was on

307
00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:26,320
the move.

308
00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:30,160
And while he's driving back to Tampa to speak that night at the church, I was going to go

309
00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:31,800
hear him.

310
00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:37,360
Kenny's driving and the Lord spoke to Bill's innermost being and said, I'm going to introduce

311
00:19:37,360 --> 00:19:38,920
you to your wife tonight.

312
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And Bill said, I rebuke you Satan in the name of Jesus.

313
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All this is going on quietly inside.

314
00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:50,320
And Kenny says about five or 10 minutes later, Bill, God just told me he's going to introduce

315
00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:52,120
you to your wife tonight.

316
00:19:52,120 --> 00:19:58,160
And he said, oh no, God is going to get me back for all those people I robbed, all those

317
00:19:58,160 --> 00:19:59,160
drugs I took.

318
00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:02,040
He's going to give me the meanest, ugliest woman on the face of the earth.

319
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Thank you, God.

320
00:20:03,540 --> 00:20:08,400
So he got to the meeting that night and he said he did not scan the audience to see who

321
00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:11,080
his bride was because it was really powerful.

322
00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:14,520
About 40 children, their young people gave their heart to the Lord.

323
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It was really powerful.

324
00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:20,400
And when he got off of the stage coming down, I was going to go up to him and see if he

325
00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:22,640
now, I heard it totally different.

326
00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:26,880
This time I heard it knowing that God doesn't just save you.

327
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He can deliver you and set you free.

328
00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:29,920
Yeah.

329
00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:32,900
So the reason you had thought he was gross is because you didn't really believe he could

330
00:20:32,900 --> 00:20:34,480
change that much, right?

331
00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:37,320
Did not have a clue that you could change like that.

332
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Did not know that.

333
00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:45,440
And he was coming down the aisle and I'm walking towards him to see if he remembered me.

334
00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:48,400
Which was miraculous in itself.

335
00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:52,800
As he's coming down the aisle, I see him do these funny arm movements and he told me later

336
00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:59,140
he was saying yes, because the Lord pointed me out and said, that is your wife.

337
00:20:59,140 --> 00:21:06,640
And so I talked with him and I wasn't very spiritual of the gifts.

338
00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:09,360
And so everyone says, well, what did God say to you?

339
00:21:09,360 --> 00:21:11,040
Well, I don't know.

340
00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:13,200
It was just in a daze.

341
00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:15,520
I'd just come out of a five year relationship.

342
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I was baptized in the Holy Spirit.

343
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I was just kind of numb.

344
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So I met him that night.

345
00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:28,320
He asked if I could come to a pancake house and have coffee with him.

346
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And so I said, yes, but I'm bringing all my girls.

347
00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:33,360
So I was scared to go meet him by myself.

348
00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:38,360
I called all their mothers and asked if they could go with me to the restaurant and then

349
00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:41,880
I'd bring them home and they trusted me and they said yes.

350
00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:46,800
And so we had an hour wait because he was going bar preaching with Monty.

351
00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:48,900
They were going to bars.

352
00:21:48,900 --> 00:21:54,160
He would stand up on the stage and give his story and he said, drunks come to the Lord

353
00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:55,160
easily.

354
00:21:55,160 --> 00:22:01,720
So while he's doing that, I'm at Jim and Donnick's house at the church parsonage and I wept and

355
00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:06,920
wept for the whole time and I had not a clue why.

356
00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:12,920
I asked the Lord many years later why I wept like that and he said, you were raised by

357
00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:14,520
a single mom.

358
00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:20,580
You were independent and you were going to be meeting a man that you need to have that

359
00:22:20,580 --> 00:22:23,360
independence broken away.

360
00:22:23,360 --> 00:22:29,080
And so God just broke a whole bunch of, you know, he didn't make me totally not independent,

361
00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:33,840
but he just had to take away some ideas and things that had been instilled in me.

362
00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:38,720
At the restaurant, he said, I'm going to be in Sarasota speaking tomorrow.

363
00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:39,720
Can you come down?

364
00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:41,280
I'm going to be speaking at another youth revival.

365
00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:46,420
And I said, yeah, I guess I'm geographically challenged.

366
00:22:46,420 --> 00:22:53,000
And so I, and back then they didn't have GPS and Google maps and you know, it was okay,

367
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,880
you go on this highway and then you take a left there and a right there and, and I made

368
00:22:56,880 --> 00:22:57,880
it.

369
00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:00,480
And after the meeting, it was really awesome.

370
00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:05,320
All these young people gave their heart to the Lord and we were at Nancy's fiance's

371
00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:11,720
house, Susan, and Bill is sitting on the floor and I'm up on the couch and he turned around

372
00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:13,480
to me and he said, will you marry me?

373
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And this is Saturday.

374
00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:18,120
I had met him the day before and I said, yes.

375
00:23:18,120 --> 00:23:23,600
So yeah, so you became the wife of a traveling evangelist, which I mean, that might seem

376
00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:30,720
glamorous and it might even seem, you know, holy and godly to some, but, but reality is

377
00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:31,720
is a bit different.

378
00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:33,640
What were those first years like?

379
00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:35,080
I mean, you barely knew each other.

380
00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:39,600
You're getting to know one another and, and, and your backgrounds were quite different.

381
00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:41,920
So what was that like?

382
00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:47,880
And you know, everybody asks me why, and I, and I can't really tell you except that God

383
00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:49,080
orchestrated my life.

384
00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:50,760
He knows our beginnings from the end.

385
00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:59,080
But we did not get married for four months, but we don't recommend this to anyone.

386
00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:03,560
You need to get to know each other and get to know who it is that you're going to be

387
00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:05,560
marrying and we didn't.

388
00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:07,520
And it led to a lot of problems.

389
00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:14,940
I don't know how I, we made it through that from June till November when we got married,

390
00:24:14,940 --> 00:24:17,620
he was out on the road ministering.

391
00:24:17,620 --> 00:24:20,280
So we only saw each other 17 days.

392
00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:23,720
How do you get to know somebody in 17 days?

393
00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:25,640
I think it's going to change.

394
00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:26,640
That's right.

395
00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:30,080
It was really difficult, but God was faithful.

396
00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:37,040
When we first got married, Bill on our honeymoon, something happened and he got really angry.

397
00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:45,980
And I had never seen that during our 17 days of courtship and he thought when God delivered

398
00:24:45,980 --> 00:24:51,300
him from everything else, he had delivered him from anger, but he had not.

399
00:24:51,300 --> 00:24:57,360
And so life was pretty, now Bill never ever has physically attacked me or hit me or anything

400
00:24:57,360 --> 00:25:01,080
like that, but he was just angry and would say mean things.

401
00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:07,880
And so I was working at a bank at this time and he was associate pastor.

402
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:13,000
This was before he started traveling ministering and he was associate pastor at a church.

403
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:17,540
And since I worked, I would leave the services right when they were over and he would stay

404
00:25:17,540 --> 00:25:21,400
sometimes an hour or two to minister to people.

405
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:27,160
And so I went home and one night I'm in, this is towards the end of the first year of our

406
00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:29,160
marriage probably.

407
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:32,840
And I was in bed sound asleep.

408
00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:37,960
He came home from church and he was angry.

409
00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:45,360
He woke me up out of a dead sleep, hollering at me and I was scared and I'm a really pretty

410
00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:50,480
together person, but when you're woken up out of a dead sleep, you just kind of react.

411
00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:59,800
And he was really angry and I said, Lord, would you please shut him up?

412
00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:01,680
Well God is faithful.

413
00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:07,320
Bill Davis fell over on our bed like a dead man.

414
00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:13,880
His legs were even stiff out in the air and his eyes were closed and I jumped up off that

415
00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:19,280
bed and I said, Oh Lord, I just told you to shut him up, not kill him.

416
00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:21,000
And I really thought he was dead.

417
00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:27,280
And then all of a sudden his eyes opened, but he could not open his mouth to speak one

418
00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:28,800
word.

419
00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:36,560
And I had a steno pad and a pencil on my dresser or pen and I held it up and he wrote, Darlene,

420
00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:37,560
I'm sorry.

421
00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:38,560
I'm sorry.

422
00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:41,120
I didn't mean to talk to you that way.

423
00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:48,240
And then he closed his eyes and his legs were still out sticking off the bed, up straight

424
00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:51,680
and I heard him say, Lord, is that you?

425
00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:57,700
So he went into a vision and I didn't know anything about this stuff.

426
00:26:57,700 --> 00:27:02,560
I was still petrified, but I was so thrilled he was shut up.

427
00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:08,920
And so I'm standing there and I hear him say, Lord, is that you?

428
00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:11,440
And then I hear him say, Oh, I'd love to hold your hand.

