God Wants Good Things For You! Kynada Boland’s Story

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I love a good story, especially if it is a God story.

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Hi, I'm your host Jodie Chiricosta,

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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 want to introduce you to a woman who has experienced

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the wonder of God in Haiti,

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Houston, Jerusalem, and places in between.

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I first met Canada Boland,

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then Canada Ulrich in Haiti when we were

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both responding to the devastating earthquake in 2010.

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Through partnering together then and since,

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a sisterhood has developed that grows out of

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serving God together and prayer.

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I tell you, it has been fun to watch what God has done in

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and through her ever since.

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Canada and her husband and

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her beautiful family currently live in Jerusalem.

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Even though there's a seven-hour time difference between us,

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whenever we talk about what God's doing,

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it seems like we're in the same room.

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I know you are going to love her God story just as much as I do.

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So welcome, Canada.

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Thank you very much.

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I'm honored to be with you.

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Before we dive into your story,

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I want to ask you,

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what is the first place you take families who come visit you,

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or friends and family who come

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visit you in that beautiful city of Jerusalem?

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The first thing I would do is take them on a walk through our neighborhood.

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One of my favorite places,

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we have an incredible view of the old city.

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It's filled with people that I love and friends,

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and friends who have become like family.

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Then maybe we would walk to the old city,

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which is less than half a mile from my house.

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What's that like? What's the old city like?

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Can you just feel Jesus?

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Is it really like biblical times?

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I wouldn't say it's exactly like biblical times,

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but I can look out my living room window and I can see Mount Zion.

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I can see the Mount of Olives.

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I can see the Hinnom Valley and I can read

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the scripture and talk about it with my children,

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about what happened there and how it shaped our lives and all of history.

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It's a very incredible opportunity to sit with

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the Word and look out my window and retrace history.

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I've been able to go to Israel twice and what you say is exactly true.

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When you're there, scripture comes to life in a way that it

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doesn't when you're thousands of miles away.

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But you didn't always live in Jerusalem.

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We'll get there, but where and how does your story start?

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I was raised in Oklahoma,

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a small town in Oklahoma and I went to college in Oklahoma.

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I actually went to Oral Roberts University.

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I had a full ride soccer scholarship there.

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Soccer? It was not the university that I would have chosen,

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but it was what God chose for me.

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Looking back, I can see that it was absolutely

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his perfect planning and his kindness over my life.

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When you say it wasn't where you wanted to go,

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I mean, how did you get there then?

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When they told me that I could have a full ride to play soccer there,

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my parents said, you have no other choice.

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This is where you're from.

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As a parent, I would say, yeah, that's true.

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Right. After college, my dad got sick.

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At the time, I was walking closely with the Lord,

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and but after he got sick,

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I was very angry and I was like, all right, Lord,

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if this is what I get,

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then I don't need this.

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I had the opportunity to move to Wyoming,

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and I couldn't stand seeing my strong,

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safe dad sick and weak and even fall.

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All of these things together,

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the invitation to move to Wyoming and my dad's illness

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and the heartache that it caused,

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and the questions in my own heart of who am I?

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If my strong, safe dad is not here anymore, who am I?

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I moved to Wyoming,

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totally walked away from the Lord.

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Here you are, you grew up in a Christian family,

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you saw God working in your life,

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you went to ORU where they're a teach and train people

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to walk with the Lord, and then you walked away.

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How was life in Wyoming?

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I thought I was having a great time.

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It was definitely exciting,

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and I learned to snowboard,

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and I did a lot of things I had never done before.

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I would still go to church,

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and all the while the Lord's like,

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I see you and I love you.

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And he was just so present and so kind,

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and so just that's all he said was,

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I see you and I love you.

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And so finally, at the end of my time in Wyoming,

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I was accepted to the University of Kansas for grad school.

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Reluctantly, I knew the Lord just made it so clear

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that I was supposed to go back to grad school.

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And so I did, reluctantly.

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But in that time, I repented,

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and I let go of the things that I had begun doing.

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So I went to grad school,

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and I actually was able to spend half of the week at KU

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doing school, and the other half of the week,

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I was able to go home to be with my family.

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I spent time with my dad and with my mom

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and reconciled relationship,

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and just had the opportunity to say everything

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that needed to be said and to spend time loving on my family

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and loving on my dad.

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April of that year, my dad passed away.

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But even in the process of him dying,

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the Lord's faithfulness over and over,

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I mean, seriously, so from a young age,

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I would say that I knew that God loved me.

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And all through my life, that is a theme.

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Over and over, regardless of how close I was walking with him

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or how well I knew him or what I was doing,

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over and over, he made it so clear that he loved me.

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Yeah, I can relate to that.

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I came to know the Lord when I was six

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and was raised in a godly family.

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And I got to high school and I got to college,

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and I wanted to try partying.

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And I wanted to hang out with friends

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who were doing things that didn't really line up

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with the word God.

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And all through that, I knew that God was protecting me.

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I mean, I would do stupid things,

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and I could just feel the hand of God

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keeping me from going over the edge

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and reminding me of his love.

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So I can totally relate to where you were at that point.

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God is so faithful.

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He knows our heart.

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He knows we really do want to follow him,

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but in our foolishness sometimes,

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we try the things of the world.

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That's exactly right.

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Amen.

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When I was the summer before my junior year,

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I applied to work at the camp Canakuk.

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It's in Missouri.

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It's a Christian sports camp.

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Somehow I got hired.

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It totally was a miracle for how my life was going at the moment,

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but I had always wanted to be a camper

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and we couldn't afford it.

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So when the opportunity came to work there for the summer,

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I jumped and I got hired.

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This is actually the place where I encountered

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the Holy Spirit in the most real way ever.

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I had known of Jesus.

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I knew that I was loved by God.

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I was raised in a Christian home,

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but it wasn't until this one night working at camp

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where all of a sudden it was my turn

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to do the devotional at night.

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And I was nervous.

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I was like, oh my gosh.

