I Take Things At Faith Value, Kathy Branzell's Story

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

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story to encourage, inspire, and equip you in your walk with the Lord.

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

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and traveler on this journey of faith.

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You may have heard of my guest, Kathy Branzell.

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She currently serves as the president of the National Day of Prayer Task Force.

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But if you've listened to any of my other podcasts, you'll have figured out by now that

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her story up to now has a few plot twists, which we'll get into in a minute.

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In addition to her work with the National Day of Prayer, Kathy was the founder and president

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of the Fellowship of Christian Encouragement for Educators.

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She served as a rapid response chaplain for Billy Graham Association, as well as the national

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coordinator of Love 2020 and the national facilitator for Mission America Coalition.

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Kathy is a prolific writer of devotionals and books, which we will have listed in our

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show notes for you, but her greatest achievement is raising two godly children with her husband

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Russ.

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Welcome, Kathy.

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Hey, so good to be with you, Jodi.

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The 2022 National Day of Prayer was May 5th, and there were prayer gatherings in Washington,

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D.C., as well as in communities coast to coast.

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You've been involved with the National Day of Prayer for 20 some years now.

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Before we dive into your story, tell us about the significance of this year's prayer focus

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and what you felt came out of that day.

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I am so grateful.

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It's so funny that our scripture verses for this year were Colossians 2, 6 and 7.

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That really could be an entire sermon series and a great book.

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All of just in these two packed verses, they say, as you have received Christ Jesus, the

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Lord, so walk in him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in him, established

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in your faith, just as you were instructed in overflowing with gratitude.

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And I'm overflowing with gratitude as our theme was exalts the Lord who's established

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us.

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And it was really a great time for us to take every thought and word captive, to really

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think about what's coming out of our mouths, which is an overflow of what's in our heart,

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to rethink some of our discussions, to rethink some of our not just our words, but our tone.

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And so I've been so grateful as we had tens of thousands of gatherings, like you said,

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across America.

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And people are writing to us now and saying, wow, the Lord's really convicted me.

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And there's been a lot of praying of clean, created me a clean heart, oh God, and renew

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a right spirit in me.

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So there's a right spirit of what comes out of me.

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So so grateful that COVID seems like COVID was really a time when we were all a little

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bit in the furnace, and some of that gunk started coming up to the top.

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This was a perfect time to just allow God to remove the dross from at least a little

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bit more dross from our lives, so we can shine for him more.

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Yes.

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So just overflowing gratitude, coast to coast, really, there were gatherings in almost every

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city.

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Yep.

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And every state in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, and we even had other other countries

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praying for us and with us.

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I mean, it was astounding to think about Cuba, praying for America, people in Cuba, you know,

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people in Guatemala, people in Australia.

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It spent the entire month of May praying for America.

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So how about that?

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So we are incredibly grateful.

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And remember that, yes, the first Thursday of May is the National Day of Prayer by law,

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but we continue, of course, to pray every single day and to mobilize unified public

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prayer for America every day.

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We know that.

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Well, Kathy, you are leading this crucial prayer ministry in our nation, but it took

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really years of work of God working in your life to prepare you for where you are now.

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Tell us about your upbringing and how you first came to know the Lord.

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Well, I was born into a Christian home and a lot of people think that's no testimony,

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but it really is because God, you know, authors our days and I was a military brat, although

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I've never figured out why they call us brats because there was a whole lot of sacrifice.

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There was no room for brattiness in being a military child, as by the time I was 15,

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we had lived 18 different places.

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When I think about being deeply rooted, I'm deeply rooted in Christ, but in nowhere.

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When people say, where are you from?

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I'm like everywhere.

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But I think that that was really part of God's preparing me to lead the National Day of Prayer

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Task Force because there are only two states in America that I have not visited, Idaho

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and Alaska and everywhere else.

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I have this connection of people, you know, a culture of memories of that.

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And I'm so grateful that my parents, when we no matter where we were, no matter for

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how short a period of time we were going to be there before we even unpacked the boxes,

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we went to church and got involved.

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Every minute has mission and meaning.

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And my parents raised me that way that we didn't waste even six weeks in Alabama because,

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oh, well, we're only going to be here for a little while.

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It was no, this is where God has established us for six weeks and we have mission and meaning

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here.

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So get to it.

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And so I'm so grateful that that's how I live life now, you know, now that I'm much,

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much, much older.

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Well, that is really important.

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I mean, I grew up in a military family too.

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We didn't move quite as often as you did, but it was so important to have that really

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solid family foundation of faith because when we moved from city to city, you know, we didn't

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always find immediately a great fellowship.

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Eventually the Lord would bring us into a fellowship, but really my faith was grounded

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like yours in a strong family where we prayed together.

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We had family, you know, Bible study every night.

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You know, my dad would build this big chart and chart out the whole Old Testament as we

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read through it.

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And those were precious times to me.

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And still I know they were the grounding of my faith.

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So I can, I can relate to exactly what you're talking about.

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Yeah.

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So let's, let's encourage women right here.

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I always cringe when somebody goes, oh, well, I'm just a housewife.

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I'm like, you're not just anything.

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So you get to be the chief evangelism officer of your family.

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You get to be the chief faith officer.

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You get to be CEO, CFO, COO, chief opportunity officer of your family.

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And there is nothing greater when you look at the generations through scripture.

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And so remember wherever you are, wherever you work out, hang out, where your kids go

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to school, where you're working, we do know that more women are CEOs now than men, but

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your value is in Christ.

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Those of you who think, oh, I don't do much.

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I just wanted to stop and have you reevaluate and then recenter.

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Especially with all that's going on in the world, that is the messages that are coming

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at our kids, it's even more important that at home they are getting, they're being surrounded

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with their foundation of faith.

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Amen.

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Yes.

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And summertime is a great time to live life on purpose.

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While you were growing up, did you always have a dream of serving the Lord in ministry?

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Nope, not even close.

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My dream was by SR 71s.

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I wanted to serve God in country, serve God by serving country.

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My father was a pilot.

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He flew AC 130 gunships and was a lifetime military ended up a Colonel in the Pentagon.

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And all I wanted to do from the age of three, which a majority of my wardrobe consisted

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as a child of flight suits.

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All I wanted to do was fly SR 71s in the outer atmosphere and fight the enemy by collecting

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intelligence and that I wanted to do that all the way through life.

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I studied well.

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I kept my nose clean.

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I stayed out of trouble for the most part.

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Did not get serious with boys because all I wanted to do was become an officer in the

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military and be one of the first women pilots to serve.

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That was right around the time when the academies were beginning to accept women into the academies.

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Did you apply for an Academy job?

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I did and wound up going made a decision to go to the University of Georgia on ROTC into

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the ROTC detachment.

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But dreams were shattered as we found out I was night blind.

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Now I had learned to fly at the age of 15, but I did not get had no idea that I was night

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blind.

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I thought everybody had trouble seeing at night.

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I was not trying to hide it, but in getting to go into a deeper, much deeper physical

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for the possibility, not probability, but possibility of getting to fly, they found

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out I was night blind and everything came to a screeching halt at that moment because

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you cannot fly and be night blind in the military.

