God Won't Let You Down, Laura Allred's Story, cont.

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Hey friends, I love a good story, especially when it's a God story.

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And I love to hear how God takes ordinary women and does extraordinary things in, for,

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and through them.

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I'm your host, Jodir Chiricosta, ministry leader at Somebody Cares America International, author

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and traveler on this journey of faith.

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And I've got a story that will equip, inspire, and encourage you in your walk with the Lord.

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So welcome.

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I'm so glad you tuned in.

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Have you heard about our Her God Story podcast clubs?

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and encourage one another in your journey with the Lord.

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It's very simple.

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Listen to the same episode, download our prepared podcast questions from hergodstory.org, and

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then discuss over your favorite refreshments.

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And it's a great way to reach out to friends who don't know Christ yet.

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Include them in the conversation and see what God will do.

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Listening to an episode takes less time than reading most books, and we think you'll have

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a lot of takers.

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So gather some friends and try it out.

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When you do, email us at prayer at somebodycares.org to let us know so we can be praying for you.

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Now in our last episode, we heard how Laura Allred chose to say yes whenever God spoke

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to her and what an amazing journey that began.

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But there's more to her story.

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The apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1, 7, I think it's the NIV version, says, trials or testings

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come so that the proven genuineness of your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes

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even though refined by fire, may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ

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is revealed.

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Those who love the Lord will be refined, purified so that we bring glory and honor to Jesus.

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It's not a very fun process.

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But for those who've gone through some refining, they are very grateful on the other side.

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And Laura, she can attest to this.

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Laura is a dynamic minister, evangelist and prayer warrior.

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She currently serves as the young adult pastor at Trinity Church in Dallas, Texas, and is

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a wife and devoted mom to her beautiful daughter.

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Welcome back, Laura.

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Thank you for having me.

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It's so good to be back.

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When the back to life walk was over, you went home and the euphoria of its completion started

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to fade.

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I mean, that was two years of an adrenaline rush.

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For sure.

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You were in a situation, but you were still faced with the unfulfilled desire for a child.

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You know, your story reminds me a bit of Elijah.

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After his confrontation and victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings

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chapter 18, he then had a crisis of faith.

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And you faced something similar in your life.

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What happened?

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Yeah.

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So I, you know, have been, as we talked about in the last episode, saying yes to the Lord

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over and over and put that dream on hold.

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And I started to look back at my life and the accumulative disappointments started to

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really weigh on me and add pressure to my heart.

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You know, my dad's, my father's passing away to a brain tumor, waiting really, really long

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to get married, you know, in my thirties.

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You know, although I wanted to be married years before getting married and being sick,

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like all of those things.

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And then infertility, I started looking at my journey and I'm like, wow, Lord, I, I've

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been through some things and I'm really tired.

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And the question that kept coming up in my head was the same lie that the serpent said

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to Eve in the garden when she said, oh no, we're not supposed to eat from that.

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It was basically, well, are you sure that's what God said?

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Are you sure he really means that?

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Are you sure?

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Are he, is he holding out on you?

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Does he really have your best interest at heart?

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And I began to grapple with that question because up until that point, my ministry life

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had been so blessed.

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I had, you know, favor with that.

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I was, it felt as if as long as I was doing something for the Lord, that was blessed.

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But my personal life was always going to be on the struggle bus.

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Things are going to come really difficult.

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Like nothing was going to come easy.

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It was all going to be really hard.

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And I really started to wrestle with, okay, Lord, like where are you in this?

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And do you really have my best interest at heart?

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And I couldn't wholeheartedly say, I believe that he did.

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I felt like he would bless my ministry, but what about Laura's personal desires?

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What about my, my personal needs and why is it so hard?

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And so I started really wrestling that out with the Lord and it, it wasn't pretty, but

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you at the same time we're ready, you know, gave it our, okay, let's keep trying.

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So we're going back to doctors and you know, just, yeah, it was a very, very dark season.

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So then you come to the conclusion that, well, all right, you know, maybe, maybe God doesn't

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have a natural child for me.

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Maybe he has adoption for us because adoption is a beautiful thing.

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I mean, you wrestled around with that.

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You, you came to the place where you're willing to adopt and then you got a remarkable phone

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call right after that, that took you and Gabriel on the path to adoption.

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Share about that journey and what God showed you through it.

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Wow.

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So that was, that was really wild.

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We love adoption again in the pro-life movement.

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I think adoption is a huge part of that.

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And so I, we began after a lot of heart searching, okay, like let's pursue that.

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Let's talk about it.

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As soon as the words came out of our mouth, it was actually the very next day I got a

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Facebook message from one of the girls that I led to the Lord in the second grade, who

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is still a pastor's wife down in the Houston area.

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And there was a baby that was going to be born within the next two weeks.

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And the birth mom had already placed a previous baby for adoption.

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And she was like, I just don't think I can take care of this baby and I need a family.

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You know, do you know anyone?