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Because I wasn't living a really awesome testimony

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prior to coming to camp,

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but here I was.

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It's my night for the devotional.

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And I'm like, Lord, what do you want to say?

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And he said so clearly, he said, tell them that I love them.

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So I ran back to my cabin and I was looking for a verse

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that said exactly that because I wanted to do it

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the way my co-counselor did each night.

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You know, she read the verse, she talked about it,

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and then prayed.

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So I was looking for a verse in the Bible

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that said so deeply what he had just told me,

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how much he loves them.

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But I couldn't find one.

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I couldn't find one that said it to the depths

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of what I was feeling.

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And so they all sat down and I said, listen.

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I said, I asked the Lord what he wanted to talk about tonight.

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And I said, he wants you to know that he loves you.

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I said, you're 12 years old now.

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You're going to do amazing things in your life.

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You're going to mess up really big in your life,

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but it won't change how he loves you.

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It will never, nothing could ever change the way he loves you.

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As I sat there and talked to those kids,

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he was actually ministering to my heart.

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Like, this is where I encountered the love of God

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in such a personal and real way.

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I laid down on my bed and for the first time,

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I knew that the Holy Spirit was real.

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For the first time, I knew that no matter what I had done

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or what I would do, that I was loved.

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And so, you know, kids are giving their lives to the Lord

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and rededicating their hearts.

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And I'm laying on the bed having this personal encounter

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with the God who handcrafted me and loves me most.

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That is really where I feel like was a key turning point in my life

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and my commitment to him.

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And even after that, you know, it wasn't seamless.

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It wasn't without mistake, but my heart was gripped

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with a knowledge of God that impacted me forever.

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When I was in high school and college,

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I would have those moments with God

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that I knew God was speaking right to me.

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I mean, I would be outside in a group of people who were praying

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and I was just kind of there because I wanted to hang out with them.

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And God would speak to me, you know, as I looked up in the stars

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and how amazing and huge the universe is,

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but he saw me, little me, standing in the midst of a crowd.

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That's right.

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And, you know, those kinds of things,

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I had a few of those encounters along the way too.

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But like you, I kind of stumbled, you know,

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I kept stumbling along the way until after college,

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I was actually in graduate school at Regent University,

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at a Christian school.

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And I was there because I had really recommitted my life to the Lord.

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But I went to visit a sorority sister friend of mine in Washington, D.C.

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She took me around to see the sites in Washington, D.C.

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And then at the end of the night, we ended up, you know,

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at a bar with all of her friends.

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And I used to go to bars when I was in college.

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But as I was sitting there in that bar,

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I felt like I had an out of body experience.

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It was like I was there, but I was seeing myself there.

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And I was seeing the darkness around me.

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And I was just seeing how I didn't fit.

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So I got up and left and took a taxi back to her house

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and just went to bed.

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And she stumbled in some time in the middle of the night.

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We said goodbye in the morning and I knew that life was over for me.

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It's like, I don't fit there anymore, Lord.

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I'm all in for you.

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It took a few stumbles along the way to get there.

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Totally.

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I have a similar story.

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The Lord's faithfulness to the whispers of my heart,

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things I never even prayed about or told anyone,

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the whispers of my heart that I needed from the Lord.

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He was so faithful.

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Over and over, I have seen the Lord.

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I told him after my dad died, I said, you know what?

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You say in your word that you're my father.

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Well, I need you to show up.

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And I think he loves that, that we can...

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I was like, this is what you say?

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So I need you to do it.

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And I've seen him show up in practical ways.

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I was driving actually to that same camp another summer.

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And I really, I felt like the Lord said, pull over and check your tire.

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So I pulled over on the side of the highway and sure enough,

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right there where I had stopped in the top of the back passenger side wheel,

257
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this big nail was sticking out.

258
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And I was like, Hey, thanks.

259
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You know, like really have come to me.

260
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Saved you from an accident.

261
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Right.

262
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But because of that place of need, I've come to know the Lord as my father.

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Of course I miss my dad, but having a knowledge of God that you can stand in

264
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and rest in and even fight with is a gift.

265
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And I'm so thankful.

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He really wants that relationship with us.

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I mean, he is our father.

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He is our, our all in all, of course, and we honor him for that,

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but he wants that vibrant relationship where we can talk and we can lay out our hearts

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and we can share our joys and he wants all of that with us.

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You know, if I look at your bio, it's easy to see that kind of since that time,

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you've really been about serving the Lord.

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You worked at God TV, you were with Crisis Response International.

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You're the visionary and author of Prep Preparedness Peace.

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Now you're serving with one mission on the field in Israel.

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Was that the path you expected your life to take?

277
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How has God surprised you along the way?

278
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I mean, he's been your father.

279
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How, how has he surprised you?

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If somebody would have told me how adventurous and how incredible and how full of life,

281
00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:17,080
life with God is, it could have saved me a lot of trouble.

282
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I mean, a lot of heartache and a number of regrets.

283
00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:23,480
But of course I had to figure it out myself.

284
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But honestly, you know, he knows how he made us and what makes us come alive

285
00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:33,800
and what sets us on fire and what our passions are.

286
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And when we line up with his plans and purposes for our life, there is nothing better.

287
00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:41,960
And I'm trying to tell my kids now, I'm like,

288
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you guys seriously life with God is the most incredible adventure.

289
00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:47,880
Sure.

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00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:56,680
Full of challenges, not exactly easy, costly, but the most satisfying and life giving worth it

291
00:13:56,680 --> 00:13:59,640
thing you will ever do in your life every day.

292
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It can be that every day.

293
00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:03,880
Those are similar lessons I've learned along the way.

294
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I mean, I come to a point where I know that God knows me better than I know myself.

295
00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:13,240
And so when he asked me to do something or to go somewhere, he knows me.

296
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He knows how I, how he equipped me.

297
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He knows the desires and the, the abilities he's put in my life.

298
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And that's exactly right.

299
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When we follow his plan, we discover who we are, who we've been created to be.

300
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That's when we come alive.

