There is Authority in the Name of Jesus, Mary Nelson's Story

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

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

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

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author and traveler on this journey of faith.

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If you haven't done so yet, please take a moment to like or follow this podcast on your

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favorite streaming platform.

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That way you won't miss any of the amazing stories of my guests.

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I am so glad you tuned in to hear Mary Nelson's God Story.

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I am particularly fond of this guest because she's my wonderful mom.

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Not only that, she's the one who introduced me to Jesus and prayed with me through various

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rough patches in my life.

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I am so thankful for my praying mom.

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First Corinthians 4:20 tells us that the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

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My mom, Mary Nelson, has seen and experienced the power of God to transform her life, to

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protect her from harm, and to change situations.

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As an Air Force fighter pilot's wife, mother of four, grandmother of 18, and great-grandmother

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of six, Mary has learned to pray diligently and see victory in spiritual warfare.

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She models Proverbs 31 with her genuine love for others, her gift of hospitality, and her

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devotion to the Lord.

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Welcome mom.

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Hi Jodie.

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Thanks for this opportunity to share what God has done in my life.

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You didn't come to know the Lord until you were 30 years old.

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Before we get to that though, tell us a little about your younger years in South Dakota.

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Well, I was born in a small southeastern South Dakota prairie town that was surrounded by

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family farms.

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My dad was a dentist.

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My mother was an at-home mother, stay-at-home, and our paternal grandmother lived with us

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when I was growing up.

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We attended a small Protestant church, went to Sunday school when we were young, and my

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dad used to read the Bible to us in the evenings after dinner.

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He didn't do it all the time, but there was a period of time in my growing up years that

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he was doing that.

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One thing that I really enjoyed doing was visiting my maternal grandparents in Sioux

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Falls.

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We would go over there for weekends and visit, and I noticed that they always had their Bibles

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laying next to the chairs that they generally sat in when they were reading.

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It caught my attention.

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Another thing that caught my attention was my paternal grandmother would read the Bible

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in her room in our home, and when I passed her room going to bed at night, I would see

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her in the bedroom reading the Word of God.

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Those things were impressions that stayed with me.

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Another thing I really enjoyed about being in that little town with my family—we were

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a close family—the church that we went to had a cover dish dinner probably once a month,

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and it was a loving group of people with a great loving atmosphere.

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Although it was more social, I never did really hear much about having a personal relationship

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with Jesus.

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So, in your teenage years, you met a dashing and daring young man and got married when

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you were just 18 years old, and that started a life of adventure that's taken you literally

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around the world.

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What were those initial steps away from home?

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Well, after we got married, we moved to Brookings, South Dakota, where we both attended South

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Dakota State College.

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He had already gone to school there for a year.

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South Dakota State was a land-grant college, so it required the males to attend two years

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of ROTC.

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Dad liked ROTC and the thought of possibly flying an airplane, so he continued on with

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the last two years of ROTC.

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When he completed that and graduated from college, he was commissioned into the Air

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Force and got a slot in flight training school.

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After that, we moved to Texas.

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But actually, during that time, I completed two years of college, but also had the first

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two children in our family.

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So you were young, married, two kids, and moved away from home, far away from home.

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In fact, after college, you were in Texas for a short time for pilot training, and then

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on to Florida, where, incidentally, I was born.

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So now you had three young children and a husband who was, at the time, headed to Vietnam

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to fly fighter missions.

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That must have been a struggle.

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What did you go through?

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Vietnam was a terrible war.

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Well, it was.

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And actually, when we moved to Tampa, the squadron that Gary moved into was an active-duty

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fighter squadron that was heading for Vietnam.

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So prior to him leaving, we purchased a home.

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You children and I stayed in that home during the year that he was in Vietnam.

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This was really the first time I had been that far away from my parents and from that

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support system.

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Actually, after he left, during the night one night, I heard somebody try to break into

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our house.

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So we happened to have an Air Force pilot and his wife that lived right next door to

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us.

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So I called them and let them know that someone was trying to get into the house.

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And the pilot came over, checked things out.

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After that, days after that, he made sure that there were light, outdoor lights put

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around the perimeter of house just to keep things bright outside.

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Also, during that year, you three children had chickenpox at the same time.

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You all seemed to have colds, sore throats, and ear infections a lot.

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In fact, your ears ruptured at one time and you and Mark ended up having to have your

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tonsils taken out at the same time.

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So here we were all living in Florida, away from family, dad gone, and I had to go through

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this experience with you, which was a bit scary.

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Yeah, same time.

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I mean, you had friends.

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I mean, people in Dad's squadron that didn't make it through Vietnam.

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There were families that you knew that were receiving bad news.

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Yes.

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It just strike fear in the heart of a young mom.

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Yes, there were several pilots that were shot down and killed.

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And their wives and children were living in Tampa at that time.

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In fact, a friend of mine lost her husband because of an aircraft being shot down.

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So I helped her and that was difficult.

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And I actually developed hives during that time.

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I guess it was because I was just anxious and kept it inside.

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But one good thing that I did during that year, I started going to a church.

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And after the first time I visited this particular church, two women came out to visit me from

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that congregation and invited us to come back again and to attend their weekly church night

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supper, which we did do.

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And it was really peaceful, safe place for us to be during that time.

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I did not hear the gospel attending that church.

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They were very nice people, very loving and helpful people.

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But I was never confronted with or challenged to receive Jesus.

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I had believed that all roads lead to heaven and that all I had to do was be a good person.

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That's a prevalent belief out there.

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Thankfully, Dad survived Vietnam.

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Then he was assigned to a new base in England.

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So we moved across the pond and the support system that you had created in Florida was

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uprooted again.

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There were a lot of wonderful things about moving to England, but it was also challenging.

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You had to create a whole new system of friendship and share about that transition and how it

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started to affect the way you looked at life.

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Prior to actually even moving to Vietnam, when we were in Florida, when I was living,

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you know, we were living alone, I had started reading Women's Liberation Things.

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And that started percolating in my mind, in my thought process.

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Then we moved to England and the first experience we had in England, we lived in a very lovely

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seaside hotel that was in a fishing village, but it was also a kind of a resort community.

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So we, I love living there.

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We lived there for probably the first nine months of the time we were in England.

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Dad's assignment there was part one of the responsibilities.

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He had to sit alert, nuclear alert actually, at the base and he would be gone for three

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days and nights at a time.

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So there I was again, out in the country, basically with you children alone.

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And actually I was afraid.

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I had some fears.

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When we had an opportunity to move onto the base, we did do that.

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So we had a closer military family to surround us, but there was a lot of socializing that

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included drinking and I saw marriages starting to dissolve, families falling apart and the

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social atmosphere was very formal, something that I wasn't quite used to.

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Things were done very formally when we went to dinners.

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Dad had gotten us a set of china when he was in Southeast Asia.

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So we did have china for dinner parties, et cetera, et cetera, but I didn't have silver

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or crystal like many of the other people did.

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And of course, you know, there you are pressured by the culture to have such things.