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So that must have devastated you as a teenager.

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Absolutely.

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Like it was like all of life came to a screeching halt.

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I had no idea what I was going to do.

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I was alone on a big campus and that's not a good place to be when all your dreams have

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shattered.

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But God, you know, what did you do?

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I mean, as a teenager, a college student, your identity and your faith were probably

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in question a little bit.

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How did you get through that?

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Well, just my entire path.

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Like, yeah, when you think, oh, I mean, you, you think your entire life, this is my plan.

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You know, surely this is what God wants me to do because look how good I did in high

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school and look at, you know, where I all of these things.

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And I just kept chalking it up to the Lord and being on the right path.

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And so all of a sudden there was like, wait, what moment?

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And just feeling completely lost and purposeless is not a good place to be.

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But I really sadly, but in God's hand, just kind of did this.

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Oh, well, my grandmother was a teacher.

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My great grandmother was a teacher.

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My aunts were teacher.

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I guess I'll just go be a teacher.

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That seems to be the family business.

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And I loved children.

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I love learning.

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And so it was kind of this, well, I'll just go be a teacher moment.

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And of course, God had a plan for that, you know, to take me on this path to where I am

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now and getting to start face for educators and write devotionals for teachers for 17

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years.

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I have to say there was no God audible voice saying, Kathy, go be a teacher.

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It really was kind of this fallback.

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Kind of, OK, well, I've got to sign up for classes for next semester.

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So I guess I'll go do this.

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Yeah, I've seen in my life and I'm sure you have to, Kathy, that God directs the paths

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of the righteous even before we really know we're righteous sometimes.

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You know, I mean, you you have been a Christian, of course.

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And so he was directing your paths.

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But sometimes even when we don't know God's directing us, he is directing us.

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And when we look back on our life, we think, wow, God, you were there even when I felt

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like you had abandoned me, even when I felt like I missed it.

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Lord, you were still there directing my path.

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So along the way, you met your husband, you got married, you started a family.

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Did you meet your husband in college or how did that happen?

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I met my husband when I was 11 and he was 13.

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Our dads were stationed in Texas.

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I know we have this sweet story of no secrets, you know, when you when you know each other

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from that.

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But yeah, we met.

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It's really a funny story.

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I'll tell it very briefly.

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But he he was a really, really good baseball player.

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And I belong to the Baptist Church in Texas.

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And Baptist softball is a big deal in Texas, or at least it used to be.

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And we, you know, played each other.

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All these churches played each other.

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And it was very competitive.

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Our youth group wanted him to come play because he was so good for our team.

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But you had to go to church at least one day a week to get to play that week.

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My husband will self profess that he was quite the heathen as a child and really didn't want

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anything to do with God.

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But our youth group dragged him into Wednesday night where he got dinner in youth group.

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And as he tells the story, he walked in, he can tell you what we ate, what I was wearing

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and where we sat and the dirty looks my father gave him all through dinner as he sat down

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across the table from me with this spaghetti plate in hand, looked at his friend, Randy

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Hawkins and said, I'm going to marry that girl.

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Wow.

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So many, many, many, many years later, we got married.

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My father became his Sunday school teacher first.

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So anyway, we've known each other a really long time, but yep, along the way, I finally

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got married and started a family.

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Yep.

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But even after that, you were dealt another pretty, pretty big blow.

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One that makes made your dream of not becoming a pilot pale in comparison.

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Yeah, it's a dark day when you hear your doctor say you have a brain tumor and having an infant

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and having a brain tumor is not something anybody can plan for.

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And so just you can either I struggle with the idea of getting angry at God because I'm

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like, why would you run from the one, the one God, because I don't want to call him

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a person, but the one who is your help and your hope, even if he decides not to be your

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earthly healer, he is going to be your ultimate healer.

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And so I don't judge a single person, please hear my heart, who does get mad.

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But that was not my path.

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My path was to run headfirst, headlong onto my face, into the throne room of heaven at

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his feet and cry for help.

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So did you get miraculously healed?

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Did you have to go through some medical treatments?

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How was that journey for you?

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14 and a half years of chemotherapy.

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It was a very long, gross, painful journey of experimental chemo.

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But then I would go into remission.

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And each time the remissions got a little shorter and shorter.

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At one point, they had taken me off the chemo too early, thinking I was in remission and

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I wasn't.

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And the tumor started growing back almost immediately, but it grew into a different

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area of the brain.

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And I lost my short term memory for 18 months.

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And so that's, you know, always keep your sense of humor and everything.

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People would look at me funny, but it was the only way to explain it to people was I

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would say just I'm Teflon brain.

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Nothing sticks.

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Yeah, nothing.

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It was very almost Alzheimer ish where I could turn to you and meet you turn away and turn

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back to you and meet you again.

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And so that was a very scary 18 months as I had my long term memory, but we just had

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moved to Colorado.

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So I had no long term memories there.

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So if I eventually, if I left my house, I was lost, but God, and so varying stages of

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chemotherapy reached a point where there was nothing more they could do for me.

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Signed paperwork for an experimental surgery.

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And two weeks before that surgery, God said enough and sent this incredible woman I've

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never met before and never seen since from Mexico who had a dream the night before about

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me and God told her to tell me I was healed.

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And I would love to be able to confess that I received that with great faith and jubilation,

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but I did not.

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I questioned her and God made it clear that that was the case in our conversation.

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And I went home had an MRI and praise the Lord, the tumor was gone.

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And so that was in 2000.

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And here we are in 2022 and I even my doctor here in Georgia just a few years ago said,

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I've read your file.

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Can I just look?

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Can I just, I, I, I sorry to doubt, but we really, as your, as your physician, I think

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it would be a good idea for us to take a look, you know, 10 years later and just make sure

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you're okay.

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And I was like, go right ahead.

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And sure enough.

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And so anyway, just nothing but great.

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Well, you know, even in the middle of your grim prognosis, you decided not to get mad.

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Instead, you started getting involved in ministry.

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I mean, during that time, I think that's when you started the fellowship of Christian educators

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and you started volunteering with national day of prayer.

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Why did you decide to do that?

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I mean, I, I've been through radiation and I've been through surgery after breast cancer

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and it saps your energy.

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I can't imagine what ongoing daily or ongoing doses of chemo would do to you just make you

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very weary both mentally and physically.

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So how did you do that?

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I can't pinpoint it to a moment, but you know, there was a Chris Rice, Chris Rice song that

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said teach us to number our days and teach us to make our days count.

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That was really bringing me back to my roots of every, every minute has mission and meaning.

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And was I going to waste?

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I still rested.

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I still did my treatments.

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I mean, it was a long road, but I wasn't going to sit around and wait.

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Just like we encourage people in the military who would say, oh, well, once I retire and

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it's like, well, you're just, what are you going to do with the other 20 first 20 years

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of your, of your life or 15 or however long you're in the military?

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Don't just look at the opportunity in front of you.

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And a lot of time the opportunity was at the hospital in the hospital, the lab, you know,

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just encouraging others, continuing to speak faith, knowing that God's always faithful.

