Our Identity Comes From God's Heart, Mary Beth Gilbert’s Story (cont.)

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Hello everyone and welcome to Her God Story, a podcast to inspire and encourage you in

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your walk of faith by sharing the stories of how God is working in, for, and through

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ordinary women like us.

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I'm your host Jodie Chiricosta and I'm excited to continue my conversation with Mary Beth

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Gilbert.

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If you missed the first part of Her God Story, you can always listen to it later.

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Mary Beth has worked in various aspects of administration and accounting in churches,

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businesses, and nonprofits.

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I met her more than a few years ago when I was working on my master's degree at Regent

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University and she was the director of financial aid.

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Still a businesswoman, Mary Beth is also a wife, mother, and co-founder of Empowered

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Living International.

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She's passionate about engaging women to fulfill their destiny in the Lord and loves

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to come alongside women to help them grow in different areas of their lives, including

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motherhood, which will be a big focus of her story today.

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She speaks nationally and internationally on a variety of topics as well.

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And if you're interested in having her come speak, check out our show notes, which will

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have information on how to reach her.

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In our last episode, Mary Beth shared the story of her struggle with infertility and

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their subsequent adoption of their daughter, Maria, but there is much more to the story.

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Welcome back, Mary Beth.

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Thank you.

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Great to be here.

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In 2002, you were living in Virginia, you were working part-time at CBN and you and

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Daniel planted a church and the Lord led you to adopt a child from South Korea.

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He gave you your daughter, Maria, and the process happened relatively quickly.

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Were you prepared for all the changes?

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Well, yes and no.

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We had done so much in the years waiting for God to place Maria in our arms and our hearts.

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So we had been on our ministry journey doing and what we believe the Lord had called us

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to do.

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So by the time Maria was placed in our arms, we were kind of ready to settle down.

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We were ready just to, for me in particular, I took a step back.

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We had been pastoring for some time, both in Scotland and back here and I was just ready

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for that season of, I love the women in our church.

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I had been working with them and we had wonderful, wonderful time, wonderful ministry there,

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but it was a time where to make the sacrifices and adjustments was okay.

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It wasn't anything that I said, oh gosh, I wish we hadn't done this.

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I was ready at that point.

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We had waited a very long time.

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So those adjustments and sacrifices were anything.

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Were welcome.

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They were very welcome.

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That's for sure.

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Well, there is such an assault on the identity of children now.

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What did you and Daniel do to help Maria navigate the questions she had about her identity as

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she grew up?

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I mean, in addition to all the confusion out there today with young people and their identity,

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she also had the adoption question.

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Maria was four months old when the Lord brought her to us.

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Children at that age and in their young developmental ages, they think very abstractly.

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They're concrete thinkers.

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And so she had a birth mother, she had a foster mother, and then she had me as her mother,

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her adopted mother.

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So we didn't want to, that's too much for a child to process as they're growing up.

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So we referred to her birth mother until she got older and could understand all of this.

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We referred to her birth mother as the nice lady that carried her in her tummy.

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Then when she was placed in the foster home for a couple of months, we referred to her,

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that precious woman, as the nice lady that took care of you until mommy and daddy were

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there to get you.

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So it was very simple for her to understand.

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She had one mom and dad and not these three moms that she had to question and wonder about.

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And then of course, once she got later, she figured it all out and we talked a lot about

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that.

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But the other thing in terms of her identity, I wanted her to know as an adult, and we were

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telling her from the beginning as an adoptive child, you were adopted.

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And I said, hey, I was adopted too.

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God adopted me and he's got a beautiful story in the Bible about adopting us.

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And so I said, I was only adopted once.

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You got to be adopted twice.

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So we tried to put it in a positive way, even though we knew as she got older and understood,

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there would be a certain bit of loss that she would have to live with, with the rest

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of her life once she understood more.

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She was a baby.

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No, she wasn't a baby.

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She was a toddler.

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She was two, almost three, and it was Christmas time.

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And of course, we'd been reading a lot of books to her through her young life.

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And at night, every night, it was a book story.

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And so we were reading a book about Mary, the mother of Jesus.

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And in the story, she could see that Mary was pregnant with Jesus.

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And so I had her on my lap, her head was down at my knees facing up.

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And so we would have this face to face time after I would read a story to her before she

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would go to bed, even as long as she could fit in that position, we did it.

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And so that particular day, she said to me, after that story, she said, Mommy, I came

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from your tummy.

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And of course, I knew I was going to have a question like this one day, but I said,

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honey, you came from my heart.

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And she said, wow, your heart must have been really big because remember they think of

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strappy.

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So she's thinking my heart was pregnant like out.

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And I said, it was big.

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It was this big.

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And I stretched both of my arms out and her face just lit up and her mouth opened up like

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she was literally my heart was probably that big.

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And the Lord spoke to me.

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He stretched out his arms that big for all of us on the cross and adopted us into his

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family, those that come to him.

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And it was just a beautiful double blessing all at once that she could know the truth

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and hopefully it was presented where and I think it was where she could understand it.

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She was still thinking abstractly, but yet then the Lord was showing me his love for

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all of us when he stretched out his arms on the cross.

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But back to as she was an older teen or actually in second grade, one other thing about identity

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there, she was at a Christian church school and they were talking about the teacher was

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teaching about families and how God creates family, you know, mother, father, children.

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And then she included adoption, how families are formed by adoption as well.

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So they go through this whole lesson and then the kids are walking over to the church for

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their chapel time and on the way there, two little boys, they were twins and the teacher

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was right there.

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Maria didn't tell me the story the teacher did.

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They're walking over to chapel after they had gone through this lesson on family the

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last couple of days and the two boys said, so Maria, do you know who your real parents

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are?

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And she looked at them and said, yes, my mom and dad, duh.

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No question there.

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So she was getting it.

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She was getting it.

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And we had also told her, you know, as an adopted child, I said, your real parents are

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the ones that raise you, love you, provide for you, discipline you, help you take care

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of you.

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All of those are the real parents.

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And then that's when we slowly began to introduce the birth part where there was a birth mother

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lady and, you know, she began to understand more on that.

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I also, in terms of her identity, we were fortunate enough to have two good stories

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about her birth mother that I could share with her to let her know that she really was

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loved by that young girl.

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I asked the agency director when we were there getting Maria, do any of the birth mother

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directors like call and find out what happened to their child or, you know, are they just

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not interested or what?

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And she said, most do not.

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She said, I would say 95% do not.

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But Maria's dead.

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And she called and she wanted to know where her child was going to be adopted to.

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And so she told her, you know, she was coming to the United States.

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So that was one good story I could say, you know, and encourage Maria with that she really

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did love you.

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And the other one was when we were there getting her, we went over to the foster mother's

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home and the foster moms don't always invite the adoptive parents over because some were

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very poor and they really don't want them to see.

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Maria's foster mother was not poor.

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And so she invited us over.

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And on the way there, the social worker turned around in the car and said, Maria's birth

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mother would like a picture of the three of you.

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Would you be willing for me to take a picture and give to her?

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I said, absolutely.

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So we have the same picture.

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So the same picture we have of the three of us at the adoptive, I mean, at the foster

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mom, at the foster mom, thank you, at her home.

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That same picture is the picture that Maria's birth mother has.

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Oh, yeah, that's sweet.

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So I told her those two stories to help with the identity and knowing she was loved, but

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she now understands the circumstances were such where she couldn't be raised there.

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She would have been not treated as well from a single mom perspective, because at that

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time they were very blood oriented society.

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Now they're much more open to that.

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Yeah, but at the time they weren't.

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But as she became a preteen again, she started to question one day she was like, I don't

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even know where I was born.

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Like, I mean, she knew the area.

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She knew Seoul, South Korea, but I don't even know what hospital I was born in.

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And so Daniel got her paperwork and started their research and we found the place and

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could show her on the computer screen where she was and then where the agency was after

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her vitals checked out after she was born.

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The next day they sent her to the adoption agency care where they kept the babies until

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they went to the foster home.

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Yeah.

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So she really did have a sense of where she where she came from.

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So that helped that I had some pictures to where she slept in the foster mom's home and

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that sort of thing.

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But, you know, I told her once she started getting older and into her teens, you know,

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she was researching some herself, but, you know, she was kind of sad and wondering and

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having questions like most adoptive children do.

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And that's perfectly fine and normal.

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And you want to help them along the way and guide them and and not feel threatened if

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they want to try to research their birth parents.

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It's very normal and natural.

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So we never discouraged her at all.

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If she wanted to do that, that was that was fine.

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But I did tell her, I said, that is a loss that you carry with you your whole life.

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You know, I feel like we need to be honest with them and not just paint the good.

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Well, you've got good parents now.

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So what's the problem?

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Well, no.

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Yes, she does.

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But that's a particular loss that she and only adoptive children will feel.

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And they carry that and they carry these questions.

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We wanted to just tell her it's a loss and I'm sorry for your loss.

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It's understandable that you feel the way you do.

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Many other adoptive children, I'm sure, feel the exact same way.

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It's OK to feel like that.

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Again, we talk about the providence of God.

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It was just a story how she was even placed to us because we were like fifth on the list.

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And then we ended up getting her when all these other like three couples before us at

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the last minute pulled out to be on the list to adopt.

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And then the next family had a boy and a girl already they had adopted.

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And so they could get either a boy or girl.

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It didn't matter.

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The agency would have placed either to them.

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So she was really going to go to that family.

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But then our social worker went to her boss and said, I think this little girl, she's

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a Gilbert baby.

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And her boss said, well, you know, she can't go to them.

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They have to get a boy because it's 95 percent you get a boy first, not a girl from Korea.

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China was opposite.

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You always got a girl.

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So 95 percent we're supposed to have a boy.

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But you know, I never felt led to decorate a room for a boy.

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I didn't decorate it at all.

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I was waiting to find out for sure.

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As it turned out, the social worker said, no, I just really believe this girl is supposed

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to go to the Gilbert family.

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And the director was like, well, you know, you know the rules.

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And she said, I know, I know the rules.

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And then finally, the director said, oh, Jenny, just do what's in your heart.

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And that's how she ended up with us.

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And again, you talk about the providence of God.

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Yeah.

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You know, we believe that that was orchestrated.

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We were fifth on the list and also became the number one for her.

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So that was that was awesome.

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We did offer to take her on a homeland trip to Korea several times in her high school

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or teen years.

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But she really said she wasn't interested in doing that yet.

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So maybe one day.

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Yeah.

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Well, all those stories would give her a sense really that God had a plan for her life all

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along.

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You know, apart from the adoption questions, which are, as you covered so well, just growing

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up as a kid in the United States can be so confusing these days that I'm sure those stories

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of God's providential leading in her life also grounded her in her faith.

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Yes, I think so.

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I think that she has come to I mean, she's still working through some issues.

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You know, she's only 20.

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And, you know, I'm sure there's still going to be a few more years, maybe even into adulthood

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of thinking on things.

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She's very much she contemplates and thinks about things deeply.

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So I'm sure that, yes, she has in some ways thanked the Lord and yet wondered why he didn't,

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you know, why her plan is like that.

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As we all do.

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Yes, we all wonder why some of the things happen the way they do.

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Yes.