301
00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:32,040
So tell us what some of these surprising things along the way.

302
00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:35,960
Something that's so surprising, but always been there, it seems.

303
00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:45,320
Is this passion and calling to disaster preparedness and response, even from the time of my dad's death

304
00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:54,920
and understanding how my need for a father opened the door for me to encounter God in a way I hadn't ever before.

305
00:14:54,920 --> 00:15:03,560
And the value of that and the richness of that, this is significant in my life, but also I happen to be standing

306
00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:10,440
on the shore in Thailand in 2004, when there was a tsunami, seriously standing on the shore,

307
00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:13,240
watching the wave come in, even taking pictures.

308
00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:14,920
I'm like, I should run.

309
00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:15,480
What did you do?

310
00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:18,520
We were a group with a group of five people.

311
00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:25,320
And so the wave actually came in and the moment we turned to run our private taxi pulls up.

312
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We hop in, we drive away.

313
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We're like Phuket airport, please.

314
00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:32,120
And everyone's in turmoil because of the waves.

315
00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:35,640
Everyone's in turmoil because literally we had seen people die.

316
00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:39,480
People in boats in the ocean, crashed by the wave.

317
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Like we had seen people die.

318
00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:42,840
It was a dramatic scene.

319
00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:49,640
And right away the Lord dropped in my heart, Isaiah 43 and Isaiah 55.

320
00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:54,120
And so I opened up my Bible and I read them right then.

321
00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:58,920
So Isaiah 43 says, but now this is what the Lord says.

322
00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:00,840
Who created you, Jacob?

323
00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:02,920
He who formed you, Israel.

324
00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:06,840
Do not fear for I have redeemed you.

325
00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:08,760
I have summoned you by name.

326
00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:09,560
You are mine.

327
00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:13,560
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.

328
00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:16,600
And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.

329
00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:19,880
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned.

330
00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:26,280
The flames will not set you ablaze for I am the Lord, your God, the Holy one of Israel, your savior.

331
00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:29,320
Since you are precious and honored in my sight.

332
00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:33,560
And because I love you, do not be afraid for I am with you.

333
00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:38,040
So we're driving away from this whole scene and this is what the Lord says.

334
00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:39,960
Couldn't have been better timing.

335
00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:42,280
You merely knew what that meant at that point.

336
00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:45,480
It wasn't just an abstract verse to you.

337
00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:46,360
I mean, it was real.

338
00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:53,080
It was a promise and it's become like this life promise, this life scripture over me.

339
00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:57,480
And now we find ourselves in Israel, which was nowhere on the radar.

340
00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:05,320
And it's all about Aliyah, which is what our primary focus here is helping raise support

341
00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:12,760
and prayer from Christians around the world for Aliyah and Kletah, helping Jewish people return

342
00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:14,680
to Israel and to settle here.

343
00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:22,440
So it's just amazing how even the scripture continues to unfold with our, my life and our,

344
00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:26,680
you know, God knows he knows the plans he has for us.

345
00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:31,480
And so that's been such an encouragement, but also Isaiah 55.

346
00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:38,280
Again, that's God revealing his heart and who he is in crisis.

347
00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:41,640
So you would have to read through the whole thing, but there's a specific phrase,

348
00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:43,160
verses eight and nine.

349
00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:46,120
He says, for my thoughts are not your thoughts.

350
00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:49,720
Neither are your ways, my ways declares the Lord.

351
00:17:50,360 --> 00:17:54,920
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways.

352
00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:57,080
And my thoughts than your thoughts.

353
00:17:57,080 --> 00:18:01,080
And I just feel like so many times in crisis, the first thing people ask is,

354
00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:03,000
how could God do this?

355
00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:04,120
Or where is God?

356
00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:10,520
I don't know that we can ever understand sometimes, oftentimes not, but I really do believe that

357
00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:14,760
any crisis is an invitation to encounter him.

358
00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:19,320
And he says, come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters.

359
00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:23,320
We live in a fallen world and a lot of things happen that we can't explain, but the thing

360
00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:26,840
that never changes is that God is good and God is faithful.

361
00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:27,240
Right.

362
00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:32,680
And he invites us into his presence, like you said, and he's, there's an invitation

363
00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:36,280
constantly for us to come to him for all that we need.

364
00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:39,080
You survived the tsunami there.

365
00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:41,800
I met you a few years later in Haiti.

366
00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:44,200
What took you from Thailand?

367
00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:48,440
I mean, you got this, you know, God birthed in you a vision for crisis response.

368
00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:51,800
And what was that process for Thailand to Haiti?

369
00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:56,200
So I was actually teaching in Kansas city, Missouri public schools at the time.

370
00:18:56,200 --> 00:19:00,040
We were just in Thailand for a holiday back in Kansas city.

371
00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:06,280
Had some really dear friends, Sean and Laura Malone, who founded and built crisis response

372
00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:10,440
international, but Laura was one of my best friends over and over.

373
00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:13,560
She's like, Canada, this is so for you.

374
00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:16,440
This is absolutely what you're made for.

375
00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:21,720
I began working with Sean and Laura and not only working.

376
00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:22,680
I mean, they were my family.

377
00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:24,280
It was our work.

378
00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:27,320
It was our ministry and our church.

379
00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:28,680
It was life.

380
00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:29,800
We did life together.

381
00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:34,360
And so for four years was director of training for crisis response international.

382
00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:39,560
And then the earthquake in Haiti happened, a team of four of us deployed to Haiti.

383
00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:42,040
And that's where I met my husband.

384
00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:43,240
Actually, I met you.

385
00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:44,120
I met Doug.

386
00:19:44,120 --> 00:19:45,720
I met so many incredible people.

387
00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:46,680
Yes.

388
00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:46,920
Yeah.

389
00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:49,080
God had a surprise for you in Haiti, didn't he?

390
00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:50,280
He sure did.

391
00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:52,120
And at this point I was 35.

392
00:19:52,120 --> 00:19:54,600
Had you kind of given up hope of getting married or?