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So one day I went to the base and saw that silver was on sale.

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So I ordered a complete set of sterling silver without him knowing it.

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When it came into the base exchange, I said, hey, there's an order at the base.

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Would you please go pick it up for me and pay for it?

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Which he did do to his shock.

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So there we were with a set of sterling silver that I hadn't even asked him if I could get.

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And I imagine it stretched the budget a little bit because you were still early in your career.

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It stretched the budget, but I think it stretched our relationship a bit too.

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Things were, they were difficult in England.

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I mean, you had three young children and a lot of pressures on life that you really weren't

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used to.

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And then one day the husband of a close friend that you developed over there was involved

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in an airplane accident.

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By God's grace, he survived.

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But that started a series of events that changed your life.

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Yes, actually, your dad was flying in a four ship one day that this particular man was

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flying in and they were flying and I happened to have to take one of your children to the

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hospital for slight injury.

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So I was sitting in the waiting room and happened to see our squadron commander and the flight

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surgeon very seriously walk past me toward the door.

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So I knew there'd been an accident, but I had no idea who or what had happened until

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later in the day and I found out our friend Chris had been doing a maneuver and his flight

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controls had jammed.

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So he had to eject supersonic.

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And when he did, both arms and both legs had many breaks.

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When he ejected, he actually had no control over his arms and legs.

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So cried out to God.

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He was not a Christian.

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Actually, he was quite a wild party boy, but he cried out to God for help.

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And he did live through this, but ended up in a complete body cast in a hospital in England.

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He had a cast from his neck down to his tippy toes.

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And he was in that cast for at least four months before being transferred to an orthopedic

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wing at MacGill Air Force Base in Tampa.

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But during this four months, his wife would, of course, go visit him and I would help take

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care of the children so that she could be free to go.

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So then they were transferred to Tampa and by God's divine grace, we were also transferred

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there.

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Dad, I actually remember that we thought we were moving to Arizona.

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As our home goods were pulling away down the driveway, Dad got new orders.

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He did.

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From Arizona to Tampa.

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So we ended up back in the same town as Chris and Laura Meno.

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And they had a profound impact in our lives.

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Yes, actually, Chris went into the hospital.

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The doctors took the cast off, the body cast off and discovered that none of those limbs

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had broke, had healed.

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None of the breaks had healed.

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So Chris started going through a series of surgeries to put rods into those limbs next

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to the bones to enable the healing process to start.

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And during that time, while he was in the hospital, a hospital chaplain came in and

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talked to him.

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Talked about airplanes, but he also talked to Chris about the Lord.

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And Chris received Jesus as his Savior, laying in a hospital bed, visiting with that chaplain

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and had a tremendous change in his life.

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During that time, his wife Laura had a separate experience with the Lord herself and had received

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Jesus as her Savior.

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So when Chris got out of the hospital and was able to get around, they started looking

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for a church and found a church.

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So they wanted to share their experience with us.

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On Sundays after they left church, they would go get a dozen donuts and come over to our

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house and visit with us and tell us about their wonderful experiences with the Lord.

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And I mean, I was just amazed at Chris because he has been such a hell raiser.

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And now he had a change of demeanor.

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He had peace in his life.

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He didn't swear.

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There was no foul language coming out of his mouth.

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And he talked about the love of God.

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And I thought, whatever he has, I need because I had anger within me.

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I had fear within me.

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I couldn't be good, although I was supposed to be a good person.

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I never felt I could live up to that.

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No, I just wanted what he had.

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But one day when they were going to church, they invited us to go along.

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Well, Dad happened to be working out at the base that day, actually for the weekend.

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So you children came along with me.

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We went to this particular church that was absolutely crowded.

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There was hardly a seat to be had.

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And I ended up in the middle of a very crowded pew with you children.

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Well, the pastor gave a very anointed message, and I happened to hear it this time.

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I'm sure that other messages had been given before, but I just didn't hear them.

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After he finished his sermon, he gave an altar call inviting people who wanted to receive

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Jesus as their personal savior to come to the altar.

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So I felt myself absolutely compelled to get up out of my seat and squeeze out of that

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tight row of people, went down to the altar, knelt down.

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I repented of my sin.

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I received Jesus as my personal savior.

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And I was absolutely flooded with peace.

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And within a short time of that, everyone in the immediate family put their faith in

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Christ and were given the gift of speaking in tongues and things started to change.

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So share some of the things God did in you once you made that commitment to follow him.

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Well, not long after I received Jesus as my savior, I really felt like I needed to write

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to my parents and my in-laws and ask them to forgive me for things I had said and done,

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attitudes I had, ways I treated them that were not very nice.

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And I sat down to write letters to each of them.

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And while I did it, my hands actually trembled.

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I don't know what it was, but I was so convicted of telling them what had happened to me and

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asking for forgiveness that I actually wrote those letters and mailed them.

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And then one of the wonderful things that happened is that I had this terrible problem

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with fear, or actually fear, but also anger.

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And I prayed about anger.

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It just could not get the victory over it.

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I would be so upset at times that everybody in the household knew it.

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I made sure of that.

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Anyway, one day I went out to visit a friend that was a mature woman in the Lord and I

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shared with her about my problem with anger.

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And she discerned that it was the spirit of anger and asked me if I wanted to pray with

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her.

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I said, yes.

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So she prayed with me, commanded that spirit of anger to leave me in the name of Jesus.

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And I felt something leave my chest.

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But I also sensed that that fear was gone and would not come back in Jesus' name.

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Anger.

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Anger.

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Yeah.

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It was gone.

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Then I realized that if anger was a spirit, fear could be a spirit as well, because I

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would be paralyzed with fear at night whenever your dad was gone and I would wake up hearing

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something, I would just, I would be paralyzed.

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I couldn't move, couldn't talk for a period of time.

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So I asked your dad if he would please pray with me about fear, which he did do.

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He commanded that spirit of fear to leave me in the name of Jesus.

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I didn't sense anything happen, but I just trusted that it had to leave in Jesus' name.

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Not long after that, he was gone again.

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I had been doing some landscaping and decided I would mulch around the flower beds around

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our house.

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So I purchased mulch in bags and brought them home and scattered it all around the foundation

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of our house.

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And anyway, that night during the night, after I had done this landscaping, I heard something

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in the kitchen.

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And I mean, when I heard that, I wasn't paralyzed.

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Fear wasn't bothering me.

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So I got up out of bed, went to the kitchen, flipped the light on, and to my shock, I saw

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cockroaches running all over the kitchen counter in and out of the stove.

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It was a shock.

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Anyway.

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Yeah, and Florida cockroaches are not small.

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They are big, big things.

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So I got a can of bug spray, fogged the kitchen, closed the doors, and went back to bed and

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went to sleep, but the next day I hired an exterminator to come every month.

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And then another thing that happened to me while your dad was out of the country, our

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kitchen drain plugged up.

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We had a garbage disposal in the drain, and so I didn't know what to do.

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I just called a friend of ours, a young man that did some plumbing.