429
00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:16,420
And so Bill's hand went up in the air and it was clasped with fingers down like he was

430
00:27:16,420 --> 00:27:22,200
holding someone's hand and everywhere they walked his feet were moving like he was walking

431
00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:25,200
and the Lord showed him many things in heaven.

432
00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:28,000
He showed him and he showed him all he had for him.

433
00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:33,360
You know, all of us that are followers of Jesus, God has things for our futures, but

434
00:27:33,360 --> 00:27:39,440
it's our choice whether we choose to follow what he has for us.

435
00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:43,460
And so the Lord showed him what he had for him and showed him lots of things.

436
00:27:43,460 --> 00:27:49,200
And at the end, I hear Bill saying, No, Lord, I can't see who that is.

437
00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:51,600
Can you bring them closer?

438
00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:57,080
And then he says, I still can't tell, but she's beautiful and she's dressed in white.

439
00:27:57,080 --> 00:27:58,880
Can you bring her closer?

440
00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:04,120
So all of a sudden, Bill began to weep and he said, Oh, Lord, that's Darlene and she's

441
00:28:04,120 --> 00:28:05,960
beautiful.

442
00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:07,280
And the Lord spoke to him now.

443
00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:10,840
Bill had to tell me what the Lord said because I could not hear.

444
00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:13,360
They had a closed conversation.

445
00:28:13,360 --> 00:28:18,620
So he told me what was going on when he came out of this vision.

446
00:28:18,620 --> 00:28:23,760
The Lord said, This is the wife that I've given you and you have mistreated her and

447
00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:28,040
I don't desire that in your life any longer.

448
00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:35,760
And Bill began to weep and cry and the Lord dropped his hand and he sat up and he said,

449
00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:38,320
Lord, my heart is so hard.

450
00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:40,680
Will you please help me?

451
00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:46,120
And you know, any of us, when we cry out help to the Lord, he answers that because we are

452
00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:50,600
saying to him, I can't do anything without you.

453
00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:54,560
And that's what he's waiting for, to come alongside and help us.

454
00:28:54,560 --> 00:29:03,880
And so I saw Bill put his arms out straight and he said that the Lord had a sword on fire

455
00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:06,520
and he came and pierced his heart.

456
00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:13,320
And Bill let out a loud holler, scream, and the Lord spoke to him and said, Tonight is

457
00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:20,120
the beginning and one day you will be able to love Darlene the way I want you to love

458
00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:21,120
her.

459
00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:24,280
Well, he came out of the vision.

460
00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:26,400
He told me everything and I thought, wow.

461
00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:30,280
And that action had some consequences for your family and for your life.

462
00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:35,840
Yeah, yeah, you know, we're in the, what is it, the drive through lane of we want everything

463
00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:39,520
when you know, somebody in front of you is ordering too much, you think, Oh, what are

464
00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:41,320
they doing, ordering everything in the store?

465
00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:44,560
And, and I mean, we, everybody wants everything right now.

466
00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:46,720
And so I thought I had it right now.

467
00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:53,320
Well, the next day he went back to being an angry man and I never for nine more years,

468
00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:55,680
I never told him he was an angry man.

469
00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:57,360
I didn't get in a fight about it.

470
00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:02,560
I just clammed up and took it all within and resented him.

471
00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:10,360
I was angry by then he is pastoring a church before we left that church though.

472
00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:12,920
I was pregnant with our firstborn.

473
00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:17,280
We were in a church, I guess you would call it hyper faith.

474
00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:20,680
They're Christians, but it was cultish and you know, it's heresy.

475
00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:22,640
Heresy is truth extended.

476
00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:24,960
You just take something and you run with it.

477
00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:29,320
And my, I was pregnant and the church would not let me go to the hospital.

478
00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:31,240
They would not let Bill take me.

479
00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:33,360
They kept anointing me with oil.

480
00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:36,700
Finally my mother called to see how I was doing.

481
00:30:36,700 --> 00:30:40,840
And I had this amazing, amazing mother I blessed.

482
00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:44,160
And she came over.

483
00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:45,160
She was at the mall.

484
00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:49,400
She called on a payphone, no cell phones back then and said, Darlene, I can't get you off

485
00:30:49,400 --> 00:30:50,400
my mind.

486
00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:51,480
How are you?

487
00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:56,160
So I told her about what pain I was in and she said, why hasn't Bill taking you to the

488
00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:57,160
hospital?

489
00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:00,600
I said, well, they just keep praying for me and they believe if God doesn't heal me, it's

490
00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:03,480
just our time to go.

491
00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:07,620
And my mother was, she should have taken about 30 or 40 minutes to get there.

492
00:31:07,620 --> 00:31:10,240
She was there in about 15 to 20.

493
00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:12,100
She got me in the car.

494
00:31:12,100 --> 00:31:14,440
She took me into the hospital.

495
00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:15,880
The doctors came in.

496
00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:22,320
Within 30 minutes, my appendix would have ruptured if I had not gone in.

497
00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:27,160
Another time, my grandmother's prayers that God has been faithful to me.

498
00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:28,160
Yeah.

499
00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:33,540
You got actually got kicked out of your parsonage while you were in the hospital and pregnant.

500
00:31:33,540 --> 00:31:34,540
It was really bad.

501
00:31:34,540 --> 00:31:36,020
We were really shunned.

502
00:31:36,020 --> 00:31:37,780
We lived in the pastorium.

503
00:31:37,780 --> 00:31:43,040
It was a Christmas Eve service and the pastor disfellowshipped us right there and said,

504
00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:45,560
Bill disobeyed God and took me to the hospital.

505
00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:49,480
I had to stay there eight days because they had to put so much anesthetic because I was

506
00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:53,840
four and a half months pregnant and back then they didn't have all the high tech stuff to

507
00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:55,840
know exactly where the baby was at.

508
00:31:55,840 --> 00:32:00,460
Afterwards, I'm in the hospital and the day afterwards and they haven't even found Shelly's

509
00:32:00,460 --> 00:32:03,040
heartbeat yet and I'm a mess.

510
00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:07,920
And I'd get calls from people in the church saying, have you asked God what horrible thing

511
00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:10,760
you did for him to do this to you?

512
00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:15,160
I lost all my faith for a long time because of words that were spoken.

513
00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:21,880
It was a very painful time, but God provided and we had an apartment and so eight days

514
00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:24,680
later Bill had us in an apartment.

515
00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:25,680
Friends helped.

516
00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:30,000
It was a difficult time, but another one of those times that God is faithful.

517
00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:31,400
He got us through it.

518
00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:36,480
You talk about being hurt and you lost your faith for a while and how did you get through

519
00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:37,480
that though, Darlene?

520
00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:38,480
Really?

521
00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:44,280
I mean, your husband was a minister and you were treated this poorly by supposed believers.

522
00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:47,620
I mean, they did love the Lord, I guess.

523
00:32:47,620 --> 00:32:52,440
They were just very religious, not loving.

524
00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:53,600
Misguided.

525
00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:55,800
And how did God bring you through that?

526
00:32:55,800 --> 00:33:00,680
Jodi, he was just so kind to us.

527
00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:08,440
I mean, we started a little church with the people that left and financially, I don't

528
00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:14,040
know how we got through it, but we made it through and God just healed us along the way.

529
00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:21,040
We left there and we got into another misguided church and it was called Shepherding.

530
00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:24,920
If anyone has been in shepherding, you know that sometimes it might sound easy.

531
00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:28,560
You just let your overseers make all your decisions, whether you can afford to buy a

532
00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:30,800
washing machine or go on a vacation.

533
00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:32,800
I mean, it was crazy.

534
00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:42,160
And so when we finally got ready and we left that church and moved back to Tampa because

535
00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:44,360
we were ostracized from there too.

536
00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:48,640
We were, because Bill would not go along with what they were teaching anymore.

537
00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:53,980
So Bill was so hurt and devastated that we didn't go to church for nine months.

538
00:33:53,980 --> 00:34:02,320
I had gone to church my whole life and I had two little girls and I had just had Seth and

539
00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:07,040
I was sending my children to Sunday school with the neighbors.

540
00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:10,300
One day I'm praying and I'm saying, Lord, I just really am having a hard time not going

541
00:34:10,300 --> 00:34:12,560
to church and fellowshipping.

542
00:34:12,560 --> 00:34:15,000
And I said, what do I need to do?

543
00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:20,400
And he said, you need to repent because no one held a gun to your head and caused you

544
00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:25,160
to change your allegiance from me to man.

545
00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:32,160
Oh, I spoke to the Lord and repented and asked him to forgive me.

546
00:34:32,160 --> 00:34:35,440
And then I went to Bill and he received that from me.

547
00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:38,840
He repented and we were back in church right away.

548
00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:40,520
We just, we were healed.

549
00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:44,920
You have developed godly relationships over the years, deep friendships with godly people.