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He's not going to stop being faithful to me on this day.

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And so expressing that faithfulness and encouraging others wherever I was, people who were bringing

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me food, doing my laundry, taking care of my children.

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They would always say, you know, I came over to minister to you, but you ended up ministering

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to me.

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This is, this is crazy.

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And so just being willing to take all that God has for every day and to invest in that

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opportunity to store up treasures in heaven.

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Well, after your 14 year struggle and you and all that you and your family had been

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through, what did God do?

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You know, you learned some deep lessons from the Lord.

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Can you share some of those?

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Oh, wow.

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Trust him with everything.

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Don't take anything at face value.

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Take everything at faith value is really what I would tell, tell people.

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Now, I often say, God, what are you up to?

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And you can almost hear say, well, come up and see, you know, he will give you heaven's

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view.

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If you ask him that comes from one of my most favorite Bible studies of all time, you know,

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T.W. hunts from heaven's view with that, just trusting him in the moments, not running ahead

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of him, not falling behind, but keeping in cadence with his heartbeat for you and living

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that out for my children, living that out in our family.

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A pity party only puts you in a pit.

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You know, when you really think the root of a pity party is the word pit.

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And so how do you just celebrate life every single day, wherever you're living it and

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however you're living it for a planner like me, taking everything one step at a time with

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the Lord can be challenging.

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I mean, I'm daily learning how to do that.

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I'm getting better at it, but I like to run ahead and say, okay, let me see what's ahead,

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Lord.

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But he doesn't, he doesn't show land spontaneous.

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Yeah.

325
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The joke is I plan to be spontaneous.

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And so that's just a discipling moment where you still make plans.

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Let me just say that you still make plans.

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You're just willing for God to frustrate them.

329
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Yeah.

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You're willing for a bad day, a very sick day, a whatever, you know, but you, you still

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make plans.

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And that's what I did with national day of prayer and getting involved in the national

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prayer committee was I still plan to be there.

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I still participated.

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And if I couldn't, I couldn't, but mostly I did.

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Yeah.

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And, and that was God, that was just God's grace and a testimony to his strength and

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goodness in my life.

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Amen.

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And you're using all of that even then to prepare you for where you are now, but then

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not long after you and your family had been through all that you had been through your

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son experienced a health crisis.

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And as a mom, that probably shook you more than your own mortality.

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How did you walk through that?

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I did it.

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It is, it was the worst.

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As a matter of fact, I, when, when our son, just a year later, we were, we were a cancer

348
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free family for, for a whopping 13 months, not even.

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And when the doctor said that he had this horrific, rare blood cancer, I actually whispered

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the words to God, just give me mine back.

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And God's like, that's not how this works.

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That's not what this is about, but that was painful.

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And in that moment to have my 16 year old boy, okay, everybody just stop.

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And if you've ever interacted with a 16 year old boy, if you've had a 16 year old boy,

355
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you'll know this was God and his response.

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He looked at the doctor, he looked over at me and he looked back at the doctor and he

357
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said, either way I win.

358
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And his Jewish doctor said, I have no idea what you're saying.

359
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What do you, what, what are you talking about?

360
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And Chandler said, well doc, if by the miracle of medication, Jesus allows you to cure me,

361
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to heal me.

362
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And I live longer here on earth than in the words of my mom, he's not ready to graduate

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me and I win.

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But doc, if he decides that my time here is done, if I'm not healed here and I get to

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go home and be in heaven with Jesus, that's a bigger win.

366
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And so doc, just so you know, no guilt for you, but no glory for you either.

367
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Jesus decides my days.

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And he said, my mom had cancer for over 14 years and I know from watching her, this is

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an opportunity to glorify Jesus.

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And that's what we will do.

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So that was that journey for almost two years.

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And thankfully he still is with us and is thriving and serving the Lord in media.

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So grateful for his journey as well, but it was horrific as a mother.

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And what a testimony though, really of how you walked through your cancer journey, that

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your son would be, had seen your faith in the middle of it all.

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I'm sure you had days when you were like, can I do this anymore Lord?

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Seeing that steadfastness gave him the confidence when he faced it to say, yeah, I can do this

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through God, through God, not my own strength.

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He saw it as a platform to get to share his faith.

380
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And he had chemo every single Friday.

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Imagine that, you know, your high school years are supposed to be the greatest years of your

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life and every weekend for his junior and senior year, he's sick as a dog.

383
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He's in the infusion room all day Friday, but he just used it no matter where we were

384
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in the lab.

385
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He was hospitalized several times.

386
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You know, we're at Children's Hospital and he just used it to express his faith.

387
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And it was a platform for him, a microphone.

388
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So I was grateful.

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Yeah.

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00:25:10,540 --> 00:25:17,000
And another testimony of how having that family foundation of faith is so critical at every

391
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stage of our kids' lives.

392
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And it's never too late to start.

393
00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:23,040
That's right.

394
00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:24,040
Yeah.

395
00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:27,800
So for moms and grandmas out there, let me speak to grandmas and aunts and, you know,

396
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maybe some older people right now, they're like, why am I still here?

397
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What is my purpose?

398
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You know, is God still using me?

399
00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:39,320
My dad used to tell us stories about him growing up and things that he's been through.

400
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And of course, my brother and I had to jab with my dad.

401
00:25:42,020 --> 00:25:47,640
We called them boohoo stories, you know, walking to school both ways in the snow uphill with

402
00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:50,400
no shoes, you know, those kind of things.

403
00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:56,000
But really, I want to encourage you to talk about your history, talk about your days with

404
00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:58,360
children, with youth, with whatever.

405
00:25:58,360 --> 00:26:03,380
But instead of making it about you, make it a story about God's faithfulness.

406
00:26:03,380 --> 00:26:04,880
Talk about where God showed up.

407
00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:05,880
That's what scripture is.

408
00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:13,160
You know, we know these great stories of all of these people, but it's like, and you know,

409
00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:17,240
here's where God engaged and here's what God did and here's how God provided and here's

410
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what God said.

411
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And yes, you know, here's where people were disciplined and here's where people died.

412
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And here's where, you know, David's running for his life and living in caves.

413
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It's not this fairy tale story, but it is a story of God's faithfulness.

414
00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:37,720
So make your life and your testimony and your conversations without becoming preachy.

415
00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:42,080
Make your stories about God's faithfulness and start building up courage and strength

416
00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:47,520
in our younger brother, sisters in Christ lives so that they know whose they are, the

417
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character of God and his strength.

418
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And they start walking in that instead of what they're hearing on the news and what

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they're hearing at school and what bullies and friends and peer pressure are telling

420
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them.

421
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Start building up that God confidence and that God identity in them as you tell your

422
00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:05,880
story.

423
00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:10,480
You know, my parents were the first believers in their families, at least in that generation.

424
00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:13,880
My whole family, we got saved within a month of each other and kind of grew in the Lord

425
00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:14,880
together.

426
00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:19,320
But I loved when I was little to read biographies of believers.

427
00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:24,800
I would read Corey Ten Boon and I would read, you know, of whom the world was not worthy.

428
00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:27,680
And you know, Amy Carmichael story.

