Messianic Believer Finds Family Of Faith! Susie Wolf's Story

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I bet you love a good story, especially a God story, just as much as I do.

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

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author and traveler on this journey of faith. Psalm 68:3 in the New Living translation says,

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Let the godly rejoice, let them be glad in God's presence, let them be filled with joy.

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My guest today is a living testimony of that verse. Suzy Wolf is a woman of many, many talents.

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She's a concert pianist, she's a realtor, she founded a nonprofit called Seniority Services,

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and she's a college professor and a chaplain. She's also a dear friend with a generous heart

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and a joyful spirit. Now, Suzy's been through some challenging times along the way that required

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great faith and perseverance, but she has come through them with the joy of the Lord as her

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strength. I know her God story is going to challenge and encourage you at the same time.

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So welcome, Suzy. Thank you, Jody. It's an honor and a joy to be with you today.

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Suzy, you didn't grow up in a Christian family. It wasn't the traditional Christian home. You were

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actually Jewish and you were raised in that faith and tradition, which is a bit different for a lot

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of people. I'd love to hear about your heritage and how it led into much of what God's done in

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and through you, even now. You know, Jody, the wonderful thing about the Lord is he's working

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in our lives every step of the way. From a young age, the Lord really allowed me to know

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that he was real. At bedtime, there were prayers every night to God. The only difference is there

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was no mention of Jesus. Now, my parents were of Jewish background and heritage, and somewhere

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along the way, their practices became more, I guess you would say, nominal, though there were

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times that we would go to service at temple or there'd be a special celebration and we would go.

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But the beautiful thing is that my parents highly valued education, kind of a traditional Jewish

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value, right? They want their kids to get a great education. And so my brother and I both were sent

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to a college preparatory school. Well, it so happened that this college prep school had

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interdenominational Christian services every week. So from the age of five, I was raised

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going to chapel services at Houston's St. John's School. And for me, that became very precious,

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sang in the choir from young age all the way up. And the interesting thing about it is my parents

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had no problem whatsoever with their children going to a college prep school where there were

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Christian services. As a matter of fact, my mother was a graduate of a Catholic school in San Antonio,

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Texas, Incarnate Word College. And so my dad had this graduate school program was also at a

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Catholic university. God was sowing seeds all along the way. He was in their lives and in mine.

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So then you kind of had that groundwork being laid in you. When did you actually come to faith in

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Jesus? When I was in junior high, two friends who were one grade ahead of me. One was a born again

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Catholic. Her dad was Baptist. Her mother was Catholic, filled with the Holy Spirit. The other

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was in a denominational setting, a Presbyterian church. And we were walking around the school one

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day. And one of the girls said, we sing these songs about Jesus in chapel. Do you know who he is?

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And I said, well, I know what the words say in the lyrics and Jesus, son of God. But she could

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tell the light had really not gone odd. And her closing words to me were, be a good Jewish daughter

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and God will show you the rest. Well, all I knew about that was just honor my mom and dad,

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do well in school, prepare for a piano performance major in college. So there were lots of auditions

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and performances. So just be a good dutiful daughter and God will show me the rest. That's

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where the seeds were really planted. So fast forward to my freshman. She was pretty wise for

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being a young, a young girl to give you that advice. Yes, she really was. And she still is very

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different to this day. So it's, it's spanned our lifetime, the friendship and we'll always be

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grateful for the seeds of faith that were planted. So you're being dutiful, you're being the dutiful

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daughter. And then, you know, the Lord's probably still speaking to you along the way. But when did

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you actually say, hmm, there's, he's more than just, he really wants to be a part of my life,

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leading a guiding me, actively involved. Yes. So I always loved history, Jody, all the way through

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high school, after my senior year graduation, I had this desire to read the Bible. And it read like

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a great history book. Well, this is wonderful to hear, you know, how God moved in these people's

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lives along the way. But what I didn't know is the drastic change that was going to happen in my

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family just within a year. So during my freshman year at Rice University, my mother was diagnosed

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with a very aggressive form of breast cancer. It was already fairly advanced. And so they began

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treatment, the prognosis did not look good. And I was praying in October of 1981, I distinctly

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remember just the words of my friends coming back to me. And I said, Jesus, if you were real,

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I opened my heart to you. The following week, all I knew is one of my teachers at St. John's

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was an ordained Methodist minister. And I thought, well, I'm going to find a church just like Mr.

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Harper's and I am going to go and I knew enough to know you had to walk the aisle. How I knew that

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was again for those for those classmates who had taken me at times to a candlelight service, we

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always had candlelight service at Christmas, it's the school, but this was enjoying church with my

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friends. So I knew enough to walk the aisle, went to this church and you know, they had a fabulous

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care pastor who walked the journey with me and the family for a very brief period of time, it

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turned out to be when mother when mother's health turned and she passed, and the minister was with

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her when she passed and I had planted seeds of salvation and trusted that the Lord took those

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seeds watered it and took care of mom. Then the journey for the rest of the yes, absolutely he is

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so faithful and and that was just the beginning of the journey. How did your dad respond to this? I

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mean, I know you were all grieving your your father and your brother. I mean, you lost you lost your

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mom. Obviously, you were in great grief. How did he kind of feel about you confessing Jesus as Savior?

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I mean, what was that walk with him like? I mean, he wasn't, you know, a seriously practicing

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Jewish man at the time. But I mean, that was his tradition and faith. Absolutely. It was his

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tradition, his parents, his grandparents, there's a book that's been out for a while called betrayal,

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and it has to do with a Jewish girl who came to faith in Messiah, and the parents reaction.