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He came by and took the pipes off and showed me the sludge that had been built up inside

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the pipes.

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So we went outside together and he washed the pipes out, and then he came back in and

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put everything back together, and the faucet worked just as good as new.

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Well after he left, I started feeling really uncomfortable about what was inside of me,

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and the Lord was showing me that I had sludge or spiritual sin within me that needed to

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be cleaned out, and he convicted me of unforgiveness that I had been harboring, and he convicted

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me of gossiping about people.

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And those two things were things that I had to deal with.

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I repented and finally got the victory over both of them.

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I could walk in a way where I could forgive people, and I just kept my mouth zipped.

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I did not gossip.

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Yeah, that was a little bit of a process.

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I mean, you repented, but then you had to learn new patterns of life after that too,

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didn't you?

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Yes.

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There was something else that happened one day while your dad was still at home with

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us.

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He wanted to go to Patrick Air Force Base just for a getaway for the weekend, just so

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we could play on the beach and have fun together.

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Well, this particular day when we were at Patrick Air Force Base, he was out on the

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sandy beach with you children building sandcastles while I was laying on a blanket sunbathing

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and reading the Bible.

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And because I had been reading so much about women's liberation, I had developed this

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really bad attitude toward men, thought God was a woman hater.

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Anyway, as I was sitting there reading the Bible, I happened to read a scripture in 2

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Corinthians 11, 3, 8, and 9, and it reads, But I want you to know that the head of every

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man is Christ, the head of a woman is the man, and I didn't like that, and the head

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of Christ is man, or the head of Christ is God.

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Verse 8 and 9 read, For man is not from woman, but woman from man, nor was man created for

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the woman, but woman for man.

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And when I read that, anger and just actually fury rose up inside of me to think that I

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was made for man.

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So I threw the Bible down the beach, I got up off that blanket, stomped off down the

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beach and just was fuming toward God thinking he was a woman hater.

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And as I walked, I started cooling off and realizing that I was wrong.

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So I asked the Lord to forgive me and ask him to teach me how to understand his word.

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Yeah, and God isn't a woman hater at all.

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And over the years, the Lord showed you how much he values and loves and anoints and uses

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and prospers women.

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There's women throughout the Bible where God has worked in their lives, and he's worked

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in your life in so many ways.

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So that lie that the enemy had put in your mind, God freed you of it.

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He did.

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And I realized, Jody, that all the stuff that I had been reading about women's liberation,

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being all by myself during that time, I had just done this to myself.

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I had really caused these dumb attitudes to form in my mind that really were not true.

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So as you're growing in the Lord, you know, going to church and in fellowship, what are

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some of the things that you and dad did to foster growth, spiritual growth of the faith

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of our family?

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Well, one of the things that we really love doing was to have a family devotion together.

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And dad started reading the Bible and teaching us together.

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I remember that he did develop a graph when reading the Old Testament.

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Do you remember that, Jody?

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Yeah, there was a big chart and we went through the Kings and he had a timeline and put all

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the Kings up there, good or bad, and what happened to them.

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And it was, I remember that chart even today.

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And that was a long time ago.

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But it made an impression on me at a young age about, you know, how much wisdom there

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is in the Bible and how much there is to be learned from the Bible.

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That was wonderful.

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And then he saw the need for a family verse for us.

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And he, when he was reading Joshua, he accepted that challenge from Joshua 2415.

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And he stated that scripture and said, I do believe we should receive this as a family

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scripture and a family covenant.

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As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

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So Joshua 2415 is actually our family covenant.

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Another thing we did, we had heard about Tennessee Georgia Christian family camp.

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So we went to Tennessee Georgia Christian camp for several summers for a week at a time

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where we heard wonderful Bible teaching, experienced wonderful worship, prayed together, learned

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to pray.

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Some of the teachers were Pori Ken Boom, Derek Prince.

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There was just a host of people that proclaimed the word of the Lord.

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Another thing that we did, we read testimony books to you children at the dinner table

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at night.

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Maybe a chapter or two at a time.

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We read books like Run Baby Run, The Cross and the Switchblade, The Hiding Place, Anointed

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in, anointed in, appointment in Jerusalem.

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And we also had been learning scripture songs.

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So we used to sing scripture songs together.

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We even did that driving.

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I do.

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I remember we used to go drive from Florida up to South Dakota in the summers to visit

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our grandparents who were still there and that was three long days in a very hot car.

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But one of the highlights was we would go through scripture and we would sing all the

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scripture songs.

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As we came across the scripture, we would all sing it together in the car.

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It really did make the car ride go by much quicker.

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And we played games and one of the games we played was 20 questions.

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Bible 20 questions.

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Bible 20 questions.

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00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:36,000
We could never stump dad, but we always tried.

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Because we all went to our friends at Kent's who hosted a weekly prayer meeting for just

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whoever wanted to come.

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We would go to that together as a family, which was a great time of fellowship and worship.

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00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:49,880
Yeah, it was.

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00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:55,520
I remember being there and the children and the adults were together, worshiping the Lord

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together.

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And the Lord was moving on both the children and the adults.

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There was no separation by age at that time.

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And I remember seeing God move at a young age and it making a profound impact on me.

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And that's actually our desire was to include you children in everything we did in the Lord

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because we wanted you to have on your own relationship with the Lord.

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00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:27,640
So during that time, you also began to learn about spiritual warfare and Christ's power

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in us to defeat the works of Satan.

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What were a couple of those experiences?

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00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:36,520
Debbie and Mark started going to a Christian school when they were in middle school.

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00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:40,840
And one of the things they did was have Bible class and they were studying the Word of God

395
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and they studied about Old Testament and New Testament.

396
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One of the things they studied was about the occult and not to be involved in it.

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Well we had purchased a beautiful globe bar when we were in Europe.

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And one day the children were standing around the globe bar looking at it and noticed that

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00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:04,640
there was signs of the zodiac all over this bar.

400
00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:09,160
And they pointed it out to us and were aghast that we would have such a thing in our house.

401
00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:11,360
So we decided we'd better get rid of it.

402
00:27:11,360 --> 00:27:14,520
So we took all the liquor out, put it in the cupboard.

403
00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:18,000
At that time we still weren't convicted about drinking.

404
00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:24,000
But we got rid of that globe bar, put it out in the driveway and our neighbor happened

405
00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:28,520
to see it and she came over and asked what we were doing with it and said we were going

406
00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:29,520
to get rid of it.

407
00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:30,640
And she said, well, can I buy it?

408
00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:31,640
He said, oh no.

409
00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:35,160
She said, well, how about if I buy it and you could donate the money to your church?

410
00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:39,560
And he said, oh no, I would not sell a snake to a friend.

411
00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:46,600
So he put that globe bar in the back of the car and took it to the Kent's home where people

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00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:52,000
were gathering together their occultic things and we were going to have a bonfire like the

413
00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:55,280
book of Acts spoke about.