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In response to James 127, Somebody Cares created the Widows and Orphan Fund as a company of

243
00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:08,160
women we can do so much together to take care of the special needs and cultivate the special

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gifts of children he has put in the care of our ministry partners around the world, as

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well as widows who serve the Lord faithfully in ministry and are now in need.

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I invite you to join our number with a gift at hergodstory.org by clicking on the Widows

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00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:23,720
and Orphan tab.

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00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:26,520
Thank you so much for caring.

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So you're living in Virginia now you have a baby, your church is going well, and then

250
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God called you to California.

251
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So how did that happen and what did that do kind of to your support system?

252
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I mean, all your friends and your family were here on the East Coast.

253
00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:48,280
I mean, I've always heard and I believe it's true.

254
00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:51,760
West Coast people are West Coast people and East Coast people are East Coast people.

255
00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:57,800
It's kind of hard to be happy on the other coast if you really have grown up in in one

256
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or the other.

257
00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:01,440
Yes, that is very, very true.

258
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It got to the point where we felt a release from the church and also a part of that came

259
00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:15,280
from the University of Aberdeen telling Daniel you have to get he had finished his dissertation,

260
00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:20,960
but he still had a little bit more work to do on it to get the final thing wrapped up.

261
00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:24,960
They basically gave him an ultimatum like, you know, it's been many years and you need

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to really like just get this, you know, off the books and get this done.

263
00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:32,560
And it was difficult trying to pass through the church and work on that through the years.

264
00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:37,360
I think our church suffered in some ways because of his time that he had to put still towards

265
00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:39,120
a dissertation.

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00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:40,320
So he resigned.

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00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:41,600
We went down to Atlanta.

268
00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:47,600
We have family down there and he took a year sabbatical and finished it up and got the

269
00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:53,040
degree and everything from Scotland and then got open the door for him to teach at Jack

270
00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:55,760
Hayford's school in Los Angeles.

271
00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:58,880
So that's what took us out there.

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00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:04,640
Originally, we had, let's see, Maria was, let's see, she was about three, I guess, you

273
00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:08,920
know, even looking at that, we ended up being out there like 11, 12 years and even looking

274
00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:17,520
at that part, I can see where God had us there because we were an international family in

275
00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:18,520
out there.

276
00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:24,120
And going back to that question on identity, going out there, she was around a lot of people

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that had international families.

278
00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:27,740
So we didn't quite look so different.

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00:17:27,740 --> 00:17:32,240
So that kind of spoke to her in that young age that, oh, there's, you know, oh, he's

280
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from France.

281
00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:36,560
Oh, she's from Spain and their mom is from Germany.

282
00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:41,040
You know, it's just, you know, it kind of helped her, I think, in her identity growing

283
00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:42,920
up there.

284
00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:44,920
So yes, it was hard.

285
00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:49,520
Really an East Coast girl here in L.A. of no places.

286
00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:53,400
Never thought I would be out in California.

287
00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:54,920
We loved the people out there.

288
00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:57,600
We met some wonderful, wonderful people.

289
00:17:57,600 --> 00:17:58,600
Loved it.

290
00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:05,160
But also, it was a challenge for me because I felt, again, here we are.

291
00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:10,800
Of course, my risk taker husband is, you know, he always, you know, believes me, this is

292
00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:12,720
where the Lord is taking us.

293
00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:13,800
And he's been right.

294
00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:16,760
And I've been like holding on to a shirt tail.

295
00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:21,960
It's almost like I felt sometimes like we've been towards a cliff.

296
00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:25,160
And he, you know, if God said go, he'd go.

297
00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:27,440
And I'm holding a shirt tail in the back.

298
00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:29,120
I pray, but I go.

299
00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:32,120
I pray first, but then I go.

300
00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:34,680
My older sister said to me one time, well, at least you go.

301
00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:36,960
There's a lot of people who don't.

302
00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:43,160
But again, the whole experience out in California.

303
00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:46,280
It was a mission field.

304
00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:49,800
And I didn't see that at first.

305
00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:54,160
And I was trying to make it like a community, like I wanted it to be.

306
00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:57,580
So what did God do in you to give you that revelation?

307
00:18:57,580 --> 00:18:58,800
And what did you do with that?

308
00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:04,440
Again, it came back to one day when I was just reading the Word and I just thought,

309
00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:06,760
I've just got a little more implanted.

310
00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:10,680
And if God has called us here and put us here, there's got to be a reason.

311
00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:11,680
There's got to be a purpose.

312
00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:15,600
As providence as that work, you know, I can't see it.

313
00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:20,080
And I began to learn to enjoy the blessings.

314
00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:23,960
But I kept trying to run at first.

315
00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:25,640
I was wanting to leave the state.

316
00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:33,320
So every time I kept thinking, Lord, you know, I'm just, I've got one foot on the next plane

317
00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:37,080
and one foot in LA.

318
00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:39,300
And what are you doing here?

319
00:19:39,300 --> 00:19:41,960
What do you want me to do?

320
00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:47,760
And Maria had been discovered in the entertainment industry when she was four years old.

321
00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:48,760
Really?

322
00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:51,360
Now, that is very unusual.

323
00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:56,000
Well, maybe not for out in LA, but I mean, how did that happen?

324
00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:59,640
We were actually shopping at Target and we had somebody approach us.

325
00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:03,920
And you have to be careful because there's scams out there in this area.

326
00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:07,120
And someone came up to us and said, look, we are having this.

327
00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:08,440
I've just been watching your daughter.

328
00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:09,440
She's darling.

329
00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:15,000
She'd sit in the back of the cart and read books while I was shopping and then talk to

330
00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:16,600
me about what she's reading and stuff.

331
00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:19,960
She said, I've just been watching your daughter and kind of overhearing a few things.

332
00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:20,960
She said, we're having this.

333
00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:24,880
It's kind of like an open house where we're inviting kids to come.

334
00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:28,520
There's some talent agents there and we'd love for her to come.

335
00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:29,520
Would you be interested?

336
00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:35,000
And she said, you know, kind of gave me her information and then information about the

337
00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:36,000
event.

338
00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:37,440
So I said, well, I'm not sure.

339
00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:38,440
So I went home.

340
00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:44,840
I told Daniel about it and we happened to know someone, an actress, and she said, yeah,

341
00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:46,440
you can go, but don't watch out.

342
00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:50,640
They'll try to pressure you to pay a lot of money for a photographer or something.

343
00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:52,520
So we knew, no money.

344
00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:59,480
But she said, I will just kind of go and see what it's about, but don't pay anything,

345
00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:01,140
sign up for anything.

346
00:21:01,140 --> 00:21:03,720
So I asked Maria, I said, would you want to do this?

347
00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:08,920
I don't really know exactly what it is, but this has been an entertainment industry here

348
00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:10,600
and a little bit of what they do.

349
00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:12,000
And she said, yes.

350
00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:15,240
And I asked her again later and she was like, yes.

351
00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:19,480
So we went and there was legitimate agents there.

352
00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:20,480
There were four of them.

353
00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:26,000
One in particular did want to sign her, like right off the bat.

354
00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:29,640
And so we said, no, we just, you know, give me your number.

355
00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:31,840
I'll call you if we're interested type thing.

356
00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:33,400
And so we went back.

357
00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:35,880
We met with our friend Jordan again about this.

358
00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:41,160
And she said, look, she said, if this is really, cause I said, I'm really praying about this.

359
00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:42,480
I mean, I want to be careful here.

360
00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:45,000
I mean, this is my daughter and this is a crazy industry.

361
00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:46,000
Exactly.

362
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:51,840
I mean, there's, you hear all sorts of stories of pedophilia and all sorts of stuff that

363
00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:54,360
have happened to child actors.

364
00:21:54,360 --> 00:21:55,360
Right.

365
00:21:55,360 --> 00:22:02,160
And because of all of that, the laws did change and the children were very protected and animals

366
00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:03,160
were protected.

367
00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:07,840
But if you were 18 or older, you're on your own, you know, you can be chased around the

368
00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:10,720
table or whatever, you know, it was crazy.

369
00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:15,640
So anyway, our friends said, listen, probably the best way to see if this is really the

370
00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:17,400
Lord is just to get a few pictures.

371
00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:25,760
We just had little snapshots, send them to like the, like top 10, 12 agency, children

372
00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:31,300
talent agencies here in Los Angeles and see if they get back to you or not.

373
00:22:31,300 --> 00:22:34,800
So we thought, well, okay, we'll just start out there and see what happens.

374
00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:36,440
And a lot of times you never hear anything.

375
00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:38,520
They get thousands from all over the world.

376
00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:39,520
Oh yeah.

377
00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:43,480
So really I was thinking this, you know, probably isn't going to happen.

378
00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:47,560
And within two weeks I had four different agencies calling me.

379
00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:48,560
Really?

380
00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:49,560
From a snapshot?

381
00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:52,720
Yes, from snapshots.

382
00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:58,540
And you had to put together like a little bio that said, you know, things like she liked

383
00:22:58,540 --> 00:23:05,080
to play with and some, you know, some cute sayings maybe that they've said in the past

384
00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:06,080
or, you know, things like that.

385
00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:09,480
So we kind of drafted something like that and just sent it out.

386
00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:17,840
So anyway, she ended up being signed with one of the top children's agencies out there.

387
00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:22,280
So of course I'm still thinking, how can I leave California?

388
00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:23,280
Yeah.

389
00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:29,720
And this is happening to my daughter and my husband was happy there.

390
00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:32,720
And every time I was like, something would happen.

391
00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:33,720
I'd be like, that's it, Lord.

392
00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:36,440
I think, you know, I got to get out of here.

393
00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:38,440
And I wasn't really praying too much about it.

394
00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:41,440
I was telling the Lord, I think I need to get out of here.

395
00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:42,440
You know, what do you think?

396
00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:47,040
But anyway, she, every time I did that, and this happens four separate times, she would

397
00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:48,400
book a national commercial.

398
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:49,400
Really?

399
00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:54,680
And so she would book a commercial, which means I had to stay because I was with her

400
00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:55,680
on set.

401
00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:56,680
Yeah.

402
00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:02,000
And the laws were such where even wardrobe, like I, they would give me the clothes and

403
00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:04,720
I would go and take her to the bathroom and change and all that.

404
00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:08,560
Like nobody could do, and she was always in my site the whole time.

405
00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:11,100
Like she could never be out of the parents' site.

406
00:24:11,100 --> 00:24:15,200
So I was comfortable at that point because I knew, you know, nothing's going to happen

407
00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:17,200
with my eyes on her the whole time.

408
00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:18,200
Right.

409
00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:19,520
And I was dressing her and things like that.

410
00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:25,560
So and we would have to stay for a few months, get that done, wrapped up and all that.

411
00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:29,680
And then we, I was like, okay, Lord, I think now probably is the time, right?

412
00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:31,960
And then she booked another one.

413
00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:34,080
And this went on after the fourth time.

414
00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:38,800
I was like, okay, I get it.

415
00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:40,040
This is a mission field.

416
00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:41,040
Yeah.

417
00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:43,760
And I started just looking for the good and everything at that point.

418
00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:47,040
But I still in my heart, I knew we were going to be back here.

419
00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:51,320
It kind of reminds me of a Psalm, Psalm 37, eight through 10.

420
00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:54,800
The Lord says, I will guide you along the best pathway of your life.

421
00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:57,040
I will advise you and watch over you.