393
00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:56,280
So I'll back up just a little bit.

394
00:19:56,280 --> 00:20:00,680
One of the questions that you asked for this podcast was what's one of the greatest mistakes

395
00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:02,360
of your life in Wyoming?

396
00:20:02,360 --> 00:20:07,480
I had this amazing, it was like my dream job, climbing, backpacking, mountaineering, another

397
00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:12,440
really incredible ministry I would totally recommend is called solid rock outdoor ministry.

398
00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:17,240
It's all about encountering God and seeing his beauty and cultivating relationship with

399
00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:23,160
him and others all while backpacking, climbing and mountaineering in these incredible places

400
00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:23,880
in America.

401
00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,160
So I thought I might settle down there because it was like my dream job.

402
00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:34,360
But meanwhile, I met this guy and right away the Lord was like, caution, caution.

403
00:20:34,360 --> 00:20:37,400
But you know, it's a small town and a small ministry.

404
00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:43,560
And I really liked doing something outside of the bubble and outside of the box.

405
00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:45,320
And he was just really easy to be with.

406
00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:49,720
And he had two little girls that I eventually came to really care about.

407
00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:52,920
Eventually he asked me to marry him.

408
00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:55,320
So I'm 30 years old.

409
00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:57,720
I really want to be a wife and a mom.

410
00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:04,360
And I told the Lord, I said, you know, God, I know this isn't your best for me, but I

411
00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:07,800
am 30 years old and I really want to be a wife and a mom.

412
00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:13,880
So unless you do something, I'm in a Mariam kind of one of those ultimatums.

413
00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:16,280
I've done that to the Lord before he's faithful, though.

414
00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:21,640
This is the fruit of six months of ignoring his warning, though.

415
00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:26,680
You know, when you like, don't listen, your heart gets harder and harder and harder.

416
00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:31,640
I didn't see it all so clearly then, but he asked me to marry him and I said, yes.

417
00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:34,440
And then, you know, what happened?

418
00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:36,040
Everything around me crumbled.

419
00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:42,520
The place where I was working called me in and was had lists pages long of offenses,

420
00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:43,560
things I had done wrong.

421
00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,520
Some of them are true and many of them were not true.

422
00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:51,480
I mean, just everything, everything, relationships, everything crumbled.

423
00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:57,480
So finally, after a few months of trying to make it work, I tucked my tail between

424
00:21:57,480 --> 00:21:58,440
my legs.

425
00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:03,960
I loaded everything I could in my little Subaru and I drove back to Kansas City.

426
00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:11,160
And as I drove, the Lord said, Canada, he said, I want what I have for you more than

427
00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:12,520
you want it for yourself.

428
00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:17,880
Did you think, well, God, this is punishment or was it exciting for you to hear that message?

429
00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:23,080
I mean, felt like he had his finger in my face, like, like a mother would like your

430
00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:23,800
dad.

431
00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:28,600
And you know, it was just like, I want like wagging that finger.

432
00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:31,720
I want what I have for you more than you want it for yourself.

433
00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:33,320
I felt comforted.

434
00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:34,520
I felt loved.

435
00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:36,520
I felt disciplined.

436
00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:39,640
I mean, it was, it turned so bad.

437
00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:45,560
And so this is how I made it back to Kansas City all the while, while I was in Wyoming,

438
00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:52,120
Laura and Sean Malone, who are dear friends and mentors and family to me, that she's

439
00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:54,040
calling me.

440
00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:56,520
She's like, what are you doing in Wyoming?

441
00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:58,840
She's like, you're supposed to be here.

442
00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:00,360
Come and do this with us.

443
00:23:00,360 --> 00:23:00,840
Come.

444
00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:02,520
She's like, it's so dry there.

445
00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:03,480
Just come.

446
00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:06,120
Now I was on my way and I landed in Kansas City.

447
00:23:06,120 --> 00:23:12,920
I spent months, weeks in the house of prayer, just like the Lord softening my heart and

448
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:17,000
lots of repentance and lots of one-on-ones and prayer.

449
00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:23,880
And this is how I got involved with Sean and Laura and crisis response.

450
00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:25,320
And it was such a gift.

451
00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:26,680
So then Haiti happened.

452
00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:30,840
I mean, that was a devastating earthquake and many people responded.

453
00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:32,360
Somebody cares responded.

454
00:23:32,360 --> 00:23:33,320
You respond to me.

455
00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:35,400
And so that's where I first met you.

456
00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:41,240
And almost exactly five years later from the incident we just talked about, I met

457
00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:42,440
my husband in Haiti.

458
00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:50,280
He actually had deployed with a nether ministry from Texas and he arrived to the facility

459
00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:52,040
where we were working in Port-au-Prince.

460
00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:55,720
And I introduced them to how the place worked and where they would be sleeping.

461
00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:58,920
And he looked to his friend and said, Hey, I'm sort of digging that chicken.

462
00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:01,800
The guy's like, we've been here 10 minutes.

463
00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:05,800
So for Justin, it was love at first sight.

464
00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:08,200
For me, it was nowhere on my radar.

465
00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:09,080
It was crisis.

466
00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:10,760
We had things to do.

467
00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:14,680
I had actually just gotten out of another wrong relationship.

468
00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:16,280
So I wasn't interested.

469
00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:19,800
I was not good at waiting for God's best.

470
00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:22,520
I was very familiar with the wrong thing.

471
00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:28,360
When the right thing came along in Haiti, we decided we could get to know each other

472
00:24:28,360 --> 00:24:30,280
after or before we got married.

473
00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:35,560
And we chose after we met in January and we got married in June.

474
00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:35,880
Yeah.

475
00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:37,800
And you were in Haiti for a while.

476
00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:42,680
I mean, it wasn't like you were at home getting to know one another in the same town.

477
00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:46,600
We had long talks on the roof after really long days.

478
00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:55,720
We explored a foreign country together and vehicles with teams of people along with us

479
00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:59,880
with translators and drivers and mayors of cities.