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And dad had a hard time with it. And there were a lot of dynamics happening in the family at the

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time of my passing. This news was a shock to him. And in a way, Jody, I think it compounded his grief.

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It's like, wow, what is what has happened to my daughter? And my wife is gone, my brother had some

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life issues that he was dealing with. And so my dad's world was really being shaken and turned

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upside down. Did your relationship with your father survive through that? Well, it was strained.

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There was a lot of support that went to my dad. And mutually when mother passed, there were just

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some family obligations, things that needed to be done. And so I helped even while I was still at

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university, but his reactions were were as you could expect, they were not favorable. So there

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was a strain on the relationship. Along the way through the years, we had about a two year period

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of time where communication was very limited. And he did not understand this path or this journey

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I was on here, I'd gone to college prep school went to a school known as Ivy League of the South.

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And wow, my daughter's become a Christian, she's been teaching public school, but now she is going

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into quote unquote full time ministry. And so it was another like, what has happened to my daughter,

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you kind of lost a little bit both parents during that time, lost your mother and a strange somewhat

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from your father, not completely but somewhat. But then God introduced you to kind of a family of

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faith. How did that happen? And what what transpired that really, I mean, he rallied some amazing

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people around you to carry you through that really? Absolutely. So part of that journey happened

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during my time in college. And Psalm 27 became very real, though my mother and father forsake me,

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the Lord will take care of me. And that's how I felt. There were some friends at the university

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who were part of Campus Crusade for Christ, some that were part of intervarsity fellowship,

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fellowship, there was a small support system that really got me through. However, the bigger changes

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came with some classmates at university who introduced me to their community church. And then

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they said, well, we also sometimes go to this church, known as Lakewood, the whole journey of

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faith and hope and the joy of the Lord was gradually being restored, that there is a hope for a future

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that there is joy unspeakable and in the midst of our sorrow, the Lord can bring great joy. And it

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was through those connections initially that I got plugged into a local church in the mid 1980s. And

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some ministers began to come to this church. Among them were people involved in street ministry,

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those involved in outreach music ministry, and the Lord was has already transforming what I knew as

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a classical pianist. I was part of a neighborhood Bible study for junior and senior high kids. And

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they said, we're going to we do praise and worship, would you begin to play some praise and worship?

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And I was like, okay, where's the music? And they said, well, there is no music. We usually have

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chord charts and we play by ear. And, and I thought, well, this is new. Well, the Lord gave a grace to

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do that. And so he was turning my morning into joy and into dancing, but it was it was literally a

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transformation even of the gift of music from traditional classical to praise and worship that

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focused on the Lord that was being redeemed as well. Not that there was anything wrong with the

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classical but there was the spirit giving life. And from those connections and those meetings where

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different ministers would come to church, I got connected with two ministries in particular one

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did outreach music ministry and the other did street ministry and Bible studies and it's a ministry

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we're both very familiar with turning point ministries, as it was known in the day,

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and Doug Stringer and I started attending the Bible studies and we began to have wonderful times we

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had wonderful times of worship. And then we would go teams of us would go from several different

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ministries out to minister to people on the streets. That's a big departure from you know,

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classical piano to street ministry. Back in the day when you were doing the street ministry with

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Doug and with many others, the streets were pretty tough in Houston. It was a street called Montrose

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if I if I recall correctly, and there were a lot of street kids but there was drug drug addictions

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going on a lot of prostitution. What was that like you kind of stepped out of faith to do this,

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but I'm sure there was a little trepidation along the way. You are absolutely right because I was

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timid at first and some other friends who were there were just very natural in sharing their

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faith on the streets. And so I just kind of stayed in the background and prayed and prayed in the

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spirit prayed for the Lord's intervention in people's lives. And you know, the beautiful thing

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is there was a community of people probably about 100 plus of us who would gather engineers,

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accountants, college students, new graduates, young families, and we all had the same heart

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and it was that people would come to know Jesus. So regardless of their walk of life,

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it really didn't matter. When we came into a Friday night Bible study, our labels were off.

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Our identity as NASA engineer or pianist or teacher, those hats were off. We were brothers

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and sisters in Christ who came together for a common cause. And that was the thing.

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I think it's such a good lesson that you were obedient to the Lord, even though you were a

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little scared. And then you just prayed. You watched and prayed and learned. And I think it's

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such a good important thing for us to understand. We don't have to know everything. We don't have

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to be an expert in the kind of ministry God's calling us to right from the start. We just step

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in faith believing. He comes along and teaches us along the way through others, through prayer.

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I know that you got really comfortable with street ministry. You actually joined

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Turning Point ministry on the staff and saw some pretty amazing transformation in lives.

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I would love for you to tell a story or two about the people that you saw on the street

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and what God did through the ministry that was happening. For the sake of their own testimony,

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I'll just give an abbreviation. There was a young lady named Dee. Dee was a young girl when she was

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introduced to the street life, probably about 14 at the time. Her parents had either kicked her out,

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abandoned her, something along those lines. And unfortunately, she was taken up into the world of

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prostitution. And that was really her life. All she knew was survival. One of the other young

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ladies on the streets, her name initial would be Bee. Bee would say, we're sisters and we're

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brothers. We're our own family out here and we stand for each other. We cut for each other.

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And what she meant by that is, nobody's going to mess with us. We are here standing strong.

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And reaching some of the girls was sometimes tougher than reaching the guys because their

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hearts had really become hardened. They had to be tough in order to survive. Well, this young lady

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started, she would hear us talk about the Bible studies. And one thing I want to interject,

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Jody, is that before we would go to the streets, we always had a time of prayer and worship.