422
00:24:57,040 --> 00:25:00,080
Don't be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep you at under

423
00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:01,940
control.

424
00:25:01,940 --> 00:25:04,680
Unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.

425
00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:05,680
And he really was showing you.

426
00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:07,360
I mean, he didn't put a bit and bridle on you.

427
00:25:07,360 --> 00:25:11,640
He really led you with his unfailing love by these opportunities for Maria.

428
00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:12,640
Right.

429
00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:16,120
Eventually you ended up working for the Screen Actors Guild, right?

430
00:25:16,120 --> 00:25:17,120
Right.

431
00:25:17,120 --> 00:25:22,480
So it's really kind of funny because she, so she's booking, she did a little video

432
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:27,440
and, you know, DVD and she did some other little print work.

433
00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:31,000
And we lived in the Valley in San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles.

434
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:35,360
And I had to laugh once I came to terms with, okay, we're going to be here for a while.

435
00:25:35,360 --> 00:25:39,560
And this is what, you know, God seems to have for us at this season in our life.

436
00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:44,680
And I laughed because I never thought I would become a stage mom in the Valley girl after

437
00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:46,240
being an East Coast girl.

438
00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:47,600
So that was kind of funny.

439
00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:54,000
But yes, we got to know the CEO at the time for the Screen Actors Guild, producers pension

440
00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:55,520
and health plans.

441
00:25:55,520 --> 00:26:01,320
And so we got to know, got to know him and got to know his beautiful wife.

442
00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:06,120
And they were just became great friends, still great friends of ours to this day.

443
00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:09,360
And so I just happened to mention to his wife, look, I think I'm going to be looking for

444
00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:15,640
some part time work when Maria is at school and, you know, if you know of anything, let

445
00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:16,640
me know.

446
00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:17,640
And so I sent her my resume.

447
00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:22,600
And she said, I actually think, you know, Bruce may have something that you can do at

448
00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:24,680
the SAG.

449
00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:25,680
So I said, okay.

450
00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:28,120
So she said, I've given him your resume.

451
00:26:28,120 --> 00:26:29,920
Well, next thing you know, I got a letter.

452
00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:32,320
No, I got a call from the CFO.

453
00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:33,560
One thing led to another.

454
00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:34,720
And they were wonderful.

455
00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:39,800
They let me work during Maria's school hours for the most part.

456
00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:44,240
There was a short season where I had to stay after for a little bit, but they were just

457
00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:45,240
wonderful.

458
00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:48,880
And I just thank God because I never would have thought a place like that would have

459
00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:49,880
been so understanding.

460
00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:50,880
Right.

461
00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:51,880
Yeah.

462
00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:54,440
A mom, you know, with limited hours.

463
00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:55,440
Yeah.

464
00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:56,440
Well, I guess.

465
00:26:56,440 --> 00:26:57,440
Yeah.

466
00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:05,360
I mean, working in the entertainment industry, schedules are not real rigid because of how

467
00:27:05,360 --> 00:27:07,040
they do productions.

468
00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:08,040
Right.

469
00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:12,960
So that side of it for the production and the cast and talent and all of that.

470
00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:19,160
Yes, it is very fluid, but the administrative staff, which I was in the administrative side

471
00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:23,200
of things, you know, they did hold to two more business hours.

472
00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:24,200
Yeah.

473
00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:25,200
Yeah.

474
00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:34,560
And then I, you know, God just opened the door for us to pastor there as well.

475
00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:35,560
Really?

476
00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:39,320
So you became part of the pastoral team in California.

477
00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:40,320
Yes.

478
00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:44,000
So we started pastoring a church there.

479
00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:50,240
And again, like all of our, it's been, you know, probably close to 20 years that we pastor

480
00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:51,420
churches.

481
00:27:51,420 --> 00:27:56,840
Like all of them, there've been great blessings and highs and joys and then just immense challenges.

482
00:27:56,840 --> 00:27:58,640
It just goes with the job.

483
00:27:58,640 --> 00:27:59,640
Yeah.

484
00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:00,640
Yeah.

485
00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:04,840
We are people and we are all flawed and you know, you have to work through things and

486
00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:10,200
yet in the middle of it and the non-perfectness, imperfectness of all of this, God just saves

487
00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:11,200
people and heals.

488
00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:17,360
And he opened a wonderful door for us through that church.

489
00:28:17,360 --> 00:28:21,960
Yeah, I've worked in ministry for almost my entire career as well.

490
00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:25,480
And I remember being in one ministry, people coming through there.

491
00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:29,880
It was a very big ministry that a lot of people wanted to work at, but they would come and

492
00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:34,840
get really disenchanted when they encountered imperfect people.

493
00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:40,120
They thought they were coming to heaven, but you know, we're all a work in process.

494
00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:45,720
And fortunately the Lord gave me that revelation early on that I wasn't going to heaven.

495
00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:50,480
I was a work in process as was everyone else working there and same with churches.

496
00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:51,480
Oh, right.

497
00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:52,480
Exactly.

498
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:56,800
Any church has its own personality and a lot of times it has its season where things are

499
00:28:56,800 --> 00:29:02,760
great and high and then can go into a season where, okay, you know, for whatever reason,

500
00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:04,400
it's not quite that way.

501
00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:06,240
And that's okay.

502
00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:08,800
It's just the ebb and flow of life.

503
00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:14,840
And I think if we try to clench things or force things to stay, we're going to really

504
00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:18,760
miss the rich blessings that's going to come out of the struggles that we need to learn

505
00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:19,760
from.

506
00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:21,240
I mean, they're happening for a reason.

507
00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:26,080
In the midst of being out there in California, the Lord opened the door for you to go to

508
00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:30,760
Kenya and really birthed a ministry out of that.

509
00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:32,560
Share what happened there.

510
00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:41,280
Well, one of the elders at our church in California was from Kenya and the church had been supporting

511
00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:45,760
some orphans there in his community.

512
00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:53,800
And he wanted, you know, Pastor Daniel to go and to meet the orphans and see their work

513
00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:57,240
there and what they were doing and all of that.

514
00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:02,680
But Daniel's heart, God had spoken this to him like a few years before that he would

515
00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:08,080
be teaching and helping village pastors in remote areas.

516
00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:09,080
Really?

517
00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:10,080
Yes.

518
00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:11,720
And this area was very remote.

519
00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:15,880
These pastors could not get to even Nairobi, the biggest city there.

520
00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:19,280
They couldn't even get there for training, for local training.

521
00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:22,040
So these pastors had no training.

522
00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:33,200
So he went on this trip and God just brought like 25, 26 pastors and they were hungry and

523
00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:39,440
starving for the word and for rich teaching.

524
00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:45,000
Year after that, we just started going back twice a year and friends of ours would go

525
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:49,120
with us and teach and preach and train.

526
00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:52,480
And it was just one thing just led into another.

527
00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:58,640
And now there's like three satellite campuses and our work through another director of ours

528
00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:02,820
that's with us in this ministry has opened up in India.

529
00:31:02,820 --> 00:31:04,040
So we haven't been there.

530
00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:05,040
I haven't been there yet.

531
00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:08,120
But anyway, there's doors opening there.

532
00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:11,680
And so we've helped the orphans and a lot of things that they've needed.

533
00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:17,040
So it's all one big compound area and it's out in the bush.

534
00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:21,560
You know, you have to go, we kind of like a mobile seminary, if you will.

535
00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:24,640
So we go to where they can't get training.

536
00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:28,040
We go to reach those pastors and we just love it.

537
00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:33,160
25 years ago now, the Lord allowed me to go to India to do some teaching to women.

538
00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:37,520
My parents were part of a ministry that adopted an unreached people group.

539
00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:43,720
They had been having these big conferences and conventions, conferences, not conventions

540
00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:45,680
on an open air for years.

541
00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:49,040
The Lord allowed me to go on one of the trips with them.

542
00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:55,360
And it was so refreshing to see the hunger for God's word.

543
00:31:55,360 --> 00:31:59,800
They were just elated to hear what God had to say.

544
00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:03,120
And they were pretty desperate for a touch from the Lord too.

545
00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:08,080
So it was a little disconcerting because I'm blonde hair, blue eyed.

546
00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:19,520
And in India, in that particular culture area, in particular, they really honored light skin

547
00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:21,360
and blonde hair.

548
00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:26,200
And the women would come up and touch me and want to bow down before me.

549
00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:28,200
And I was like, no, no.

550
00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:30,240
I mean, you feel very uncomfortable.

551
00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:32,080
I was like, no, no.

552
00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:33,360
We need to look to Jesus.

553
00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:43,000
But it's amazing when the Lord uses you in another context, another culture with hungry

554
00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:47,120
people to share the truth of his word.

555
00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:50,560
So I love that you get to do that and you're still doing that.

556
00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:51,560
Yes, we are.

557
00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,080
The ministry is growing and we love it.

558
00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:59,600
And we learn, and we learned this actually in Scotland, that the word of God just transcends

559
00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:01,800
all nationalities.

560
00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:03,560
And it speaks to all of us.

561
00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:07,840
We all still have that same basic human need, even though the cultures are different.

562
00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:16,080
There's still that same basic need of salvation, of worth, of value, of rightfully learning,

563
00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:19,480
having the opportunity to learn and to learn the word.

564
00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:23,200
And it's just been amazing to see what God has done.

565
00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:24,920
The lives that have been changed.

566
00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:28,280
These pastors have gone back and their churches have like quadrupled.

567
00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:34,320
And people are just really getting the truth of the word that they weren't getting before.

568
00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:37,720
Before the pastors would just teach whatever was out there.

569
00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:40,600
And the neat thing is that you guys aren't full-time missionaries.

570
00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:45,720
I mean, God has just opened this door up for you to sow into these pastors' lives and the

571
00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:49,200
lives of their churches because you are willing to go.

572
00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:51,360
You said, yeah, I'm available.

573
00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:58,420
And when I went and saw Daniel and his buddy Brad that travels with him a lot, I was so

574
00:33:58,420 --> 00:34:07,000
impressed of what they go through to be there with those precious men and women of God and

575
00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:08,000
teaching them.

576
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:09,000
It's hot.

577
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:10,000
It is.

578
00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:12,200
There's no air conditioning, as you know, in India.

579
00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:15,840
It can be some really rough places.

580
00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:19,480
And I was just like, well, and Daniel was energized by this.

581
00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:21,280
He just loves it.

582
00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:23,160
Well, you know what I've found?

583
00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:29,600
I mean, I've traveled to probably 30 countries and most of them not first world countries.

584
00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:34,920
And what I found is that God gives you the grace to be where he wants you to be.

585
00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:41,320
I mean, I can be in places when God's called me to those situations that I would never

586
00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:48,560
tolerate at home, you know, with the bugs and the heat and the long bumpy road.

587
00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:50,880
You know, God gives you that grace if God calls you to go.

588
00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:54,800
And I don't, you know, if you're listening to this and God's calling you on a mission

589
00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:58,600
trip to go somewhere, kind of concerned about that, God will give you the grace if you're

590
00:34:58,600 --> 00:34:59,600
just obedient.

591
00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:00,600
Exactly.

592
00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:06,600
And you hit the nail on the head with that word grace because we don't get it ahead of

593
00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:07,600
time.