550
00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:51,960
And these two instances of yours were deviations of that.

551
00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:59,040
But you know, a lot of people have experiences similar to yours, maybe not quite to the extent,

552
00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:05,360
but they're hurt and wounded by people in the church or by the church itself.

553
00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:09,100
And it can, like it shook your faith, it can shake people's faith and wound them so much

554
00:35:09,100 --> 00:35:11,440
that they actually walk away from the Lord altogether.

555
00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:16,760
What would you, what do you say to those, the people who've been wounded and hurt by

556
00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:17,760
the church, Darlene?

557
00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:21,480
I mean, you obviously were and, but you didn't turn your back on God.

558
00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:22,480
No.

559
00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:29,080
And you know, I didn't mention that through a lot of those hard times, your mother was

560
00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:34,520
a dear friend of mine and I could call her and not say a word and just say, Mary, will

561
00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:36,020
you pray?

562
00:35:36,020 --> 00:35:39,760
And so I know that your mom prayed me through a lot of this.

563
00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:43,720
And I had other friends that were praying, but she was my confident.

564
00:35:43,720 --> 00:35:48,480
It's hard to find a confident these days, but Mary was my confident.

565
00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:57,240
I would say to you that if you're looking to man, other people, you're going to be hurt.

566
00:35:57,240 --> 00:36:03,240
Jesus is the only one, the only way that you can make it through this life.

567
00:36:03,240 --> 00:36:10,360
I mean, because when people hurt you, the enemy sets us up.

568
00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:15,240
So if you're out there and you've been set up like in marriage, you know, things aren't

569
00:36:15,240 --> 00:36:17,960
working out like you wanted them to.

570
00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:20,420
You have unfulfilled expectations.

571
00:36:20,420 --> 00:36:27,780
We go into all of the situations in our lives with expectations and when they are unfulfilled,

572
00:36:27,780 --> 00:36:30,640
we can make some crazy mistakes.

573
00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:36,920
You know, I know so many friends and they said, well, you know, I don't like the way

574
00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:37,920
it's going.

575
00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:38,920
I'm just going to leave them.

576
00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:41,880
This isn't what I bought into.

577
00:36:41,880 --> 00:36:49,560
We know I didn't buy into what I went through, but God, he, you know, that Corinthians scripture,

578
00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:58,260
this is I love in 2 Corinthians 1, 3 through 7 and Paul talks about all the hard times

579
00:36:58,260 --> 00:37:04,220
that he went through and all of those things that he went through.

580
00:37:04,220 --> 00:37:05,540
He turned it around.

581
00:37:05,540 --> 00:37:11,540
He said for it to be an encouragement that he could be whatever he needed to be to anybody

582
00:37:11,540 --> 00:37:14,000
else going through that same situation.

583
00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:17,220
And that's where I like to put myself in that.

584
00:37:17,220 --> 00:37:24,320
And I think of a scripture that you had on the top of your website and that when I went

585
00:37:24,320 --> 00:37:30,920
on, I loved it, Proverbs 1425, a true witness rescues lives.

586
00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:32,200
That's what I want to do.

587
00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:38,960
I want to rescue people that are hurting and people that, you know, they're about to give

588
00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:39,960
up.

589
00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:42,740
I want to be there for them and tell them you're going to make it.

590
00:37:42,740 --> 00:37:48,940
So Darlene, all this time, you know, this is still early in your marriage and Bill was

591
00:37:48,940 --> 00:37:51,460
still an angry man.

592
00:37:51,460 --> 00:37:56,280
You still were encountering that anger and it was pretty miserable.

593
00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:58,360
So how did you get through that?

594
00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:01,060
And you definitely saw God working in your lives.

595
00:38:01,060 --> 00:38:05,480
But of course, it wasn't necessarily when you meant kind of mentioned when you wanted

596
00:38:05,480 --> 00:38:08,320
it to be over.

597
00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:11,000
But finally, it was over.

598
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:13,740
Tell that story because it's pretty remarkable.

599
00:38:13,740 --> 00:38:18,040
I went to a Bible study with all my dear friends.

600
00:38:18,040 --> 00:38:23,520
Now we all went to and Kent wrote amazing Bible study for years.

601
00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:29,760
And I went to the leaders meeting and then we had our groups later on in the week.

602
00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:33,720
I always got great answers because I love studying the word.

603
00:38:33,720 --> 00:38:39,640
But the unforgiveness and the hate that I had for my husband overtook me and I could

604
00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:45,320
not even concentrate when I was doing my Bible study and I'd get to the class and here everybody

605
00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:50,880
would have these great answers and I'd say, Oh my Lord, God, why aren't you speaking to

606
00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:51,880
me anymore?

607
00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:53,160
What do I need to do?

608
00:38:53,160 --> 00:38:55,600
And he would say, Forgive Bill.

609
00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:58,040
I say, Oh no, I can't do that.

610
00:38:58,040 --> 00:39:00,720
He has hurt me too much.

611
00:39:00,720 --> 00:39:06,120
Go a few more months and go back to him again, hoping that he had forgot what he told me

612
00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:07,120
the first time.

613
00:39:07,120 --> 00:39:11,360
Lord, what do I need to do to hear from you again?

614
00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:13,260
And he said, Forgive Bill.

615
00:39:13,260 --> 00:39:20,220
And it took the third time for him to do that for me and to get through to me.

616
00:39:20,220 --> 00:39:24,120
So I said, Okay, God, I'm honest with you because you know my heart anyway.

617
00:39:24,120 --> 00:39:34,440
I don't feel like doing this, but I'm a lover of your word and your word says we must forgive.

618
00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:39,760
We don't have an option because the enemy wants you in unforgiveness because man, if

619
00:39:39,760 --> 00:39:44,540
you're in unforgiveness with one person, you'll do the next one, it's a disease.

620
00:39:44,540 --> 00:39:48,240
And so I said, Okay, God, I'm going to forgive him.

621
00:39:48,240 --> 00:39:53,320
I'm just going to say it, but you know my heart and I'm trusting you with my heart.

622
00:39:53,320 --> 00:39:57,760
And so I asked the Lord to forgive me for an unforgiving spirit.

623
00:39:57,760 --> 00:40:04,380
And then I listed, you know, the love chapter, I think it's verse five, it says love does

624
00:40:04,380 --> 00:40:06,840
not take into account a wrong suffered.

625
00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:13,840
Well, I had an account book and his name was there and all the big times that I was holding

626
00:40:13,840 --> 00:40:19,980
against him of things he had said and done to me and to embarrass me at family reunions

627
00:40:19,980 --> 00:40:21,680
or whatever.

628
00:40:21,680 --> 00:40:28,680
And I said, Okay, Lord, and I listed all the ones that came to my mind very readily.

629
00:40:28,680 --> 00:40:33,200
And then I said, Lord, if there's anything else, I just choose to forgive him of those

630
00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:35,600
also.

631
00:40:35,600 --> 00:40:41,400
And when I finished, I did not feel any different.

632
00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:45,520
I didn't feel like now Oh, boy, I've forgiven him.

633
00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:46,520
I'm restored.

634
00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:47,760
Everything's great.

635
00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:50,160
That's not the way it happened.

636
00:40:50,160 --> 00:40:55,180
But I wasn't looking to that I was trusting his word.

637
00:40:55,180 --> 00:40:56,900
His word is true.

638
00:40:56,900 --> 00:41:02,680
And I know if I obey it, he will meet me in magnificent ways.

639
00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:09,960
And so I started if he said anything, something that would hurt me immediately inside, I'd

640
00:41:09,960 --> 00:41:13,200
say I forgive him, I choose to forgive him.

641
00:41:13,200 --> 00:41:19,120
And I, in all the years of the 10 years of our marriage up until then, I was so hurt,

642
00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:23,960
I never, ever put my arm around him.

643
00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:26,080
Unless people are around to impress.

644
00:41:26,080 --> 00:41:30,760
I never said and I love you unless he said I love you first.

645
00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:33,480
And I would just say I love you too.

646
00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:38,560
And all of a sudden, I'd find my arm around him or I'd find myself saying I love you,

647
00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:40,320
Bill Davis.

648
00:41:40,320 --> 00:41:48,360
And it just shocked me because God he's he is so honorable.

649
00:41:48,360 --> 00:41:53,080
He always honors you if you will trust and do what he says.

650
00:41:53,080 --> 00:41:58,960
And because of that, Bill was being loved when he didn't deserve to be loved.

651
00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:01,320
He was being forgiven when he didn't deserve it.

652
00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:02,960
He didn't earn it.

653
00:42:02,960 --> 00:42:05,600
And he just started changing.

654
00:42:05,600 --> 00:42:10,960
He was turning into the man that I that I thought I was marrying, but it took 10 years

655
00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:12,580
to get there.