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There would be the Bible study before, but we also went to a place called the Upper Room,

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which was a house where a ministry was based literally on mantras. And the second floor

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was a place that all these street teams, we would gather before we dared step foot into basically

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the enemy's territory. And so we would pray, we would worship, we would ask God, cleanse our hearts

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so that nothing that's out here on the streets would even have a foothold to attach itself to us

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so that we could be free to be the ministers of the gospel we're called to be. And so D heard

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about the Bible studies and she wanted to come. Her boyfriend slash pimp wasn't so sure about this.

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There were times that he would come around as well. When he saw her heart turning and being drawn

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to the potential for freedom and fullness of life in Christ, he really fought to keep her.

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And the ministry leader at the time, Doug, actually ended up making a stand so that this young lady

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could stay in the Bible study. And when I say make a stand, he had to get between this young lady and

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this man so that he would not take her out of the meeting. You know, there were some things that we

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saw on the streets that you pray your children never experience and you don't want them to see.

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It was rough territory, but you know, God had given me a heart for the kids, as we call them,

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the street kids, without detail, just because a relative had gone through some things that I was

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going, you know what, maybe I can't help this one, but if I can help somebody else's brother or sister

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or nephew or niece, then Lord, I make myself available to you. And I think that's the key

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with this type of ministry or any type of ministry. We're just saying, as we were really mentored,

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Lord, we just make ourselves available to you and have your way in us. Isn't that really, Jody,

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what surrendering to Christ means? It's like, I may have had all these different plans, but the

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apostle Paul, he was a learned man, a Pharisee of Pharisees. He knew the word. He knew the traditions.

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But when God got a hold of his heart, all of that really just washed away because there's something

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that he found was that much greater. And that's really where I was. It was like, you know,

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I could teach school and I enjoy teaching, but there's something more important, not that

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education isn't, but the souls. If we can reach these people with the gospel, then their lives

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will be changed forever. Amen. So Dee, did she come to know the Lord? So Dee did come to know the

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Lord and it is a story of redemption. And yes, she had her bumps along the way. She went to prison

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for a period of time, but she ended up in a halfway house program that really every seed that was

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planted of the gospel through this ministry, through other ministries, it came to fruition.

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And she is now mentoring and discipling other young women so that they won't have to go through

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some of the things that she did. And she is doing well. And that's been for probably two decades

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worth of living out of her faith. Definitely a story of redemption. And there were many others.

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There were many, as a matter of fact, many of them would call the ministry office, even if we

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hadn't heard from them in five years, all of a sudden the phone call would ring because one of

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the values was this phone number is always available to you as much as possible. It will

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always be here. And so call 24 seven. And that's where the ministry became known as call 24 seven.

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Somebody cares. And these three kids knew that and they did continue to come. Yeah. I mean,

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the Lord says, you know, some plants, some water, some harvest, and you never know how long that's

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going to take in people's lives. But you know, every once in a while, one of them would call and

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let you know what they were doing. And God would just give you that little glimpse into the work he

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was doing in the harvest field he had sent you into, which is, you know, just like God, of course,

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he wants to encourage us and show us his goodness in all things. So, but you know, in the middle of

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all of that, while you were working with this ministry, God was also doing a work in your

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relationship with your father too, right? Absolutely. Jody, you know, dad would come along,

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come around to the Bible studies, not every week, but frequently enough, because he really

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was keeping an eye. What is my daughter involved with? That was really the motive. But the beautiful

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thing about it is he was hearing the word of God, Old Testament and new. He was hearing connections

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made in the messages to the Jewish roots of the Christian faith, for which I am so very grateful.

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He was getting the word planted in his spirit. But most importantly, people were loving on my dad.

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There was a whole community of people known as turning pointers who loved on my dad. And that

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love made all the difference. And he would open his home at the holidays, he would cook a big turkey.

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Sometimes, yes, this Jewish man would even bake a wonderful ham. And it would be a time of gathering

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the single adults, primarily though some of the families came, but the singles had a place to go,

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a home where they could enjoy a good meal and have fellowship. And it was beautiful.

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And there was a young man at the time, and probably not that young, maybe in his 40s,

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named John. John became a main intercessor for the ministry. John had contracted the AIDS virus due to

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being a drug mule, but he was the most gentle, spirited, kindhearted man you'd ever want to meet.

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He connected with my dad and my dad connected with him. He would come over to my dad's house.

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I would sometimes pick him up and sometimes my dad would. He could not work a normal job just

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because of health issues. He was getting frail, but he would come and help dad with projects.

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His favorite was my dad would fix some tuna fish sandwiches for lunch. And he was planting seeds

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of faith in my dad. And dad was loving on John like a son. And I remember driving John home one day,

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and he said, Susie, give up on no man as long as he has breath. And he was quoting a long time,

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old time evangelist and prayer person. He said, God is working in your father. And he was absolutely

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right. And so the entire time that I served at this ministry, my dad was dealing with a local

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low grade form of cancer that was recurring from 1990, all the way to his passing in 2006.

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He dealt with cancer and we were back and forth hospital visits and things were pretty,

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as much as you could say routine for quite a while. And then fast forward,

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and you and you were actually living with him to kind of be kind of a caregiver.

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Yes, during his latter years. So I was living on my own until about 2002.

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And move back in with him because his care needs were increasing. I lived at the time about a half

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an hour away from him. It's like, no, he's getting into his late 80s. And he needs some help. And so

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I moved back in and it was not the easy thing as we all know as adult children, when you move back

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in with your parent, they definitely have their ways. It's their home, you're honoring them.

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But at the same time, you're going the relationship changes, you know, the dynamics are different.