414
00:27:55,280 --> 00:28:02,320
I remember that bonfire and in addition to that globe, we also went through the house

415
00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:10,080
and anything that we felt convicted about, we pulled it off the shelf, books or albums

416
00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:12,080
or cassette tapes.

417
00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:17,300
And you pulled out the Halloween clothes and Halloween things to get rid of.

418
00:28:17,300 --> 00:28:19,000
No one told you about that one, Jody.

419
00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:20,840
You just did that on your own.

420
00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:21,840
Yeah.

421
00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:23,080
Convicted at six.

422
00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:29,560
Convicted that we didn't want anything to do with anything related to Satan, demonic

423
00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:31,800
forces and we got rid of it out of our house.

424
00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:34,600
And there was a change in the environment in our home after that.

425
00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:37,040
Yeah, there definitely was.

426
00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:39,560
There was a time that I hired a piano tuner.

427
00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:46,480
We had purchased an old upright German grand piano when we were in England, which children

428
00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:48,480
took piano lessons on.

429
00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:53,480
So when we moved back to Tampa after moving across the ocean and coming into a different

430
00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:56,560
climate that piano needed to be retuned.

431
00:28:56,560 --> 00:29:04,240
So I had asked dad if we could have it retuned and he didn't say anything in the time that

432
00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:06,600
I thought he should.

433
00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:10,120
So I just went ahead and hired someone on my own without even asking him.

434
00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:11,120
I just did it.

435
00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:16,360
Well, the man came out that I hired and as he was tuning the piano, he would visit with

436
00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:21,000
me and he would tell me about these seances that he was attending and some of the weird

437
00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:22,200
things that were going on.

438
00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:27,320
Although he thought they were wonderful, he told me a lot of occultic things and I would

439
00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:32,640
try and squeeze in little testimonies about the Lord, but he was more determined to talk

440
00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:34,200
about seances.

441
00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:39,520
So after that day of tuning, he said he'd like to come back in two weeks after your

442
00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:44,920
children had played the piano for a while and the keys were or the strings were stretched

443
00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:48,000
and he would readjust the tuning.

444
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:53,760
So in two weeks he came back and of course there was more stories about the seances and

445
00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:55,560
occultic experiences.

446
00:29:55,560 --> 00:30:00,400
Anyway, after that I paid him and he left.

447
00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:06,960
But that night, during the night, I developed a severe side ache which bothered me all night

448
00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:09,320
long and into the next day.

449
00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:14,440
So I called a friend and asked for prayer and her husband came out that afternoon.

450
00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:16,500
He was in ministry.

451
00:30:16,500 --> 00:30:20,700
He prayed for me and then he suggested that Dad pray through our house.

452
00:30:20,700 --> 00:30:26,320
So after he left and Dad came home, we had dinner and went on to bed.

453
00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:33,080
And during the night, that side ache started getting so bad, I woke up and encouraged him

454
00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:35,280
to take me to the emergency room.

455
00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:43,040
So as he was getting dressed to take me to the emergency room, a scripture reference

456
00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:46,560
came to my attention and I didn't know what it said.

457
00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:52,240
I just knew what the reference was and it was from Chronicles, I think it was 2 Chronicles

458
00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:54,500
16, 2.

459
00:30:54,500 --> 00:31:00,200
So I asked Dad if he would please read the Bible just to see what it said.

460
00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:06,880
So he stopped getting dressed and he read this scripture and the scripture said Asa,

461
00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:11,780
talking about King Asa, he became diseased in his feet.

462
00:31:11,780 --> 00:31:17,840
And his malady was severe, yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord but the physicians

463
00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:19,880
and he died.

464
00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:24,560
And after he read that I thought maybe we better not go to the hospital, maybe we just

465
00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:25,640
better pray.

466
00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:31,000
And then I remembered our friend suggesting that I have Gary walk around the house and

467
00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:32,000
pray.

468
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:34,600
So I mentioned it to him and he did.

469
00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:39,720
He walked around the house to pray and as he got into our living room near the piano,

470
00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:44,840
the hairs on his arms and legs stood up like static electricity.

471
00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:46,320
He could feel it.

472
00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:51,400
So anyway, he just prayed around the circle of our house, you know, walking around and

473
00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:59,080
every time he came past that piano through the living room, he could sense that sensation

474
00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:01,200
of static electricity.

475
00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:07,120
But as he prayed and commanded spiritual forces of wickedness to leave in the name of Jesus,

476
00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:10,240
it became less and less and less and finally it was gone.

477
00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:13,560
So he came back to bed, told me what happened and we both went to sleep.

478
00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:18,760
A couple hours later, I woke up and I just felt like the Lord let me know that I was

479
00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:21,580
healed and I was, it was gone.

480
00:32:21,580 --> 00:32:24,080
So I did have a spiritual lesson on that one.

481
00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:26,360
Yeah, and it's not that you're against going to the doctors.

482
00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:27,360
Not at all.

483
00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:31,880
You've all gone to the doctor, but you know, since then, but this was, you know, seeking

484
00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:33,960
the Lord and it was a spiritual issue.

485
00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:42,320
It was a spiritual attack on you that had been opened up by that piano tuner experience.

486
00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:48,640
Well, actually Jody, what the Lord showed me and reminded me that I had ordered that

487
00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:56,080
sterling silver in England without asking Dad and here I had hired a piano tuner without

488
00:32:56,080 --> 00:33:02,240
asking him, but I had been hearing that I should respect and honor my husband and, you

489
00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:08,560
know, learn submission, but I also heard that God healed.

490
00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:10,960
So we experienced that night spiritual warfare.

491
00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:16,940
I had opened myself up to that by doing something that I shouldn't have done by hiring that

492
00:33:16,940 --> 00:33:18,720
man to come and tune the piano.

493
00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:24,040
Yeah, not that you, not that hiring a piano tuner was wrong, but you were doing it out

494
00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:25,040
of defiance.

495
00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:26,040
Defiance, yeah.

496
00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:27,040
Yes.

497
00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:31,000
So I learned that and I also learned that God healed and loved me.

498
00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:32,000
Yeah.

499
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:33,360
He healed me.

500
00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:43,960
And that encounter with really laid a foundation of understanding of how to address spiritual

501
00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:52,000
forces that we needed a couple years later when we lived in Utah.

502
00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:53,000
That's right, Jody.

503
00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:59,400
We moved into a haunted house, actually purchased a haunted house unknowingly.

504
00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:05,640
We didn't realize it was haunted, but I experienced depression in that house.

505
00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:10,560
And sometimes during the day when everyone else was gone, I just felt like crying.

506
00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:12,400
It was not like me.

507
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:17,260
And then Debbie was experiencing insomnia.

508
00:34:17,260 --> 00:34:23,640
She was on the swim team in high school and needed her sleep, but she couldn't sleep well.

509
00:34:23,640 --> 00:34:29,900
So it was a real strain for her to participate on the swim team without sleeping.

510
00:34:29,900 --> 00:34:36,160
And then one night, Mark, whose basement was down in the lower part of the house in the

511
00:34:36,160 --> 00:34:38,320
basement, came upstairs to the bathroom.