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And right away I'm like, uh, in two weeks, like I just said that yesterday, Lord, like,

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are you kidding me?

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Like that was so fast.

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And so immediately we, um, called a, got a private adoption attorney and asked all the

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questions like what, how does this work?

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If there's a baby that's going to be here, you know, we don't have the time to do like

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the home studies and the adoption agencies and all that.

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So like, what does this look like?

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He said, it's totally doable in Texas.

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No problem.

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Here are your parameters.

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Here's the thing you can't do.

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Here's what you can't do.

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And so it was about a week after we heard about this baby being available for adoption,

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we actually tried to find other couples to adopt this baby.

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And the pastor's wife said, yeah, we're working on this into, we'll let you know about it.

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You know, let's just, we'll keep in touch.

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So several days go by and I just kept thinking about this baby.

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And I was like, okay, Lord, well, if she's, is it was going to be a girl if she's still

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available, you know, by Monday, we'll, we'll really strongly consider it.

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Oh, no, no.

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I said, if she's available by Sunday, we'll strongly consider it.

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So it's Sunday, the third Sunday in June, and it's the day right before Martin Luther

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King Day.

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And I'm sitting, you know, in our church that we've been in for our whole married lives.

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And my heart just keeps thinking about this baby.

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And I'm like, well, there's other couples that are interested in, you know, so we'll

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see.

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So I get a text from one of my spiritual daughters who knew that I had been longing for a baby

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for now almost five years, four years now.

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And she said, I'm praying for your baby right now for your future baby.

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God has something for you.

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Within 10 seconds from that, I get another text message from the pastor's wife saying,

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Hey, yeah, she's still available.

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Are you interested?

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Well, all of this is happening.

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You have to just imagine me, you know, on the front row of our seat, up on the screens

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in our church, they're playing a memorial video to Martin Luther King and his famous

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I Have a Dream that one day white and black will sit together, you know, and I just began

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to weep because this was an African American baby.

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I'm Latina, Gabriel is Caucasian.

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And so I'm like, what a beautiful picture this would be.

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And I just began to weep thinking, Oh my goodness, she's available.

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So I said to Gabe, she's, she's still available.

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And he took a big breath and was like, okay, let's move forward.

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So we just start seeking counsel and we start calling families that have adopted.

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We have a good friend of ours who's adopted like five children through private adoption

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and he's giving us counsel.

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They have an adoption agency and we're so excited.

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So I make an initial call to this woman and I saw a Sunday night and I said, you know,

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here we're interested.

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I hear some parameters.

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We can't give you money, but we can pay your electric bill.

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You know, we can buy you groceries.

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And I said, if you would like, we'll drive down to Houston to meet you tomorrow on Monday.

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And she said, I would, I would like that very much.

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So Gabe and I are like, Oh my goodness, we're driving down to Houston from Dallas to Houston

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we're driving down the same road, 250 miles that I had just walked up the year before

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to pray for the ending of abortion.

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We're driving down to meet this minority baby who would typically otherwise have been aborted.

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We're just seeing God kisses all over this and the timing all over this.

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We're just like, Oh my goodness, you do have our best interest in heart.

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You're writing this story and look how this is so beautiful.

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Like, you know, especially from the pro-life movement stance, like how beautiful is this

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going to be?

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So we, we drive down there.

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We're nervous wreck.

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We sit in the pastor's office for about an hour and a half with this birth mom who's

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just her big old belly, you know, and, and we're talking to her, telling her about our

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lives.

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You telling her about how much we long to be parents and that we are going to just take

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care of this baby and she will be blessed and not want for anything.

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And you know, just be raised in such a loving family.

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And we just had a pretty good connection with her and she said, well, let me, let me pray

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about it.

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Let me pray on it and I'll let you know tomorrow.

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And so, so like, of course, absolutely.

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You know, take your time, you know, cause there are another family that was, she was

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talking to.

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So we're trying to be, you know, you know, keep hopeful, but not get too attached and,

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you know, it's just, it's just a really wild emotional journey.

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And the very next day she called us, this was now on a, on a Tuesday and this was on

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the 40th anniversary of Roe V. Wade that she calls.

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And there's a scripture in Isaiah, it's 818 that says, I and my children will be for signs

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and wonders and you know, that's a big, the adoption movement.

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That's a big part of what we believe is like, God wants to bless these children.

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And so it's, she calls me on the anniversary of Ruby Wade and said, I want you to have

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this baby, to adopt this baby.

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Like, you know, will you, and I'm just like, yes, we will.

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And we're just like, what a God story.

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Like this is so beautiful.

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And this is on the anniversary and we're just like, this baby is going to be a sign and

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a wonder.

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And we're going to tell this story all over the world and how beautiful, you know, just,

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oh, God is so good.

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And so we were just so excited.

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We come tell our spiritual family, you know, our, we had just a small, tiny two door Mini

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Cooper sport.

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You couldn't put a car seat in the back seat of it.

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It was so tiny.

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So my pastor's wife gave us her Mesa on Pathfinder so we could have a family car.