429
00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:32,660
And I love those stories of faith because they gave me such confidence that God was

430
00:27:32,660 --> 00:27:34,240
going to work in my life too.

431
00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:39,280
And it's even more impactful when you hear it right out of the horse's mouth.

432
00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:44,360
I mean, I've over the years, God has allowed me to, you know, meet some believers who have

433
00:27:44,360 --> 00:27:47,960
lived long and seen God's faithfulness in their lives.

434
00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:53,440
And just what you said, it's so impactful to hear right from them.

435
00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:56,160
This is what God did for me.

436
00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:57,320
This is what he did for me.

437
00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:00,560
So it is so important and powerful.

438
00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:01,560
Yeah.

439
00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:03,080
And have your write it down.

440
00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:10,800
You know, I think I was just reflecting the other day on my life because of many things

441
00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:13,440
that have happened, even as a child.

442
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:18,080
And I thought out loud, you know, the enemy has always been after me.

443
00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:24,800
The enemy always has my entire life has wanted to shut me down because of the plans that

444
00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:25,980
God has for my life.

445
00:28:25,980 --> 00:28:27,400
And that's true for every human being.

446
00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:28,680
I'm not special.

447
00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:33,120
I'm not, you know, we we all walk in kingdom purpose.

448
00:28:33,120 --> 00:28:39,080
But just thinking about how the enemy's been after me all the time, even as a child and

449
00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:42,880
going back and saying, thank you, God, thank you for your protection.

450
00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:46,840
Thank you for snatching me out of the enemy's hand in that moment.

451
00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:52,040
Thank you that I didn't go into some pit of despair because of that happening, because

452
00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:59,440
of people very close to me committing suicide in high school and on and on the stories go.

453
00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:05,280
But just having your kids make it a habit to stop and notice God's faithfulness and

454
00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:07,200
the whole God is great.

455
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:08,200
God is good.

456
00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:09,280
And we thank him for our food.

457
00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:15,280
You can teach a four year old, a three year old to talk about, well, how is God great?

458
00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:17,160
You know, try that for a dinner conversation.

459
00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:20,480
Well, what else do you think him for besides food?

460
00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:26,180
And really growing up this these prayer warriors and these warriors in Christ so that they

461
00:29:26,180 --> 00:29:31,520
are strong all the way through whatever God has for them and quite frankly, whatever the

462
00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:35,480
enemy has for them so that it's a glory story.

463
00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:36,480
Amen.

464
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:41,400
You know, God cares so deeply for children like we've been talking about and for adults

465
00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:42,800
as well.

466
00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:48,640
Over and over again in scripture, he directs us believers to care for the orphans and the

467
00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:51,880
widows, which is why somebody cares created the orphan and windows fund.

468
00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:57,160
And as a company of women, we can do so much together to take care of the special needs

469
00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:02,480
and to cultivate special gifts of children who he has put in the care of our ministry

470
00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:04,920
partners around the world.

471
00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:10,840
So I encourage you to pray about joining our number with a gift at her God story dot org.

472
00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:12,280
Click on help now.

473
00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:15,840
Your gifts will go toward the orphan and widows fund.

474
00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:17,880
And if you have cryptocurrency, we even accept that.

475
00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:19,480
It's not so at the moment.

476
00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:20,520
It's not doing so well.

477
00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:22,640
But cash or crypto either way.

478
00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:29,640
But Kathy, you know, as you came out of these crises, God started leading you to write and

479
00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:33,080
into new avenues of ministry.

480
00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:35,200
What were some of those things that you did?

481
00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:39,440
You know, it was really what I call an everyday along the way ministry.

482
00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:40,440
So I was writing.

483
00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:46,480
I started Face for Educators still in the throes of this cancer battle.

484
00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:50,960
I started face in 1999 and wasn't healed until 2008.

485
00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:56,440
Getting to write devotionally from the experiences of being a teacher and writing to teachers

486
00:30:56,440 --> 00:30:59,280
was an amazing opportunity.

487
00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:05,600
And then beyond that, just when God would strike my heart with something, my very first

488
00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:10,160
book that I ended up self publishing because I wasn't willing to make the changes that

489
00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:14,720
certain publishers wanted to make was called Prayer Warrior.

490
00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:16,820
You know, the battle plan to victory.

491
00:31:16,820 --> 00:31:24,840
And it came out of a picture in the newspaper, the Sunday paper of a woman who there was

492
00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:30,840
a gentleman who was standing with a protest sign that was for something that you and I

493
00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:33,120
biblically would not agree with.

494
00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:40,400
And then there was a woman, short lady with this massive holy Bible tucked up under her

495
00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:41,400
arm.

496
00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:42,400
Right.

497
00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:45,240
And she was screaming in the face of this man.

498
00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:50,180
And they actually captured like spit coming out of her mouth as she's yelling at this

499
00:31:50,180 --> 00:31:53,000
man who's standing there silently.

500
00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:57,960
And I burst into tears and said, when did Jesus ever do this?

501
00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:03,120
I don't believe anyone has ever come into a loving saving relationship with Jesus Christ

502
00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:05,200
being spit on and yelled at.

503
00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:06,280
And it broke my heart.

504
00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:14,320
And I went upstairs and put my laptop in my lap and couldn't type fast enough about this,

505
00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:23,040
the journey of of loving someone to Christ, of praying, really someone praying people

506
00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:30,080
into Christ and what that journey looks like of fighting the enemy on our knees.

507
00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:37,520
And so anyway, just as as God would spur things on in my heart, my latest book as well, just

508
00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:43,840
seeing that people grasping for what God provides in wrong places.

509
00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:46,760
And you're like, God is pursuing you with these things.

510
00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:50,440
And you're running around hunting for them as if, you know, there have been Easter eggs

511
00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:52,840
that have been tucked away somewhere.

512
00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:59,760
And so really just having eyes and ears and a heart open gave me the opportunity to get

513
00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:01,360
to start writing and publishing.

514
00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:06,600
You know, talking about that lately, I mean, we know we both we know we all know that the

515
00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:09,680
greatest commandment love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

516
00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:12,960
And the second of these, you know, love your neighbor as yourself.

517
00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:19,200
This year, though, God has like been speaking to me about a deeper love for others.

518
00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:21,160
I mean, yes, a deeper love for him, too.

519
00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:26,200
But he's kind of been he's really been showing me that we've been praying for salvation for

520
00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:27,200
people.

521
00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:30,640
We've been praying for revival, praying for a turnaround.

522
00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:34,400
And he's really been showing me it's got it's out of love.

523
00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:36,920
I mean, we know that in our head, don't we?

524
00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:38,040
We know that in our head.

525
00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:40,840
But everything is going to be done out of love.

526
00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:46,600
The healings that we want to see the deliverances that we want to see if we don't love.

527
00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:50,800
I mean, when Jesus was on the earth, he was moved with compassion.

528
00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:56,100
And when he was moved with compassion, that's when the healings and the deliverances I mean,

529
00:33:56,100 --> 00:33:57,160
God was compassion.

530
00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:01,200
So it's not like he was, you know, there was any time when he wasn't moved with compassion.