512
00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:44,200
And when he was going back down the steps, he just fenced that if he went down those

513
00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:45,860
steps he'd go crazy.

514
00:34:45,860 --> 00:34:46,860
And Mark wasn't like that.

515
00:34:46,860 --> 00:34:48,780
He was a very stable, sharp guy.

516
00:34:48,780 --> 00:34:52,580
So he came upstairs to our bedroom and explained to us what was happening.

517
00:34:52,580 --> 00:34:56,580
We just told him to go sleep in one of the other single beds upstairs and we'd pray

518
00:34:56,580 --> 00:34:57,580
about it.

519
00:34:57,580 --> 00:34:58,800
Well, we did pray about it.

520
00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:04,240
And while we were praying, this was Dad and I, while we were praying, we had a mini vision

521
00:35:04,240 --> 00:35:08,280
of imps with coal sacks on their backs.

522
00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:11,520
We felt like maybe the next day we should just pray through our house, which we did

523
00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:12,520
do.

524
00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:19,680
All five of us prayed through our house, starting down in the basement right next to the furnace,

525
00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:24,360
which had been a coal furnace at one time and converted to a gas furnace.

526
00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:27,200
Yeah, we actually had a coal room back in there.

527
00:35:27,200 --> 00:35:28,200
And we did.

528
00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:29,880
It was a storage room.

529
00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:34,440
So we actually started praying in that storage room and commanded those spiritual forces

530
00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:41,280
of wickedness and named them, named them according to what we felt like they were, commanded

531
00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:46,800
them to leave in the name of Jesus, walk through every room of the house doing the same thing.

532
00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:53,320
And we anointed the doors with oil and went to the ends of our property, each corner of

533
00:35:53,320 --> 00:35:58,160
the property, anointed it with oil and prayed scripture over each, each one, dedicating

534
00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:00,700
our property and home to the Lord.

535
00:36:00,700 --> 00:36:02,120
And peace returned.

536
00:36:02,120 --> 00:36:03,120
It did.

537
00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:04,120
I remember that.

538
00:36:04,120 --> 00:36:05,120
I remember doing that.

539
00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:10,680
And actually I have followed that in every home I've lived in since, since I moved out,

540
00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:13,520
my dorm rooms, my hotel rooms, everywhere.

541
00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:18,080
You know, the Lord says that where the soles of your feet trod, He has given to us.

542
00:36:18,080 --> 00:36:20,760
And so I take authority of my home.

543
00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:25,240
You know, when I move into a new home or apartment, I pray through it and anoint the doors with

544
00:36:25,240 --> 00:36:35,520
oil and hotel rooms so that any lingering spirits that are not of God have to leave

545
00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:37,680
and I can live in peace.

546
00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:39,880
We actually do the same thing, Jodi.

547
00:36:39,880 --> 00:36:43,840
That was a learning experience that we've continued to this day.

548
00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:44,840
Yeah.

549
00:36:44,840 --> 00:36:50,480
Actually, when we travel as well, every place we sleep, we claim that place for the Lord.

550
00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:51,480
Yeah.

551
00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:57,080
So the Lord was also teaching you about personal prayer and corporate prayer and you've seen

552
00:36:57,080 --> 00:36:58,320
Him direct your steps.

553
00:36:58,320 --> 00:37:03,680
Tell us a little bit about some of the things you've prayed for and seen God answer some

554
00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:05,360
of the answers to prayer.

555
00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:09,120
One of the things that happened when David was little, we had moved to Hampton, Virginia.

556
00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:14,360
We were renting a home in a cul-de-sac that had about six or seven children his age, six

557
00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:16,960
of them being boys his age.

558
00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:26,280
He happened to have a birthday in the late summer after we moved there and we invited

559
00:37:26,280 --> 00:37:28,640
all these children to the party.

560
00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:33,480
At that time, the big thing to play with was Masters of the Universe toys.

561
00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:40,440
So David had gotten Masters of the Universe figurines from these little children as birthday

562
00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:42,680
gifts when they came to his party.

563
00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:45,680
That night after the party, we had all gone to bed.

564
00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:51,000
David was awakened with fear and he came into our bedroom shaking.

565
00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:52,000
He was afraid.

566
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:53,420
So we didn't know what was going on.

567
00:37:53,420 --> 00:37:58,680
So we got up and went downstairs and went into the kitchen, had him sit on the counter

568
00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:01,120
and drink some warm milk and we prayed with him.

569
00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:09,160
And while we were praying, it came to us that he had taken all these Masters of the Universe

570
00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:16,880
little figures up into his room and that it was some kind of a spiritual presence that

571
00:38:16,880 --> 00:38:20,280
was bothering him that came along with those things.

572
00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:24,080
So we went upstairs, got them, took them out and put them in the garbage.

573
00:38:24,080 --> 00:38:27,760
And we prayed with David and then a Skripper reference came to me.

574
00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:29,640
I didn't know what it was, so I looked it up.

575
00:38:29,640 --> 00:38:36,480
It was Psalm 4-8 and the scripture read, I will lie down in peace and sleep for God

576
00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:38,740
the Lord provides safety.

577
00:38:38,740 --> 00:38:45,000
We had David memorize that scripture afterwards or during the days after that and would pray

578
00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:50,600
that scripture with him and then tuck him into bed at night and he got the victory over

579
00:38:50,600 --> 00:38:52,280
that fear.

580
00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:54,680
But the other children actually came back.

581
00:38:54,680 --> 00:38:59,280
The children in our neighborhood came back the day after the birthday party to play with

582
00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:03,200
David's Masters of the Universe figures and I told them that I had to throw them in the

583
00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:06,240
garbage and they couldn't quite understand that.

584
00:39:06,240 --> 00:39:12,720
I did invite a teenager to our home that led a Bible class, summer Bible class.

585
00:39:12,720 --> 00:39:18,760
So I invited these children to our home for a week of summer Bible.

586
00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:21,720
Actually, it was called the Good News Club.

587
00:39:21,720 --> 00:39:26,200
We had a week of Good News Club at our house and this teenager was just great with children

588
00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:30,600
and at the end of the week invited anyone who wanted to receive Jesus as their savior

589
00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:34,760
to do so and prayed with them and each one of those children received Christ.

590
00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:41,640
So that incident with the Masters, the toys turned about to be a really evangelistic tool

591
00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:44,200
in the end that brought those children to the Lord.

592
00:39:44,200 --> 00:39:49,280
Yeah and some of the prayers, I mean I know boy you prayed me through some rough patches

593
00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:52,800
in my life but you also saw some other answers to prayer.

594
00:39:52,800 --> 00:39:54,360
What were those?

595
00:39:54,360 --> 00:40:02,120
Well the Lord showed me actually my authority in prayer when I was reading the story about

596
00:40:02,120 --> 00:40:09,040
the centurion who had come to Jesus requesting prayer for his servant and he acknowledged

597
00:40:09,040 --> 00:40:16,600
to Jesus that he was a man under authority and that when he told those under him to go,

598
00:40:16,600 --> 00:40:19,040
they would go and when to come they would come.