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We go to Christ for the Nations and they just take this enormous offering to help us with

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adoption costs.

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Our guest room is flooded with baby clothes.

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And what I've learned about the spirit of adoption, the Bible talks about the spirit

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of adoption.

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So when you say yes to adopt a baby, it's, it was like that, like she just belonged to

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us.

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It was like, you know, yes, this birth mom was carrying her, but like that was our, that

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was our baby.

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It was as if I had carried her in my own womb.

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And so, you know, we're going down this journey in two weeks time, resting around, getting

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a nursery together, like just all the, all the things.

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And she starts asking the birth mom, you know, starts kind of asking for money, which I'm

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like, well, hey, we can't do that, but here's a gift card, you know, and, and we kind of

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go continue.

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And it began, began to be, like, it felt like almost like a hostage negotiation because

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she started changing her mind.

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And so I was, you know, trying to just be very open and kind and, you know, yes, well,

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you know, what can we do to help you?

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What can we do to reassure you?

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You know, we're, we have everything ready.

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You know, you gave us your yes, the paperwork is, is processing and she just, you know,

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I changed her text tone to her number that when her text came in, it sounded different

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than the others.

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So I would know like, it's an important text message.

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So every time the text would come in, I would, you know, jump and then, you know, okay, like

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trying to word, you know, word it the right way that we put her at ease.

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But the whole time I'm like, oh my goodness, she, she's not going to back out on this.

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Is she?

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So she went silent for like four or five days after the baby's due date.

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And I am a nervous wreck.

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I can't sleep.

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We can't eat.

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We're just like a hot mess.

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And after several days of silence, she just sends this, I hear the text tone and it was

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the whistle one, you know, that one.

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I hear that text tone come in and I jumped and I opened my text message and it was a

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picture of this beautiful baby.

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And she said, she's here.

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She's just been born.

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And Gabriel and I are like, like, look, our breath is taken away and we're like, oh my

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goodness.

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I, my, my sister-in-law was a midwife at the time and she had all of her new moms that

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had frozen colostrum and breast milk, you know, donate all this breast milk for me.

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So we, we jumped in the, in the car and we drove down to Houston to the hospital she

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was at and we arrived and we waited in the hospital room for, in the hospital waiting

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room for 12 hours with this cooler of breast milk and balloons in my family and my best

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friend waiting to meet this, this beautiful baby.

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And we, because of HIPAA laws, the many different deaths, like I can't give you any information.

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You know, I'm talking to her on the phone, the birth mom, she's in the hospital and she's

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like, you know, talking to the nurses saying, yes, okay.

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No, thank you.

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I feel fine.

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And then she's talking with me on the phone and she's like, I'm really, I wish you hadn't

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come.

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I'm really uncomfortable that you came.

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And then she just went radio silent.

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And so we're in the hospital room.

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I mean, the hospital waiting room, I'm sorry, for, for 12 hours, Jodi, for 12 hours we're

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waiting.

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And at the end of the day, the lady at the front desk says, I think you should just come

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back tomorrow when the social security office and the social workers office is open.

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And we're like, okay, we'll do that.

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So we stayed at some pastor's friend's house close by and the next morning we're up bright

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and early.

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We couldn't, we didn't sleep a wink.

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You know, we went to the hospital again, everything in tow, car seat in the back of our car.

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And we sat in the hospital lobby and the social worker called Gabriel.

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We went to the social workers office and we gave her the details.

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She was like, let me look at this and I'll give you a call.

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Just go wait in the office.

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So in the lobby.

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So we waited in the lobby.

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The social worker called Gabriel and he's on the phone.

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All I hear is, mm hmm.

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Yes.

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And he gave the birth mom's name and here's my name.

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And I'm like, what?

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You know, what's happening?

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And he grabbed my hand and he just said, come on, Laura, it's over.

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He's gone.

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And the social worker had said to him on the phone, I don't know how to tell you this,

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Mr. Allred, but that, I'm so sorry.

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But she said that that baby was placed for adoption a week ago with another family.

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And the whole while the birth mom had been playing two parties and had been asking us

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to give her money, $400.

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It was a small amount of money that she was willing to guess to sell her child for.

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I don't know.

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But you know, I really didn't understand all of the things that we thought were God kisses

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and the timing of it.

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It felt like a cruel joke.

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And I felt wondered at times if God was the one playing the joke.

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And it was really intense and heartbreaking to, you know, have I have had all these years

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of serving the Lord and obeying him for things just to go so really poorly.

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We were heartbroken, to say the least.

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Well, I mean, Laura, that's, that's a heartbreaking story.

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And as you said, you must have been wondering why God did you let me down that road to end

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in disappointment?

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I mean, how did you get through that?

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That's crushing.

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I mean, that's crushing disappointment.

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It was crushing.

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It was devastating.

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I went through probably the darkest night of my soul.

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It was even more difficult than when my father had passed away from a brain tumor.

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And I think Jodi, it was the accumulative disappointments, right?