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And the Lord made it into one of the sweetest, richest seasons of our relationship.

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He just restored everything. He really did.

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And in that time, just share with our listeners what God did in your dad's life.

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So my dad was a very intellectual man. He was in the medical profession. And he really saw things

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rather clinically, very pragmatically. And in the midst of the real in depth part of his cancer

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journey, he had major surgery, nearly lost him after the surgery. Ministers from one of the area

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churches, Grace Community Church came to pray for dad in ICU. And at the time I say, God, it's not

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time. He hasn't confessed to you yet. Please extend his time. And I will backtrack when he was first

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diagnosed around 1990. I said, Lord, would you do for my father, what you did for King Hezekiah,

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and give him 15 more years and in that time, may he come to know you. So fast forward, we're in the

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early 2000s. And this was 2005 now and he'd had major surgery, he did pull through, he came home.

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And one night, I'm sleeping on the sofa to be catty cornered to keep an eye of his bedroom in

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case he needed help. Going to the ER was kind of a normal thing, things come up. And so about three

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o'clock in the morning, dad all of a sudden shuffled out of his bedroom and slumped over his walker and

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shaking his head. And I thought, oh, boy, we're getting ready to go to the hospital. And I said,

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Dad, do I need to get ready to take you? And he said, No, Suzy. No. Did you lock the door? Yeah,

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I locked the door. What about the alarm? Did you set the alarm? Yeah, I set the alarm. Did you crack

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a window? Sometimes he would do that in the wrong season. It was a different season of year. He'd

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crack a window for cross ventilation. No, dad, it's springtime, probably around this same time of year

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that it is now, Jody, and no window cracked. What's wrong, dad? He said, Well, I don't know what to make

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of it. Jesus visited me last night. We sat at the breakfast table, and we talked for quite a while.

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Wow, he wasn't even a Christian at that point, right? Correct. He was not a believer. Well,

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he was a believer. But that's that was the next step. So I wanted to just shout, praise the Lord.

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But I knew not to excite him any more than he was already trying to wrap his brain around what was

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happening. And I just said, That's really great, dad, do you think you can go back to sleep?

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He said, I'm gonna try and he shuffled back into his bedroom. But Jody from that morning on,

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he referred to Jesus as the Son of God. Wow. And his faith journey just revealed himself to I mean,

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God revealed himself to your dad and just Yes, like, you know, it was like a scene out of the

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Bible, out of the book of Acts or something. It was, you know, I have not had that kind of

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visitation myself from the Lord. But that's what Yeah, that's what it took. It took the Lord

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intervening and showing him all these messages you've heard all these people who've loved on you.

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The reason why is Jesus, the Messiah, the one that you have longed for your entire life. And there

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is a little side note about my dad that he told me. After all of that, he said when he was a small boy

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growing up in San Antonio, there would be times that there would be tent ministries, you know,

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tent meetings that would come to town. And he said every now and again, he would sneak in just to see

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what was happening. So the Lord, I totally believe was planting seeds his whole life. And dear

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friends who were part of turning point back in the day were plugged into a church grace community

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and said, we think your dad would really enjoy their senior adult ministry class. It's called

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joy, just older youth, even after chemo treatments, we would be there on Sunday mornings, the last year

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and a half of his life. And that became a community for my father and for me as a caregiver, just the

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joy of knowing he's home with the Lord. He's with Yeshua, the one that promised Messiah for

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for the Jewish people and the Lord did it himself. Well, I know that that season was I mean, you were

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ministering on the streets, you were working for turning point ministries, which was a tiny little

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ministry. So you were really walking by faith in all of that. You were caring for your father,

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which, you know, I mean, it got better. But when you first made that decision, it was pretty bumpy

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along the way. But God was so faithful to, you know, answer the cry of your heart when you just

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walked in obedience, humility, and just laid down your life in obedience to the Lord to walk with

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God and you got to see the Lord do some amazing things on the street and right at home. God always

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has been concerned about the poor and the widows and the fatherless and somebody cares, which

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actually was birthed out of turning point ministries has always provided opportunities for

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believers to get involved in that, which is why we created a widow and orphan fund. And as we record

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this, actually, there's a huge need right now to help Ukrainian orphans who've been traumatized by

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the war. We received word from one of the partners of ours that as they were evacuating one group of

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orphans from Ukraine, one of the boys was so traumatized by the shelling that he tried to

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kill himself actually in the van while they were evacuating. Praise the Lord. People were around

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him were able to stop him and minister to him. But so many of these children are disoriented and

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they're fearful. And as a company of women together, you know, all of us listeners, we can come together

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and do so much to help them and and other orphans and widows who are in need. So if you want to join

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us to help the Ukrainian orphans and other orphans around the world and widows and ministers, please

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go to her God story.org and click on help now her God story.org. We would love for you to join us.

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We there's just so much need you may be already helping through another organization, which is

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fantastic. But if you don't have a way to do that now, we invite you to join us. And Susie, I know

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your heart is really heavy over what's happening in Ukraine. You know, the Lord, that's kind of

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your heritage came out of Ukraine, and the Lord called you to go there several years ago on a

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mission trip. So tell us how that transpired and what God spoke to you in the midst of all of that.

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Absolutely. And you know, Jody, I'll make this as brief as I can. But one of the beauties of

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working with turning point is that we were involved in global missions all along the way,

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there was even citywide networking that happened among pastors and ministry leaders. And so that

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people knew if you had somebody coming off the streets or in other situations where they needed

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help, there was a network of ministries and churches that we developed relationships with

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that we could contact and, and we would find help for the individual or for the group of people.