656
00:42:12,580 --> 00:42:16,440
And so by this time, he's out traveling.

657
00:42:16,440 --> 00:42:18,880
And he'd be gone six to 12 weeks at a time.

658
00:42:18,880 --> 00:42:24,100
And I'd be home with our four children, Shelly and Allison and Seth and Kent.

659
00:42:24,100 --> 00:42:29,500
And I would be there taking them to their ball games or practices, you know, everything.

660
00:42:29,500 --> 00:42:31,560
He would send me checks in the mail.

661
00:42:31,560 --> 00:42:36,080
I remember people would say, oh, I'm so sorry, Darlene.

662
00:42:36,080 --> 00:42:38,040
I'll pray for you with him gone so long.

663
00:42:38,040 --> 00:42:41,340
And inside I was saying, yes, he's gone for six to 12 weeks.

664
00:42:41,340 --> 00:42:42,340
You know what I mean?

665
00:42:42,340 --> 00:42:43,580
That was terrible.

666
00:42:43,580 --> 00:42:47,360
So God really had to work on me with the forgiveness.

667
00:42:47,360 --> 00:42:53,920
So Bill and I, after I'd gone through what I did that night, forgiving Bill and you know,

668
00:42:53,920 --> 00:43:00,140
Philippians 413 says that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

669
00:43:00,140 --> 00:43:05,320
So that night when he called me to forgive Bill, I stood up and I actually took a step

670
00:43:05,320 --> 00:43:06,320
over.

671
00:43:06,320 --> 00:43:11,640
I had to physically say I was stepping into Christ Jesus and leaving Darlene over here.

672
00:43:11,640 --> 00:43:13,440
And that's how I forgave him.

673
00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:16,100
Because I knew through him, I could do anything.

674
00:43:16,100 --> 00:43:21,760
So he said, OK, Darlene, all these churches I'm speaking at in the Midwest, all these

675
00:43:21,760 --> 00:43:25,240
ones in Minnesota, they want to have a women's conference and you're going to speak.

676
00:43:25,240 --> 00:43:27,120
And I thought, how can I speak?

677
00:43:27,120 --> 00:43:29,280
I hate my husband.

678
00:43:29,280 --> 00:43:36,080
So anyway, even though God was working, he hadn't worked enough that I was wanting to

679
00:43:36,080 --> 00:43:37,080
do that.

680
00:43:37,080 --> 00:43:43,800
So anyway, I said, OK, we get up there to Minnesota and I'm supposed to speak the next

681
00:43:43,800 --> 00:43:45,120
morning.

682
00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:52,360
We are in a bedroom with two, maybe double beds, a twin bed for the girls.

683
00:43:52,360 --> 00:43:55,880
And we carried a porter crib with us.

684
00:43:55,880 --> 00:43:58,960
And I thought, how am I going to study with all of these kids?

685
00:43:58,960 --> 00:44:03,920
And all of a sudden there's a knock on the door and it is a Bob and Linda toner.

686
00:44:03,920 --> 00:44:06,680
I did not know them, but Bill did.

687
00:44:06,680 --> 00:44:10,080
And they said, we came to take your four children so you could study.

688
00:44:10,080 --> 00:44:14,560
I just kind of pushed them out the door with a complete stranger.

689
00:44:14,560 --> 00:44:17,960
They became very, very dear friends of ours.

690
00:44:17,960 --> 00:44:20,120
And Bill is getting revelation.

691
00:44:20,120 --> 00:44:21,760
He's on one bed, I'm on the other.

692
00:44:21,760 --> 00:44:24,240
I'm looking through and I'm trying to work up a message.

693
00:44:24,240 --> 00:44:25,240
And it was horrible.

694
00:44:25,240 --> 00:44:30,240
I mean, if God doesn't speak something to you, making up something is really the pits.

695
00:44:30,240 --> 00:44:32,720
So Bill kept saying, what's he saying to you?

696
00:44:32,720 --> 00:44:33,960
He's really speaking to me.

697
00:44:33,960 --> 00:44:35,580
And I kept saying nothing.

698
00:44:35,580 --> 00:44:38,240
So finally, he said, come here a minute.

699
00:44:38,240 --> 00:44:44,480
So we stood up and he said, Darlene, why don't you share with all those ladies what has been

700
00:44:44,480 --> 00:44:48,360
like living with an angry man?

701
00:44:48,360 --> 00:44:51,080
I have never been so shocked in my life.

702
00:44:51,080 --> 00:44:57,080
I said, Bill, you would let me get up there and share what we've gone through?

703
00:44:57,080 --> 00:44:58,820
He said, yes.

704
00:44:58,820 --> 00:45:04,180
He said, there's probably a lot of other women that live with angry men.

705
00:45:04,180 --> 00:45:08,120
And so we held each other and cried for so long.

706
00:45:08,120 --> 00:45:10,200
I don't even, I can't tell you how long it was.

707
00:45:10,200 --> 00:45:18,000
All I know is we felt this warmth and this like a holy bomb just coming over us and healing

708
00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:19,000
us.

709
00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:28,280
And so I got up the next day and I cried through my testimony and God met me in a great way.

710
00:45:28,280 --> 00:45:32,880
And I started sharing it at marriage seminars.

711
00:45:32,880 --> 00:45:38,440
And when we do them, we started doing them because God redeemed our marriage.

712
00:45:38,440 --> 00:45:44,120
Yeah, and you mentioned that that transparency and that healing, it opened new doors for

713
00:45:44,120 --> 00:45:46,560
a marriage ministry for both of you.

714
00:45:46,560 --> 00:45:49,660
You learned a lot in those 10 years of marriage.

715
00:45:49,660 --> 00:45:54,880
And even since then, what are some of those principles that you lived and that you share

716
00:45:54,880 --> 00:45:58,080
about marriage that have that have helped others?

717
00:45:58,080 --> 00:46:04,560
Maybe down the road, six months, I share this and people will come up to me women and say,

718
00:46:04,560 --> 00:46:11,040
with you sharing this all the time, why don't you start unforgiveness and hating him all

719
00:46:11,040 --> 00:46:12,040
over again?

720
00:46:12,040 --> 00:46:14,120
And I said, you know, that's a great question.

721
00:46:14,120 --> 00:46:15,880
I need to ask God.

722
00:46:15,880 --> 00:46:21,600
So I asked God and he told me, he said, you remember that night in the hotel room when

723
00:46:21,600 --> 00:46:23,160
you felt that warmth all over you?

724
00:46:23,160 --> 00:46:24,720
And I said, I will never forget that.

725
00:46:24,720 --> 00:46:29,280
I've never experienced anything like it before or after.

726
00:46:29,280 --> 00:46:36,900
And he said, I poured a holy anointing oil all over you both.

727
00:46:36,900 --> 00:46:43,760
And where there were wounds and scars, I put new flesh.

728
00:46:43,760 --> 00:46:48,280
And I think the only scars we're allowed to walk around with are like Jesus, you know,

729
00:46:48,280 --> 00:46:52,440
the ones that from Jesus, you know, like he had scars and you remember things, but he

730
00:46:52,440 --> 00:46:57,600
did not want me thinking of all those terrible times.

731
00:46:57,600 --> 00:47:03,480
He wanted me to know I had forgiven and that he gave us a new marriage.

732
00:47:03,480 --> 00:47:05,400
And it's amazing what he did.

733
00:47:05,400 --> 00:47:08,840
I know I've talked about it, but I can never talk about it too much.

734
00:47:08,840 --> 00:47:12,000
But forgiveness is the key.

735
00:47:12,000 --> 00:47:18,920
And Bill and I say, forgiveness is a gift we give each other every day because, you

736
00:47:18,920 --> 00:47:23,640
know, we're going to say something unintentionally or maybe intentionally and we're going to

737
00:47:23,640 --> 00:47:25,360
hurt each other.

738
00:47:25,360 --> 00:47:34,360
And we need to be a recipient of God's love instead of getting all upset and going back

739
00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:36,120
into unforgiveness.

740
00:47:36,120 --> 00:47:41,000
We just have to, you have to be on top of it because in a marriage there's many opportunities.

741
00:47:41,000 --> 00:47:46,560
I mean, I had mentioned it before, but unfulfilled expectations.

742
00:47:46,560 --> 00:47:52,000
I mean, all of you out there that are listening and, you know, your husband's not all he's

743
00:47:52,000 --> 00:47:53,320
said he would be.

744
00:47:53,320 --> 00:47:57,720
And all you just need to continue praying for him.

745
00:47:57,720 --> 00:48:01,380
Never give up praying because God's faithful.

746
00:48:01,380 --> 00:48:02,520
He is faithful.

747
00:48:02,520 --> 00:48:05,480
And words of encouragement.

748
00:48:05,480 --> 00:48:11,520
Bill is a person who encourages, but he also needs encouragement.