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You know, okay, I didn't get married till I was, you know, you know, okay, my dad is

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passed away and when I do finally get married at, you know, the age of 32, my father's not

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there to walk me down the aisle.

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That's huge disappointment for a woman, you know, and we just, we get married and we have

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difficulties, difficulty, you know, I'm like, I was like, that's like, whoa, God.

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And then this like adoption heartache, it was like a, it was like a miscarriage of our

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hearts.

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Oh, yeah.

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And so I said, I again, I'm all in or not.

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So I was like, I'm taking a break.

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And I went to the Lord with my anger.

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There are lots of times where I yelled at the Lord out loud.

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There are times I was silent, but I couldn't go to church and just be like, oh, everything's

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fine.

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Also there, everybody was getting pregnant at that time at my church, everybody.

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It was in the water.

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People were getting pregnant.

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I mean, people who had just gotten married were getting pregnant.

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So, you know, I'm like, ah, so I, I just went through a deep wrestling with the Lord for

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nine months and I would come home and Gabe would know that if I had my bathrobe on at

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the end of the day, when he came home from work at five o'clock, it was a bad day.

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And there are many days he came home and my bathrobe was still on, you know?

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And I just, so finally, I think it was like eight or nine months, I realized like, I really

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miss the Lord and I can't give you the silent treatment forever.

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And it's kind of like Peter says, well Lord, where are we going to go?

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Because only you have the words of life.

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And I was like, what am I going to do?

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I'm not going to backslide.

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I'm not going to turn my back on you.

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I'm just really disappointed in you right now.

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And but I missed his presence because I'm a worshiper and I was created to worship.

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So finally I just said, okay, Lord, if you never do this thing for me, if you never,

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you know, if I never feel a baby move in my womb, if I never, you know, I, you're enough

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for me and I love you and I miss worshiping you.

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And so I'm like all congested now because I'm crying so much.

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This was eight, this was nine years ago and it's amazing how something like that can still

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affect and your heart can still be moved, you know, because just the feeling.

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So anyway, I, I said, okay, Lord, fine.

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I don't understand your ways that the Rita Springer song, you know, I don't understand

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your ways, but I'm going to, I'm going to worship you anyway.

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And I took a deep breath and I, I just, I had, I was done with my temper tantrum basically,

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you know?

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So I said, okay, Lord, I'm yours.

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And about a week later I got a ministry invitation to Australia to, to preach in a women's conference

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and I did.

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There were babies everywhere and I was able to hold them and love them and not want to

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punch the moms in the face, you know, the birth, the, cause they, and I came home and

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I was like, all right, Lord, I belong to you and I, you don't owe me an explanation.

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And that that's, yeah.

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So yeah, I mean, when you finally just let it all out, God brought in that healing and,

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and as you went off to minister again, God had a beautiful surprise for you.

360
00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:29,960
Yeah.

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Shortly after you got back from Australia, tell us about it.

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Yeah.

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So I went to Australia, I had a great ministry time.

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I was like, okay, Lord, that's awesome.

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I came home and about, I had been actually asked by Dutch sheets, sheets to preach at

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Christ for the nations on the issue of abortion, to do a teaching on it.

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So I'm a happily, absolutely, you know, I'm back.

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She's back, you know?

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So I went into teaching and I was under what I perceived to be a great amount of demonic

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attack in my mind because I was preaching, but I was having a really difficult time focusing,

371
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articulating words.

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I was like in the name of Jesus, whatever demonic, you know, cause it's kind of an intense

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topic to talk about.

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And then the next day I realized like, I was so tired and it wasn't a demonic attack after

375
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all.

376
00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:30,080
It was just pregnancy brain, foggy brain fog that happens when you're hormonal.

377
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And I just got pregnant like miraculously.

378
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We had quit trying and I was pregnant and in utter and complete shock, dumbfounded and

379
00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:51,520
just like, wait, this is, it was just wild and joyous and what, you know, it's so beautiful.

380
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Yeah.

381
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Yeah.

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So, you know, friends, there are children all over the world who are without parents,

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orphans who need to experience the tangible expression of God's love right now.

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Many have special needs that we, as a company of women, we can meet together.

385
00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:10,240
Would you consider joining us with a special gift to help?

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Just go to her God story.org and click on the widow and orphan tab at the top of the

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page.

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So Laura, God had the joy of motherhood waiting for you all along, but he wanted to make sure

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that he would always hold first place in your life.

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00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:32,400
So when Evangeline came, you were able to fully enjoy his amazing gift without putting,

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making her an idol.

392
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Right.

393
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Share what God showed you in those first years at home with her.

394
00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:39,520
Yeah.

395
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I mean, I think I becoming pregnant or being a mom had become an idol and I didn't realize

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that.

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But you know, there are studies, medical studies that show that women who are struggling with

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infertility have as much stress as a woman who's been diagnosed with cancer because it's

399
00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:02,760
so intense.