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And we've seen that just magnify tremendously through Somebody Cares America and International.

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Well, along the way, I've had the privilege of going on several missions trips, which for again,

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this previously shy, introverted young lady, I went to Belize, Central America, went to New Zealand,

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Fiji, Israel with the ministry. And then in more recent years, while I was attending grad school,

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which my dad knew I was going to go to grad school for gerontology, I happened to plan a

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wonderful church in North Texas known as Gateway through Gateway Church, I connected with their

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Jewish ministries department, and there was missions trips available to participate in.

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So I've gone to Berlin and Brussels, Belgium, as part of evangelism. And in more recent years,

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literally the year before COVID-19 shut the world down, so to speak, in the fall of 2019,

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I had the privilege of going to the very town where my father's parents and grandparents were from.

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We went to minister in Odessa, Ukraine, and even found the history records of his family

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and where they had lived. And we traveled up and down that street. So Ukraine is absolutely on my

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heart. I have traced back now four and five generations back on my dad's side, both his

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mother and his father are from that region of the world. And so to hear the plight of the orphans

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and the widows and the mothers who have left and evacuated with their children, where the dads maybe

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who stayed behind, it is heartbreaking to see what's happening in a world that, you know,

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and in a region of the world where we were just literally three years ago.

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You met while you were there, you met a very vibrant church body that was really ministering

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throughout Odessa and Ukraine. You know, we know that there are strong believers in Ukraine that

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continue to minister during this war. But we hear from them and they say, please pray.

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Absolutely. They are still holding church services each week. They're taking food out

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into the community. They are providing shelter. And of course, initially those that needed to

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evacuate because their towns were being hit so hard, they helped them evacuate across the border

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into safe havens, so to speak. Well, now some of the very towns where they have been sort of

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sheltered are also being hit. But the church continues to do what the church does. And as a

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matter of fact, I've heard of another group of churches connected with another organization,

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and they have a well on one of their properties. And it's providing water to the community because

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the water supply in the city has been cut off. But the church has a well. And so isn't that the

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beauty of what somebody cares is able to do in the world? Yeah, we have a lot of partnered churches

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over in actually Romania and Poland and Slovakia and in Ukraine that that we are trying to help.

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But we won't get too deep into that because we want to go back to your story and what God

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done specifically for you. Ecclesiastes three, it tells us that there's a time for everything

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and a season for every activity under heaven. And you serve faithfully in the ministry of turning

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point and then which turned into somebody cares. But as you served, God was forming in you a new

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vision that required another step of faith, you kind of touched on it, you said you went back to

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get your master's degree in gerontology. But that was a bit of a process, I mean,

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because you had been ingrained in this family of faith that God placed you in, walk us through that,

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what was how did God birth that in you? And what was the process? It began one day,

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when my dad was in the emergency room at MD Anderson Hospital in Houston, I was leaning over

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him and I said, Dad, I want to go back to school to help people like you. And his first reaction was,

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my baby girl, why would you want to do that? And I said, Why wouldn't I want to do that? It is a joy.

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And I meant that sincerely, it is a joy and an honor to serve our parents in their latter years.

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Now it looks different for everybody. I would never say to anyone, you have to move back in

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with your loved one or they have to move in with your family, every situation is different. For

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some, being in assisted living is the best option for them. And it makes the most sense. However,

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God was birthing in my heart, a burden for the widow, for the widower, for those who in their

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latter years, sometimes society marginalizes and says, well, you know, you've you've given your best

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years and now you're going to basically fade into the sunset. And it's like, no, we want to honor our

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elders for all that they've invested in us. And if we take the opportunity to receive what they've

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planted in us, we're going to be that much better for it. And so we're our kids and our grandkids,

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our nephews, great nephews, nieces, and there's a generational blessing that comes from our seniors.

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And so we want to honor and serve them. So that's where the seed was planted. I remember a time

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where I was I was wrestling like, Lord, this is this is great. But there's a whole generation

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of people that need to know the love of Jesus. And really, that's where it came from, Jody,

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my mother, my father, and my older brother all came to faith in Jesus through end of life issues,

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through illness, specifically through illness, each of them dealt with cancer, their journeys

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were all very different. But it was in that window of opportunity that they came to know the Lord.

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I know that God is no respecter of persons that what he did for little Susie Wolf's family,

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he wants to do for a whole generation of people that in their latter years would be greater than

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their former. And that maybe the seeds that were planted in them in childhood, or at a young age,

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and they drifted away, or life happened that they would come to know the love of the Father before

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they entered eternity. And that is really what took me to grad school. It was that heart motivation,

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but there was a quipping that needed to happen. I needed to learn about the psychological process,

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the biological processes, the things that happen with aging, and how we navigate the changes.

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You got your degree, you got your master's in social work. It was a master of science and

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applied gerontology. And the Lord had you start a new ministry. He did. And it was actually while I

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was in grad school that the ministry was being birthed. And it started with local outreaches,

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but it really has developed into one on one ministry to families, and how to do life care

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planning. And definitely the heart is for the family caregiver, whether it is the spouse or

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the adult children, or another relative who's caring for them and helping them figure out what

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is going to be best for their loved one. In addition to that, we have seasonal outreaches

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at the holidays, and even specifically ministry to the Jewish community, because there's a way

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to bridge relationships with those who are the original, who have not yet seen that Jesus is

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their Messiah, the one they've hoped for. So the outreaches are always twofold. They're to general

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public, but they're also targeted outreaches specifically toward the traditional Jewish

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community as well. You are doing this seniority services, the name of your ministry, you're doing

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that by faith in order to help support yourself or God provided two other ministry opportunities

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for you, which are so unique. And I love it because God has you ministering to multiple

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generations in very different ways. I mean, you're a college professor, you're teaching and interacting

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with late teen, 20-somethings, and you're a chaplain to businesses. So you're, you know,

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you're working with that sandwich generation, and then you have the ministry to the elderly.