594
00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:10,060
We get it for the moment when we're there.

595
00:35:10,060 --> 00:35:13,800
And it was when someone asked me about, gosh, how could you, you know, you had infertility

596
00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:16,160
elders years like how many, gosh, I would have lost my mind.

597
00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:17,640
Like, how could you make it and all that?

598
00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:20,480
And I said, I had the grace to make it.

599
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:21,800
You didn't need to wait that long.

600
00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:23,200
So you didn't need that grace.

601
00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:24,200
Yeah.

602
00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:25,880
You know, and that's so key.

603
00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:30,160
God, that's the beautiful thing about God's plan when he's having us wait for something

604
00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:37,080
or we're going through a difficult situation that we do have his grace to get through and

605
00:35:37,080 --> 00:35:38,080
to make it.

606
00:35:38,080 --> 00:35:40,280
And I want to get through well.

607
00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:47,320
I just don't want to be begrudgingly going through a trial or a test or uncomfortable,

608
00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:50,240
you know, circumstances if you are overseas ministering.

609
00:35:50,240 --> 00:35:51,240
I want to get through it.

610
00:35:51,240 --> 00:35:53,280
Well, I want to finish well.

611
00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:54,280
Exactly.

612
00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:56,000
And God's grace helps us to do that.

613
00:35:56,000 --> 00:35:57,480
And it's a tangible grace.

614
00:35:57,480 --> 00:35:58,920
It's not just a bearing.

615
00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:03,560
I've had experiences where, you know, I would be, I volunteered for about seven years in

616
00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:06,160
a low income housing development.

617
00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:07,600
I was working full time.

618
00:36:07,600 --> 00:36:11,720
I was going to school full time, getting a master's degree.

619
00:36:11,720 --> 00:36:16,480
And I was volunteering probably, I don't know, five, six hours a week in this low income

620
00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:21,360
housing development and I look back on that part of my life, that season of my life.

621
00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:23,680
And I wonder how on earth I ever got through it.

622
00:36:23,680 --> 00:36:28,760
I mean, there's no way I could fit everything I did in the hours of the day that I had except

623
00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:29,760
for God's grace.

624
00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:30,760
And it's miraculous.

625
00:36:30,760 --> 00:36:33,440
You don't know how it happens, but it does.

626
00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:37,160
And then one day the grace wasn't there for that anymore.

627
00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:40,560
And I knew it was time for me to move on to something else.

628
00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:42,680
You know, grace is hard to explain.

629
00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:45,520
It's hard to explain how it works because it's miraculous.

630
00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:46,680
Right.

631
00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:48,640
And it comes exactly when you need it.

632
00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:49,640
Yeah.

633
00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:54,120
And that's a good point, you know, not to be fearful if God is calling anyone to take

634
00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:57,120
trips like that, that that grace will be there.

635
00:36:57,120 --> 00:36:58,120
Yeah.

636
00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:02,040
We took Maria with us on a trip and she absolutely loved it.

637
00:37:02,040 --> 00:37:03,560
She really, really loved it.

638
00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:08,720
And she's planning to go back with some friends from Virginia Tech next year too, if God wills.

639
00:37:08,720 --> 00:37:10,160
So yeah.

640
00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:15,020
So eventually you left California, God brought you back to Virginia and everything was going

641
00:37:15,020 --> 00:37:21,240
really smoothly until Maria got very, very sick.

642
00:37:21,240 --> 00:37:22,680
Yes.

643
00:37:22,680 --> 00:37:26,520
And again, here we are on another move.

644
00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:27,520
Yeah.

645
00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:28,520
Coast to coast.

646
00:37:28,520 --> 00:37:30,480
We've been out of the country.

647
00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:33,520
But this move, it was hard for Maria.

648
00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:38,080
It was easy for Daniel and me because we were coming to familiar territory.

649
00:37:38,080 --> 00:37:41,640
Maria was two and a half when we left the Virginia Beach area.

650
00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:44,520
So she didn't really remember much.

651
00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:49,840
So it was a hard, hard move for her to move back to her junior year of high school.

652
00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:50,840
Oh yeah.

653
00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:53,560
So that was kind of difficult.

654
00:37:53,560 --> 00:37:58,200
I just, I didn't get a job outside the home, even during her school hours at that time.

655
00:37:58,200 --> 00:38:03,480
I just stayed put and I did volunteer for our ministry, Empowered Living.

656
00:38:03,480 --> 00:38:05,400
I volunteered for that.

657
00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:10,680
But she had a difficult time and Daniel had accumulated a lot of miles through the years,

658
00:38:10,680 --> 00:38:11,680
you know, traveling.

659
00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:16,920
So we used those miles and flew her back to LA whenever her school was doing a function

660
00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:22,320
that she was used to, certain dances or, you know, over the holidays, after Christmas type

661
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:23,320
thing.

662
00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:26,920
And so that helped with that.

663
00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:30,960
But I noticed, and she was very active.

664
00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:33,000
She got active in her school here.

665
00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:34,740
She went to Norfolk Collegiate.

666
00:38:34,740 --> 00:38:36,800
She got active there.

667
00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:42,240
And then she started at Virginia Tech the summer right after she graduated from high

668
00:38:42,240 --> 00:38:43,240
school.

669
00:38:43,240 --> 00:38:44,240
She's very ambitious.

670
00:38:44,240 --> 00:38:45,840
She just wanted to get going on it.

671
00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:48,560
So she did.

672
00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:52,560
And I noticed after she went to the summer semester, she did, she did fine.

673
00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:54,120
She actually did pretty good.

674
00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:58,960
But then in the fall, I noticed she was feeling more tired.

675
00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:03,680
Like she was sleeping a little bit more than a normal, you know, college student does.

676
00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:06,720
And they sleep a lot because they're nocturnal at that station.

677
00:39:06,720 --> 00:39:07,720
That's right.

678
00:39:07,720 --> 00:39:08,720
They are.

679
00:39:08,720 --> 00:39:09,720
I didn't say too much.

680
00:39:09,720 --> 00:39:14,200
I thought, well, maybe it's just the stress of the load.

681
00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:16,920
And then in January, she just hit a real wall.

682
00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:20,720
She just wasn't well, just wasn't doing well.

683
00:39:20,720 --> 00:39:25,800
And we went to visit her and we stayed there for about a week.

684
00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:31,480
And then this was January of 2020, right before COVID all broke out.

685
00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:36,960
We thought it was best that she planned to be home for a little while and we could kind

686
00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:38,800
of find out what was going on.

687
00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:40,320
She wasn't feeling well.

688
00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:42,560
And then it ended up where everybody was sent home.

689
00:39:42,560 --> 00:39:44,520
So she didn't miss anything.

690
00:39:44,520 --> 00:39:45,960
No, she didn't miss anything.

691
00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:51,320
But while she was home, actually, let me back up a couple of months before she came back,

692
00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:55,000
she had had some pain.

693
00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:59,560
We just thought maybe it's regular menstrual pain or whatever, but it just started to increase

694
00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:01,680
and get more and more difficult.

695
00:40:01,680 --> 00:40:04,800
So we were keeping an eye on that as well.

696
00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:07,280
She went back in the fall.

697
00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:10,600
She was there and then just called us one night.

698
00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:12,400
She was just in a lot of pain.

699
00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:15,760
And again, we thought maybe it was that time of month.

700
00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:18,440
And she said, no, this just feels different.

701
00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:25,040
So she went to the hospital and they ran some tests and they said, look, something's up

702
00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:26,440
with your pancreas.

703
00:40:26,440 --> 00:40:33,000
Like her pancreas looked like she was like 60 years old and had been drinking for 40

704
00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:34,000
years.

705
00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:36,120
Yeah, it was destroying.

706
00:40:36,120 --> 00:40:37,120
It was being destroyed.

707
00:40:37,120 --> 00:40:39,520
Well, we didn't know what to make with that.

708
00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:43,440
And then they said, and now we think you're diabetic too, because her blood sugar numbers

709
00:40:43,440 --> 00:40:44,680
were elevated.

710
00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:50,360
So again, she comes home, she ends up seeing endocrinologists here in Virginia Beach that

711
00:40:50,360 --> 00:40:56,000
was recommended to us and in talking with him, he said, you know, I don't really think

712
00:40:56,000 --> 00:40:58,600
that this is a diabetes issue.

713
00:40:58,600 --> 00:41:05,760
I think this is a pancreas issue and you should go see a GI specialist.

714
00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:11,800
So we saw a GI specialist that was recommended to us and he said, well, we're going to do

715
00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:15,640
a scan MRI and see what we see.

716
00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:22,000
And if the pancreas is as destroyed as it looks, then you'll have to see a specialist

717
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:23,800
at VCU or UVA.

718
00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:26,720
So the MRI comes back, yes, it's pretty damaged.

719
00:41:26,720 --> 00:41:30,000
And so the GI specialist here didn't want, he said, this is beyond me.

720
00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:32,480
I think it needs more attention.

721
00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:38,520
So Maria now being 18, I can't really get on the phone and do everything for her because

722
00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:40,640
of her age.

723
00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:46,480
So that was very difficult, but she called and then she called me back practically in

724
00:41:46,480 --> 00:41:49,960
tears saying, VCU, you can't get me in until months later.

725
00:41:49,960 --> 00:41:54,840
And I was like, do I have your permission to like take things in my own hands and get

726
00:41:54,840 --> 00:41:55,840
you set up places?

727
00:41:55,840 --> 00:41:56,840
She's like, yes.

728
00:41:56,840 --> 00:41:57,840
I said, just be on guard.

729
00:41:57,840 --> 00:41:58,840
I may have to call you.

730
00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:00,920
You're going to have to give permission over the phone and all this.

731
00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:06,120
So I called back the GI doctor here and I said, that just, I spoke with his nurse.

732
00:42:06,120 --> 00:42:07,640
I said, it can't be months.

733
00:42:07,640 --> 00:42:10,400
This child is in excruciating pain.

734
00:42:10,400 --> 00:42:13,400
I said, she has to see somebody within a week or two.

735
00:42:13,400 --> 00:42:15,400
I said, this, we can't wait months.

736
00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:19,920
So I finally said to the nurse, I've never done this before, but I said, would you have

737
00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:21,840
to ask the doctor a question for me?

738
00:42:21,840 --> 00:42:23,000
And she said, sure.

739
00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:25,360
I said, I'm really desperate.

740
00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:27,920
My child is very sick.

741
00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:29,240
We cannot wait months.

742
00:42:29,240 --> 00:42:31,920
If this were his daughter, what would he do?

743
00:42:31,920 --> 00:42:36,680
And apparently she asked him because, and I said, will you call me back today and let

744
00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:38,120
me know something?

745
00:42:38,120 --> 00:42:39,120
They got on the phone.

746
00:42:39,120 --> 00:42:40,520
They called Duke medical.

747
00:42:40,520 --> 00:42:41,800
They were on the phone.

748
00:42:41,800 --> 00:42:43,880
They got her referral sent over.

749
00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:47,840
They talked to a person and she called me back and said, you're going to get a phone

750
00:42:47,840 --> 00:42:52,000
call today and they're going to see her within a week or two.

751
00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:54,640
They just need some other paperwork.

752
00:42:54,640 --> 00:42:56,600
So boom, it just all started happening.