400
00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:06,680
But I think the Lord took me that whole journey to go, okay, am I enough?

401
00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:07,680
Just me.

402
00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:09,400
Am I enough for you?

403
00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:18,080
And so being, you know, I turned 40 years old and had Evangeline one month later.

404
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So it was the best 40th birthday present ever.

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And I just think I have enjoyed just the gift of who she is, giving her back to the Lord

406
00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:33,640
right away and knowing that, you know, what a treasure she is.

407
00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:39,600
And I think, you know, honestly, being of advanced maternal age and having a baby, they

408
00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:44,280
call it a geriatric pregnancy.

409
00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:46,520
That's literally what they call it.

410
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It's made me a better mom because I have more wisdom, I'm more at peace, and it's just been

411
00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:54,280
such a gift.

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00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:56,960
The Lord does have my best interest at heart.

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And I know that even no matter what lies ahead in my life, the ups and downs that the Lord,

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you know, He loves His kids and He has our best interest at heart.

415
00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:09,680
So motherhood has been a hoot.

416
00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:11,520
It's been so fun.

417
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And I love every minute of it, nearly every minute of it.

418
00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:21,480
In those early years, God even gave you an idea for a business slash ministry to moms.

419
00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:22,480
What was that about?

420
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:23,480
Yeah.

421
00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:29,720
So I ended up just ministering to women and people, like, no matter what I do, except

422
00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:30,720
that way.

423
00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:33,840
There was actually a national franchise out of San Diego that was called Fit for Mom.

424
00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:41,120
It was a workout business where moms would come with their strollers and their little

425
00:25:41,120 --> 00:25:47,440
babies to parks and we would work out together and sing songs and like entertain the babies

426
00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:48,440
while the moms worked out.

427
00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:53,280
And it ended up being a ministry to a lot of those moms in gun motherhood and led that

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00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:57,160
ministry, that ministry, that business for a few years.

429
00:25:57,160 --> 00:26:00,840
And it was successful and the Lord just blessed it.

430
00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:08,000
And it's just a really sweet time in our lives and, you know, in the ministry, really.

431
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:09,000
Yeah.

432
00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:13,520
So then at just the right time, God broadened your call again.

433
00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:16,520
How did He do that?

434
00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:21,960
And how has being a mom equipped you for this next ministry season?

435
00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:29,360
Well, it was right before the shutdown, before the COVID shutdown, February of 2020, that

436
00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:34,440
I got a phone call from my pastor and said, our young adult pastor is, the current young

437
00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:39,440
adult pastor is juggling quite a bit and would you be interested in taking this position?

438
00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:46,680
And I was a little bit surprised just because I'm old enough to be most of the young adults,

439
00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:48,840
like I'm their mom's age.

440
00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:52,840
And most young adult pastors are young and cool and, you know, like in their thirties

441
00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:53,840
and can relate.

442
00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:55,960
And I'm like, oh, I don't know.

443
00:26:55,960 --> 00:27:01,200
But I felt the Lord say, yeah, like do this, you know, go ahead and take on this position.

444
00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:02,200
So I did.

445
00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:07,920
I've been doing it since 2020 now at Trinity Church in Cedar Hill.

446
00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:14,160
Trinity Young Adults is, has been, this has been one of the greatest seasons of ministry

447
00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:15,480
for in my life.

448
00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:19,760
I've just loved pouring into and discipling young adults.

449
00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:25,480
And we've just grown and experienced revival and encounters with the Lord.

450
00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:35,160
And you know, to be able to have such an impactful, be an impactful voice in this season and their

451
00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:39,520
lives young adulthood is when you're making the biggest decisions that will affect the

452
00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:42,760
trajectory of your life, who you're going to marry, where you're going to go to school,

453
00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:48,360
all those Rebecca potential Rebecca moments of obedience that will lead you, you know,

454
00:27:48,360 --> 00:27:55,680
so being able to disciple them in this season of their lives is just such an honor.

455
00:27:55,680 --> 00:28:01,800
And many of them, too many of them, I am like a spiritual mom and it's been intense.

456
00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:03,600
It's had a lot of very intense moments.

457
00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:07,600
This generation is definitely very different.

458
00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:12,720
Even the church young adults are very different than when we grew up just because of the,

459
00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:14,520
the spirit of this age.

460
00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:19,920
So I have just done my best to love them well and point them to Jesus.

461
00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:25,600
And my aspiration is that they will be loyalers of Jesus for the rest of their lives.

462
00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:29,640
And saying yes to that young adult ministry positioned you to experience what I can only

463
00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:33,280
describe as a kiss from heaven.

464
00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:39,280
When Verovi Wade was overturned, share, share just about how that all came.

465
00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:45,640
I mean, what that means for you, where you were and that just how, how that was meaningful

466
00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:46,640
to you.

467
00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:47,640
Yeah.

468
00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:48,640
So amazing.

469
00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:49,640
God is so sweet.