531
00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:07,200
I think those words are there to show us we have to be moved with compassion.

532
00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:12,240
You know, it's that praying, you know, when we pray for people, that compassion of love

533
00:34:12,240 --> 00:34:14,160
of God, he pours it into us.

534
00:34:14,160 --> 00:34:17,500
We open ourselves up to that in a deeper way.

535
00:34:17,500 --> 00:34:19,400
And then we can pour it out to others.

536
00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:20,400
Right.

537
00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:21,400
Living water.

538
00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:24,560
I mean, that goes back to what we were talking about at the very beginning of the broadcast

539
00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:28,840
about realizing what comes out of our mouth is really what's in our heart.

540
00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:32,680
And so taking rethought captive and really looking at it and going, is this truth or

541
00:34:32,680 --> 00:34:33,680
trash?

542
00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:39,720
Am I drawing somebody nearer to God or am I pushing them further away from God?

543
00:34:39,720 --> 00:34:45,520
And in this deeper love you're talking about, because the you know, as that command says,

544
00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:47,640
and love your neighbor as yourself.

545
00:34:47,640 --> 00:34:51,900
Well that gets wonky in the translation of it, because there are a lot of people going,

546
00:34:51,900 --> 00:34:56,520
I don't even like myself, you know, or let me tell you everything that's wrong with me

547
00:34:56,520 --> 00:34:59,400
and then I'll tell you everything that's wrong with my neighbor.

548
00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:03,520
And so I love that Jesus said, and I've been on this journey of going through scripture

549
00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:11,320
and seeing so he says, love one another as I have loved you.

550
00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:13,320
That's a bigger love right there.

551
00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:20,600
Because the way that Jesus has loved me, who unconditionally and wow, you know, throughout

552
00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:22,440
my life, that's a big love.

553
00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:29,000
And so I've been doing this deep dive scripture search for the words as God has, as I have

554
00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:36,000
with Jesus, as you know, have mercy as the Lord has mercy, forgive one another as you

555
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:41,000
know, as the Lord has forgiven you, forgive as the Lord has forgiven you.

556
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:42,160
That's a deeper love.

557
00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:43,840
We dare to receive it.

558
00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:47,080
If we dare to experience it, we better dare to express it.

559
00:35:47,080 --> 00:35:49,480
Yeah, I mean, it's not something we can conjure up in ourselves.

560
00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:50,480
There's just no way.

561
00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:56,280
It has to be given to us from the Father in your work with the National Day of Prayer.

562
00:35:56,280 --> 00:35:59,280
I love the women that you got to work with.

563
00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:04,040
It was such a privilege for you, I'm sure, to work so closely with women like Shirley

564
00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:07,440
Dobson and the Nat Bride and and Graham Lots.

565
00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:11,260
I mean, true women of the faith, true mothers of the faith.

566
00:36:11,260 --> 00:36:14,140
Just by being around them, I'm sure you learn so much.

567
00:36:14,140 --> 00:36:18,640
You got to observe their lives and watch how they dealt with crisis and share one or two

568
00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:23,200
memorable things that you learned just by being around them shoulder to shoulder.

569
00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:24,200
Wow.

570
00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:25,760
I certainly learned to pray.

571
00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:28,920
You know, we say prayer is caught, not taught.

572
00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:34,520
You really grow a deeper, more intimate prayer life by praying with people who have deep,

573
00:36:34,520 --> 00:36:36,180
intimate prayer lives.

574
00:36:36,180 --> 00:36:41,640
And so definitely learned how to pray, learned a lot about leadership, but also learned a

575
00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:46,440
lot about marriage and family life.

576
00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:47,440
Like what?

577
00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:55,360
I remember standing at chapel and focus on the family with Shirley.

578
00:36:55,360 --> 00:37:00,560
And she's just looking adoringly at Doc.

579
00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:05,600
It was the sweetest thing to just to just step back for a second and look at her looking

580
00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:06,600
at him.

581
00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:09,200
Now, they have a very cool relationship.

582
00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:13,700
And I've had the privilege of spending an enormous amount of time with them and traveling

583
00:37:13,700 --> 00:37:18,200
with her, traveling with both of them, and they tell funny stories on each other.

584
00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:20,640
They have this great sense of humor.

585
00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:22,800
They just have a sweetness about him.

586
00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:28,080
But getting her to look at him and then after chapel, she grabbed my arm.

587
00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:31,800
It was like she was going to explode if she didn't tell somebody.

588
00:37:31,800 --> 00:37:35,000
And she said, integrity.

589
00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:43,000
When I look at my husband, I have so much respect for him because he is a man of integrity.

590
00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:50,480
And I thought, oh, sis, you plant that you plant that in your heart right there.

591
00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:55,480
Because so many times we honor people for worldly applause.

592
00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:59,800
And she could have said how many books he's written, the number of people he's helped

593
00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:04,720
to look at this massive ministry that he grew from a seedling.

594
00:38:04,720 --> 00:38:09,720
But she looked at his character and she honored him.

595
00:38:09,720 --> 00:38:14,880
And I think that's something for us to remember as wives is to watch what we say, even if

596
00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:20,280
we're like just joking, you know, the Bible says don't do that.

597
00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:26,000
Because we're we're saying this is really what's in my heart about you.

598
00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:31,880
And so to remember, I would say I learned from all of those women various things, but

599
00:38:31,880 --> 00:38:36,000
that every human being needs acknowledgement.

600
00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:37,800
So don't ignore people.

601
00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:43,640
They were all great at stopping and giving people their focused attention, which is hard

602
00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:47,760
to do when everybody not looking over your shoulder, not looking around the room for

603
00:38:47,760 --> 00:38:49,420
somebody more important.

604
00:38:49,420 --> 00:38:50,420
Or how do I get it?

605
00:38:50,420 --> 00:38:57,440
I mean, so just acknowledging you as a human being, giving appreciation to everyone, to

606
00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:05,120
their staff, to their families, and just appreciative people and great affection, not withholding

607
00:39:05,120 --> 00:39:06,320
beyond the leadership.

608
00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:10,320
You can you can take a whole bunch of leadership lessons.

609
00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:13,360
And at the root, there were those those three things.

610
00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:14,360
Those are good.

611
00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:18,320
So you love prayer, head of the National Day of Prayer Task Force.

612
00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:20,720
A lot of people don't have that same feeling about it.

613
00:39:20,720 --> 00:39:22,940
How did you get to that point?

614
00:39:22,940 --> 00:39:26,080
And how can others get to that point?

615
00:39:26,080 --> 00:39:28,460
Like I was saying, prayer is caught not taught.

616
00:39:28,460 --> 00:39:32,240
And so for a lot of us, prayer feels awkward.

617
00:39:32,240 --> 00:39:39,200
You think that maybe you were raised that you have to go into your best King James version

618
00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:46,680
and you have to use big words and you have to sound very glamorous and well educated

619
00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:50,240
in your prayers and use some dolls and some arts.

620
00:39:50,240 --> 00:39:55,920
And really, prayer is a conversation with the one who loves you more than you could

621
00:39:55,920 --> 00:39:57,680
ever understand.