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It's so, I think it's a beautiful thing because you can really help people communicate through

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the generations. Tell us about that. I mean, I just love what God's doing through you. It's so unique

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that I think it's worth hearing about because God may have some other really unique ways

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to use people. They wouldn't necessarily think about it, but God has them there for a purpose.

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Absolutely. And you know, the beautiful thing about teaching is that some are young adults

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and some are single parent moms who've gone back to school because they want to better themselves

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and to set, and several of them have said, we want to set an example for our children

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that you can go beyond. You don't have to just stay where you are. There is potential within you

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that can be developed. And I love education for that reason, whether we're talking small children,

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young adults, or adults who are working full-time jobs and raising their kids at the same time.

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In addition, the chaplaincy is a wonderful opportunity to connect with people of various

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backgrounds in all kinds of industry, from oil and gas to perhaps banking to just industries

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where they're service oriented. It's everyone from CEOs down to the maintenance crew, and they're

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all loved on equally and provided chaplain care. And I just, I love the way the Lord brings

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opportunities to us. And you know, there's a phrase that I grew in ministry hearing, and it's so true,

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the kingdom of God is built on relationship. And it's because of relationship with different people

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that some of these avenues have opened. And I am just so grateful for the connection within the body

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of Christ of how we can support one another and bring out the giftings and the skills within each

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other and iron sharpening iron. And you know, one of the things that I really enjoy doing, even

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beyond all of that, Jody, in this season of life, the Lord has brought me full circle into

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understanding and embracing the Jewish roots of my faith as a Jewish woman. I get the opportunity

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through local churches to host Shabbat, which is the Sabbath, and we pray the blessings and introduce

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believers into the whole concept of the Jewish roots of the faith and teaching about the Jewish

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feasts and how that is relevant to us as believers in Jesus. Yeah, you know, we really don't

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understand all that God says in the Bible without understanding some of that Jewish heritage,

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because there's layers upon layers upon layers upon layers of truth in the Bible, that is

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constantly we're uncovering as we read the Bible, as we pray, as we you know, as God brings these

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opportunities opportunities like you providing people, Passover services and Shabbat services,

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we never know everything God's constantly revealing new truth to us. And there's so much to be learned

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from the Jewish heritage. Absolutely. And Jody, one of the things that I could say is, you know,

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I've now walked been walking with the Lord for just over 40 years. God has brought this Jewish

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lady full circle in the sense that I did not leave my roots. I have a better understanding of my roots

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now than I certainly did even as a young believer 40 years ago. And so I, I say that to say, God is

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a restore of relationship the way he did with my earthly father. He is a restore of areas of our

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life where we go, how, how is he going to put the pieces together? How is all of this going to fit

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and make sense? And so my encouragement to any woman or person listening who goes, Wow, I laid

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this down, or I thought I was going this direction. And then I'm doing something what seems to be

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totally different. I had a music teacher who was a believer who said to me years ago, piano

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instructor. And she said, God has the perfect economy, Susie, he wastes nothing. And I can say,

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I'm not at the end of my journey, but I'm far enough along in my journey to say, it's true. He

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really does take these aspects of our lives that we go seemingly are not related, or things have

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shifted in a direction and we had no idea that shift was coming. But the Lord does. And he takes

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it all. And he says, see, I'm putting together this beautiful life, this tapestry, and I'm weaving all

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of these aspects of your life together. And it's not only a testimony of his faithfulness to us,

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but it's an encouragement to others along their journey that God has got a plan and a purpose for

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them. And, you know, we were also encouraged early on in ministry life, be faithful to someone else's

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vision, and God will give you your own. And so we just honor the Lord, whether it's in our church,

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in our home, in our neighborhood, you know, loving people, just being the light that we are called

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to be. And he really does take care of the rest. I know I've had my own kind of circuitous journey

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in life. I mean, I, my first degree was I was a computer science major, and I was a computer

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programmer. And then the Lord sent me to graduate school in a completely different field and

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communication and biblical studies, and I became an event planner. And then the Lord took me into

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humanitarian relief, and I traveled all over the world doing that. And I now I'm, you know, working

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as one of the ministry leaders that somebody cares, still doing some of that. And the Lord has, you

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know, he doesn't waste anything all along the way. I look back and I see, gosh, I've had so many

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different careers, but all of them intersect in ministry in different ways that I never would have

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00:44:22,480 --> 00:44:28,480
had the skills or the knowledge unless God had taken me on that circuitous route. Even the

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volunteer opportunities and ministry opportunities I've had through the years, if I had said no to

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them, I would have missed learning experience that God had for the future. Ministry at the time,

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it wasn't just learning. There was ministry happening at the time, but also learning for the

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future. So yeah, we can't despise anything the Lord does in our life because God does. He brings it

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all back to for us to use. I love that kind of that life lesson for all of us. So, Suzy, there

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are there's got to be a couple practical things that the Lord has taught you. One or two practical

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things that you can share with our listening friends that they can do today or this week to

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deepen their walk with the Lord, because you have a deep faith, a deep walk with the Lord. What

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what would be a couple of things that anybody can do to really deepen their walk with the Lord,

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00:45:17,760 --> 00:45:24,800
even now? You know, I think it's they are simple. They're practical, but they're simple. There's

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daily devotion time. For me, that is worship at the piano. You know, that's that's really my my

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prayer room. Some refer to it as a prayer chair. My worship and intercession really go hand in hand.