599
00:40:19,040 --> 00:40:27,080
So he knew that Jesus had authority as well over situations so he asked Jesus to heal

600
00:40:27,080 --> 00:40:29,360
a servant and Jesus did.

601
00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:35,400
He healed him and through that scripture I realized that if I stayed under authority,

602
00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:40,680
those that were in authority over me and in good relationship with people, I had authority

603
00:40:40,680 --> 00:40:43,300
in prayer in the name of Jesus.

604
00:40:43,300 --> 00:40:50,360
So it was amazing how the scripture is a teacher to us if we'll read the word and put it into

605
00:40:50,360 --> 00:40:57,160
practice and apply it in our own lives, there's growth and there's authority in prayer.

606
00:40:57,160 --> 00:41:04,080
I remember singing a scripture about all the promises, you know the promises of God.

607
00:41:04,080 --> 00:41:09,920
I remember singing a hymn about that in earlier years and actually that really took root in

608
00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:15,880
my life because I started praying the promises of God which are scripture references or scriptures.

609
00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:16,880
Yeah.

610
00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:20,640
There was a health crisis in our family at one point.

611
00:41:20,640 --> 00:41:25,920
Debbie, my older sister's third child, had a health crisis when she was born and I know

612
00:41:25,920 --> 00:41:28,960
the Lord really showed you some things in prayer through that.

613
00:41:28,960 --> 00:41:29,960
Share that story.

614
00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:36,240
Yes, actually Debbie called us during the night after Cecilie had been born and they

615
00:41:36,240 --> 00:41:41,520
needed to take this little tot to a hospital in Denver, transfer her to Denver.

616
00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:45,120
So they asked if I would come out and stay with their two younger children while they

617
00:41:45,120 --> 00:41:47,160
went to the hospital.

618
00:41:47,160 --> 00:41:53,240
So I flew the next day to Colorado and while I was in the airplane, I was reading the Bible

619
00:41:53,240 --> 00:41:59,720
and a scripture just came across to my path as I was reading and it just seemed to highlight

620
00:41:59,720 --> 00:42:00,720
it.

621
00:42:00,720 --> 00:42:07,160
It was Psalm 68:20 and it said, Our God is a God of salvation and to God the Lord belongs

622
00:42:07,160 --> 00:42:09,400
escapes from death.

623
00:42:09,400 --> 00:42:14,080
So I sensed that there was going to be an escape for Cecilie from death.

624
00:42:14,080 --> 00:42:19,000
Well anyway, I agreed with that scripture and prayed about it in the airplane.

625
00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:24,320
Well then when I got to Colorado, Debbie and Jeff, you know, were up in the, had to go

626
00:42:24,320 --> 00:42:27,840
to the hospital and stay there and I stayed with their two younger children, Natalie and

627
00:42:27,840 --> 00:42:34,960
Nicole, who at that time were two and four and they used to listen to Mr. Donut Man videos

628
00:42:34,960 --> 00:42:38,760
and different fun things for children to hear and see.

629
00:42:38,760 --> 00:42:46,480
One night during the night while I was there, I woke up with a song from the Donut Man video

630
00:42:46,480 --> 00:42:51,000
running through my head and the song was, God is a master builder.

631
00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:52,160
He is building me.

632
00:42:52,160 --> 00:42:57,640
He builds with stuff that comes from heaven with tools you cannot see.

633
00:42:57,640 --> 00:43:01,640
And it was, the song was children's voices singing this.

634
00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:06,480
This is what I heard in my ear, in my inner ear.

635
00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:12,600
And I just had the confidence that God was doing a work of healing in Cecily that nobody

636
00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:13,600
could see.

637
00:43:13,600 --> 00:43:19,560
But God was doing a supernatural work and to this day, that young woman is now married,

638
00:43:19,560 --> 00:43:26,000
is in her early twenties, has a husband and a little baby of her own and she's perfectly

639
00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:28,800
healthy, perfectly fine and living a full life.

640
00:43:28,800 --> 00:43:30,880
Yeah, what an answer to prayer.

641
00:43:30,880 --> 00:43:38,400
And boy, I know that you sure prayed for spouses for all of us, all of your children, which

642
00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:44,440
I am the beneficiary of, a godly spouse, not just any spouse, but those are interesting

643
00:43:44,440 --> 00:43:45,720
stories each one.

644
00:43:45,720 --> 00:43:47,040
Share just a little of those.

645
00:43:47,040 --> 00:43:48,040
I did.

646
00:43:48,040 --> 00:43:52,640
I shared, I prayed scripture promises for each one of you.

647
00:43:52,640 --> 00:43:58,520
And Debbie actually went on a mission trip, short-term mission trip at one point in her

648
00:43:58,520 --> 00:44:05,160
late twenties, still a single girl, but went on this trip and just happened to be assigned

649
00:44:05,160 --> 00:44:11,640
to the same team as a young man that she ended up falling in love with.

650
00:44:11,640 --> 00:44:16,040
And he had come from the United States as well to join this team.

651
00:44:16,040 --> 00:44:19,640
They ended up getting married and moving to Colorado.

652
00:44:19,640 --> 00:44:23,200
And this is Cecilie's mom and dad.

653
00:44:23,200 --> 00:44:31,600
Then Mark, Mark was actually a CPA and he just had a desire to go on to get a degree

654
00:44:31,600 --> 00:44:33,120
at Regent University.

655
00:44:33,120 --> 00:44:35,840
He wanted a master of divinity degree.

656
00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:39,880
So he went up to Regent University to go to school and it just happened that there was

657
00:44:39,880 --> 00:44:45,240
a lovely young woman going to school there, getting a master's in education.

658
00:44:45,240 --> 00:44:47,040
He was my best friend at the time.

659
00:44:47,040 --> 00:44:48,040
That's right.

660
00:44:48,040 --> 00:44:49,680
I was his best friend at the time, I think.

661
00:44:49,680 --> 00:44:51,880
They ended up getting married.

662
00:44:51,880 --> 00:44:56,800
And then you and Ron actually met in New York City.

663
00:44:56,800 --> 00:44:57,920
Yes, we did.

664
00:44:57,920 --> 00:45:03,600
He had a job interview that you were privy to with your boss.

665
00:45:03,600 --> 00:45:10,240
And I had actually prayed for a husband for you that you would meet while you were traveling

666
00:45:10,240 --> 00:45:11,840
because you traveled so much.

667
00:45:11,840 --> 00:45:17,720
You were part of a organization that did a lot of disaster relief.

668
00:45:17,720 --> 00:45:22,560
Sure enough, here was this man that you met on the job.

669
00:45:22,560 --> 00:45:27,880
They ended up being hired and had an office right across the hall from you, I think.

670
00:45:27,880 --> 00:45:28,880
Yes, yes.