470
00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:56,880
And he, you know, for those that heard my story earlier, I was a part of pro-life movement

471
00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:00,120
for a while, the Back to Life Walk and since childhood.

472
00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:03,480
So that was one of the God assignments that God had given me for my life.

473
00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:07,840
And the other was young adult ministry with the young adult women's ministry that I did,

474
00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:11,720
you know, when I was still single for seven years and now continuing to do young adult

475
00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:12,960
ministry now.

476
00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:15,720
And then this assignment to pray for revival in Norway.

477
00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:21,880
Those are kind of like my three big life assignments they have been, you know, so far.

478
00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:23,400
I'm almost, I'm 49.

479
00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:25,280
So you know, that's up to this point.

480
00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:28,760
Those are the big three things that God's given me in my life.

481
00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:36,180
And so I took a group of my young adult leaders to Norway last summer to descend to witness

482
00:29:36,180 --> 00:29:42,160
the move of God that is happening in Norway now that, you know, 20 plus years ago, it's

483
00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:47,000
just the nation, the landscape of the nation spiritually didn't look this way.

484
00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:50,320
So I'm like, there was, the send was happening there in Norway.

485
00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:57,520
So we went to descend there in Oslo and, you know, evangelizing and ministry there and

486
00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:03,640
we're in a park and I'm, I know that this case is coming up that could potentially overturn

487
00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:04,640
Ro.

488
00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:11,040
So I'm sitting in the park, I'm surrounded by young adults in Norway, refreshing the

489
00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:15,580
SCOTUS website to see the ruling when I refresh.

490
00:30:15,580 --> 00:30:23,560
And then there it is like Roe v Wade has been brought down, which, you know, I, all I've

491
00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:26,540
known my whole life is abortion legalized.

492
00:30:26,540 --> 00:30:33,080
And so it was just like, like a Goliath, Goliath coming down, like for sure.

493
00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:38,920
And so it was in Norway surrounded by young adults that this ruling is made.

494
00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:43,840
So it's like all, all these three big assignments culminating in this one moment.

495
00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:48,080
And I just, all I could do was just put my head down and just weep.

496
00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:54,000
And it was just such a beautiful kiss from the Lord that he would have me there in that

497
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,800
moment with those people for that time.

498
00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:57,800
So sweet.

499
00:30:57,800 --> 00:30:58,800
Oh, only God could do that.

500
00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:00,560
Only, only God could arrange that.

501
00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:07,400
So Laura, you talked about, you know, the young adult ministry, these younger generations

502
00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:12,000
growing up in a very, very different time than, than, I mean, I'm a bit older than

503
00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:18,040
you even, then, you know, the generations when we were growing up, what, what truths

504
00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:24,400
do you see are really being vital part of the younger generations?

505
00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:27,800
I mean, they're kind of growing up in this post-Christian era.

506
00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:32,080
They've experienced some really hard things at young ages and they've seen things they

507
00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:35,440
were never, God never intended them to see.

508
00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:36,440
What do they need to hear?

509
00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:38,480
What are those bedrock truths?

510
00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:41,440
Because I mean, there might be some from the younger generation listening.

511
00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:46,640
They need to hear this truth or it might be parents of, of young adults who need to know,

512
00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:48,320
you know, what, what are they dealing with?

513
00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:50,000
What can I pray?

514
00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:56,400
What can I speak over them that would, that would be like, that would be life to them.

515
00:31:56,400 --> 00:32:02,960
You know, we had, I had some friends, Caitlin and Colzick from moral revolution.

516
00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:06,400
It's a purity movement out of Bethel, Trojan, Redding.

517
00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:11,880
They came to the young adults and we did kind of a panel with them and they were the first

518
00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:17,000
that I heard say this, but they, they said, first of all, this generation deals with shame

519
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:22,060
and the reason for that shame, one of the main reasons is their access to pornography

520
00:32:22,060 --> 00:32:24,220
at such a young age.

521
00:32:24,220 --> 00:32:30,440
And statistics now show that Gen Z, the average initial introduction to pornography is between

522
00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:34,480
the ages of eight and 10 is most common.

523
00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:40,120
And so when you're looking at 200 young adults, that's how many come on Mondays.

524
00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:44,040
I'm looking across 200 young adults and the majority of them at the age of eight or nine

525
00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:50,160
or 10 years old experienced or saw for the first time because of the digital age, you

526
00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:56,040
know, pornography, they said your whole generation has been assaulted essentially because you

527
00:32:56,040 --> 00:33:00,440
were a child seeing things that you shouldn't have seen as a minor.

528
00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:05,080
So when you look at it from that perspective, that most of the generation has been exposed

529
00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:11,920
and there's that, that paradigm that they're having to overcome coupled with radical, radical

530
00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:16,720
individualism message, whatever feels good, do it.

531
00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:18,400
Follow your heart.

532
00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:20,280
Be who you are.

533
00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:23,760
You know, that's, that's the happiest you're going to be is what it's that.

534
00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:25,520
That's that message.

535
00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:30,240
Radical individualism is contrary to the word of God, complete opposite.