749
00:48:11,520 --> 00:48:15,740
He's just amazing at helping me.

750
00:48:15,740 --> 00:48:20,880
And he always, if I'm down on myself, he is an encourager.

751
00:48:20,880 --> 00:48:25,520
He just kind of turns it all around and makes it for the good.

752
00:48:25,520 --> 00:48:32,240
And you know, with prayer, God really ministered to me on that.

753
00:48:32,240 --> 00:48:37,640
One day after the big Bible study that with Joanne Kent, I'm walking to the parking lot

754
00:48:37,640 --> 00:48:43,920
and one of the ladies in the Bible study stopped me and she said, can I talk to you?

755
00:48:43,920 --> 00:48:44,920
I need some prayer.

756
00:48:44,920 --> 00:48:45,920
And I said, sure.

757
00:48:45,920 --> 00:48:50,800
So she shared some really horrific things.

758
00:48:50,800 --> 00:48:53,740
She needed prayer badly.

759
00:48:53,740 --> 00:48:55,600
She needed God to move in on her.

760
00:48:55,600 --> 00:49:01,100
And I said to her, I'm sorry, all I can do is pray for you.

761
00:49:01,100 --> 00:49:02,880
And I prayed for her.

762
00:49:02,880 --> 00:49:04,600
I'm walking one way to my car.

763
00:49:04,600 --> 00:49:06,720
She's walking the other way.

764
00:49:06,720 --> 00:49:11,000
And all of a sudden, the Lord pulled the slack right out of me.

765
00:49:11,000 --> 00:49:16,440
I don't know if you know what that means, but he stopped me dead in my tracks.

766
00:49:16,440 --> 00:49:18,760
And he said, what do you mean?

767
00:49:18,760 --> 00:49:22,340
All you can do is pray for that lady.

768
00:49:22,340 --> 00:49:26,840
I knew he was not waiting for a response from me.

769
00:49:26,840 --> 00:49:33,280
And he said, when you pray, you are talking to the creator of the universe.

770
00:49:33,280 --> 00:49:41,120
And I am the only one that has an answer for that lady.

771
00:49:41,120 --> 00:49:48,640
That absolutely changed my entire thinking on prayer.

772
00:49:48,640 --> 00:49:50,800
Prayer is powerful.

773
00:49:50,800 --> 00:49:56,760
And so if I say, and I'm praying with you, you can know I'm believing God to move on

774
00:49:56,760 --> 00:49:57,760
it.

775
00:49:57,760 --> 00:49:58,760
I don't know how long it's going to take.

776
00:49:58,760 --> 00:49:59,760
It could be quick.

777
00:49:59,760 --> 00:50:02,040
Maybe it's 10 years like me.

778
00:50:02,040 --> 00:50:03,980
But I did not give up praying.

779
00:50:03,980 --> 00:50:07,560
And I know I had friends praying for me.

780
00:50:07,560 --> 00:50:13,440
And God just came through and just brought us into victory and allows us to share with

781
00:50:13,440 --> 00:50:16,040
others to bring encouragement to them.

782
00:50:16,040 --> 00:50:20,840
And you mentioned to me the other day that people come up to you and say, Darlene, don't

783
00:50:20,840 --> 00:50:25,160
you ever get tired of Bill saying, I love you and how beautiful you are?

784
00:50:25,160 --> 00:50:29,320
What a total change from your early marriage, right?

785
00:50:29,320 --> 00:50:31,840
Yeah, exactly.

786
00:50:31,840 --> 00:50:33,080
Exactly.

787
00:50:33,080 --> 00:50:37,760
I almost get embarrassed if we're around people that I know.

788
00:50:37,760 --> 00:50:41,760
You know, Midwesterners are not real verbal that way.

789
00:50:41,760 --> 00:50:47,400
And I don't mean that in any bad sense because some of our dearest friends are Midwesterners.

790
00:50:47,400 --> 00:50:54,240
But I'll hit him and I'll say, Bill, don't do that in front of this couple.

791
00:50:54,240 --> 00:50:55,880
You make her feel bad.

792
00:50:55,880 --> 00:51:01,440
He said, well, I want to make him feel bad that he should be doing it.

793
00:51:01,440 --> 00:51:08,800
But he is he is an encourager and he loves to bless me and take care of me.

794
00:51:08,800 --> 00:51:09,800
He's amazing.

795
00:51:09,800 --> 00:51:11,800
Going to switch gears just a little bit.

796
00:51:11,800 --> 00:51:18,760
Another aspect of being in ministry all these years has been living by faith.

797
00:51:18,760 --> 00:51:21,640
And you know, you have four kids.

798
00:51:21,640 --> 00:51:25,800
And during the school year, Bill was gone frequently on ministry tips.

799
00:51:25,800 --> 00:51:28,280
In the summer, you went along with him.

800
00:51:28,280 --> 00:51:29,600
But there's no guaranteed salary.

801
00:51:29,600 --> 00:51:32,560
I mean, when you're in ministry, you weren't on staff at a church.

802
00:51:32,560 --> 00:51:35,400
You didn't, you know, work for a multimillion dollar ministry.

803
00:51:35,400 --> 00:51:37,560
It was really living by faith.

804
00:51:37,560 --> 00:51:41,600
Once again, it can seem holy and glamorous.

805
00:51:41,600 --> 00:51:48,360
But you know, when you're when you're hanging on to God to pay your bills, you come to a

806
00:51:48,360 --> 00:51:52,760
deep level of intimacy with him.

807
00:51:52,760 --> 00:51:53,760
How did you do that?

808
00:51:53,760 --> 00:51:56,880
Can you how did God provide share a story or two?

809
00:51:56,880 --> 00:51:57,880
Definitely.

810
00:51:57,880 --> 00:52:01,960
I can remember back in the days that Bill would be gone.

811
00:52:01,960 --> 00:52:07,640
And I know after church on Sunday, he would be sending me a check, but I needed groceries.

812
00:52:07,640 --> 00:52:10,440
So I did something which I found out later was illegal.

813
00:52:10,440 --> 00:52:11,440
It was called kiting.

814
00:52:11,440 --> 00:52:18,760
But I would go to the grocery store and buy my checks on Friday, knowing back then they

815
00:52:18,760 --> 00:52:24,440
didn't get to your bank right away so I could get enough food for the kids until Bill's

816
00:52:24,440 --> 00:52:27,520
check came to me in the mail.

817
00:52:27,520 --> 00:52:36,280
And when I think about those days and how he always he always provided and unexpected

818
00:52:36,280 --> 00:52:45,560
places and we have some very faithful supporters that send us money and support our ministry.

819
00:52:45,560 --> 00:52:51,840
And we're grateful they are they've been doing some of them for years and we are so grateful.

820
00:52:51,840 --> 00:52:57,640
And I have a couple stories to encourage anyone that maybe if you're in ministry and right

821
00:52:57,640 --> 00:53:04,720
now it's a little tight, just stick in there and do what God's calling you to do and know

822
00:53:04,720 --> 00:53:07,120
that he is going to meet you.

823
00:53:07,120 --> 00:53:14,280
Well, about six years ago, six and a half years ago, we got a call.

824
00:53:14,280 --> 00:53:16,880
There's a friend that we have him and his wife.

825
00:53:16,880 --> 00:53:25,600
He's a business owner and he lives in the Midwest and he wanted to buy us a home to

826
00:53:25,600 --> 00:53:27,280
live in.

827
00:53:27,280 --> 00:53:31,680
And of course, when he said that we you know, people promises things and then their deal

828
00:53:31,680 --> 00:53:33,760
doesn't come through and we're never upset.

829
00:53:33,760 --> 00:53:37,620
I mean, we know they're hard if they had it, they would want to bless us.

830
00:53:37,620 --> 00:53:42,600
And so he calls a couple weeks later, month later, he says, Bill, you haven't been sending

831
00:53:42,600 --> 00:53:45,280
me any houses to look at.

832
00:53:45,280 --> 00:53:50,840
And Bill said, you meant that you really want to do that?

833
00:53:50,840 --> 00:53:53,200
And he said, yes.

834
00:53:53,200 --> 00:54:01,160
And so I asked Bill to give me the phone and I said, well, it's Bill and I were on a cruise

835
00:54:01,160 --> 00:54:05,480
that a doctor and his wife took us on last year.

836
00:54:05,480 --> 00:54:12,000
And one of the men from Asia, a pastor, I went to go meet him and I shook his hand and

837
00:54:12,000 --> 00:54:15,360
he would not let go of my hand.

838
00:54:15,360 --> 00:54:21,400
And I looked at him and he said, you have a red ribbon cutting in your future.

839
00:54:21,400 --> 00:54:24,000
And I said, oh, and I'm prophetic.

840
00:54:24,000 --> 00:54:25,520
So I don't get really excited.