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And I will often pray through things during my times of personal private worship with the Lord

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and time in the Word. The other is the impact that it has on us individually to be part of a small

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group community of people who are engaged in Bible study together, are praying together, lifting one

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another up iron sharpening iron, we can always learn from others. And I have the pleasure of

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00:46:07,920 --> 00:46:14,640
facilitating a a woman's zoom group actually that started in the midst of COVID. Zoom became the

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way for people to connect. And we are still connecting two and a half years into this with

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00:46:21,040 --> 00:46:28,640
some of the same ladies and some newer ones at all stages of life, from empty nesters to to moms

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with little ones to single adults like myself, and we each bring something to the table from our life

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00:46:37,280 --> 00:46:44,000
experience. So I think that it is birth, both a personal commitment to the Lord and to the Word,

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and in our own devotion time with him, but it's also in community, we grow when we're in that type

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of small group connection, where we are inspiring one another challenging each other and growing

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together. And that's something that anybody can do. I know sometimes it's hard for women to know,

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00:47:03,680 --> 00:47:10,400
well, who can I really trust? Is it a safe group of people? But you will find even if it's one or two

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00:47:10,400 --> 00:47:16,320
start there and and really connect with them, you know, and the beautiful. Yeah, it's, it's hard to

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it's hard to walk this walk of faith alone, because, you know, Satan comes in like a flood

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to take us out. And we need our brothers and sisters in Christ to help us walk and lift us up.

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And, you know, we're, we're the body of Christ, we're the family of God. That's not individuals.

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You know, we're part of the body of Christ, we're not individually body of Christ. So we have to be

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connected, you know, we have to be connected to one another. And then, as you said, we have to be

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connected to the head, Jesus, through prayer and worship and, and Bible studies. So yeah, those are

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so important. Thank you for sharing that. Absolutely. And you know, they're key to our

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vibrancy. They really are. And one of the things that I will say that is a blessing to this very

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day, because of the networking within the city of Houston that happened, has happened all along the

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way, because of my time of service at turning point, somebody cares, and then with Star of Hope

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mission in donor relations, there are brothers and sisters in Christ, different churches, different

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00:48:23,280 --> 00:48:30,880
nonprofit organizations, we stay connected. So in a sense, there is this, this, this, this

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understanding that my life is not my own, that it belongs to Christ. But it's also I have a commitment

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to others, that was we journey, we are encouraging one another, press on in the faith, you're not in

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this alone. And we can overcome whatever challenges or obstacles, because somebody else needs that

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00:48:52,960 --> 00:48:59,040
encouragement that comes through, say, Jody, or through Susie. And we are that for each other.

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Amen. I think of Psalm 68, verse six, it says, God sets the lonely in families. He doesn't want us to

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be lonely or alone. So if you dear listener are feeling lonely and alone, God will set you in a

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family of faith, if you will ask him and step out and believe and you know what, if you're having

477
00:49:19,280 --> 00:49:25,760
that struggle, please email us at somebody cares at somebody cares.org somebody cares at somebody

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00:49:25,760 --> 00:49:31,120
cares.org somebody cares at somebody cares.org. Let us know where you live. We have relationships

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00:49:31,120 --> 00:49:38,400
all across the country. We'll try to point you to a church or a fellowship or a ministry that can

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00:49:38,400 --> 00:49:44,640
help you get connected. So if that's you, we invite you to email us somebody cares at somebody cares.

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00:49:45,440 --> 00:49:51,520
Susie, as we wrap it up, I like to ask all my guests this question, is there a woman in the Bible

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whose story has inspired, encouraged or taught you something and and how does her story connect

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00:49:57,280 --> 00:50:03,360
with your story? I've pondered that Jody and there are several but the one that really comes to mind

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is Esther, Queen Esther, who laid it all on the line that if she did not find favor with the king,

485
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it was not only her end but the end for the Jewish people at that time. As we understand the story of

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what's known as Purim and the celebration of it and as she prepared herself to go in to visit with

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the king and make her petition, the phrase that many of us have come to know could it be that the

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Lord has called you to the kingdom for such a time as this? And I believe that's true for each and

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every one of us. It is not by coincidence. It is by divine appointment that we are each living in

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this season that we are in, that our life would be a testimony of God's faithfulness to all generations

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that he is the same God of Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, that he is the same God for Jody, the same God of

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Susie and that he is looking for people who will say yes in this hour. Whatever it may cost us in

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the natural, it's because there's something greater. It's the cause of Christ. And fortunately for us

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00:51:22,800 --> 00:51:28,000
in the United States, it has not been the same devastation as in other parts of the world.

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And the cost sometimes looks different. It looks like, well, is it your reputation? Is it, well,

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you didn't achieve the things that other people thought you would achieve. Those things don't

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matter because we're going to answer to one King and his name is Jesus. And so Esther was a valiant

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woman of faith and she put it all on the line. It's inspired me to say, you know what, for this

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cause, there's a calling on our lives. And I think as we progress along life's journey, it gets refined,

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00:52:00,800 --> 00:52:06,400
it gets more defined, and we hone in on those things that God is saying, this is to be your

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00:52:06,400 --> 00:52:12,480
mission from now until you go home to be with the Lord or the Lord returns. And everything else,

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00:52:12,480 --> 00:52:19,280
it was absolutely a vital part of laying the foundation of who we are today. But he encourages

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00:52:19,280 --> 00:52:28,160
us that we have a voice and the voice is meant to be used, whether it's by words or by actions.

