You Can Trust God, Lura Mineau’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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And I have an incredible story for you today.

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

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and traveler on this journey of faith.

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Hey, if you can take a moment to like or follow this podcast on your favorite streaming platform,

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you won't miss a single of my amazing guests.

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You know, Moses was a man who knew God.

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He talked face to face with God as one does with a friend.

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And God tells and shows Moses a lot about who he is and his character.

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In Exodus 34:6 -7a in the NIV, God passed in front of Moses proclaiming,

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the Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in

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love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion

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and sin.

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Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished.

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It was important for Moses to know God's character so he could fully trust and follow God.

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I mean, God had big things for Moses.

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He needed to know he could trust in God.

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And you know, it's the same for us today.

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My guest, Lura Mineau, has been diligent to discover the character of God and learn his

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ways so she can walk with him and trust him as a friend.

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Lura and her family are lifelong friends of mine.

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And shortly after they came to Christ, they were instrumental in my family receiving Jesus

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and walking in the fullness of the Spirit.

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As an Air Force wife and mother of four, it would have been easy to let doubt and fear

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dominate her life.

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But she knows God is trustworthy.

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And that made all the difference.

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Welcome, Lura.

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Thank you, Jodie.

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It's nice to be with you.

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So Lura, you grew up in Massachusetts in a traditional family setting.

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Share briefly about your background and some of the things your parents instilled in you

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at a young age.

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Yes.

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Well, I grew up in a small town north of Boston.

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And back then in ancient history, in the 50s, we had horses, we had a very large vegetable

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garden.

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So as you can imagine, my older sister Joyce and I had a lot of chores.

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So our parents instilled a good work ethic in us.

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But also, we were expected to be polite.

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We were expected to respect and honor our elders.

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And we were to care for the poor.

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We learned how to share.

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And really good life lessons that really have served both my sister and myself up into our

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late 70s and my sister, her early 80s.

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So I'm grateful for my parents.

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They were kind.

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They were generous.

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They were loving.

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They were strict.

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And they were very involved in the community.

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But faith and church did not play a significant role in our lives.

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We grew up in a liturgical setting.

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But my father never went to church with us because as a young 12-year-old, he had had

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enough of a very strict church that his family attended.

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And so really, he kind of put God to the side for the rest of his life.

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But he did live a moral life for which I'm very grateful.

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And during college, you met a very dashing and very daring young man who you eventually

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married.

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And he joined the Air Force and became a fighter pilot, which took you initially from Massachusetts

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to Arizona, where he had pilot training, and then to many other destinations, as all military

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families do.

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And military life, that was a huge, huge change for you.

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How did you adjust to that?

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And how did you manage all the responsibilities that come with military life, especially when

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you started having children?

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That's right.

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Military life is very different.

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But interestingly enough, my father enlisted in the Navy as a CB during World War II.

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And he didn't meet me until I was two years old.

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So grew up in a very patriotic family, but also my dad adored my husband, Chris.

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And he gave wise counsel as we were getting married that, you know, you're going to be

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a military wife.

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And with that comes a lot of responsibility.

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And you need to be supportive and realize that your life is going to look very different

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than it did growing up in a small New England town.

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Also, my mother had had polio as a young girl.

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And so she had learned to be very strong and I would say a gracious survivor.

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And so she really modeled being a strong woman and a faithful wife and mother.

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So I thought I was well prepared.

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And actually it was a learning curve the whole time I was in the military.

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And I do want to say, if there are any military wives listening, we really do encourage you

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and know that God is with you and faithfully will see you through every situation you find

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yourself in.

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I have a great admiration for military families, especially in this day and age.

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I think it's even harder to move around with young children.

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But I can say that God is always preparing us.

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We don't realize it.

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And He's always with us.

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So we don't have to fear whatever.

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I became a military wife, but others God is calling to a different, perhaps a different

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life.

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But God is the same and will never leave us, never forsake us.

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During that era, the Vietnam War was raging kind of early on in your marriage.

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And once Chris was done with pilot training, he was sent over and actually flew 100 combat

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missions there.

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Many, many men didn't make it back or they made it back years later.

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They were shot down in Prisoners of War.

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But after Chris got back, you all moved to England where he was stationed.

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And that probably felt like a huge relief to you.

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I mean, he made it home.

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You were together again as a family.

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Life was pretty good as you settled into your house and you made friends.

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And at this time you were raising two children.

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But suddenly things changed.

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What happened?

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Yes.

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Well, let me just back up a little bit, Jody, because I didn't have a personal relationship

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with Jesus, but I did pray.

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And my prayer every night was, will you please protect my husband when he was flying over

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North Vietnam and bring him home safely.

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And I'll never, ever, ever argue with him again.

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That was always my prayer.

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And of course, I think I picked Chris up at the airport and I don't know.