841
00:54:25,520 --> 00:54:28,600
I just kind of hold it in my heart, you know, like Mary.

842
00:54:28,600 --> 00:54:30,240
And he said, do you know what that is?

843
00:54:30,240 --> 00:54:33,960
And I said, yes, he goes, I'm talking like a new house.

844
00:54:33,960 --> 00:54:37,280
So I said, well, thank you.

845
00:54:37,280 --> 00:54:39,100
He was not happy with my response.

846
00:54:39,100 --> 00:54:45,040
So the last night on, it was Valentine's Day, he came up to me at the table and he said,

847
00:54:45,040 --> 00:54:48,060
I think God wants me to reiterate this to you.

848
00:54:48,060 --> 00:54:51,360
And he got my napkin off the table and he played like he put something in it and he

849
00:54:51,360 --> 00:54:52,920
closed it up.

850
00:54:52,920 --> 00:54:56,260
And he says, God has a gift for you.

851
00:54:56,260 --> 00:54:57,260
It's really wonderful.

852
00:54:57,260 --> 00:54:59,560
I said, well, thank you.

853
00:54:59,560 --> 00:55:05,400
So anyway, so I share that with our friend.

854
00:55:05,400 --> 00:55:07,880
And he said, wow, that really happened.

855
00:55:07,880 --> 00:55:09,480
I said, yes, that happened.

856
00:55:09,480 --> 00:55:11,320
And it was such a confirmation to him.

857
00:55:11,320 --> 00:55:14,920
You know, when you buy a house for someone, that's not like, you know, taking them out

858
00:55:14,920 --> 00:55:17,920
to dinner, you know, or paying their electric bill.

859
00:55:17,920 --> 00:55:19,440
And we always I was very happy.

860
00:55:19,440 --> 00:55:21,800
You've been in the house we lived in for 36 years.

861
00:55:21,800 --> 00:55:26,620
It was small, 1500 square feet, I believe, but it was very adequate.

862
00:55:26,620 --> 00:55:29,480
We did great raising the four kids.

863
00:55:29,480 --> 00:55:36,320
And he decided that we needed something bigger and no mortgage payments because we always

864
00:55:36,320 --> 00:55:42,600
had to refinance our house to pay our credit cards for our airline tickets to travel.

865
00:55:42,600 --> 00:55:45,180
So he said, you haven't sent me any houses to look at.

866
00:55:45,180 --> 00:55:51,360
So when I told him about what happened on the ship and he was so excited.

867
00:55:51,360 --> 00:55:58,640
And so we start looking for houses and it's expensive to living in Tampa and we couldn't

868
00:55:58,640 --> 00:56:00,680
find a house that fit in the budget he gave.

869
00:56:00,680 --> 00:56:08,360
And our realtor friend, Linda, called and said she found the house and we said, you

870
00:56:08,360 --> 00:56:09,360
sure?

871
00:56:09,360 --> 00:56:10,360
She goes, this is the house.

872
00:56:10,360 --> 00:56:13,760
And so we were driving back from Charlotte, I believe.

873
00:56:13,760 --> 00:56:18,620
And we met her at this house and she said, this is it.

874
00:56:18,620 --> 00:56:21,460
And so I said, this looks a little bit too expensive.

875
00:56:21,460 --> 00:56:24,580
She said it went on the market today and it's going to go fast.

876
00:56:24,580 --> 00:56:28,000
So we came in and it was it was beautiful.

877
00:56:28,000 --> 00:56:33,080
I've never had a garage in my life and I've always had this thing that I would love to

878
00:56:33,080 --> 00:56:35,320
have a garage door opener.

879
00:56:35,320 --> 00:56:39,200
So we drive up and I said, Bill, it's got a garage.

880
00:56:39,200 --> 00:56:40,760
He laughed at me.

881
00:56:40,760 --> 00:56:43,800
And so anyway, we look and it's perfect.

882
00:56:43,800 --> 00:56:50,780
And not only does it have a garage, it has a heated swimming pool and a hot tub.

883
00:56:50,780 --> 00:56:52,920
We don't deserve anything like this.

884
00:56:52,920 --> 00:56:59,360
But Jesus and his love for his children, he he is a more than enough guy.

885
00:56:59,360 --> 00:57:02,640
He just absolutely has overwhelmed us.

886
00:57:02,640 --> 00:57:07,600
And that same weekend, this couple that I always I like to take meals to people and

887
00:57:07,600 --> 00:57:08,600
cook for people.

888
00:57:08,600 --> 00:57:13,240
And we had friends and they were having some struggles with their health.

889
00:57:13,240 --> 00:57:15,400
And so I took meals over regularly.

890
00:57:15,400 --> 00:57:21,540
And one day Bill was sharing, he went and took the meals because I had to take a granddaughter

891
00:57:21,540 --> 00:57:22,920
for some oral surgery.

892
00:57:22,920 --> 00:57:31,520
And so he said, he he's the fellow said, Do you still have that car that you had?

893
00:57:31,520 --> 00:57:33,640
And he said, Yeah, no.

894
00:57:33,640 --> 00:57:37,860
And so Bill left and he calls Bill cell phone.

895
00:57:37,860 --> 00:57:42,560
This is the same right around the same months about when the house happened.

896
00:57:42,560 --> 00:57:44,680
And he said, Bill, can you come back a minute?

897
00:57:44,680 --> 00:57:49,800
And so Bill went back and he said, Bill, you're moving.

898
00:57:49,800 --> 00:57:53,240
Would you use my truck?

899
00:57:53,240 --> 00:57:54,720
And Bill said, Oh, I'd love to use your truck.

900
00:57:54,720 --> 00:57:58,520
And he goes, No, I mean, can I give you my truck?

901
00:57:58,520 --> 00:58:02,420
It was a beautiful Silverado truck.

902
00:58:02,420 --> 00:58:04,320
And Bill was absolutely blown away.

903
00:58:04,320 --> 00:58:10,120
So in within, you know, a month, someone gave us a vehicle and a house.

904
00:58:10,120 --> 00:58:16,520
It just absolutely blew our mind that God, his faithfulness is just amazing.

905
00:58:16,520 --> 00:58:22,740
We've gone from, you know, hardly able to make it to God giving us more than enough.

906
00:58:22,740 --> 00:58:24,240
So trust him.

907
00:58:24,240 --> 00:58:31,960
And I love that you're now using this beautiful new house that you have for ministry.

908
00:58:31,960 --> 00:58:37,920
God's led you into new ministry during this time of your life now that your kids are grown

909
00:58:37,920 --> 00:58:41,720
and your grandkids are older.

910
00:58:41,720 --> 00:58:45,640
Share how you're using that house to minister to others.

911
00:58:45,640 --> 00:58:52,080
Well, we do do counseling, but our main thing is that we have house church here and we have

912
00:58:52,080 --> 00:58:59,800
some of the most amazing friends that we have coming and loving on each other and everybody

913
00:58:59,800 --> 00:59:02,400
that comes there.

914
00:59:02,400 --> 00:59:06,680
They're so thoughtful and they always are reaching out and caring for other people.

915
00:59:06,680 --> 00:59:13,920
And one day I'm in my old grocery store near where I used to live instead of coming to

916
00:59:13,920 --> 00:59:17,880
the one I am now and I'm in line to check out.

917
00:59:17,880 --> 00:59:23,120
And here is this young mother in front of me with a baby asleep on her.

918
00:59:23,120 --> 00:59:26,160
She's trying to get everything out of her cart, but she couldn't reach.

919
00:59:26,160 --> 00:59:28,160
So I did what all of you listening would do.

920
00:59:28,160 --> 00:59:33,320
I just start taking everything out of the cart and putting it out for to go up to be

921
00:59:33,320 --> 00:59:34,460
paid for.

922
00:59:34,460 --> 00:59:40,940
So I'm looking and I had been looking, I was texting with someone and so I didn't see that

923
00:59:40,940 --> 00:59:43,420
he was taking things out of her cart.

924
00:59:43,420 --> 00:59:46,280
So obviously she didn't have enough money to pay for it.

925
00:59:46,280 --> 00:59:51,200
So I just looked at him and said, just put that on my bill.

926
00:59:51,200 --> 00:59:56,240
When I was unloading everything, she said she turned around with tears in her eyes and

927
00:59:56,240 --> 01:00:01,000
she said, my mama would have been doing this, but I lost her in May.

928
01:00:01,000 --> 01:00:04,560
I said, oh, I hope you have a church or someone to help.

929
01:00:04,560 --> 01:00:06,920
And she said, I've started going to a church.

930
01:00:06,920 --> 01:00:09,320
And I said, well, good.

931
01:00:09,320 --> 01:00:14,520
Because she sees that I'm paying for her groceries, she turned around and she said, well, what

932
01:00:14,520 --> 01:00:17,060
church do you go to?