536
00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:35,280
So those things together have caused a lot of confusion.

537
00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:42,480
So what I try to share with my young adults is that the word of God is unchanging and

538
00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:43,480
it is true truth.

539
00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:48,440
And in a culture that is trying to pull you into all sorts of things, what you need to

540
00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:51,960
know is the word of God.

541
00:33:51,960 --> 00:34:01,320
And one thing that I think that the climate, the upside now to what the church has adopted

542
00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:08,000
or not adopted because it's truth, but has awakened to is the acceptance of the Lord

543
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:13,320
over us as his children, no matter what state we're in, that he loves us.

544
00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:18,160
That there's nothing we can do to make him love us less or there's nothing we can do

545
00:34:18,160 --> 00:34:19,600
to make him love us more.

546
00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:24,800
But in the religious culture that we grew up in, Jodi, you and I, it was all based on

547
00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:26,240
works and deeds.

548
00:34:26,240 --> 00:34:31,280
And whenever we were sinning, it would also provoke our thought of like, God doesn't love

549
00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:32,280
me as much.

550
00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:33,280
Right?

551
00:34:33,280 --> 00:34:37,000
So my thing is like letting them know, listen, the Lord loves you the same today as he ever

552
00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:38,160
will.

553
00:34:38,160 --> 00:34:43,400
It's the choices you make though that will either let you enter in and know the love

554
00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:45,980
of God fully, you know, or not.

555
00:34:45,980 --> 00:34:51,400
So I think teaching them to know the word of God, teaching them that the Lord is not

556
00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:54,800
a tyrant, that he truly loves them.

557
00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:59,080
But walking in obedience and walking according to the word of God is where you're going to

558
00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:01,440
have your most fulfilled life ever.

559
00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:02,440
Amen.

560
00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:04,560
Well, Laura, you've got so much to offer.

561
00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:09,480
It's going to be exciting to see what God does with you in the next 10 to 20 years.

562
00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:15,960
But as we close, share another woman in the Bible who's inspired or encouraged or taught

563
00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:16,960
you something.

564
00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:21,360
I wrestled with this because there's so many amazing women in the Bible.

565
00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:27,840
But I really felt like the Holy Spirit said, tell them, remind them about the Shulamite

566
00:35:27,840 --> 00:35:30,200
and the Song of Solomon.

567
00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:34,240
Now this will make me weep and I probably will weep because my heart is so tender right

568
00:35:34,240 --> 00:35:36,480
now because I'm sharing my story again.

569
00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:38,800
Thank you for letting me share my story.

570
00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:43,280
It reminds me of just the faithfulness of God in my life and it just tenderizes my heart.

571
00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:48,720
But I love the Shulamite woman in the Song of Solomon because it starts off right away.

572
00:35:48,720 --> 00:35:56,320
Song of Solomon, verse chapter one, verse four says, draw me after you and let us run

573
00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:57,320
together.

574
00:35:57,320 --> 00:35:59,640
That's her cry.

575
00:35:59,640 --> 00:36:01,360
Jesus, draw me after you.

576
00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:02,480
I want to run with you.

577
00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:04,400
I don't want to run apart from you.

578
00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:06,040
I want to run with you.

579
00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:15,800
It's her tenderness to her bridegroom throughout the book that inspires me in my love for Jesus.

580
00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:23,760
When I see myself as the Shulamite and I see Jesus as my bridegroom who calls me, who loves

581
00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:28,960
me, who woos me, who's running after me, who's drawing me to him.

582
00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:35,560
I love chapter two, verse one, chapter two, verse four.

583
00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:41,000
I'm not going to try to preach a message here, but I just want to highlight a couple of things.

584
00:36:41,000 --> 00:36:45,960
Chapter two, verse four, where she says, his banner over me is love.

585
00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:49,200
His pull me to his banqueting table, her tenderness.

586
00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:55,000
Chapter three, where she says, when I find the one that my soul loves, I'm not going

587
00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:56,640
to let go of him.

588
00:36:56,640 --> 00:37:00,120
But then she does because she's frail and weak.

589
00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:07,560
Just the tension of love's full heart, but also I am going to let go of him, but I'm

590
00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:09,560
going to come back to him.

591
00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:15,920
I just love the picture of her tenderness of the courtship and running from God, but

592
00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:21,080
the progression of coming back to the Lord and the tenderness that her and the bridegroom

593
00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:22,620
share.

594
00:37:22,620 --> 00:37:27,480
It was really learning the book of Psalm to Solomon and applying it to my life when I

595
00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:35,120
was 25 years old that awakened my journey to the Lord in such a deeper, intimate way

596
00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:43,800
that I would love for all of the listeners to see themselves in that picture and to see

597
00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:48,320
themselves as in chapter eight, verse five, when he says, who is this coming out of the

598
00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:51,080
desert leaving on her beloved?

599
00:37:51,080 --> 00:37:55,720
And I feel like that's been a part of, oh, hey, they're going to cry.