622
00:39:57,680 --> 00:40:03,360
And the one that can do anything and everything abundantly be all anything we could ever imagine.

623
00:40:03,360 --> 00:40:06,120
It's a conversation with your Abba father.

624
00:40:06,120 --> 00:40:07,120
Respectful.

625
00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:11,680
But I would say probably my most spoken prayer is help.

626
00:40:11,680 --> 00:40:12,800
Yeah.

627
00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:18,160
And maybe my second most spoken prayer was shut my mouth.

628
00:40:18,160 --> 00:40:19,820
You know, guard my lips.

629
00:40:19,820 --> 00:40:21,280
It doesn't have to be glamorous.

630
00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:25,720
But really, the fervency of prayer comes out of a warm heart.

631
00:40:25,720 --> 00:40:30,800
If it doesn't come out of here, out of your out of your brain, it comes out of your heart.

632
00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:36,300
Being willing to learn different parts of prayer as a study of prayer, because this

633
00:40:36,300 --> 00:40:42,280
year exalt the Lord, we got to talk about praise and people will very quickly confuse

634
00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:44,240
praise with Thanksgiving.

635
00:40:44,240 --> 00:40:50,720
Now we praise God for who he is, unchanging all his attributes.

636
00:40:50,720 --> 00:40:57,520
I love my husband because he is my husband, and I don't withhold my love based on what

637
00:40:57,520 --> 00:40:59,240
he does or doesn't do.

638
00:40:59,240 --> 00:41:02,600
That's thankfulness that we thank God for what he does.

639
00:41:02,600 --> 00:41:04,760
We praise him for who he is.

640
00:41:04,760 --> 00:41:07,280
We love him because of who he is.

641
00:41:07,280 --> 00:41:10,120
We are faithful because of who he is.

642
00:41:10,120 --> 00:41:15,480
And so starting to understand what intercession is and praises and Thanksgiving is and and

643
00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:18,160
listening, letting it be a conversation.

644
00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:20,000
Your prayer life can grow.

645
00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:25,800
You can grow out of a quiet time and into a prayer life, just kind of a day at time,

646
00:41:25,800 --> 00:41:32,320
a moment at a time, every day along the way, just saying either out loud or in your spirit

647
00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:38,280
as a beautiful bird flies by or you see the sunset or your kids all climb in the car and

648
00:41:38,280 --> 00:41:42,860
are chatting away to you about their day and you're talking to God about it.

649
00:41:42,860 --> 00:41:43,860
That is prayer to me.

650
00:41:43,860 --> 00:41:54,040
So how did you learn, Kathy, to hear the Lord, to know it was him as opposed to some random

651
00:41:54,040 --> 00:41:55,160
thought going through your head?

652
00:41:55,160 --> 00:42:02,480
I think a lot of people want to hear the Lord, but you know, how do you distinguish between

653
00:42:02,480 --> 00:42:04,080
God and your own thoughts?

654
00:42:04,080 --> 00:42:05,080
Yeah, absolutely.

655
00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:07,680
So first of all, God speaks to everyone.

656
00:42:07,680 --> 00:42:09,840
You know, he did it back in the scripture days.

657
00:42:09,840 --> 00:42:10,840
He's unchanging.

658
00:42:10,840 --> 00:42:11,840
So none of that.

659
00:42:11,840 --> 00:42:13,880
God used to talk to people, but he doesn't anymore.

660
00:42:13,880 --> 00:42:15,560
Those people are crazy.

661
00:42:15,560 --> 00:42:16,560
That's not true.

662
00:42:16,560 --> 00:42:18,040
It's an ongoing thing.

663
00:42:18,040 --> 00:42:25,880
But being deeply steeped in the word of God is very important because God will, he'll

664
00:42:25,880 --> 00:42:31,500
never tell you to do something that is opposed to what is in his word.

665
00:42:31,500 --> 00:42:35,460
And so you can very quickly discern some things.

666
00:42:35,460 --> 00:42:40,380
Any married woman who says, oh, but the Lord said I could have this affair because he knew

667
00:42:40,380 --> 00:42:43,480
I needed to be loved, did not hear from the Lord.

668
00:42:43,480 --> 00:42:46,400
That was not the Holy Spirit talking to them.

669
00:42:46,400 --> 00:42:51,120
It's very important to know the word of God very clearly.

670
00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:53,840
The word of God in prayer walks hand in hand.

671
00:42:53,840 --> 00:42:59,600
And also you get a sense of, you can always ask God for confirmation.

672
00:42:59,600 --> 00:43:04,160
And so my family will hear me say, I've lost my peace.

673
00:43:04,160 --> 00:43:08,720
And they know that means I am in a position of waiting.

674
00:43:08,720 --> 00:43:12,200
Waiting doesn't mean that I just sit in my prayer closet with my hands folded and wait

675
00:43:12,200 --> 00:43:13,600
to hear from the Lord.

676
00:43:13,600 --> 00:43:18,520
But it means I am not going to go forward in making a decision about something that

677
00:43:18,520 --> 00:43:20,760
I don't have a peace about.

678
00:43:20,760 --> 00:43:26,640
If I've lost my peace with God, lost my peace in the path, it's time to stop and wait on

679
00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:27,640
the Lord.

680
00:43:27,640 --> 00:43:32,600
He will guide you, but you do have to ask for confirmation because I, you know, I'm

681
00:43:32,600 --> 00:43:33,840
a blonde.

682
00:43:33,840 --> 00:43:38,600
And so I always say, is this God or is this Goldie?

683
00:43:38,600 --> 00:43:44,400
And I will ask God that because certainly in the desires of our heart, we'd love to

684
00:43:44,400 --> 00:43:51,480
be able to say, God wanted me to have that new whatever or that to this or that.

685
00:43:51,480 --> 00:43:53,760
And really it was like, no, that was Goldie.

686
00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:54,760
Yeah.

687
00:43:54,760 --> 00:43:59,480
I remember I was traveling for work at the time internationally, going a lot of different

688
00:43:59,480 --> 00:44:01,880
places and I had the opportunity to go to India.

689
00:44:01,880 --> 00:44:05,440
I had never been to India before and I really wanted to go because, you know, people would

690
00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:06,720
ask me, where's your favorite place?

691
00:44:06,720 --> 00:44:10,640
I'd say the place I'm going next, because I just love adventure.

692
00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:13,280
And so I had this opportunity to go to India.

693
00:44:13,280 --> 00:44:14,620
I was planning on it.

694
00:44:14,620 --> 00:44:16,280
You know, it was my choice to go.

695
00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:18,000
I mean, I had the opportunity.

696
00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:19,340
I could say yes or no.

697
00:44:19,340 --> 00:44:21,160
And the Lord said, no, not this time.

698
00:44:21,160 --> 00:44:27,280
I was like, I wasn't even asking him really, you know, but I heard him very clearly say,

699
00:44:27,280 --> 00:44:28,480
this is not for you.

700
00:44:28,480 --> 00:44:30,160
Don't go on this trip.