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At some point within two hours we had a little argument of some sort.

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And I look back on that and I'm glad that I didn't have to be an expert in praying.

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God was still hearing my prayers.

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But yes, we did end up going to England.

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And that's when I first met your mother.

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I had been in England less than 24 hours when I was strongly advised to come to a women's

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coffee.

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And our sponsor picked me up and then she promptly went off and started talking with

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another group of ladies.

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And I was standing there kind of frozen and like, oh, what am I doing here?

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I know nobody.

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And this precious woman named Mary Nelson walked up and introduced herself and invited

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me to come sit with her.

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And you know, Jody, little did we know how important that friendship would be later and

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how many lives have been affected by the relationship that Chris and I developed with your parents.

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Then suddenly one day Chris was out flying a routine maneuver and the they call it the

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joystick froze and Chris no longer had control over his airplane and he was going straight

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down.

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And eyewitnesses saw his canopy come out right under the cloud covering, which was a thousand

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feet and he was going supersonic.

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There is no way in the natural that Chris could have survived bailing out that fast

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and at that low of an altitude.

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He needed at least four seconds for his chute to open and he had less than one second to

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ground impact.

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So we knew that he had experienced a miracle, but we really didn't know what to do with

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it.

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Yeah.

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And you know, I mean, at this time you're off base, you were living off base with your

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kids and had no idea this happened.

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And all of a sudden these guys show up at your door.

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I mean, what's true?

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Yes.

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What did you think?

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Well, first of all, it was the squadron commander and the flight surgeon.

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So that is not good news.

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And I was standing at the front door with my hand on the doorknob and thinking to myself,

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if I never open this door, I never have to face the truth.

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Crazy that I thought that.

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But all of a sudden, what I didn't know was they had brought one of the wives from the

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squadron with them to spend the night with me and she popped her head up between their

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shoulders and mouth.

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He's alive.

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And I thought, oh my goodness, he didn't, he wasn't killed.

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And I opened the door and brought them in.

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And one of the very interesting side notes, Jody, on that was the previous Sunday, Chris

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had said to me, you know, I have a new backseater navigator and I'd like for you to bake a cherry

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pie for us to bring up to him.

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So I said, sure.

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At this time we had two children, very active, three year old and almost one year old.

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But I baked the pie and off we went and had a very difficult time finding their home because

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they lived off of a small lane and you had to drive on a dirt road up a hill to their

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home.

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So anyhow, we went up there, visited, met his wife and four young children all under

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the age of seven.

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And when the squadron commander and the flight surgeon came, they briefed me and they said,

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look, we're not going to take you to the British hospital tonight because they're going to

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get a good night's sleep, but we'll take you the following morning up to the American hospital

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where they're going to be transporting them.

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So I thought that was fine and they said there are a lot of injuries.

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We're not sure which broken arm belongs to which one.

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And so we'll just, we'll find out more details and let you know.

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And then they said, by the way, do you know where the henna bushes live?

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Because he had just arrived.

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They had moved into this home.

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There was no telephone.

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They literally had no way of reaching him or his wife.

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If except for the cherry pie, Jodi, I wouldn't have known.

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So again, we never should underestimate the importance of baking a pie and bringing it

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to someone because you never know how God's going to use it.

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Yeah.

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They needed, they didn't know where the family lives.

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So you were able to tell them.

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Yeah.

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It was amazing.

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It was amazing.

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It was amazing.

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So that was a little glimpse of God being involved in all of the details.

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So the following day, they picked both myself and the other wife up, took us up to the hospital

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and that's when we began to realize the gravity of the, and extent of the injuries that both

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Chris and Mike had received.

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Yeah.

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It was miraculous that they survived, but they had a long road to recovery.

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And even though you hadn't committed your life to Christ yet, when you look back, you

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can see all the ways that God was compassionate and gracious and caring for you even then,

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like you and the other family.

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Well, the first thing that comes to my mind is our landlady, when they found out, she

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said, oh, I have a friend who goes to a prayer meeting in Bipswich, which was the town we

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lived in.

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It was in Bipswich, which is east of Cambridge, England.

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And she said, would you mind if I asked them to pray for you?

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And I said, oh, that would be wonderful.

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And then I also heard of my mother meeting someone from a local church in our town and

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asked for prayer.

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So suddenly prayer groups were praying for us and I didn't even, I've never been to

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a prayer meeting in my life, you know, didn't realize the importance of that.

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And then also I had a wonderful lady that cared for our children.

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And my goodness, she stepped up to caring for Chris and Carrie seven days a week because

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the first two months after Chris's accident, I was going every single day to the hospital,

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bringing food to try to get him.

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He was losing weight and they were concerned about that and helping to feed him because

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both arms and legs were broken.

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He couldn't feed himself.

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So there was a lot of help that was needed there at the hospital.