933
01:00:17,060 --> 01:00:23,360
And so I told her about our house church and I gave her a card, a business card and she

934
01:00:23,360 --> 01:00:24,360
showed up.

935
01:00:24,360 --> 01:00:28,120
Bill's out there directing traffic for people to park because we're in a cul-de-sac and

936
01:00:28,120 --> 01:00:30,600
we don't want to block anybody.

937
01:00:30,600 --> 01:00:33,320
And she said, is this Darlene Davis's house?

938
01:00:33,320 --> 01:00:34,720
And he said, you must be Jessica.

939
01:00:34,720 --> 01:00:38,360
Because I had told him about my time at the grocery store.

940
01:00:38,360 --> 01:00:42,540
So she came and she had also, he was 12 at the time.

941
01:00:42,540 --> 01:00:45,160
I think he's now about turned 14.

942
01:00:45,160 --> 01:00:47,540
Micah, he is a wonderful young man.

943
01:00:47,540 --> 01:00:51,200
And then she has little Uriah, the baby.

944
01:00:51,200 --> 01:01:00,800
So they have become, everyone loves on them and we're her family and she's our family.

945
01:01:00,800 --> 01:01:09,080
And about two months ago, three months ago, she walks in the door and I have a cousin

946
01:01:09,080 --> 01:01:14,120
that has been coming to house church or starting to come.

947
01:01:14,120 --> 01:01:15,400
And so she's in the kitchen.

948
01:01:15,400 --> 01:01:17,840
She comes early and helps me and she's an amazing cook.

949
01:01:17,840 --> 01:01:23,720
And because I have dinner there for everyone and they bring, you know, sides and stuff.

950
01:01:23,720 --> 01:01:32,360
And so Jessica walks in and my cousin is standing in the kitchen with me and I hear Jessica

951
01:01:32,360 --> 01:01:34,440
say, Melody.

952
01:01:34,440 --> 01:01:37,800
And Melody turns around and did not know who it was because she hadn't seen her I think

953
01:01:37,800 --> 01:01:39,860
in 18 years.

954
01:01:39,860 --> 01:01:42,240
And she says, I'm Jesse.

955
01:01:42,240 --> 01:01:45,120
And she goes, oh my.

956
01:01:45,120 --> 01:01:52,520
My cousin Melody and her mother were nurses together at the same facility, best friends.

957
01:01:52,520 --> 01:01:57,000
And she would take Jessica with them on family vacation.

958
01:01:57,000 --> 01:01:59,520
She was like another daughter to them.

959
01:01:59,520 --> 01:02:01,400
My cousin lives in Lakeland.

960
01:02:01,400 --> 01:02:02,400
This is in Tampa.

961
01:02:02,400 --> 01:02:04,160
Tampa is huge.

962
01:02:04,160 --> 01:02:10,520
So don't for a minute think that we don't serve a sovereign God.

963
01:02:10,520 --> 01:02:17,360
To have me back a year and something before running into her in a grocery store.

964
01:02:17,360 --> 01:02:23,640
And then here she is running into someone that's like a second mom and she said, the

965
01:02:23,640 --> 01:02:31,240
next morning Jessica sent me a text and she said, I have no family except my children.

966
01:02:31,240 --> 01:02:39,080
And here I have this house church and I love y'all but to see Melody who is like a mom

967
01:02:39,080 --> 01:02:42,120
to me, God has blessed me.

968
01:02:42,120 --> 01:02:50,520
And so just know that you might not know where you are and what you're going through, but

969
01:02:50,520 --> 01:02:54,000
God is going to use it no matter what.

970
01:02:54,000 --> 01:02:58,160
He is going to use whatever circumstances that you're in.

971
01:02:58,160 --> 01:02:59,160
He's going to do it.

972
01:02:59,160 --> 01:03:04,920
And I love that you're all throughout scripture kind of the principle is that God blesses

973
01:03:04,920 --> 01:03:06,760
us to be a blessing to others.

974
01:03:06,760 --> 01:03:07,760
So that's right.

975
01:03:07,760 --> 01:03:12,160
You know, he poured out his blessing on you and Bill and you turned around and have been

976
01:03:12,160 --> 01:03:13,400
using it to bless others.

977
01:03:13,400 --> 01:03:14,400
It's such the way of God.

978
01:03:14,400 --> 01:03:18,560
Well, Darlene, through all the ups and downs and the good times and the bad times, what

979
01:03:18,560 --> 01:03:20,080
has kept your faith vibrant?

980
01:03:20,080 --> 01:03:24,280
I have an amazing relationship with Jesus.

981
01:03:24,280 --> 01:03:31,280
If you have a relationship with Jesus and you meet with him regularly, I mean, I just,

982
01:03:31,280 --> 01:03:36,680
I have to, when we travel, I have to get all my devotionals and just choose one or two

983
01:03:36,680 --> 01:03:39,920
because it weighs too much to take them all.

984
01:03:39,920 --> 01:03:49,600
And I just know that staying in the word and, you know, letting him use you, be willing

985
01:03:49,600 --> 01:03:55,360
to listen if he's telling you to take a meal to somebody, if he's telling you, you need

986
01:03:55,360 --> 01:03:57,320
to call so-and-so there.

987
01:03:57,320 --> 01:04:01,600
If someone comes across your mind and you think, wow, I wonder why they're on my heart.

988
01:04:01,600 --> 01:04:09,360
You need to either drop a card or give them a call and say, you know, are you going through

989
01:04:09,360 --> 01:04:10,360
something?

990
01:04:10,360 --> 01:04:11,880
God has me praying for you.

991
01:04:11,880 --> 01:04:13,760
And we just need to do that.

992
01:04:13,760 --> 01:04:17,640
And when you do that, it just builds your faith.

993
01:04:17,640 --> 01:04:22,720
I mean, just like that with Jessica, I called her today and I said, Jessica, I'm going to

994
01:04:22,720 --> 01:04:24,880
be sharing your story on the podcast.

995
01:04:24,880 --> 01:04:26,160
And she got real excited.

996
01:04:26,160 --> 01:04:28,040
She's just a sweetheart.

997
01:04:28,040 --> 01:04:34,000
And she texted me last week and she said, I just learned that if you know to do good

998
01:04:34,000 --> 01:04:35,720
and you don't do it, it's sin.

999
01:04:35,720 --> 01:04:38,560
I mean, I love it the way she is in the word.

1000
01:04:38,560 --> 01:04:43,960
And she had been saved years ago, but she had not been where she needed to be.

1001
01:04:43,960 --> 01:04:46,760
And God just has her where she needs to be.

1002
01:04:46,760 --> 01:04:50,240
She's precious.

1003
01:04:50,240 --> 01:04:54,520
So really digging into the word and then doing the word, like you said.

1004
01:04:54,520 --> 01:04:56,160
Yeah, got to be in the word.

1005
01:04:56,160 --> 01:04:59,720
Being in the word every day, doing what God says.

1006
01:04:59,720 --> 01:05:05,000
Well, as we close, Darlene, would you share about a woman in the Bible who's inspired,

1007
01:05:05,000 --> 01:05:07,160
encouraged or taught you something?

1008
01:05:07,160 --> 01:05:11,040
Yes, I love Abigail.

1009
01:05:11,040 --> 01:05:16,160
You know, when I first read this, I did a teaching on it and I haven't in years and

1010
01:05:16,160 --> 01:05:20,360
Bill said, I hope you're going to share about Abigail.

1011
01:05:20,360 --> 01:05:26,560
And so Abigail, this is in First Samuel 25, if some of you are not real familiar with

1012
01:05:26,560 --> 01:05:29,440
this story, you can go and read all the details.

1013
01:05:29,440 --> 01:05:34,160
I'll just tell you why Abigail is so special to me.

1014
01:05:34,160 --> 01:05:40,800
She was married to a man named Nabal and they say about him that he was surly, mean and

1015
01:05:40,800 --> 01:05:43,800
bad tempered and unfriendly.

1016
01:05:43,800 --> 01:05:49,800
So kind of sounds familiar, you know, how what God did with Bill.

1017
01:05:49,800 --> 01:05:51,120
And he was in that way.

1018
01:05:51,120 --> 01:05:57,760
And it says that David and his men had been out in the fields near Carmel where Nabal

1019
01:05:57,760 --> 01:05:59,160
was with all of his men.

1020
01:05:59,160 --> 01:06:01,100
It was sheep shearing time.

1021
01:06:01,100 --> 01:06:07,800
And so David made sure that they were safe the whole time and nothing was gone from them.

1022
01:06:07,800 --> 01:06:10,400
And so all their men were hungry.

1023
01:06:10,400 --> 01:06:19,320
And so he sent his 10 of his men to David, to Nabal and asked if he could send some supplies.