480
00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:01,080
It was incredible.

481
00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:03,880
And because you had had relationships that didn't really work out,

482
00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:07,880
this your relationship with Justin was totally, totally different.

483
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:13,880
I mean, you couldn't plan or even really protect or hide who you were.

484
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:18,200
And when you're in the middle of a situation like that, it's you, you're there.

485
00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:19,800
There's very few showers.

486
00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:21,320
Everyone is tired.

487
00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:21,880
Yes.

488
00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:23,400
It's all the real stuff.

489
00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:24,760
And it was amazing.

490
00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:31,240
And honestly, you know, serving in crisis, it is, it's like the great and the terrible.

491
00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:37,480
It's really hard and it's so incredible to see the body come together and work together,

492
00:25:38,120 --> 00:25:43,320
to see God do miracles, to see him meet people in their place of need.

493
00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:45,640
I mean, this is Isaiah 55.

494
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:47,560
This is who he is.

495
00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:51,160
He loves to reveal himself in every place of need.

496
00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:55,400
This is a huge reason why Justin and I are committed to preparedness and response

497
00:25:55,400 --> 00:26:00,520
is because when we as the body are prepared, when we are ready,

498
00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:03,800
then we can serve other people when they really need it.

499
00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:09,080
And when there's a need, we can be the hands and feet and we can bring peace

500
00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:13,080
and we can bring hope and we can bring love into everything that we do.

501
00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:19,800
And so we've seen the beauty of and the power and the miracles that God does in that context.

502
00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:22,920
And it's a privilege to participate with him.

503
00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:24,680
Now you and Justin are in Haiti.

504
00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:29,240
Actually, Justin came to Kansas City like two weeks before we got married.

505
00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:32,440
He was in Haiti literally until we got married.

506
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:35,000
I came home in April to plan the wedding.

507
00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:39,080
And then he came six weeks later and then we got married.

508
00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:41,080
And we're so thankful.

509
00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:43,400
It's been a grand adventure.

510
00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:50,840
But yes, I tried to talk God into letting Justin join me in Kansas City and join Cry.

511
00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:52,280
We needed a graphic designer.

512
00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:53,400
I had it all worked out.

513
00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:58,840
He would be the perfect addition to this team and family and ministry that we had going.

514
00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:00,760
But God had different plans.

515
00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:02,840
He asked me to lay it all down.

516
00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:07,800
And so I moved to Waco, which is where Justin was living, part of a community there.

517
00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:14,360
He did some training and some traveling with this ministry there in Texas.

518
00:27:14,360 --> 00:27:18,520
And then we had our first child whose name is Jeshua.

519
00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:20,920
And he was born in Waco, Texas.

520
00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:25,640
But a few days after he was born, the Lord said, go to Nehemiah chapter three.

521
00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:28,680
And so I looked it up and right there in the middle of chapter three,

522
00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:29,880
is the name Jeshua.

523
00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:33,240
And I was like, oh my gosh, I've never even noticed it before.

524
00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:34,200
So that was pretty cool.

525
00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:40,440
And then a month after he was born, we moved to Houston, Texas to work with Somebody Cares.

526
00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:42,200
We loved that time when you were with us.

527
00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,040
Oh, you guys are so gracious.

528
00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:48,120
So you were you were with us for a couple of years in Houston.

529
00:27:48,120 --> 00:27:54,280
I realized pretty quickly as a mom that it wasn't going to work to work full time

530
00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:56,920
and build this global ministry we had dreamed of.

531
00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:01,720
It was a really humbling time to learn what it meant to be a mom

532
00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:08,840
and to know that God's heart is for his children and what that requires

533
00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:13,400
and the cost that it is to love the one before us.

534
00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:18,920
And it was a big learning curve and you guys are most gracious and I'm so thankful.

535
00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:22,520
And you know, the Lord really used that to get us to Houston.

536
00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:27,160
And we got plugged in with the House of Prayer there in Houston.

537
00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:29,400
And then God birthed a new vision in your heart.

538
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:29,800
Right.

539
00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:35,000
So even after having been in Kansas City and related with the House of Prayer for over 10 years,

540
00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:40,440
I never had any vision of Israel, never any revelation, no understanding.

541
00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:43,480
But this first time, so we're at this new church

542
00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:50,520
and the first time they ever spoke on Israel, I was just completely undone.

543
00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:55,880
I was in the nursing mother's room with my child and the church service is over.

544
00:28:55,880 --> 00:29:03,240
And I couldn't even move, like just weeping, really feeling the presence of the Lord and his heart.

545
00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:09,080
So my husband actually comes looking for him for me in this nursing mother's room and.

546
00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:11,960
I find you there.

547
00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:14,440
I was like, are you getting this?

548
00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:18,680
And he's like, no, this was my beginning, the beginning of my journey with Israel.

549
00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:22,840
Eventually along the way, the Lord put Israel on Justin's heart as well.

550
00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:24,840
And he had you guys move there.

551
00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:27,240
Yes, with three kids.

552
00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:31,960
So one little incredible part of the story is when we were pregnant with our second,

553
00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:33,960
we were certain she was going to be a boy.

554
00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:39,000
But the very day that we found out she was a girl, Sean and Laura Malone called and they were like,

555
00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:40,600
let's talk names.

556
00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:44,440
And I said, great, what's the girl version of Zachary?

557
00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:45,880
Because we're having a girl.

558
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:48,920
And right away, Sean said, Azaria.

559
00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:52,200
He even sent me the phonetic spelling of it and everything.

560
00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:55,480
And I was like, oh my gosh, that is so beautiful.

561
00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:59,000
So we chose that night that her name would be Azaria.

562
00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:01,400
We took out the I, her name would be Azaria.

563
00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:05,560
And again, a few days later, the Lord said, go to Nehemiah chapter three.

564
00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:09,880
And so a few names down from the family of Jeshua is the family of Azariah.

565
00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:14,840
And if I were to sum up the whole book of Nehemiah, it's how they were called by family

566
00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:16,840
to fight and to build the wall of Jerusalem.