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00:52:28,160 --> 00:52:33,760
Well, as I think back on your story, Susie, I think of 2 Timothy 1 verse 12 B,

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I am convinced that he is able to guard what I entrust to him until that day.

506
00:52:39,360 --> 00:52:46,480
You know, when I look back on you entrusting your family to the Lord, as you stepped out,

507
00:52:47,040 --> 00:52:53,120
you know, in faith to become the first Christian in your family, and then stepped out of faith

508
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to go and minister on the streets of Houston, and then stepped out in faith to start a new,

509
00:52:58,160 --> 00:53:04,320
you know, seniority services, God was faithful all the way to bring every single one of your loved

510
00:53:04,320 --> 00:53:11,280
ones to him. When they looked like pretty impossible situations, he was faithful. He guarded

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what you entrusted to him and he brought it to completion. I just want to encourage you out there,

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our listeners, that if it looks like an impossible situation entrusted to the Lord,

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he will guard it, he will bring it to completion in his timing and in his purpose. Susie, it's been

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just a joy to have you with us, and I'm going to have you pray for our listeners in just a minute,

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00:53:31,040 --> 00:53:42,080
but you recently recorded a worship music album with piano, and we're going to put a link on that.

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Can people buy it online? They can. Yes, okay. So we're going to have a link to Susie's album

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00:53:48,080 --> 00:53:51,920
and the scriptures that we've had, that we've talked about today. They're going to be in our

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show notes, and those show notes can be found at hergodstory.org. Hopefully you will have this be a

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00:53:59,440 --> 00:54:04,640
preferred podcast on your service, so please subscribe or like it. We'd love to have you listen

520
00:54:04,640 --> 00:54:11,200
to other Her God Stories along the way, and if you could take a minute and rate the show on Apple or

521
00:54:11,200 --> 00:54:16,800
Spotify or whichever of your streaming services you use, Google Play, we'd love to have you subscribe

522
00:54:16,800 --> 00:54:21,600
and share it with friends, and we'd also be honored to pray with you. You can text or call

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00:54:21,600 --> 00:54:30,960
Somebody Cares 24-7 prayer line at 855-459-CARE or email us at prayer at somebodycares.org.

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00:54:30,960 --> 00:54:37,360
Susie's going to pray for us, and then in the tradition of many of the Jewish fathers and

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00:54:37,360 --> 00:54:42,400
mothers, I'm going to pronounce a blessing over us. So Susie, pray for us, and then I'll pronounce

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a blessing. Father, we are so grateful to you for your faithfulness in our lives. Lord, you've seen

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00:54:49,680 --> 00:54:56,800
us from infancy. You've seen us before we were even in our mother's womb. You know every detail

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00:54:56,800 --> 00:55:03,200
of our lives, and Lord, you are faithful to watch over us, to perfect it all to the day of Jesus

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Christ, as your word says. So Lord, I pray for those that are listening, that are searching and

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00:55:09,680 --> 00:55:18,640
seeking. What about my loved one? I haven't seen a change yet. I so desperately want my spouse to

531
00:55:18,640 --> 00:55:26,560
know you, or I want my child to come to faith, or my parent who's aging. Lord, I'm asking that you

532
00:55:27,200 --> 00:55:35,280
would answer those heart cries, because you said, according to Acts 16-31, that we and our households

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00:55:35,280 --> 00:55:41,040
will be saved. Now Lord, I thank you for loved ones that are yet to be reached. I thank you that

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whether it's through us or through other people, you will send people along the way to plant seeds,

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00:55:47,920 --> 00:55:54,400
to water them, and to bring them to fruition, to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Lord, I thank you

536
00:55:54,400 --> 00:56:01,040
that even in my life, as I look at the different seasons of ministry service, Father, that you have

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00:56:01,040 --> 00:56:11,760
been faithful. Faithful to watch over, faithful to groom, to grow us up in faith, and to know how to

538
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steward the gifts and the talent that you've placed within each and every one of us, that we can

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00:56:17,680 --> 00:56:23,680
serve you and honor you all the days of our life. So God, I pray for those that are seeking direction

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00:56:23,680 --> 00:56:32,000
and asking you to make their crooked path straight, or they're asking you, Father, to redeem what they

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think has been lost or somehow buried. Unbury those talents, Father. I'm praying, God, you would

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resurrect dreams that you inspire the listener, Lord, to know that there is a great vision and a

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great purpose for their lives, and that you will be faithful to see them through every step of the way

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in Jesus' name. Thank you, dear friends, for tuning in. As we close, I want to speak a blessing over

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00:56:57,840 --> 00:57:04,160
you out of numbers 6, 24 through 26. It may be familiar to you because many pastors use this

546
00:57:04,160 --> 00:57:09,360
blessing to bless their congregations at the end of services, but I'm going to read it a Hebraic

547
00:57:09,360 --> 00:57:14,640
interpretation of the blessing, which gives a depth of meaning that we may not pick up in our

548
00:57:14,640 --> 00:57:22,240
traditional translations. In this interpretation, Yahweh is used to refer to God. Yahweh is often

549
00:57:22,240 --> 00:57:32,560
used by Jewish people to talk about God, refer to God, and Yahweh means I am. So here it goes,

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00:57:33,280 --> 00:57:38,800
Yahweh will kneel before you, presenting gifts, and will guard you with a hedge of protection.

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00:57:38,800 --> 00:57:43,840
Yahweh will illuminate the wholeness of His being toward you, bringing order,

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00:57:44,160 --> 00:57:50,880
and He will give you comfort and sustenance. Yahweh will lift up His wholeness of being

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and look upon you, and He will set in place all you need to be whole and complete.