753
00:42:56,600 --> 00:42:58,520
So she got her down to Duke medical.

754
00:42:58,520 --> 00:42:59,520
They were running tests.

755
00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:04,360
They did two procedures, ERCPs where they tried to remove stones.

756
00:43:04,360 --> 00:43:08,200
There were a lot of stones in her pancreas and the duct and all that.

757
00:43:08,200 --> 00:43:13,080
Both of those, she would get relief for about two weeks and then she was back in pain again.

758
00:43:13,080 --> 00:43:16,200
And then they did refer to a surgeon there.

759
00:43:16,200 --> 00:43:22,960
He did a rerouting surgery of her pancreas again, a few weeks later back in pain.

760
00:43:22,960 --> 00:43:24,560
It's January now of 2021.

761
00:43:24,560 --> 00:43:29,840
We were at the hospital for weekends in a row.

762
00:43:29,840 --> 00:43:33,040
This is after at least a year of misery.

763
00:43:33,040 --> 00:43:37,520
We had a, an appointment with a pain specialist down at Duke medical.

764
00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:41,800
And so they let her go in time to get for us to get her down there.

765
00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:45,320
They were managing her pain in the hospital.

766
00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:48,480
And yeah, it was just one thing after another.

767
00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:53,800
She's a researcher and she had done some research in December and she found this surgery that

768
00:43:53,800 --> 00:43:55,760
she ended up having.

769
00:43:55,760 --> 00:43:57,280
She said, this is what I need mom.

770
00:43:57,280 --> 00:44:01,280
And I was like, whoa, that is quite, quite drastic.

771
00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:02,680
And it was a newer surgery.

772
00:44:02,680 --> 00:44:05,160
It's not like one that had been around for a long time.

773
00:44:05,160 --> 00:44:06,720
It was just started in 2010.

774
00:44:06,720 --> 00:44:13,200
There's only 10 places in the United States that actually have doctors that will do that.

775
00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:14,480
And Duke was one of them?

776
00:44:14,480 --> 00:44:17,840
Duke was not, but UNC Chapel Hill was.

777
00:44:17,840 --> 00:44:20,600
And so they were familiar with this surgery.

778
00:44:20,600 --> 00:44:23,400
So they said, we will refer her over there.

779
00:44:23,400 --> 00:44:29,080
We got an appointment, met with the surgeon and he's very, very conservative.

780
00:44:29,080 --> 00:44:32,840
He's from India, but he's very skilled, but very conservative.

781
00:44:32,840 --> 00:44:35,480
He doesn't do the type of surgery that she needed.

782
00:44:35,480 --> 00:44:37,200
He doesn't do it on a whim.

783
00:44:37,200 --> 00:44:42,120
You have to meet like five or six criteria for him to do it.

784
00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:45,080
So I'm thinking it's probably going to be, you know, some time.

785
00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:47,680
I didn't know what all the criteria was.

786
00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:53,600
And we went in there and after seeing the tests and having more tests run and all that,

787
00:44:53,600 --> 00:44:57,640
she qualified and he said, her pancreas needs to come out next month.

788
00:44:57,640 --> 00:44:58,960
This thing is a mess.

789
00:44:58,960 --> 00:44:59,960
Wow.

790
00:44:59,960 --> 00:45:01,880
It was a, what they call a pancreatectomy.

791
00:45:01,880 --> 00:45:03,480
So they removed the pancreas.

792
00:45:03,480 --> 00:45:08,000
And then the second part was an auto islet cell transfusion transplant.

793
00:45:08,000 --> 00:45:15,280
Well, first of all, it was caused by a mutated gene that she had inherited in through her

794
00:45:15,280 --> 00:45:16,280
bloodline.

795
00:45:16,280 --> 00:45:18,520
That particular gene is called a spink one.

796
00:45:18,520 --> 00:45:21,140
It attacks the pancreas.

797
00:45:21,140 --> 00:45:27,400
We don't have pancreas transplants, but even if we did and we had a brand new healthy pancreas

798
00:45:27,400 --> 00:45:30,000
put in, the gene would attack that as well.

799
00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:31,000
Okay.

800
00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:32,320
So it wasn't an issue of the pancreas.

801
00:45:32,320 --> 00:45:34,040
It was beyond that.

802
00:45:34,040 --> 00:45:35,040
Right.

803
00:45:35,040 --> 00:45:36,480
But the pancreas had to come out.

804
00:45:36,480 --> 00:45:42,640
Now the pancreas produces the enzymes we eat, you know, when we eat food and then it also

805
00:45:42,640 --> 00:45:45,400
produces the insulin that we need.

806
00:45:45,400 --> 00:45:47,480
She was happy about it because this is what she wanted.

807
00:45:47,480 --> 00:45:50,600
She had researched this and she was like, I am already.

808
00:45:50,600 --> 00:45:55,880
So what they do though, is they take the pancreas and a research team, they take the pancreas

809
00:45:55,880 --> 00:45:57,540
out of the patient.

810
00:45:57,540 --> 00:46:03,120
They sent the pancreas to a research team that Dr. Desai had flown up from Miami, very,

811
00:46:03,120 --> 00:46:05,000
very specialized.

812
00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:07,160
And they remove what they call islet cells.

813
00:46:07,160 --> 00:46:12,440
So we have little islands of cells in our pancreas that make the insulin.

814
00:46:12,440 --> 00:46:18,800
So the newest surgery was if you can get those islet cells out, then they transfuse them or

815
00:46:18,800 --> 00:46:24,160
transplant them back into the liver and the liver then acts like the pancreas.

816
00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:25,160
Really?

817
00:46:25,160 --> 00:46:26,760
Is that not amazing or what?

818
00:46:26,760 --> 00:46:28,200
I had never heard of such a thing.

819
00:46:28,200 --> 00:46:32,640
God has created our body in such a way that it's amazing.

820
00:46:32,640 --> 00:46:37,480
I mean, I don't know anymore to say, but only a creator God could do that.

821
00:46:37,480 --> 00:46:38,480
Exactly.

822
00:46:38,480 --> 00:46:42,360
And here she had discovered this type of surgery and was telling us about it.

823
00:46:42,360 --> 00:46:43,920
I was like, well, my sister's an RN.

824
00:46:43,920 --> 00:46:46,520
I'm like, let's call Aunt Sally and see what she thinks.

825
00:46:46,520 --> 00:46:47,520
My sister had never heard it.

826
00:46:47,520 --> 00:46:48,520
She had researched it.

827
00:46:48,520 --> 00:46:50,280
My brother-in-law is a surgeon.

828
00:46:50,280 --> 00:46:55,600
He was a little familiar, but not quite to the degree because it was still came out in

829
00:46:55,600 --> 00:46:56,600
2010.

830
00:46:56,600 --> 00:47:02,200
This particular doctor, Dr. Desai, started back in 2010 doing these surgeries.

831
00:47:02,200 --> 00:47:07,600
So I was confident he had been doing them from when they were first approved to be done.

832
00:47:07,600 --> 00:47:10,560
That was a huge, huge surgery.

833
00:47:10,560 --> 00:47:14,720
And she was in ICU for a week or she was supposed to be in a week.

834
00:47:14,720 --> 00:47:19,840
I think she was out in like five days and then she went to the transplant ward and she

835
00:47:19,840 --> 00:47:21,600
was out of the hospital in nine days.

836
00:47:21,600 --> 00:47:26,640
It was just nothing short of a miracle that she was recovering so quickly.

837
00:47:26,640 --> 00:47:30,120
But they did, they were hoping they could get enough islet cells.

838
00:47:30,120 --> 00:47:37,400
They can tell from testing in advance that she did have quite a bit of the healthy islet

839
00:47:37,400 --> 00:47:38,400
cells.

840
00:47:38,400 --> 00:47:46,240
The problem for the team that was extracting them out of the sick pancreas was they lost

841
00:47:46,240 --> 00:47:51,280
some in the extraction because of how sick the same pancreas was.

842
00:47:51,280 --> 00:47:59,240
So therefore she has some in her liver that are producing insulin, but it wasn't enough

843
00:47:59,240 --> 00:48:02,560
to make her totally independent of insulin.

844
00:48:02,560 --> 00:48:07,360
So she is diabetic, not a one or two, they call it like a three C because she's got some

845
00:48:07,360 --> 00:48:12,320
help through her liver and the islet cells working through that and then supplements.

846
00:48:12,320 --> 00:48:16,200
So she takes a fraction of what probably true diabetics have to have.

847
00:48:16,200 --> 00:48:21,520
So all along this big journey, where did you see God?

848
00:48:21,520 --> 00:48:30,600
It's so hard to see your child sick, ill, crying, wondering, on pain meds, you know,

849
00:48:30,600 --> 00:48:35,680
especially at that age you think, Oh Lord, you don't want them to get used to that or

850
00:48:35,680 --> 00:48:36,840
feel like they have to have it.

851
00:48:36,840 --> 00:48:40,680
And thank God she didn't, she wanted off as fast as possible.

852
00:48:40,680 --> 00:48:44,520
We kept praying all the way through Lord.

853
00:48:44,520 --> 00:48:50,280
And again, you go back to, okay, we've seen the hand of God so many times in the providence

854
00:48:50,280 --> 00:48:57,520
of God so many times, I can't quite understand this one, but I know who you are Lord, that

855
00:48:57,520 --> 00:49:00,600
somehow you're going to work this for good.

856
00:49:00,600 --> 00:49:05,960
But it was awfully hard for us as parents to see her hurting so much and struggling

857
00:49:05,960 --> 00:49:06,960
so much.

858
00:49:06,960 --> 00:49:10,320
It was very, it's even hard to explain.

859
00:49:10,320 --> 00:49:11,320
We cried a lot.

860
00:49:11,320 --> 00:49:13,080
We were up in the middle of the night.

861
00:49:13,080 --> 00:49:14,840
She would want to talk in the middle of the night.

862
00:49:14,840 --> 00:49:16,680
She was having lots of questions.

863
00:49:16,680 --> 00:49:17,680
Can I even have kids?

864
00:49:17,680 --> 00:49:19,960
I don't want to pass this down.

865
00:49:19,960 --> 00:49:24,520
You know, just all of these heart to heart, deep, deep questions that you think an 18

866
00:49:24,520 --> 00:49:25,920
year old shouldn't even be thinking about.

867
00:49:25,920 --> 00:49:27,560
Right, they're really soul searching.

868
00:49:27,560 --> 00:49:28,560
Yeah.

869
00:49:28,560 --> 00:49:34,640
The fortunate thing for her that in this day and age, technology has advanced so much in

870
00:49:34,640 --> 00:49:42,280
the medical field that there is even research and probably could possibly be that she's

871
00:49:42,280 --> 00:49:46,640
out of her twenties and she won't even need any insulin because they are now creating

872
00:49:46,640 --> 00:49:51,320
islet cells and they're in testing right now where they can then transplant them into the

873
00:49:51,320 --> 00:49:54,400
liver so she'd get more, which means she wouldn't need the insulin.

874
00:49:54,400 --> 00:49:57,200
So we're hoping for that day to come sooner.

875
00:49:57,200 --> 00:50:01,760
Just like they make insulin as lab created, it's a pierced form.

876
00:50:01,760 --> 00:50:07,320
So they're taking that, that thought and process and testing.