701
00:44:30,160 --> 00:44:33,040
So I didn't go on the trip and I was like, I don't know why you don't want me to go,

702
00:44:33,040 --> 00:44:34,040
Lord.

703
00:44:34,040 --> 00:44:35,040
I really want to go to India.

704
00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:37,160
I've seen it before, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

705
00:44:37,160 --> 00:44:40,200
But I was obedient, not real happy about it, but I was obedient.

706
00:44:40,200 --> 00:44:44,400
And it was, I mean, I learned it was really important that I was at home.

707
00:44:44,400 --> 00:44:49,320
I mean, some something happened in my life at that time that I just could not have handled

708
00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:50,800
if I had been in India.

709
00:44:50,800 --> 00:44:51,800
He is faithful.

710
00:44:51,800 --> 00:44:52,800
You know, he did.

711
00:44:52,800 --> 00:44:56,160
I didn't have that piece to go and I knew I couldn't go even though I really wanted

712
00:44:56,160 --> 00:44:57,160
to.

713
00:44:57,160 --> 00:45:02,360
So that having that piece is so important to know, you know, I mean, obviously scripture

714
00:45:02,360 --> 00:45:08,440
two is really important, but that is a, that is a really important, you know, moving ahead

715
00:45:08,440 --> 00:45:14,800
when you have anxiety or frustration about something, we're just not clear is a definite

716
00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:17,920
marker for the Lord saying, stop, wait a minute.

717
00:45:17,920 --> 00:45:19,040
There's more you need to know.

718
00:45:19,040 --> 00:45:20,040
Really?

719
00:45:20,040 --> 00:45:26,640
I mean, I'm just going to beg the audience, always pray about it because you might be

720
00:45:26,640 --> 00:45:30,520
about to do something great and godly.

721
00:45:30,520 --> 00:45:37,120
I mean, you're like, well, of course I would give money to this person who has this need

722
00:45:37,120 --> 00:45:42,320
or, you know, let them stay at my house because of blah, blah, blah.

723
00:45:42,320 --> 00:45:46,840
You need to stop and pray because God has said to me several times, you just got in

724
00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:48,520
my way.

725
00:45:48,520 --> 00:45:51,660
You just, I was doing a work in their life.

726
00:45:51,660 --> 00:45:54,040
I was making them desperate for me.

727
00:45:54,040 --> 00:45:57,160
They were suffering the consequence of their sin.

728
00:45:57,160 --> 00:46:01,880
I was discipling and disciplining them and you just jumped in to be the hero.

729
00:46:01,880 --> 00:46:03,640
I didn't tell you to do that.

730
00:46:03,640 --> 00:46:06,520
There's been other times where I've stolen someone else's blessing.

731
00:46:06,520 --> 00:46:10,520
Oh, I used to be the queen of this because it was like, Oh, I can do that.

732
00:46:10,520 --> 00:46:12,520
I can do that with one hand tied behind my back.

733
00:46:12,520 --> 00:46:15,800
And God's like, yes, you can because I've already taught you that lesson.

734
00:46:15,800 --> 00:46:18,280
So go away.

735
00:46:18,280 --> 00:46:19,520
This is not your blessing.

736
00:46:19,520 --> 00:46:20,720
This is not your lesson.

737
00:46:20,720 --> 00:46:24,200
You've already, you know, checked you pass that test.

738
00:46:24,200 --> 00:46:25,440
This is for somebody else.

739
00:46:25,440 --> 00:46:27,240
So do not volunteer for that.

740
00:46:27,240 --> 00:46:28,560
Do not say you'll do that.

741
00:46:28,560 --> 00:46:29,560
Don't bake that.

742
00:46:29,560 --> 00:46:30,560
Don't teach that.

743
00:46:30,560 --> 00:46:33,240
Don't whatever this isn't your assignment.

744
00:46:33,240 --> 00:46:37,880
Yeah, I think that is really important for people who want to serve the Lord.

745
00:46:37,880 --> 00:46:38,880
And I'm like you.

746
00:46:38,880 --> 00:46:42,160
I mean, I was always taking everything on.

747
00:46:42,160 --> 00:46:45,280
I mean, any, any opportunity that came my way, I'd say, yeah, I'll do it.

748
00:46:45,280 --> 00:46:46,280
I'll do it.

749
00:46:46,280 --> 00:46:47,280
I'll do it.

750
00:46:47,280 --> 00:46:49,520
And one day I woke up and I said, I love everything I'm doing.

751
00:46:49,520 --> 00:46:53,920
I hate my life because I had taken on more than God had told me to.

752
00:46:53,920 --> 00:47:00,000
Yeah, we've stolen somebody else's blessing and we've taken up the space for his assignment

753
00:47:00,000 --> 00:47:01,000
for what's next.

754
00:47:01,000 --> 00:47:04,440
And now for us, because we're doing what was then and done.

755
00:47:04,440 --> 00:47:05,440
That's important.

756
00:47:05,440 --> 00:47:07,800
Pray about it and get it get clear direction.

757
00:47:07,800 --> 00:47:12,260
I'll never forget the time when somebody asked me to do something and I said, let me pray

758
00:47:12,260 --> 00:47:13,260
about it.

759
00:47:13,260 --> 00:47:16,360
And they go, oh, that's Christian for no.

760
00:47:16,360 --> 00:47:20,280
And I said, I don't know who you've been talking to, but I don't go anywhere without praying

761
00:47:20,280 --> 00:47:21,280
about it.

762
00:47:21,280 --> 00:47:23,360
But a lot of times it's yes.

763
00:47:23,360 --> 00:47:27,000
But the one who authored my days, I need to see what's on the page.

764
00:47:27,000 --> 00:47:28,000
Yeah.

765
00:47:28,000 --> 00:47:31,920
And, and so stop and go Lord, is this on the page for today?

766
00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:36,160
And also have you been to India since I have been, but look at me another.

767
00:47:36,160 --> 00:47:37,640
So it's time.

768
00:47:37,640 --> 00:47:38,640
Yes.

769
00:47:38,640 --> 00:47:45,240
God's time is, is just as important in his design, you know, as anything else.

770
00:47:45,240 --> 00:47:48,840
And so his no for you is always because there's a great, yes.

771
00:47:48,840 --> 00:47:49,840
Exactly.

772
00:47:49,840 --> 00:47:55,120
And to close, I love to ask my guests if there's a woman in the Bible whose story has inspired

773
00:47:55,120 --> 00:47:59,800
or encouraged you or taught you something and how her God story relates to yours.

774
00:47:59,800 --> 00:48:00,800
I think right.

775
00:48:00,800 --> 00:48:07,160
So let's say for seasons, because right now I'm very much in a Deborah season.

776
00:48:07,160 --> 00:48:10,800
So many people go, oh, you are such an Esther.

777
00:48:10,800 --> 00:48:15,080
And I'm thinking, do you think I'd spend 12 months getting pretty for a dude?

778
00:48:15,080 --> 00:48:17,340
That's not me.

779
00:48:17,340 --> 00:48:18,640
Just joking around with them.

780
00:48:18,640 --> 00:48:24,200
I think you, yes, absolutely for such a time as this, but this is really, we're at war.