671
00:45:28,880 --> 00:45:33,440
We got to know one another that way and the Lord ended up—

672
00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:34,440
You got married.

673
00:45:34,440 --> 00:45:36,040
Yeah, we ended up getting married.

674
00:45:36,040 --> 00:45:41,840
And then our younger son, David, went to West Point and he happened to, through various

675
00:45:41,840 --> 00:45:46,240
means, meet the daughter of one of the instructors at West Point.

676
00:45:46,240 --> 00:45:52,400
And after David graduated, he and this young woman got married, actually, the week after

677
00:45:52,400 --> 00:45:53,400
graduation.

678
00:45:53,400 --> 00:45:54,400
Yeah.

679
00:45:54,400 --> 00:45:57,800
And it is wonderful because all of—

680
00:45:57,800 --> 00:45:59,600
You're all married to believers.

681
00:45:59,600 --> 00:46:00,840
We're all married to believers.

682
00:46:00,840 --> 00:46:07,440
So it is wonderful that the Lord answers those prayers when we pray in faith and we're

683
00:46:07,440 --> 00:46:10,120
in alignment with His will.

684
00:46:10,120 --> 00:46:14,960
And praying for godly spouses for your children is definitely in line with His will.

685
00:46:14,960 --> 00:46:20,560
Mom, you mentioned that throughout your life, the Bible has been an important part of your

686
00:46:20,560 --> 00:46:21,560
life.

687
00:46:21,560 --> 00:46:25,160
And whenever you happen to be stationed anywhere, you always found a Bible study to be a part

688
00:46:25,160 --> 00:46:26,160
of.

689
00:46:26,160 --> 00:46:28,800
How significant has that been in your walk with the Lord?

690
00:46:28,800 --> 00:46:31,280
Well, it was actually very important, Jody.

691
00:46:31,280 --> 00:46:36,800
I had such a hunger for the Word after I was originally saved that I sought out a Bible

692
00:46:36,800 --> 00:46:43,720
study and I had joined a Bible study fellowship in Tampa.

693
00:46:43,720 --> 00:46:49,080
So I did that the whole time we were in Tampa, as well as attending church.

694
00:46:49,080 --> 00:46:50,880
This was after I became a believer.

695
00:46:50,880 --> 00:46:54,720
And then when we moved to Utah, I found a Bible study there called Explorer's Bible

696
00:46:54,720 --> 00:46:59,280
study that was designed the same way, the same format, more or less, as Bible study

697
00:46:59,280 --> 00:47:01,900
fellowship where you just study the Word of God.

698
00:47:01,900 --> 00:47:02,900
You don't do politics.

699
00:47:02,900 --> 00:47:04,480
You don't talk churches.

700
00:47:04,480 --> 00:47:05,880
You don't do commentaries.

701
00:47:05,880 --> 00:47:12,160
You study the Word, share the Word, and have a teaching leader teach the scripture that

702
00:47:12,160 --> 00:47:14,760
you had just been studying over the week.

703
00:47:14,760 --> 00:47:20,680
Then when we moved to Hampton, Virginia, I got into community Bible study, which was

704
00:47:20,680 --> 00:47:23,720
located in Norfolk, which is a sister city.

705
00:47:23,720 --> 00:47:25,520
So I attended that.

706
00:47:25,520 --> 00:47:30,720
When we were in Boston, I wasn't part of a Bible study, but I used to listen to Derek

707
00:47:30,720 --> 00:47:34,960
Prince teaching tapes and other teachers on tapes.

708
00:47:34,960 --> 00:47:44,720
So I grew in the Lord because I sought out good, sound Bible teachers to listen to so

709
00:47:44,720 --> 00:47:49,000
that I could learn how to apply the Word of God to my own life.

710
00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:50,000
Yeah.

711
00:47:50,000 --> 00:47:55,000
And as you look back at those early decades with the Lord, what are some of the key truths

712
00:47:55,000 --> 00:48:00,240
that helped you through all the transitions and change that come with military life?

713
00:48:00,240 --> 00:48:07,080
Well, one of the things was, you know, in studying the Word of God, I could see that

714
00:48:07,080 --> 00:48:10,320
I could call upon the Lord and He answered.

715
00:48:10,320 --> 00:48:14,960
I had great trust in the Lord developed through those years.

716
00:48:14,960 --> 00:48:17,200
I prayed and prayers were answered.

717
00:48:17,200 --> 00:48:23,280
I just can't say enough about God's Word, knowing God's Word, applying God's Word,

718
00:48:23,280 --> 00:48:26,920
and praying because God is a faithful God.

719
00:48:26,920 --> 00:48:32,440
And I always appreciated that you and Dad would talk about the issues that you were

720
00:48:32,440 --> 00:48:36,440
facing and how you prayed and how God answered.

721
00:48:36,440 --> 00:48:42,520
And you know, that's another principle in the Word that says, thank the Lord for what

722
00:48:42,520 --> 00:48:43,520
He's done for you.

723
00:48:43,520 --> 00:48:44,520
Yes.

724
00:48:44,520 --> 00:48:50,080
And when you tell others about what God's done, that's showing appreciation and thankfulness

725
00:48:50,080 --> 00:48:52,800
for what He's done because you're declaring His goodness and His faithfulness.

726
00:48:52,800 --> 00:48:57,320
Well, there's a whole lot more to your story, which we're going to save for our next episode.

727
00:48:57,320 --> 00:49:02,000
But as we end this one, share about a woman in the Bible who's inspired, encouraged,

728
00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:03,120
or taught you something.

729
00:49:03,120 --> 00:49:08,200
There was a woman in the Bible that I enjoyed reading about and appreciated learning from,

730
00:49:08,200 --> 00:49:11,120
but she wasn't even given a name in the Bible.

731
00:49:11,120 --> 00:49:16,360
Her name was, or she was referred to as Manoah's wife.

732
00:49:16,360 --> 00:49:22,720
And she had an encounter with an angel of the Lord that had come to her and acknowledged

733
00:49:22,720 --> 00:49:29,040
to her that she was barren and that she was going to have a son, and also warned her at

734
00:49:29,040 --> 00:49:34,280
that time not to drink wine nor eat anything unclean.

735
00:49:34,280 --> 00:49:38,680
So after that happened, she scurried to find her husband and tell him that she had seen

736
00:49:38,680 --> 00:49:40,220
this man of God.

737
00:49:40,220 --> 00:49:44,840
So her husband prayed about it and said, you know, man of God, if there is a man of God

738
00:49:44,840 --> 00:49:47,920
that came to my wife, let her come again, Lord.

739
00:49:47,920 --> 00:49:54,800
So sure enough, Manoah's wife was in a field and the angel of the Lord visited her again.

740
00:49:54,800 --> 00:49:58,400
And she asked the angel of the Lord if he would please stay right there so she could

741
00:49:58,400 --> 00:50:00,820
go get her husband, which she did do.

742
00:50:00,820 --> 00:50:07,640
So she and Manoah went to see the man, the angel of the Lord, and asked the angel of

743
00:50:07,640 --> 00:50:12,800
the Lord how they were supposed to take care of the son that they were supposed to have.