1024
01:06:19,320 --> 01:06:25,360
And they said, we are men from David's camp and Nabal just brushed him off.

1025
01:06:25,360 --> 01:06:27,160
He wouldn't do it.

1026
01:06:27,160 --> 01:06:37,320
And the men went back and David was mad that Nabal would be this way to him.

1027
01:06:37,320 --> 01:06:42,720
And one of the servants went up to Abigail knowing that she's this wonderful, godly woman

1028
01:06:42,720 --> 01:06:45,160
and told her what was happening.

1029
01:06:45,160 --> 01:06:48,080
And David had told his men to put on their swords.

1030
01:06:48,080 --> 01:06:52,640
We're going to go and destroy the entire house of Nabal.

1031
01:06:52,640 --> 01:06:54,920
And so Abigail got together.

1032
01:06:54,920 --> 01:06:56,760
I mean, I wrote it down.

1033
01:06:56,760 --> 01:07:01,600
It's an amazing amount of food and wine.

1034
01:07:01,600 --> 01:07:06,320
Put them on donkeys to take them to the men.

1035
01:07:06,320 --> 01:07:14,040
So David saw her coming and he told her, if you would not come to me, I was going to just

1036
01:07:14,040 --> 01:07:15,400
wipe everybody out.

1037
01:07:15,400 --> 01:07:19,960
And she said, but she told him, save yourself from bloodshed.

1038
01:07:19,960 --> 01:07:25,160
So when you come into your kingship, you will not have blood on your hands.

1039
01:07:25,160 --> 01:07:28,040
And so she was wise woman.

1040
01:07:28,040 --> 01:07:34,360
And so she went back, but it was they were having a feast and Nabal was drunk.

1041
01:07:34,360 --> 01:07:38,020
So she decided not to tell him anything till the next morning.

1042
01:07:38,020 --> 01:07:46,720
So she went into him the next morning and she said what she had done, she told them

1043
01:07:46,720 --> 01:07:48,920
and the fear came on him.

1044
01:07:48,920 --> 01:07:54,200
And it says that his heart died within him and he became as a stone.

1045
01:07:54,200 --> 01:07:59,360
And that 10 days later, he struck Nabal and he died.

1046
01:07:59,360 --> 01:08:05,880
And when David heard he, he sent for Abigail to propose to her and become his wife.

1047
01:08:05,880 --> 01:08:13,720
And Bill, the Lord did not kill Bill, but he changed his heart heart and he put a heart

1048
01:08:13,720 --> 01:08:24,120
like David in him and God, just as he is faithful back, just know that he's going to be faithful

1049
01:08:24,120 --> 01:08:29,000
to you back in the Bible, all the places and people he was faithful.

1050
01:08:29,000 --> 01:08:31,400
He is going to be faithful to you.

1051
01:08:31,400 --> 01:08:32,400
Hang in there.

1052
01:08:32,400 --> 01:08:37,600
Well, as we wrap up, I've been thinking about Darlene story and Jesus words in Matthew 6,

1053
01:08:37,600 --> 01:08:40,320
25 through 33 came to mind.

1054
01:08:40,320 --> 01:08:45,720
The NIV reads, therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you eat or drink

1055
01:08:45,720 --> 01:08:51,400
or about your body, what you wear is not life more than food and the body more than clothes.

1056
01:08:51,400 --> 01:08:52,680
Look at the birds of the air.

1057
01:08:52,680 --> 01:08:56,680
They do not sow or reap or store away in barns.

1058
01:08:56,680 --> 01:08:58,800
And yet your heavenly father feeds them.

1059
01:08:58,800 --> 01:09:01,440
Are you not much more valuable than they?

1060
01:09:01,440 --> 01:09:06,800
In any one of you by worrying at a day, a single hour to your life.

1061
01:09:06,800 --> 01:09:08,520
And why do you worry about clothes?

1062
01:09:08,520 --> 01:09:11,280
See how the flowers of the field grow.

1063
01:09:11,280 --> 01:09:13,400
They do not labor or spin.

1064
01:09:13,400 --> 01:09:18,780
Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

1065
01:09:18,780 --> 01:09:22,840
If that is how your heavenly father clothes the grass of the field, which is here today

1066
01:09:22,840 --> 01:09:27,600
and gone tomorrow, will he not also clothes you, you of little faith?

1067
01:09:27,600 --> 01:09:32,480
So don't worry saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear

1068
01:09:32,480 --> 01:09:38,360
for the world runs after these things and your heavenly father knows that you need them.

1069
01:09:38,360 --> 01:09:45,320
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you

1070
01:09:45,320 --> 01:09:46,320
as well.

1071
01:09:46,320 --> 01:09:47,320
Wow.

1072
01:09:47,320 --> 01:09:54,320
Darlene has seen God protect her and correct her and provide for her and care for her throughout

1073
01:09:54,320 --> 01:09:55,320
her life.

1074
01:09:55,320 --> 01:10:02,400
She's learned the beauty of seeking after God's kingdom as she spent diligently spent

1075
01:10:02,400 --> 01:10:06,720
time with him, studying the Bible and talking to God and walking in his ways.

1076
01:10:06,720 --> 01:10:09,760
And God has cared for all of her needs.

1077
01:10:09,760 --> 01:10:15,040
So as we put him first in all the areas of our lives, we can be sure that he is going

1078
01:10:15,040 --> 01:10:17,160
to take care of us as well.

1079
01:10:17,160 --> 01:10:21,000
Darlene, would you take a moment and pray for everyone who listens to your amazing God

1080
01:10:21,000 --> 01:10:22,000
story?

1081
01:10:22,000 --> 01:10:28,160
Father, we are so grateful for your love, your great love for all your people, Lord.

1082
01:10:28,160 --> 01:10:34,900
And I ask, Lord, that every woman that is listening to this, if she is in distress,

1083
01:10:34,900 --> 01:10:42,840
if she's hurting, if she has been rejected, whatever state that she is in, Father, I ask

1084
01:10:42,840 --> 01:10:50,480
that something that I said today would bring healing to her, Father, and that the enemy

1085
01:10:50,480 --> 01:10:58,080
would be put at bay so that she can grow into the woman of God, the wife, the mother that

1086
01:10:58,080 --> 01:11:02,200
you have intended for her to be, Father.

1087
01:11:02,200 --> 01:11:06,920
Use whatever we have gone through, whatever I've gone through, Lord, and you have brought

1088
01:11:06,920 --> 01:11:07,920
me to victory.

1089
01:11:07,920 --> 01:11:13,380
I ask that you would do the same because you have no favorites.

1090
01:11:13,380 --> 01:11:15,180
And we just thank you for that.

1091
01:11:15,180 --> 01:11:17,640
In Jesus' name, amen.

1092
01:11:17,640 --> 01:11:21,760
You know, friends, there are widows as well as orphans all over the world who need to

1093
01:11:21,760 --> 01:11:26,640
experience the tangible expression of God's love right now.

1094
01:11:26,640 --> 01:11:30,280
Many have special needs that we as a company of women, we can meet together.

1095
01:11:30,280 --> 01:11:33,140
Would you consider joining us with a special gift to help?

1096
01:11:33,140 --> 01:11:39,380
Just go to hergodstory.org and click on the widow and orphan tab at the top of the page.

1097
01:11:39,380 --> 01:11:40,880
Thank you for tuning in.

1098
01:11:40,880 --> 01:11:45,920
In our show notes at hergodstory.org, you'll find scriptures and other information we talked

1099
01:11:45,920 --> 01:11:47,480
about.

1100
01:11:47,480 --> 01:11:51,960
Don't forget to sign up for our emails and get a six-week devotional on Women of the

1101
01:11:51,960 --> 01:11:54,600
Bible that you can download for free.

1102
01:11:54,600 --> 01:11:59,460
Or you may want to purchase a 12-week devotional on Women of the Bible for just $12, knowing

1103
01:11:59,460 --> 01:12:03,920
that all the proceeds will go to our Widow and Orphan Fund.

1104
01:12:03,920 --> 01:12:09,360
We'd love to pray with you on our 24-7 prayer and text line, so give us a call anytime at

1105
01:12:09,360 --> 01:12:15,280
855-459-CARE or email us at prayer at somebodycares.org.

1106
01:12:15,280 --> 01:12:20,000
And now, dear friends, I bless you from Psalm 90:14.

1107
01:12:20,000 --> 01:12:26,960
May you be satisfied each morning with God's unfailing love, so you may sing for joy all

1108
01:12:26,960 --> 01:12:27,960
your days.

1109
01:12:27,960 --> 01:12:32,440
Her God Story is a ministry of Somebody Cares America and international.

1110
01:12:32,440 --> 01:12:47,000
To find out more about or support the ministry, go to somebodycares.org.