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So I just saw looking back, God was already providing for me and I didn't realize at the

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time that it was him.

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But that, you know, that terrible accident, that was the thing that God used to draw you

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and Chris to himself.

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Share how God worked in both of your hearts and how you ultimately surrendered your lives

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to God.

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So after three and a half months, Chris was met back to McDill Air Force Base in Tampa,

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Florida.

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And the day before we left, your mother came with all of her cleaning supplies and helped

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me clean the house that we were moving out of.

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And we said a tearful goodbye.

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And an hour later, my phone rang and your mother said, Laura, Gary's, that's your dad,

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for those listening, Gary's assignment has been changed.

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You were going to Tucson, Arizona.

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We're now going to McDill and we'll see you there.

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And I can remember being so excited that I was going to have friends that I already knew

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in Tampa.

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And again, this was the Lord moving and directing our lives in such a way that he could bring

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salvation to both of our households.

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Chris was met back in a body cast.

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They took the body cast off, re-x-rayed, and they discovered that none of the broken bones

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had started healing properly.

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So the orthopedic surgeon said, Chris, you're a mess.

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We're going to have to go in and re-break every bone and we're going to use rods, which

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were very rare at that time, Jody.

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But his father-in-law was a doctor in Germany.

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And the Germans really were the ones that perfected this procedure of using metal rods

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and plates and pins to help with recovery.

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And so Chris started extensive surgery.

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And a chaplain that was on reserve duty came into Chris's room after Chris had received

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this news, and actually before I had even heard of it.

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And he shared the love of Jesus with Chris.

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And Chris had a vision of Jesus on the cross looking down at him saying from the cross,

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Chris, I did this for you.

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And the chaplain had explained to Chris, look, Christianity is actually not a religion, because

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religion means to bind up.

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It actually means a relationship.

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And really Christianity is the only place that we see God reaching down to humanity

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as opposed to man attempting to reach up to God.

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And that really touched Chris's heart.

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And he had a very emotional experience with Jesus.

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When he shared it with me, I really couldn't identify with it.

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Before we knew it, Chris was starting to be able to come home on weekends and walking

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with a cat, legs and cast and canes and crutches and the recovery, long recovery actually of

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seven years began.

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And a year later, we had met with some friends and they talked more to us about Jesus.

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We hadn't been able to find anybody that understood what had happened to us, but they were able

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to explain what had happened.

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And that night, Chris had another emotional experience where God spoke to him.

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And he said to Chris, I know you come to me for the healing of your leg.

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As far as I'm concerned, your leg is healed.

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But for you, it's going to take a long time.

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And Chris just kind of, I think he was what they call slain in the spirit.

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He just kind of passed out in the presence of the Lord.

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And the next morning when he woke up, he was different.

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And I could see the difference.

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And I'm embarrassed to say, but I was not a happy camper because there was such a radical

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change in Chris's life and his lifestyle.

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And see, Jody, we had kept our relationship with your parents going.

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We were going to one church, your parents were going to another, and both of those churches

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had an adult Sunday school class where we actually talked about current affairs and

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not the Bible.

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So we'd pick up donuts and your mom would have coffee on.

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And after church, we'd get together and we would share.

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So suddenly our conversations were different because we were talking about what we were

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learning at church, which we'd never talked about in England in the fighter pilot setting.

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So when Chris had this experience and change, very soon he started praying for me, as did

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these neighbors that have moved into our apartment building.

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And I had an experience with the Lord as well, where I completely surrendered to the Lord.

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Now, a lot of people listening might go, oh my gosh, they had a lot of radical experiences,

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a lot of, you know, emotionalism.

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God was speaking to them.

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I believe that one of the reasons God moved in that way in our lives was we were in a

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desperate situation.

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Surgery after surgery, certain procedures were not working.

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They had even discussed possibly having to amputate one of Chris's legs.

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So it was a very challenging time.

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And I believe in God's graciousness, his loving kindness, his has said, as it says in Hebrew,

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he did a powerful quick work in our lives.

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And suddenly our conversations around the Nelson table with coffee and donuts radically

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changed.

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But you didn't actually accept the Lord when Chris first came home and said, Hey, I had

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a revelation of Jesus.

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No, there came a point where you had that moment where you had to surrender as well.

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And that was, you know, that was a challenging heart rending thing for you.

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It was, you see, we, by that point, we were, like I said, we were attending church, we

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had these neighbors that I called radical Christians in our apartment building.

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And she was giving me Bibles to read.

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And I read God's Smuggler and I thought, Oh my goodness, Bibles are being brought in behind

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the Iron Curtain into the communist world.

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I was shocked that God would actually work the same way he did in biblical times.

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And I also had read, they speak with other tongues and I was like, Oh my gosh, these

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new found friends of my husband's are very, very radical and very, very out of control.