600
00:37:55,720 --> 00:37:57,200
But that's been my story.

601
00:37:57,200 --> 00:38:03,440
We've been through some desert, my lover and I, the bridegroom and I, but I came out of

602
00:38:03,440 --> 00:38:05,960
the desert and I'm leaning on him.

603
00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:11,320
And so she inspires me and teaches me how to lean into the Lord and to keep a fresh,

604
00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:14,560
awake heart to the lover of my soul.

605
00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:15,560
So mine says Shulamite.

606
00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:22,680
Oh, man, you know, we don't often equate joy with the refiner's fire, but those who

607
00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:28,720
pass through it, like Laura and like the Shulamite woman, realize that the dross God removes

608
00:38:28,720 --> 00:38:33,960
from their lives in the process was holding them back from a greater joy and a greater

609
00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:37,440
peace and a greater life in Christ.

610
00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:44,480
And if we embrace that process and let God have his way, he will do even greater things

611
00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:45,840
in and through us.

612
00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:49,520
And those greater things aren't necessarily taking you to Africa and dropping you down

613
00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:51,600
in the middle of somewhere.

614
00:38:51,600 --> 00:38:56,540
It can be allowing you to share Jesus with the person next to you and your neighbor and

615
00:38:56,540 --> 00:39:00,120
seeing their life transformed.

616
00:39:00,120 --> 00:39:04,640
God's great works are accessible because he invites us into them.

617
00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:07,600
Laura, would you take a minute and pray for our listeners?

618
00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:08,840
I would love to.

619
00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:15,440
I just feel the tenderness of the Lord over those who are listening, even though we're

620
00:39:15,440 --> 00:39:19,760
recording now and it may not, we don't know when the listeners will be listening.

621
00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:20,760
It could be weeks from now.

622
00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:26,680
It could be months from now, but I feel the tenderness of the Lord over you right now,

623
00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:28,280
dear listener.

624
00:39:28,280 --> 00:39:34,800
And I just bless you with the tenderness of heart back toward your God, your maker.

625
00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:41,280
I just pray that your heart would be alive and tender to his voice, that you would hear

626
00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:47,840
him, that you would listen, that you would accept the invitation for the God adventure,

627
00:39:47,840 --> 00:39:53,680
that you would be like the Shulamite woman in Song of Solomon chapter eight, verse five,

628
00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:58,400
that even though you go through a desert, you're going to be leaning on the one that

629
00:39:58,400 --> 00:39:59,840
you love.

630
00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:09,280
The Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus, man Jesus who died and paid the price for us to be intimate

631
00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:12,080
with you, to be one with you.

632
00:40:12,080 --> 00:40:16,600
Would you come and draw us and let us run together with you?

633
00:40:16,600 --> 00:40:22,080
God, I pray for those who are hurting, who are weary, who are tired, even broken.

634
00:40:22,080 --> 00:40:28,720
Oh God, that they would feel Lord, a glimmer, your hope rising up within them, that they

635
00:40:28,720 --> 00:40:34,520
would be reassured Lord, that you have their best interests at heart.

636
00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:40,760
And God, no matter what their life holds Lord, that you are going to just pull them in God

637
00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:44,360
and pour your love and your healing over them.

638
00:40:44,360 --> 00:40:49,040
Lord bless those that are listening in Jesus name I pray.

639
00:40:49,040 --> 00:40:50,040
Amen.

640
00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:51,040
Amen.

641
00:40:51,040 --> 00:40:52,720
Well, thank you for tuning in.

642
00:40:52,720 --> 00:40:57,480
Check out our show notes at hergodstory.org for scriptures, links and other information.

643
00:40:57,480 --> 00:41:02,280
You can sign up for emails there and download a free six week devotional book on women of

644
00:41:02,280 --> 00:41:07,240
the Bible or purchase a 12 week devotional on women of the Bible for just $12, knowing

645
00:41:07,240 --> 00:41:10,080
that all the proceeds go to the widow and orphan fund.

646
00:41:10,080 --> 00:41:13,920
And if God spoke to you through this episode, think about starting a podcast club.

647
00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:17,520
You can have friends, neighbors and colleagues listen to it and then gather around your favorite

648
00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:21,080
refreshments to discuss what God is saying to each of you.

649
00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:27,200
We have suggested questions online at hergodstory.org under the podcast club section to help you

650
00:41:27,200 --> 00:41:36,280
and if you need prayer, call or text us at 855-459-CARE or email us at prayer@somebodycares.org.

651
00:41:36,280 --> 00:41:41,520
And now dear friends, I bless you from Psalm 115 verses 14 and 15.

652
00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:49,080
May the Lord cause you to flourish and may you be blessed by him, your maker, who is

653
00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:51,800
the maker of heaven and earth.

654
00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:55,840
Her God Story is a ministry of Somebody Cares America and International.

655
00:41:55,840 --> 00:42:00,000
To find out more about or support the ministry, go to somebodycares.org.