744
00:50:12,800 --> 00:50:20,160
And could they please offer an offering, a burnt offering?

745
00:50:20,160 --> 00:50:25,500
And the angel of the Lord acknowledged that they could but would not eat anything.

746
00:50:25,500 --> 00:50:32,000
So as they offered up this burnt offering, the angel of the Lord just went on up into

747
00:50:32,000 --> 00:50:33,800
heaven, I believe.

748
00:50:33,800 --> 00:50:40,260
So I learned from that the importance of praying together with my husband, ask him about revelations

749
00:50:40,260 --> 00:50:44,000
that I had received or questions that I needed to know.

750
00:50:44,000 --> 00:50:49,480
I just learned that it was very important to be on the same page with my husband, trusting

751
00:50:49,480 --> 00:50:51,360
in the Lord together.

752
00:50:51,360 --> 00:50:57,280
We learned to relate to one another in the Lord in a deeper way than we'd ever done before

753
00:50:57,280 --> 00:51:03,320
once I had the right attitude and had a heart for the Lord.

754
00:51:03,320 --> 00:51:10,680
Romans 8: 31- 32 & 37 in the New Living Translation says, What shall we say about

755
00:51:10,680 --> 00:51:12,560
such wonderful things as these?

756
00:51:12,560 --> 00:51:16,280
If God is for us, who could ever be against us?

757
00:51:16,280 --> 00:51:21,540
Since he did not spare even his own son but gave him up for us all, won't he also give

758
00:51:21,540 --> 00:51:24,160
us everything else?

759
00:51:24,160 --> 00:51:28,660
Overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

760
00:51:28,660 --> 00:51:34,600
As a child of the Most High God who loves you with a greater love than you can comprehend,

761
00:51:34,600 --> 00:51:36,360
God is for you.

762
00:51:36,360 --> 00:51:40,600
Over and over again in Mary's story, you heard how God is for her and how he gave her

763
00:51:40,600 --> 00:51:43,080
what she needed at just the right time.

764
00:51:43,080 --> 00:51:47,760
He does the same for all those who look to him and call on his name and he will do the

765
00:51:47,760 --> 00:51:49,400
same for you.

766
00:51:49,400 --> 00:51:52,600
Mom, would you take a moment and pray for everyone who's listening?

767
00:51:52,600 --> 00:51:57,600
Heavenly Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus, the name above every name.

768
00:51:57,600 --> 00:52:00,640
Father, I pray for those that are listening today.

769
00:52:00,640 --> 00:52:07,840
Lord, I pray that all the worries, the cares, the anxieties that any of them might be carrying

770
00:52:07,840 --> 00:52:09,280
right now and feeling.

771
00:52:09,280 --> 00:52:13,880
Lord, I pray that they'd be able to roll these things onto your shoulders and just give them

772
00:52:13,880 --> 00:52:14,880
to you.

773
00:52:14,880 --> 00:52:20,960
So Father, I just thank you that we can roll our cares upon you because you care for us.

774
00:52:20,960 --> 00:52:26,800
Father, I thank you that we cry out to you and come to you in faith in the name of Jesus

775
00:52:26,800 --> 00:52:29,680
that you do hear and that you do answer prayer.

776
00:52:29,680 --> 00:52:32,880
Lord, I thank you that your mercies are new every morning.

777
00:52:32,880 --> 00:52:38,840
And Father, I pray that your great mercy will cover each person that is listening today,

778
00:52:38,840 --> 00:52:43,160
that they would be comforted by you, that they would be encouraged by you, that they

779
00:52:43,160 --> 00:52:44,960
would be cared for you by you.

780
00:52:44,960 --> 00:52:50,240
And Lord, I pray that you would meet them right at the point of their need even today,

781
00:52:50,240 --> 00:52:52,000
in Jesus' mighty name.

782
00:52:52,000 --> 00:52:53,000
Amen.

783
00:52:53,000 --> 00:52:57,560
Our next episode will be a continuation of Mary's story and you won't want to miss how

784
00:52:57,560 --> 00:53:02,720
God has invited her to be a part of what He's doing in places like Mongolia and right here

785
00:53:02,720 --> 00:53:03,720
in the U.S. too.

786
00:53:03,720 --> 00:53:08,080
You know, friends, there are widows and orphans all over the world who need to experience

787
00:53:08,080 --> 00:53:11,500
the tangible expression of God's love right now.

788
00:53:11,500 --> 00:53:15,300
Many have special needs that we as a company of women can meet together.

789
00:53:15,300 --> 00:53:17,920
Would you consider joining us with a special gift to help?

790
00:53:17,920 --> 00:53:22,920
Just go to hergodstory.org and click on the Orphan and Widow tab at the top of the page.

791
00:53:22,920 --> 00:53:24,620
And thank you for tuning in.

792
00:53:24,620 --> 00:53:29,260
Check out our show notes at hergodstory.org to find scriptures and other information we

793
00:53:29,260 --> 00:53:30,260
talked about.

794
00:53:30,260 --> 00:53:34,600
And don't forget to sign up for our emails and get a six-week devotional book that you

795
00:53:34,600 --> 00:53:37,400
can download for free on Women of the Bible.

796
00:53:37,400 --> 00:53:42,560
Or you may want to purchase a 12-week devotional on Women of the Bible for just $12, knowing

797
00:53:42,560 --> 00:53:46,200
that all the proceeds will go to our Widow and Orphan Fund.

798
00:53:46,200 --> 00:53:52,680
We love to pray with you on our 24-7 prayer line, so give us a call anytime at 855-459-CARE

799
00:53:52,680 --> 00:53:56,840
or email us at prayer@somebodycares.org.

800
00:53:56,840 --> 00:54:02,360
And now, dear friends, I bless you from Ephesians 1:17-21.

801
00:54:02,360 --> 00:54:07,760
May God, our glorious Father, give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you

802
00:54:07,760 --> 00:54:09,440
may know Him better.

803
00:54:09,440 --> 00:54:13,980
May the eyes of your heart be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which

804
00:54:13,980 --> 00:54:20,080
He's called you, the riches of His inglorious inheritance in His holy people and His incomparably

805
00:54:20,080 --> 00:54:22,560
great power for us who believe.

806
00:54:22,560 --> 00:54:26,460
That power is the same as the mighty strength He exerted when He raised Christ from the

807
00:54:26,460 --> 00:54:33,280
dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realm, far above all rule and authority,

808
00:54:33,280 --> 00:54:37,960
power and dominion, in every name that is invoked, not only in this present age but

809
00:54:37,960 --> 00:54:39,960
also in the one to come.

810
00:54:39,960 --> 00:54:43,120
May you know that power.

811
00:54:43,120 --> 00:54:47,140
Her God Story is a ministry of Somebody Cares America and international.

812
00:54:47,140 --> 00:54:52,960
To find out more about or support the ministry, go to somebodycares.org.