781
00:48:24,200 --> 00:48:27,200
I'm contending for the soul of our nation.

782
00:48:27,200 --> 00:48:31,480
I am pulling people out of the fires of hell.

783
00:48:31,480 --> 00:48:37,760
I so badly want God to use me to remind us of what our condition, character and conduct

784
00:48:37,760 --> 00:48:39,200
is in Christ.

785
00:48:39,200 --> 00:48:40,200
That's a war.

786
00:48:40,200 --> 00:48:43,360
I'm wearing armor, not makeup.

787
00:48:43,360 --> 00:48:51,560
And for me, really just connected with the Deborah story right now, but for a long time,

788
00:48:51,560 --> 00:48:52,560
it was Ruth.

789
00:48:52,560 --> 00:49:01,220
Because, I mean, can you, I think about Ruth and Naomi and that trip over from Moab to

790
00:49:01,220 --> 00:49:04,640
Bethlehem and traveling with someone who calls herself bitter.

791
00:49:04,640 --> 00:49:08,080
Can you imagine how fun that road trip was for Ruth?

792
00:49:08,080 --> 00:49:15,320
But she was so sweet and so faithful and just to have this intimacy with her mother-in-law

793
00:49:15,320 --> 00:49:19,680
like that, making it clear my mother-in-law wasn't like that.

794
00:49:19,680 --> 00:49:28,680
Just to be willing to journey with the bitter, to be willing to journey with the hurting,

795
00:49:28,680 --> 00:49:33,480
even the hateful and show them the love of Jesus Christ like Ruth did.

796
00:49:33,480 --> 00:49:37,480
Man, I want to be like that because it's too easy to run from those people and just be

797
00:49:37,480 --> 00:49:39,400
like, okay, enough.

798
00:49:39,400 --> 00:49:46,760
But in these days of such great mental illness, such mental illness going on in our country

799
00:49:46,760 --> 00:49:53,240
right now, so many hurting people, so many hopeless people, we need to be more Ruth-like

800
00:49:53,240 --> 00:50:01,600
and be willing to serve them, love them, stick with them so that our God will become their

801
00:50:01,600 --> 00:50:02,600
God.

802
00:50:02,600 --> 00:50:03,600
Amen.

803
00:50:03,600 --> 00:50:04,600
So those two right now.

804
00:50:04,600 --> 00:50:05,600
Those are good.

805
00:50:05,600 --> 00:50:10,720
And Habakkuk, the Habakkuk parade that seems so appropriate right now, it's in chapter

806
00:50:10,720 --> 00:50:16,480
three, verse two, and Habakkuk said, Lord, I've heard of your fame.

807
00:50:16,480 --> 00:50:19,240
I stand in awe of your deeds.

808
00:50:19,240 --> 00:50:22,760
Lord, repeat them in our day.

809
00:50:22,760 --> 00:50:25,220
In our time, make them known.

810
00:50:25,220 --> 00:50:28,520
In wrath, remember mercy.

811
00:50:28,520 --> 00:50:31,860
Kathy shared some awesome deeds of the Lord.

812
00:50:31,860 --> 00:50:33,640
He's the same yesterday, today, and forever.

813
00:50:33,640 --> 00:50:38,520
Habakkuk said that probably more than once this podcast, and he's still doing awesome

814
00:50:38,520 --> 00:50:39,560
things.

815
00:50:39,560 --> 00:50:43,440
So Kathy, would you take a moment and pray for everyone who listens to this amazing God

816
00:50:43,440 --> 00:50:44,440
story?

817
00:50:44,440 --> 00:50:45,440
Absolutely.

818
00:50:45,440 --> 00:50:49,100
Lord Jesus, we love you so much and we thank you that you loved us first and your loving

819
00:50:49,100 --> 00:50:53,380
thoughts towards us are more than even the numbers of grains of sand off on this planet.

820
00:50:53,380 --> 00:51:02,800
And so Lord, I pray that you would encourage, that you would bring courageous confidence,

821
00:51:02,800 --> 00:51:09,760
courageous love, courageous joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,

822
00:51:09,760 --> 00:51:13,080
and self-control into the lives of every listener.

823
00:51:13,080 --> 00:51:18,680
Lord, that the seeds that were planted in the Holy Spirit's hands today would grow into

824
00:51:18,680 --> 00:51:24,840
an orchard of fruitfulness, that we would remember that self-control coming from the

825
00:51:24,840 --> 00:51:34,200
Holy Spirit really plugs our heart into the Spirit, that fruitfulness, not feelings, should

826
00:51:34,200 --> 00:51:37,840
run our life when we are plugged into the Holy Spirit.

827
00:51:37,840 --> 00:51:44,760
And so Lord, I ask that you would to help us to sort through the emotions of life to

828
00:51:44,760 --> 00:51:47,840
get to the root of you.

829
00:51:47,840 --> 00:51:51,520
So it is to our Father's glory that we bear much fruit.

830
00:51:51,520 --> 00:51:59,200
And so I ask for courageous listeners today who are encouraged in you, deeply rooted and

831
00:51:59,200 --> 00:52:05,480
being built up in you, established in their faith just as they were instructed and that

832
00:52:05,480 --> 00:52:09,280
they would be overflowing with gratitude.

833
00:52:09,280 --> 00:52:13,200
In Jesus's beautiful, powerful, wonderful name, we pray.

834
00:52:13,200 --> 00:52:14,200
Amen.

835
00:52:14,200 --> 00:52:15,900
Well, thank you for tuning in.

836
00:52:15,900 --> 00:52:21,680
Links to Kathy's books, An Invitation to Prayer, An Apple a Day, 365 Daily Devotionals for

837
00:52:21,680 --> 00:52:27,480
Teachers, A Prayer Warrior's Guide to Spiritual Battle, and others, as well as the scriptures

838
00:52:27,480 --> 00:52:31,920
and information about the National Day of Prayer Task Force, are in our show notes at

839
00:52:31,920 --> 00:52:32,920
hergodstory.org.

840
00:52:32,920 --> 00:52:38,720
There, you can also sign up for periodic emails and watch out for a free downloadable devotional

841
00:52:38,720 --> 00:52:39,720
book.

842
00:52:39,720 --> 00:52:44,080
We'd love for you to share this story with friends who might enjoy it and be sure to

843
00:52:44,080 --> 00:52:47,600
follow the podcast so you don't miss an episode.

844
00:52:47,600 --> 00:52:53,160
We also willing to pray with you if you have a need, you can email us at prayer at somebodycares.org.

845
00:52:53,160 --> 00:52:55,160
Prayer at somebodycares.org.

846
00:52:55,160 --> 00:52:59,440
And now, dear friends, I leave you with a blessing from Psalm 20, verse 1.

847
00:52:59,440 --> 00:53:03,420
May the Lord answer you in your day of distress.

848
00:53:03,420 --> 00:53:06,940
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

849
00:53:06,940 --> 00:53:10,960
Her God Story is a ministry of Somebody Cares America and International.

850
00:53:10,960 --> 00:53:15,120
To find out more about or support the ministry, go to somebodycares.org.