567
00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:20,520
And by this point, the Lord had gotten both Justin and I's attention,

568
00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:25,320
all of our community in Houston, pastors had connected with the Jewish agency.

569
00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:31,080
And there was this big swell and this interest and this open door of our believing community

570
00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:33,480
in Houston and the Jewish agency in Israel.

571
00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:37,080
And so the Lord said, he said, I'm not just calling you.

572
00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:42,760
I've called your children by name to the city and it's essential to their destiny that they're there.

573
00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:45,400
For me as a mom, this was like, check it off the list.

574
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:47,080
We're going hands down.

575
00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:50,840
So anyways, we have a third child 21 months after that.

576
00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:54,200
And then we moved here at the beginning of 2016.

577
00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:58,760
And we've been here ever since we're at the beginning of our seventh year here in Jerusalem.

578
00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:01,320
And this was a total surprise.

579
00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:06,680
Yes, that is a total surprise from where you, I mean, you're in Wyoming wanting to be a wife and a mom.

580
00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:12,840
And then God gave you this massive vision for disaster response.

581
00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:16,280
And you wrote a preparedness piece, training manual.

582
00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:20,760
You were training Christians all over the country, how to get involved or how to get prepared.

583
00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:24,920
So they could be a witness in the time of crisis in their community.

584
00:31:24,920 --> 00:31:27,560
Then you get married and start having children again.

585
00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:31,960
God kind of restored that desire for you or he fulfilled that desire for you.

586
00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:36,920
But it's like you have this vision and you have this family.

587
00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:37,960
How do they mesh?

588
00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:45,400
I mean, being a wife and a mom and having a huge vision of doing something that God's put in your heart.

589
00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:47,320
I mean, how do you juggle that?

590
00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:49,720
This is a constant learning curve.

591
00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:54,920
But Justin and I, when we got married, something we had in common was always just saying yes.

592
00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:59,240
Like it was a commitment that we made to one another and to the Lord to just say yes.

593
00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:03,800
And so as you say, yes, the Lord takes care of all the details.

594
00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:07,640
He's so gracious and so kind and his leadership is perfect.

595
00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:13,320
The children have actually been a huge open door and a gift and an opportunity to build relationship.

596
00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:16,520
And Israel is so family centered.

597
00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:19,240
One of my biggest concerns moving here was their safety.

598
00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:23,800
I thought, oh my gosh, it's so dangerous and it's so what about my children?

599
00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:27,160
And it was really a cost I counted before the Lord.

600
00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:31,800
But I tell you what, people love children, Arabs, Jews.

601
00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:32,600
It doesn't matter.

602
00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:38,840
It's all about the children and they will protect and keep and watch out for.

603
00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:42,040
I feel it's like the opposite, which is so God.

604
00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:43,720
My fear was their safety.

605
00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:48,040
And instead, I feel that they are so secure and so taken care of.

606
00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:50,760
And it's really it's just like God.

607
00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:52,280
So I'm very thankful.

608
00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:57,240
This phrase that the Lord said to me at one of my lowest places in my life,

609
00:32:57,240 --> 00:33:04,200
as I was driving home from Wyoming, he said, I want what I have for you more than you want it for yourself.

610
00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:06,120
And it's just so true.

611
00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:14,680
The longings of our hearts, what we desire most in him, he wants those things even more than we want it for ourselves.

612
00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:20,920
And that's so like that'll preach because this is his heart for each one of us.

613
00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:26,840
And if we just surrender to his ways, if we just surrender to his voice,

614
00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:31,480
he will give us something so much greater than what we could ever grab for ourselves.

615
00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:32,520
Life is sweeter.

616
00:33:32,520 --> 00:33:33,960
Life is fuller.

617
00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:37,880
Life is richer when we say yes to God.

618
00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:41,240
There have been at times in my life I've resisted what God wanted me to do.

619
00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:48,120
And when I finally said, OK, I'll give it a try, his joy and peace and presence came rushing in,

620
00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:51,080
in a way that was unexpected.

621
00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:58,040
You know, I thought I would just do it out of, you know, just to get it off my back or just to say I tried it.

622
00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:01,160
And God met me there and said, yeah, this is what I have for you.

623
00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:05,160
And it's going to fill you with life, not dread, but life.

624
00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:13,240
Well, I got a privilege of coming over in 2019 and visited with you and Justin and your children

625
00:34:13,240 --> 00:34:18,520
and saw a little bit of your life there, and it's very different than life in the US.

626
00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:22,040
I mean, the food, the language, the culture, the tradition.

627
00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:24,840
But you all have adapted to life there so well.

628
00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:29,000
How did you make that transition to another country with your children?

629
00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:36,200
And I'm sure that part of it has to do with the practices that you have cultivated in your life

630
00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:39,720
and in your family to help you stand strong in your faith.

631
00:34:39,720 --> 00:34:42,600
Tell us a little bit about what that process has been.

632
00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:47,720
You know, one of the rabbis that we've come to know through Devorah, who is Justin's boss,

633
00:34:47,720 --> 00:34:53,880
at the very beginning, he told us, he said, you know, he said, gratitude is what determines

634
00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:57,480
whether Jerusalem receives you or spits you out.

635
00:34:57,480 --> 00:34:58,840
I can attest to that.

636
00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:07,320
Like, it is a choice to cultivate gratitude, to find what you are thankful for, to focus on being grateful.

637
00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:11,720
Because especially when things are challenging, especially when you have to wait hours in line

638
00:35:11,720 --> 00:35:16,520
just to go to the bank or when things, you know, when we first moved here, it was such a huge

639
00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:17,640
adjustment in America.

640
00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:22,040
I could make a list of 10 things long and check them off my list throughout the day.

641
00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:27,880
When we moved here, if you got two things done in a day, it was a huge success.

642
00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:30,440
And it was just, you know, there were so many challenges.

643
00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:33,080
It's such a huge learning curve.