877
00:50:07,320 --> 00:50:12,120
You know, a lot of Christians would look at that and say, great, you know, medical, that's

878
00:50:12,120 --> 00:50:13,800
the way to go.

879
00:50:13,800 --> 00:50:17,440
Others would say, well, you should have prayed for miraculous healing first.

880
00:50:17,440 --> 00:50:25,000
I was listening to a sermon by Robert Morris recently, who's a pastor of Gateway Church

881
00:50:25,000 --> 00:50:28,640
in Dallas and he was teaching on God being a healer.

882
00:50:28,640 --> 00:50:30,940
Robert Morris says, God heals three ways.

883
00:50:30,940 --> 00:50:32,020
He heals naturally.

884
00:50:32,020 --> 00:50:34,080
He created our body to be healing.

885
00:50:34,080 --> 00:50:40,160
He heals medically because all wisdom comes from him and he heals supernaturally.

886
00:50:40,160 --> 00:50:45,640
And it's up to us to discern from the Lord, to hear from the Lord, which way we should

887
00:50:45,640 --> 00:50:46,640
go.

888
00:50:46,640 --> 00:50:47,640
Right.

889
00:50:47,640 --> 00:50:55,560
I say because he has blessed us in our day and age with people that are skilled in medical

890
00:50:55,560 --> 00:51:03,720
science and knowledge, for us, we felt walk through this path naturally all the while

891
00:51:03,720 --> 00:51:09,960
praying that God will supernaturally touch her.

892
00:51:09,960 --> 00:51:11,080
And heal her.

893
00:51:11,080 --> 00:51:15,680
And so we, we believed God was going to do something.

894
00:51:15,680 --> 00:51:22,000
We didn't know if it was going to be through the supernatural, just fix the gene or if

895
00:51:22,000 --> 00:51:24,820
it was going to be through the natural means.

896
00:51:24,820 --> 00:51:27,280
And he chose that path for her.

897
00:51:27,280 --> 00:51:31,640
So again, it goes back to God will be God.

898
00:51:31,640 --> 00:51:36,560
And it's not for me to tell him how I will always pray for healing.

899
00:51:36,560 --> 00:51:37,560
Yeah, always.

900
00:51:37,560 --> 00:51:38,560
Yeah.

901
00:51:38,560 --> 00:51:43,920
It's up to the Lord to choose which methods that he will heal.

902
00:51:43,920 --> 00:51:48,720
And the last part of healing, a fourth one I would add to that is healed when we're in

903
00:51:48,720 --> 00:51:49,720
heaven.

904
00:51:49,720 --> 00:51:50,720
That's right.

905
00:51:50,720 --> 00:51:51,720
Yeah.

906
00:51:51,720 --> 00:51:52,720
I mean, it's all good there, you know?

907
00:51:52,720 --> 00:51:56,840
So God has his ways and his timing and we just walked through.

908
00:51:56,840 --> 00:51:58,600
I kept praying, Lord, open the door.

909
00:51:58,600 --> 00:52:00,640
You want us to walk through next for her.

910
00:52:00,640 --> 00:52:01,640
Open the door.

911
00:52:01,640 --> 00:52:07,840
And, and a mama bear with a cub that is sick is about doing anything and everything she

912
00:52:07,840 --> 00:52:10,200
can and even pop a bear, you know?

913
00:52:10,200 --> 00:52:11,200
Yeah.

914
00:52:11,200 --> 00:52:16,680
It's like we were not letting up until we got answers and we got her in to see people.

915
00:52:16,680 --> 00:52:19,160
And I was like the judge.

916
00:52:19,160 --> 00:52:25,720
I was like the lady knocking on the door for the judge to answer, you know, all that time.

917
00:52:25,720 --> 00:52:28,960
I was on the phone with medical and like, when can I expect your phone call?

918
00:52:28,960 --> 00:52:31,280
And followed it right through.

919
00:52:31,280 --> 00:52:36,320
Maria was going through all of this and you were trying to be the administrator of her

920
00:52:36,320 --> 00:52:40,240
care, but you know, what was God saying to you through this?

921
00:52:40,240 --> 00:52:41,360
Oh, it's interesting.

922
00:52:41,360 --> 00:52:47,120
I said, Lord, just give me signs along the way that number one, you're with us.

923
00:52:47,120 --> 00:52:53,360
Number two, encouraging her and us that I wanted her especially.

924
00:52:53,360 --> 00:52:56,760
And I have to laugh at one sign.

925
00:52:56,760 --> 00:52:59,840
She's just 48 hours out from her surgery.

926
00:52:59,840 --> 00:53:01,920
She's in ICU.

927
00:53:01,920 --> 00:53:04,200
She hasn't really said anything.

928
00:53:04,200 --> 00:53:05,200
She's been drugged up.

929
00:53:05,200 --> 00:53:10,600
She's, you know, tubes everywhere, systems all around her and all that.

930
00:53:10,600 --> 00:53:16,360
And we're in ICU and I stayed there with her and there's different monitors that are on

931
00:53:16,360 --> 00:53:18,000
the screen and I could see them.

932
00:53:18,000 --> 00:53:23,120
And of course the ICU nurse would always be looking at them as well.

933
00:53:23,120 --> 00:53:26,360
And one of them was they, it was a blood pressure machine.

934
00:53:26,360 --> 00:53:29,520
They were checking that, her heart rate and some other things.

935
00:53:29,520 --> 00:53:32,920
So I got to know where the numbers should be on the screen.

936
00:53:32,920 --> 00:53:39,040
So the nurse came in, she was rearranging something and she unplugged them all and was

937
00:53:39,040 --> 00:53:42,040
moving some equipment around and then she plugged them all back.

938
00:53:42,040 --> 00:53:46,200
Well, everything started working except the blood pressure machine.

939
00:53:46,200 --> 00:53:49,640
And after a surgery like that, that's one thing they're really monitoring as well.

940
00:53:49,640 --> 00:53:53,200
I said to the nurse, I said, she's still doing stuff.

941
00:53:53,200 --> 00:53:56,960
And I said to her, and Maria's like out as far as I know, you know, she's completely

942
00:53:56,960 --> 00:53:57,960
out.

943
00:53:57,960 --> 00:53:58,960
I haven't been able to talk to her.

944
00:53:58,960 --> 00:53:59,960
I whispered in her ear, we're here.

945
00:53:59,960 --> 00:54:00,960
We love you.

946
00:54:00,960 --> 00:54:01,960
You did great.

947
00:54:01,960 --> 00:54:03,640
We love you and things like that.

948
00:54:03,640 --> 00:54:06,320
The doctor would come in, do you know who I'm in, who I am?

949
00:54:06,320 --> 00:54:07,720
And she would shake her head yes.

950
00:54:07,720 --> 00:54:10,760
But there was no words, talking or anything.

951
00:54:10,760 --> 00:54:14,960
So I said to the nurse, I said, hey, I said, I noticed the blood pressure monitor isn't

952
00:54:14,960 --> 00:54:17,240
working any, you know, it didn't come back on.

953
00:54:17,240 --> 00:54:19,240
She said, oh, it's all rebooting.

954
00:54:19,240 --> 00:54:21,240
It'd be another minute or two.

955
00:54:21,240 --> 00:54:22,280
I was like, okay.

956
00:54:22,280 --> 00:54:24,960
So she leaves about five minutes later, she comes in.

957
00:54:24,960 --> 00:54:27,520
I said, sorry to bother you.

958
00:54:27,520 --> 00:54:31,080
I said, I noticed it's still not working.

959
00:54:31,080 --> 00:54:35,320
And about that time, and of course, I'm praying for signs that Maria's going to be okay and

960
00:54:35,320 --> 00:54:36,320
all that.

961
00:54:36,320 --> 00:54:41,560
About that time, all of a sudden, Maria, like she kind of pokes up a little bit and she

962
00:54:41,560 --> 00:54:45,760
goes, oh my gosh, mom, relax.

963
00:54:45,760 --> 00:54:48,880
She's going to be okay.

964
00:54:48,880 --> 00:54:50,880
I was like, oh, that's a sign.

965
00:54:50,880 --> 00:54:51,880
Thank you, Lord.

966
00:54:51,880 --> 00:54:52,880
She's in there somewhere.

967
00:54:52,880 --> 00:54:53,880
She's coming back.

968
00:54:53,880 --> 00:54:54,880
You know, it was like, okay.

969
00:54:54,880 --> 00:54:59,880
So I had to laugh because here I was, my journey through all this was, Lord, please let us

970
00:54:59,880 --> 00:55:00,880
know you're with us.

971
00:55:00,880 --> 00:55:06,400
I know you're with us, but just give us some kind of visible sign in different ways.

972
00:55:06,400 --> 00:55:10,080
However, like I said, I never want a box got into that you got to do it this way, just

973
00:55:10,080 --> 00:55:11,920
however you want to show us.

974
00:55:11,920 --> 00:55:16,040
And I had to laugh because that was one thing that he did.

975
00:55:16,040 --> 00:55:20,960
And we had many, many laughs later through the hospital as a result, even Maria to this

976
00:55:20,960 --> 00:55:22,680
day laughs at some of the things.

977
00:55:22,680 --> 00:55:27,000
So God was giving us laughter for medicine as well.

978
00:55:27,000 --> 00:55:28,000
Yeah.

979
00:55:28,000 --> 00:55:29,000
Yeah.

980
00:55:29,000 --> 00:55:30,000
For her and for us.

981
00:55:30,000 --> 00:55:31,000
Right.

982
00:55:31,000 --> 00:55:32,000
But it was a hard thing.

983
00:55:32,000 --> 00:55:33,000
Laughter is good like a medicine.

984
00:55:33,000 --> 00:55:37,760
She's adjusting to a new life and still having to require some insulin has been an adjustment

985
00:55:37,760 --> 00:55:38,760
for her.

986
00:55:38,760 --> 00:55:41,280
It's been a year, a little over a year now.

987
00:55:41,280 --> 00:55:47,400
So we're just very thankful if she had outstanding care there.

988
00:55:47,400 --> 00:55:52,640
So what truths have you carried through all the ups and downs of these last few years?

989
00:55:52,640 --> 00:56:00,720
I mean, your time in California, your work with SAG, your pastoring another church, your

990
00:56:00,720 --> 00:56:05,600
moving back to the East Coast and these health challenges.

991
00:56:05,600 --> 00:56:09,680
I know God does a deep work of life messages in us.

992
00:56:09,680 --> 00:56:10,680
Yes, doesn't he?

993
00:56:10,680 --> 00:56:11,680
Yes, he does.

994
00:56:11,680 --> 00:56:16,520
I would just say, first of all, go to the Lord.

995
00:56:16,520 --> 00:56:17,840
Always go to the Lord.

996
00:56:17,840 --> 00:56:20,800
Don't hide, don't run and don't pretend things aren't happening.

997
00:56:20,800 --> 00:56:23,840
Be brutally honest with him because he can handle it.

998
00:56:23,840 --> 00:56:27,600
I remember at times when I was going through infertility struggle, I was like, I'm mad

999
00:56:27,600 --> 00:56:28,600
at you, God.

1000
00:56:28,600 --> 00:56:30,760
I mean, I told him, I'm mad at you.

1001
00:56:30,760 --> 00:56:31,760
Well guess what?