644
00:35:33,080 --> 00:35:41,080
First of all, choosing to be thankful, cultivating gratitude is the biggest gift that we could give ourselves.

645
00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:48,040
But aside from that, like, just spending time in the Word and really talking to the Lord about everything,

646
00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:55,640
committing to worship, regardless of how you feel, and surrounding ourselves with people who are strong

647
00:35:55,640 --> 00:36:00,920
and who love the Lord and who can speak truth and life when you really need to hear it.

648
00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:06,040
Like, without all of those things, I think that I would struggle for sure.

649
00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:06,680
Yeah.

650
00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:11,080
In the midst of all that you're going through, God is constantly downpouring vision into you

651
00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:12,440
because you're open to it.

652
00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:15,080
You're available and you say yes to God.

653
00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:17,480
What vision has God put in your heart recently?

654
00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:19,480
I hear little rumblings of things that you're doing.

655
00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:23,800
And just tell us a little bit about what God has you involved in right now in Jerusalem.

656
00:36:23,800 --> 00:36:30,520
Dreaming with God is my favorite thing because His dreams are always way too big for us to do by ourselves.

657
00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:32,920
And that's when we get to see Him show up.

658
00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:37,000
Right now, I mean, people are very motivated here to get prepared.

659
00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:40,760
When we first moved to Jerusalem, I really thought being the center of the world,

660
00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:47,480
like it is that people would have food storage and water stored and be like a level of readiness

661
00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:49,240
because of where we are.

662
00:36:49,240 --> 00:36:53,480
But honestly, as I talk to people, they're like, nothing happens here.

663
00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:56,760
I would be like, do you have like food prepared and water stored?

664
00:36:56,760 --> 00:36:59,240
And they're like, nothing happens here.

665
00:36:59,240 --> 00:37:05,000
Or, you know, the government will tell us when we need to do that or even supply what we need.

666
00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:06,600
And so I was really surprised.

667
00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:09,720
I really thought people would just have this level of readiness.

668
00:37:09,720 --> 00:37:11,000
So that was six years ago.

669
00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:14,840
But now the world is changing a lot rapidly.

670
00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:19,320
And now people are much more motivated and they have ears to hear.

671
00:37:19,320 --> 00:37:25,480
And something that's really on the radar for Israel is an earthquake because it's actually overdue.

672
00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:29,320
And so actually they're talking about it a lot on the news right now.

673
00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:36,200
Great Rift Valley, which runs from south of Egypt all the way north through Israel, the Jordan Valley.

674
00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:42,120
We recently did an earthquake training in Korea, which is where they've been experiencing earthquakes recently.

675
00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:49,240
I really feel like what we carry in our passion for disaster preparedness and response has finally been opened up.

676
00:37:49,240 --> 00:37:54,760
It's my dream to just gather and encourage and equip, specifically the world.

677
00:37:54,760 --> 00:37:58,440
Specifically the body here or anyone who's willing to listen.

678
00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:06,520
But I really feel we've been gathering people and encouraging them and giving trainings

679
00:38:06,520 --> 00:38:09,960
and just affording the opportunity to meet one another.

680
00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:15,240
So God has brought really the passion of your heart, the passions of your heart.

681
00:38:15,240 --> 00:38:19,640
He's put several in your heart and he's kind of bringing them all together now.

682
00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:25,880
Crisis preparedness and serving in Jerusalem, as only God can do.

683
00:38:25,880 --> 00:38:28,280
He's opening the doors at just the right time.

684
00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:35,080
You know, when he called us here, he said, I just want you to be faithful and excellent in all you do and I'll take care of the rest.

685
00:38:35,080 --> 00:38:43,480
And I just feel like after six years of cultivating relationships and building trust with neighbors and co-workers

686
00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:52,440
of all different backgrounds and beliefs, both he and I have this opportunity to walk in a level of our callings that we haven't yet.

687
00:38:52,440 --> 00:39:01,400
And so I've had the opportunity to gather and train and encourage people with disaster preparedness and just connecting them.

688
00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:07,800
Both Justin and I have a real gift to connect resources and needs to cultivate relationships.

689
00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:16,120
And I'm just seeing it all come together in such an incredible way, just even since the beginning of the seventh year.

690
00:39:16,120 --> 00:39:19,240
And it's so encouraging and so life giving.

691
00:39:19,240 --> 00:39:28,120
And you read the prophecies, you read the news and I can't help but pray extra prayers for my children and wonder what the days ahead will be like.

692
00:39:28,120 --> 00:39:35,400
But I trust him and I know that his leadership is perfect and that he's made us for this.

693
00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:41,240
He has crafted each one of us to live on the earth at this time in history.

694
00:39:41,240 --> 00:39:49,960
And so my children, whatever is ahead for them, as long as they're leaning into him, they will come alive in what's before them.

695
00:39:49,960 --> 00:39:56,520
And the same promises for us as we lean into the Lord and trust him and walk with him.

696
00:39:56,520 --> 00:39:58,600
There are incredible days ahead for us.

697
00:39:58,600 --> 00:40:11,480
And so I just remind myself of this and keep saying yes and dig in, like spending time with him and rooting ourselves in him and trust that it's going to be really great.

698
00:40:11,480 --> 00:40:16,200
If you could go back and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?

699
00:40:16,200 --> 00:40:27,400
If I could convince myself that life with God is the best adventure and the most exciting and the most life giving thing ever.

700
00:40:27,400 --> 00:40:29,320
That's what I would want myself to know.

701
00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:31,320
Those things will keep us from stumbling.

702
00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:35,000
Those truths, the younger we get them, the better off we are.

703
00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:35,960
Right.

704
00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:40,360
So as we wrap it up, Ken and I just you've you've shared so much I need to think about it.

705
00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:45,080
And I'm sure everyone who's listening is just thankful for all the truth you've given us.

706
00:40:45,080 --> 00:40:54,280
But as we wrap it up, I like to ask my guests if there's a woman in the Bible whose story has inspired or encouraged or taught you something.