1002
00:56:31,760 --> 00:56:33,760
He didn't strike me down dead or anything like that.

1003
00:56:33,760 --> 00:56:34,760
He can handle it.

1004
00:56:34,760 --> 00:56:35,760
He knew.

1005
00:56:35,760 --> 00:56:36,760
He created us.

1006
00:56:36,760 --> 00:56:37,760
He knows our emotions.

1007
00:56:37,760 --> 00:56:38,760
He knows our temperament.

1008
00:56:38,760 --> 00:56:41,760
He knows everything about us.

1009
00:56:41,760 --> 00:56:45,200
So I was disappointed and I told him, I'm disappointed.

1010
00:56:45,200 --> 00:56:46,960
So go to the Lord and be honest.

1011
00:56:46,960 --> 00:56:50,600
When Maria was going through her illness, I was like, dear Lord.

1012
00:56:50,600 --> 00:56:52,480
She's 18 years old.

1013
00:56:52,480 --> 00:56:56,640
This is not the life of an 18 year old that we would want for our daughter.

1014
00:56:56,640 --> 00:56:58,640
No parent would want this for their child.

1015
00:56:58,640 --> 00:57:02,520
It's just heart wrenching to see a child suffer like that.

1016
00:57:02,520 --> 00:57:07,080
So I would just tell him, go to the Lord and be honest.

1017
00:57:07,080 --> 00:57:08,480
Don't hide.

1018
00:57:08,480 --> 00:57:09,880
And I tried not to have pity parties.

1019
00:57:09,880 --> 00:57:12,000
Like I could have some pity parties.

1020
00:57:12,000 --> 00:57:16,400
But the other thing I felt like the Lord told me through the years is just keep moving in

1021
00:57:16,400 --> 00:57:18,520
the direction that I'm calling you to move.

1022
00:57:18,520 --> 00:57:22,640
Like when we were waiting for a child, we were ministering all around the world.

1023
00:57:22,640 --> 00:57:24,240
We just were moving in that state.

1024
00:57:24,240 --> 00:57:29,480
When Maria was in with her illness and when we were pastoring churches and stuff, it was

1025
00:57:29,480 --> 00:57:33,040
like just stay and you're like, do what I called you to do.

1026
00:57:33,040 --> 00:57:34,520
I will be with you and walk with you.

1027
00:57:34,520 --> 00:57:35,520
I will take care of that.

1028
00:57:35,520 --> 00:57:41,040
You know Psalm 138, one of my favorite scriptures is where he says, I will perfect that which

1029
00:57:41,040 --> 00:57:42,040
concerns you.

1030
00:57:42,040 --> 00:57:45,800
I've had a lot of concerns through the years.

1031
00:57:45,800 --> 00:57:47,360
Some big, some little.

1032
00:57:47,360 --> 00:57:51,640
The other thing I felt like the Lord was saying and even through the years of pastoring or

1033
00:57:51,640 --> 00:57:56,240
whatever, you be you because you can only be you best.

1034
00:57:56,240 --> 00:57:59,320
Nobody can be you better than you.

1035
00:57:59,320 --> 00:58:01,440
And I can't be anybody else.

1036
00:58:01,440 --> 00:58:04,600
They are just perfect the way God created them.

1037
00:58:04,600 --> 00:58:08,560
He created us with our own gifts, our skills, our talents.

1038
00:58:08,560 --> 00:58:14,360
And I think we get messed up and relationships get messed up when we want something somebody

1039
00:58:14,360 --> 00:58:15,360
else has.

1040
00:58:15,360 --> 00:58:19,560
There's nothing wrong with admiring that, you know, it'd be like, oh, I love that ability

1041
00:58:19,560 --> 00:58:21,200
you have that talent.

1042
00:58:21,200 --> 00:58:22,200
That's wonderful.

1043
00:58:22,200 --> 00:58:28,440
You know, I would love to have that, but it doesn't mean that you are upset about that.

1044
00:58:28,440 --> 00:58:33,440
You know, you stay in your lane, you do you, you be honest with God.

1045
00:58:33,440 --> 00:58:41,080
And I love when the apostle Paul says in Corinthians, he said, imitate me as I imitate Christ.

1046
00:58:41,080 --> 00:58:44,840
And what I love about that is I turned it opposite.

1047
00:58:44,840 --> 00:58:49,160
In other words, he's saying, if I'm not imitating Christ, do not imitate me.

1048
00:58:49,160 --> 00:58:56,400
People, the way God has gifted each of us, everybody has something that we can admire

1049
00:58:56,400 --> 00:58:59,560
or we can encourage and we can learn from.

1050
00:58:59,560 --> 00:59:02,880
And especially in the Christian community, when we're when we're in our lane and we're

1051
00:59:02,880 --> 00:59:10,320
doing our thing, then we can imitate what is wonderful about that person of quality

1052
00:59:10,320 --> 00:59:16,280
that they have a character that they have, and we can imitate that.

1053
00:59:16,280 --> 00:59:21,280
That's where that comes in to us still being us and being who we're called to be.

1054
00:59:21,280 --> 00:59:27,280
But we can incorporate and learn godliness from other people as they're imitating Christ

1055
00:59:27,280 --> 00:59:28,720
and we can imitate that.

1056
00:59:28,720 --> 00:59:34,040
Yeah, kind of reminds me of a lesson that I learned from the Lord that God knows me better

1057
00:59:34,040 --> 00:59:36,120
than I know myself.

1058
00:59:36,120 --> 00:59:42,920
And if I'm struggling with who I am or what I should do or where I should go, he will

1059
00:59:42,920 --> 00:59:45,440
show me because he created me.

1060
00:59:45,440 --> 00:59:47,480
He created me to be who I am.

1061
00:59:47,480 --> 00:59:54,480
He gave me the gifts that, you know, for a reason, not just to squander, but for a reason.

1062
00:59:54,480 --> 00:59:59,520
And when we are confused about our identity in the Lord, he is happy to reveal it to us.

1063
00:59:59,520 --> 01:00:00,520
Absolutely.

1064
01:00:00,520 --> 01:00:01,520
And he does that.

1065
01:00:01,520 --> 01:00:05,440
And you know, the other thing is, as I say, be you and stand your lane and all that.

1066
01:00:05,440 --> 01:00:08,040
It doesn't happen overnight and at age 15.

1067
01:00:08,040 --> 01:00:09,040
Right.

1068
01:00:09,040 --> 01:00:13,960
You know, we have to go through life lessons and circumstances that mold and shape us to

1069
01:00:13,960 --> 01:00:20,480
where we realize and we mature in who we are, comfortable in our own skin.

1070
01:00:20,480 --> 01:00:24,240
I mean, I had people telling me through the years when we were pastoring, oh, you should

1071
01:00:24,240 --> 01:00:27,560
do this or you should do that or whatever.

1072
01:00:27,560 --> 01:00:32,800
And I would laugh and say, if I did that, I'd make the biggest mess of it that you wouldn't

1073
01:00:32,800 --> 01:00:33,800
want that.

1074
01:00:33,800 --> 01:00:36,240
But you had that talent or so and so does.

1075
01:00:36,240 --> 01:00:38,880
And yes, I'll be supportive and all of that.

1076
01:00:38,880 --> 01:00:44,800
And I just stayed in my area with which was, you know, with women and hanging out with

1077
01:00:44,800 --> 01:00:48,680
them and ministering Bible studies and sharing heart to heart and stuff like that.

1078
01:00:48,680 --> 01:00:49,680
And that's where I was most comfortable.

1079
01:00:49,680 --> 01:00:54,200
And I also would just say to other pastors, wives that I used to meet with, do what you

1080
01:00:54,200 --> 01:00:56,120
would do if your husband wasn't the pastor.

1081
01:00:56,120 --> 01:01:00,120
So if your heart is in music and that's where you would like to serve, if he wasn't the

1082
01:01:00,120 --> 01:01:01,120
pastor, then do that.

1083
01:01:01,120 --> 01:01:02,120
If it's with women, then do that.

1084
01:01:02,120 --> 01:01:04,160
If it's with children, then do that.

1085
01:01:04,160 --> 01:01:07,760
So don't even equate anything.

1086
01:01:07,760 --> 01:01:08,760
Where would you serve?

1087
01:01:08,760 --> 01:01:09,760
Where's the heart?

1088
01:01:09,760 --> 01:01:15,760
You know, what has God put in your heart to serve and do that?

1089
01:01:15,760 --> 01:01:16,760
Yeah.

1090
01:01:16,760 --> 01:01:20,920
So, Marybeth, the last episode, I asked you if there was a woman in the Bible whose story

1091
01:01:20,920 --> 01:01:25,800
encouraged and taught you something in the early years of your faith journey.

1092
01:01:25,800 --> 01:01:26,800
What about now?

1093
01:01:26,800 --> 01:01:27,800
What are some of the...

1094
01:01:27,800 --> 01:01:32,840
Is there a biblical woman's life that speaks to you now in a different way?

1095
01:01:32,840 --> 01:01:35,040
I love Esther in the book of Esther.

1096
01:01:35,040 --> 01:01:43,120
Boy, if you want a good story with lots of drama and twists and turns and...

1097
01:01:43,120 --> 01:01:48,080
Oh gosh, it's not ending in that story.

1098
01:01:48,080 --> 01:01:54,040
I mean, once you read it cover to cover, but it's a beautiful romantic story about a young

1099
01:01:54,040 --> 01:02:01,480
woman who was thrust into a position through some awkward circumstances on the ad that

1100
01:02:01,480 --> 01:02:04,720
found herself in that position.

1101
01:02:04,720 --> 01:02:13,400
And then God led her and she knew how to deal with it very delicately, very wisely.

1102
01:02:13,400 --> 01:02:18,360
And she was put into that place to save her people.

1103
01:02:18,360 --> 01:02:19,840
She was Jewish.

1104
01:02:19,840 --> 01:02:25,800
To save the Jewish community that were in exile, they were in Persia.

1105
01:02:25,800 --> 01:02:33,040
And the king had canned his first wife because she wasn't obeying Vashti.

1106
01:02:33,040 --> 01:02:39,400
Back then, a lot of women looked to the queen and then they didn't think she was a good

1107
01:02:39,400 --> 01:02:40,400
example.

1108
01:02:40,400 --> 01:02:45,000
So they did away with her basically out of that position and had to go looking for a

1109
01:02:45,000 --> 01:02:46,040
new queen.

1110
01:02:46,040 --> 01:02:48,680
And so here comes Esther.

1111
01:02:48,680 --> 01:02:53,360
She's one of the young girls, because they were young, that went before the king.

1112
01:02:53,360 --> 01:02:54,360
And she found favor.

1113
01:02:54,360 --> 01:02:56,960
She was a beautiful young girl apparently.

1114
01:02:56,960 --> 01:03:02,880
Here she was put in there for such a time as this as the Bible says.

1115
01:03:02,880 --> 01:03:09,640
She was a relative to a person named Mordecai who had a responsibility in the land.

1116
01:03:09,640 --> 01:03:15,840
But at the same time, there was another person in that story named Haman that did not like

1117
01:03:15,840 --> 01:03:19,720
Jews and was set to kill them.

1118
01:03:19,720 --> 01:03:24,080
And if they found out that Esther was a Jew, she would have been killed and Mordecai and

1119
01:03:24,080 --> 01:03:25,440
all the people.