707
00:40:54,280 --> 00:40:57,880
And how does her God story connect with your God story?

708
00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:04,600
It would have to be Esther because she really was positioned and appointed.

709
00:41:04,600 --> 00:41:11,160
And even the circumstances in her life equipped her whether she knew it or not or what was before her.

710
00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:16,120
And she had an amazing counselor in her life when the time was necessary.

711
00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:18,600
She stood up for what she knew was right.

712
00:41:18,600 --> 00:41:21,880
And she took the stand no matter what it cost her.

713
00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:25,240
And God used her in a significant way.

714
00:41:25,240 --> 00:41:38,600
And I want to be that person who stands for what's right, who stands on truth and doesn't move, who doesn't bow to any other thing and who gains the favor of the king for such a time as this.

715
00:41:38,600 --> 00:41:46,920
Earlier you mentioned made reference to Jeremiah 29 11 and I that's been one of my life versus.

716
00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:58,280
For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord plans for your well-being and not for trouble to give you a future and a hope really goes along with what God told you.

717
00:41:58,280 --> 00:42:00,920
I want for you.

718
00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:04,120
I want my plan for you more than you want it for yourself.

719
00:42:04,120 --> 00:42:10,440
And that kind of what Jeremiah 29 11 says to me, I have good plans for you.

720
00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:12,920
You know, I want these for you.

721
00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:14,920
I really want these good plans.

722
00:42:14,920 --> 00:42:17,480
Would you please step in line with them?

723
00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:20,440
And he has good plans for all of us.

724
00:42:20,440 --> 00:42:29,960
You know, I know the good plans I have for you, says the Lord plans for your well-being, not for trouble to give you a future and a hope.

725
00:42:29,960 --> 00:42:34,040
And then Psalm 37 3 through 5, it says, trust in the Lord and do good.

726
00:42:34,040 --> 00:42:37,080
Dwell in the land and feed on his faithfulness.

727
00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:41,800
Delight yourself also in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

728
00:42:41,800 --> 00:42:43,400
Commit your way to the Lord.

729
00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:46,600
Trust him and he will bring it to pass.

730
00:42:46,600 --> 00:42:51,080
I just see that he has done that for you and for Justin and your family.

731
00:42:51,080 --> 00:42:58,040
As you have committed your ways to the Lord, he has brought to pass things that you could not have even imagined.

732
00:42:58,040 --> 00:43:00,840
And, you know, he wants to do that for each one of us.

733
00:43:00,840 --> 00:43:03,400
He wants to do that for you who are listening.

734
00:43:03,400 --> 00:43:06,920
He has good plans for you to prosper, you not to harm you.

735
00:43:06,920 --> 00:43:10,120
He wants to bless you when we trust in the Lord.

736
00:43:10,120 --> 00:43:11,080
He's a good God.

737
00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:12,200
He's faithful.

738
00:43:12,200 --> 00:43:21,160
You've heard Kenna's story of times when she kind of rejected what God had for her for a season.

739
00:43:21,160 --> 00:43:25,320
But God didn't, that didn't shake God's faithfulness.

740
00:43:25,320 --> 00:43:26,360
He was still faithful.

741
00:43:26,360 --> 00:43:32,040
He drew her into his plan out of his great love and out of his great goodness.

742
00:43:33,160 --> 00:43:36,360
But as we sign off, Kenna, I just thank you so much for your time.

743
00:43:36,360 --> 00:43:38,200
I mean, we're seven hours apart.

744
00:43:38,200 --> 00:43:41,000
You're at night, nighttime there.

745
00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:44,280
Your kids are probably headed for bed if they're not there already.

746
00:43:44,280 --> 00:43:46,840
So thank you for being with me today.

747
00:43:46,840 --> 00:43:51,960
Would you pray for our listeners and just speak blessing from Jerusalem to everyone who's listening?

748
00:43:51,960 --> 00:43:52,520
Absolutely.

749
00:43:52,520 --> 00:43:58,680
And I just want to say what a gift somebody cares and your ministry has impacted our hearts and our lives.

750
00:43:58,680 --> 00:44:06,760
Having had the opportunity to walk with you guys and Doug and Lisa and just learn how to love and how to serve has,

751
00:44:06,760 --> 00:44:09,800
has impacted our life and our ministry since then.

752
00:44:09,800 --> 00:44:15,880
And so we're so grateful for our time and we're grateful for somebody cares and thankful for relationships that endure.

753
00:44:15,880 --> 00:44:18,920
So Lord, I thank you so much for your faithfulness.

754
00:44:18,920 --> 00:44:20,440
God, you are so good.

755
00:44:20,440 --> 00:44:27,080
And even when we don't know what's ahead, and especially in these times, Lord, of such uncertainty,

756
00:44:27,080 --> 00:44:32,520
we stand on your promise that you know the plans you have for us.

757
00:44:32,520 --> 00:44:35,080
And so today, Lord, God, we just stand on that.

758
00:44:35,080 --> 00:44:40,520
We take our stand on your word and we agree with you.

759
00:44:40,520 --> 00:44:44,680
And we thank you, God, that you know the plans you have for us.

760
00:44:44,680 --> 00:44:54,040
So I pray, Lord, for every listener today that you would breathe hope, that you would stir in them the good plans.

761
00:44:54,040 --> 00:44:56,360
And your presence, God, you are with us.

762
00:44:56,360 --> 00:44:57,880
You never leave us.

763
00:44:57,880 --> 00:44:59,720
And you are so faithful.

764
00:44:59,720 --> 00:45:04,840
So may you be the lifter of our head today that we could cast our eyes on you.

765
00:45:04,840 --> 00:45:06,680
And rest in your faithfulness.

766
00:45:06,680 --> 00:45:09,160
In Jesus name, Amen.

767
00:45:09,160 --> 00:45:13,240
Her God Story is a ministry of Somebody Cares America and international.

768
00:45:13,240 --> 00:45:35,640
To find out more about or support the ministry, go to somebodycares.org.