1120
01:03:25,440 --> 01:03:31,760
And how God twists and turns that story and puts her in a place of power and then how

1121
01:03:31,760 --> 01:03:39,440
the irony of wanting to wipe out the Jewish community ends up falling on Haman.

1122
01:03:39,440 --> 01:03:43,040
He himself gets executed by his own.

1123
01:03:43,040 --> 01:03:44,560
Yes, he does.

1124
01:03:44,560 --> 01:03:51,400
The thing though about Esther and that story, and I like these principles, she was wise

1125
01:03:51,400 --> 01:03:53,000
for a young girl.

1126
01:03:53,000 --> 01:03:54,760
She really was wise.

1127
01:03:54,760 --> 01:03:57,440
She was patient.

1128
01:03:57,440 --> 01:04:00,600
When she went to the king with her request, she was patient.

1129
01:04:00,600 --> 01:04:05,520
She didn't get into that place of position and then boom, she waited for the timing.

1130
01:04:05,520 --> 01:04:07,960
So she was discerning as well.

1131
01:04:07,960 --> 01:04:14,120
These are characteristics that God is still developing and teaching me through different

1132
01:04:14,120 --> 01:04:19,920
circumstances, of course, but still teaching me these things through life circumstances.

1133
01:04:19,920 --> 01:04:26,360
But another thing I liked about her is she was direct and bold with the king.

1134
01:04:26,360 --> 01:04:30,840
And she phrased things beautifully for him to give her favor with him.

1135
01:04:30,840 --> 01:04:33,760
But then once she had it, she was bold and direct.

1136
01:04:33,760 --> 01:04:37,560
And that's when I go back to God wants us to be bold and direct with him.

1137
01:04:37,560 --> 01:04:40,760
It says, come boldly to the throne room of grace.

1138
01:04:40,760 --> 01:04:42,680
We are to go that way.

1139
01:04:42,680 --> 01:04:49,200
She was bold and direct, she was very courageous and she risked her life for her people.

1140
01:04:49,200 --> 01:04:50,560
She risked her life.

1141
01:04:50,560 --> 01:04:52,760
She said, if I perish, I perish.

1142
01:04:52,760 --> 01:04:55,440
But she knew she had to do the right thing.

1143
01:04:55,440 --> 01:04:59,780
She was principled.

1144
01:04:59,780 --> 01:05:06,160
She also didn't reveal the secret that only her family member, their Mordecai knew and

1145
01:05:06,160 --> 01:05:07,660
that she was Jewish.

1146
01:05:07,660 --> 01:05:10,960
So she had to reveal that to the king.

1147
01:05:10,960 --> 01:05:20,120
And it just is such a beautiful story of how someone with so young with all of these qualities

1148
01:05:20,120 --> 01:05:26,680
and characteristics that God used in that day and time of life to accomplish his purposes.

1149
01:05:26,680 --> 01:05:31,400
And again, you think he works within the culture because you look at what was going on in the

1150
01:05:31,400 --> 01:05:35,040
culture and how they even presented these young girls to the king and then how they

1151
01:05:35,040 --> 01:05:37,760
got rid of the first queen, you know, Vashti.

1152
01:05:37,760 --> 01:05:40,760
And you go, oh, my gosh, you know, that's like this is pagan.

1153
01:05:40,760 --> 01:05:43,520
This is like morally wrong.

1154
01:05:43,520 --> 01:05:50,040
And yet how God still providentially fulfilled his purposes of saving the Jewish people through

1155
01:05:50,040 --> 01:05:51,040
this situation.

1156
01:05:51,040 --> 01:05:53,680
Yeah, through this situation.

1157
01:05:53,680 --> 01:05:58,040
So I think there's a lot to learn about her character and boldness and courageousness.

1158
01:05:58,040 --> 01:06:03,560
And I just think back in my life and there's times I've just completely blown it.

1159
01:06:03,560 --> 01:06:06,160
And I'm like, Lord, can you clean up the mess?

1160
01:06:06,160 --> 01:06:10,000
You know, back at the beginning of this year, I was asking the Lord if he had a word or

1161
01:06:10,000 --> 01:06:14,000
direction for me from the year, which I think probably a lot of people do.

1162
01:06:14,000 --> 01:06:20,040
And I was reading in Psalm 119 at that time, which is a really long Psalm, but it's so

1163
01:06:20,040 --> 01:06:21,040
rich.

1164
01:06:21,040 --> 01:06:24,480
I mean, I got to verse 68 and it just leapt off the page to me.

1165
01:06:24,480 --> 01:06:27,680
It said, you are good and do only good.

1166
01:06:27,680 --> 01:06:28,680
Teach me your decrees.

1167
01:06:28,680 --> 01:06:35,680
And I was talking about God, of course, and his still small voice in my spirit just said,

1168
01:06:35,680 --> 01:06:38,160
I'm going to show you my goodness this year.

1169
01:06:38,160 --> 01:06:39,160
And I thought, yay.

1170
01:06:39,160 --> 01:06:41,520
It's going to be a great year.

1171
01:06:41,520 --> 01:06:45,320
So a couple of months later, I found out that I had breast cancer.

1172
01:06:45,320 --> 01:06:46,320
I had a choice.

1173
01:06:46,320 --> 01:06:49,400
Do I believe that God's going to show me his goodness in the midst of this?

1174
01:06:49,400 --> 01:06:53,080
Or do I get upset and believe a lie and become disillusioned?

1175
01:06:53,080 --> 01:06:55,400
Well, maybe that wasn't God's voice.

1176
01:06:55,400 --> 01:06:59,120
You know, I've walked with the Lord long enough that I knew that was him.

1177
01:06:59,120 --> 01:07:02,760
So I chose to believe God is good and he does only good.

1178
01:07:02,760 --> 01:07:08,680
And when I sat my heart on that truth, I was amazed that all of a sudden I was joyful and

1179
01:07:08,680 --> 01:07:10,760
expectant in the midst of it.

1180
01:07:10,760 --> 01:07:13,320
And I was like, well, this is unusual.

1181
01:07:13,320 --> 01:07:19,660
And you know, Romans 8 28, it says God causes all things to work together for good for those

1182
01:07:19,660 --> 01:07:22,760
who love God and who are called according to his purpose.

1183
01:07:22,760 --> 01:07:27,960
The next verse, we, a lot of us know that particular verse, but the next verse, verse

1184
01:07:27,960 --> 01:07:33,000
29, it's explains that God has chosen us to become like Jesus.

1185
01:07:33,000 --> 01:07:37,520
And you mentioned this a little bit earlier, that God is forming us into his likeness.

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The good that he's working in us is making us like Jesus.

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So anything that we go through that makes us more like Jesus is a good thing.

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And you know, as we know, of course, Jesus is love incarnate.

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He is wise.

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He's gracious.

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He's strong.

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Our salvation from sin and all its destruction was initiated by God because he loves us.

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And instead of leaving us separated from his love, Jesus came to the earth.

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He lived a perfect life of love.

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He died for our sins.

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He rose from the dead to pluck us from the kingdom of darkness and place us into his

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glorious light.

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And then he changes us and makes us like him.

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And in that process, he enables us to exhibit his goodness and love to others.

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So it's a process, but it's all good.

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And the whole process is good.

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God calls it good.

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And when we look at things from his perspective, we can have confidence that God is a God of

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love and he's good.

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And whatever we're going through is for our ultimate good.

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It may not be comfortable, but it is for our good.

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I mean, just what you and Maria have gone through, you know, it's pressing you more

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into the likeness of Jesus.

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None of us are there yet, of course.

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We have more pressing to go through.

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But the last few years have really been tough on everybody globally.

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Every one of us can use a little bit of God's goodness in our lives.

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So when we get to be vessels of sharing God's love with somebody else, maybe it'll be somebody

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I meet through my cancer treatment journey.

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That's God's goodness to me.

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When I can show his love to others, that's God's goodness to me.

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He's working in me and through me and for me.

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So I think of your story and what you've just gone through with Maria and it reminds me

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my breast cancer was caught very early.

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My treatments have been very mild.

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All of that has been much easier than many women go through.

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And for that, I'm very grateful.

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But I've seen his goodness in it and have a different understanding of goodness now.

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You know, I mean, we think of God's goodness as making everything right and making everything

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easy.

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That's not really what he's talking about.

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Right.

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You have a beautiful heart, Jody, where God knows that you're willing to see things through

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his perspective.

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He's taking you on this journey.

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Through years of learning, as you know, as through you know.

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Having that perspective and that perspective brings peace through the journey.

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It does.

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And again, you're talking to the Lord about it and he's with you and saying, I'm going

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to use you to help others.

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You know, there's so much that so much good comes out of things that I never even imagined

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could.

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And it's just beautiful to hear, you know, how God is just, you know, using you to help

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others through this.

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Well, it's time for us to wrap it up.

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Mary Beth, would you take a moment and pray for everyone who listens to this episode?

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Lord Jesus, we just come before you and we just thank you that you are God, that you

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love us unconditionally, that you are for us, that you do have a plan and a purpose,

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that you're not silent just saying have at it, but that you are very, very close and

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intimate with us.

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And I pray, Lord, if there's anyone out there that is listening now that maybe be going

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through some struggles that are finding just so difficult, maybe overbearing.

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Father, I pray that you would just bless them with your peace and your assurance and your

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love and your perspective, Lord.

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I pray that they'll just run to you, not run away, but always run to you and that you would

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help.

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Lord, when we can't understand, I just pray that you would give us that grace that we

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talked about earlier for that moment in time where we can be a blessing to others in spite

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of what we're going through and long suffering, whatever that may look like.

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Father, you are just so faithful.

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You work providentially.

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You never give up on us, even when we're unfaithful, you're faithful.

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And so Lord, I just pray for each one now that you would do miracles.

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You would reveal your love in greater ways to them like never before.

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And we will give you all the praise and all the glory.

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And Lord, I do pray for Jodi right now that you would bless her with your healing touch.

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Bring her completely through this victorious thing and your praises.

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Lord, we know that all things do work together for our good and for your glory.

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And we pray and we thank you for that in Jesus name.

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01:12:32,800 --> 01:12:33,800
Thanks for tuning in.

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Remember to listen to the beginning of Mary Beth's God Story in our previous episode if

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you haven't already done that.

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01:12:39,440 --> 01:12:43,120
And please like or follow this podcast on your favorite streaming service.

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01:12:43,120 --> 01:12:50,440
You can also check out our website at hergodstory.org to see show notes, sign up for periodic emails

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01:12:50,440 --> 01:12:55,240
and get a free downloadable devotional book, which will be available soon if it's not already.

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01:12:55,240 --> 01:12:59,600
We'd love to pray with you on our 24 seven prayer and text line.

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01:12:59,600 --> 01:13:09,400
You can give us a call or text anytime at 855-459-CARE or email us at prayer at somebodycares.org.

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01:13:09,400 --> 01:13:13,800
And now dear friends, I leave you with a blessing from Psalm two, verse one.

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May the Lord answer you when you are in distress.

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01:13:17,200 --> 01:13:20,440
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

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01:13:20,440 --> 01:13:24,480
Her God Story is a ministry of Somebody Cares America and International.

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To find out more about or support the ministry, go to somebodycares.org.