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And so I was very resistant and Chris was faithfully praying and Jody within two weeks,

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he called me one morning and he said, Honey, I just love you so much and I want you to

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come to know Jesus the way I do.

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And I just said, Chris, you and your new found religion are great for you, but not for me.

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And I said, not interested.

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And I hung up.

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Jody, I'd never hung up on anybody and I don't think I ever have since, but I was now recognized

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that I was under heavy conviction.

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And Chris, that evening he came home and we were eating dinner in the middle of dinner.

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If it wasn't bad enough that I'd hung up on him, he said, Oh honey, I invited our neighbors

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to come up for dessert this evening.

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And I was like, I was shocked.

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I thought he doesn't get it.

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I am not going to get involved in his new found religion.

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And Jody, I took our sheepdog, Ollie, and I left Chris with the two children, dishes

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on the table and I went out for a walk.

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I said, this is crazy.

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And as I got to the bottom of the staircase, I sensed the presence of the Lord.

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And I didn't know how anybody would sense the presence of the Lord, but you know what?

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You don't have to know the Lord.

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If he shows up and you're in his presence, you know who it is.

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Just like Saul on the road to Damascus.

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And I started kind of trembling inside and I thought, Oh my gosh, I've got to get out

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of this neighborhood because God might do something crazy in my life.

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So I went over to the baseball field and I stood behind the diamond and I just had my

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hands on that chain link fence.

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And I sensed the Lord speaking to me, not in an audible voice, but just the thought,

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you've come to a T junction in your life and you're either going to be all for me or you're

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going to be against me.

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And so I said, well, Lord, I've always been for you.

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And I always had a tender heart towards God, but I didn't have that personal connection

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with him.

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And he said, well, if you are all for me, raise your hands and see, I had seen people

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worshiping the Lord with their hands raised and I thought it was just way too emotional.

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And Jodi, I worked my fingers up the chain link fence and that's the international sign

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of surrender, raising our hands.

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And that's when I surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and my knees buckled.

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And then I'm, I'm, I'm weeping in the presence of the Lord.

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The dog is lapping my, the tears off my face.

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I have no idea how long I was there, but when I came back, Chris still in a leg cast and

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on crutches had bathed the two children, put them to bed, done the dishes.

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And he and our two neighbors were sitting in the living room with very long faces.

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And I walked in and they looked at me.

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I had a smile from ear to ear and Chris said, what has happened to you?

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And that really began our walk together and growing in the Lord, loving the Lord, serving

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the Lord, sharing the love of Jesus.

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I would not change that decision for anything in the world.

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The peace, the joy, the strength, the courage that all comes from knowing Jesus.

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Yeah, and you had been a self-reliant, good person.

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And you know, a lot of people out there might think, well, you know, you're a good person.

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Of course you're going to go to heaven, but that doesn't cut it with God.

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I mean, he makes a provision for everybody, no matter how good or how bad to come to him

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because of Jesus, his death and his resurrection.

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But we all have to have that surrender moment.

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Yes we do.

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Surrendering to God.

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We had that surrendering and we started sharing with your parents very quickly.

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You, your sister Debbie, your brother Mark, David wasn't even on the radar screen at that

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point.

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And your parents all came to know the Lord.

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We just, everything that we shared, it was like, oh my gosh, yes.

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And of course we'd show your parents in the Bible where it was and you kids would hang

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around and start listening to what we were saying.

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And I remember God touching you, touching Debbie, touching Mark.

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It was a glorious time.

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God was moving.

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Jodi, it was during the Jesus movement.

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It was during the charismatic renewal.

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And I just recently saw Jesus revolution and I was just reliving like, oh my gosh, that's

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when we came to know the Lord.

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We would get a phone call from your parents at like two o'clock in the morning.

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Hey, what are you doing?

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Well we're trying to sleep.

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Do you want to come over and pray?

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And we would drive to your parents.

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The four of us would get, well three of us on our knees.

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Chris couldn't get on his knees.

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And we would pray one o'clock, two o'clock in the morning.

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It was just, and we weren't the only ones that were doing this.

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God was just moving in a spontaneous way.

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And it was a wonderful time.

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And I believe that we're going to see that once again.

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Amen.

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Well, so you came to Christ, but what did you do to grow in your faith?

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I mean, you were in churches that seems like weren't necessarily really discipling people

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in their walk with the Lord at the time.

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How did you grow in your faith and what changes did you experience in your life?

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Because you know, when we come to the Lord, we are instantly saved, but God does a work

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in our life over time to deliver us from things that need to change in our life.

401
00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:43,360
What happened with you, Laura?

402
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I mean, how did your life change?

403
00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:52,500
Even though I was confident and self-reliant, I also battled with, I would say, a stronghold

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of fear.

405
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And that kept me from really doing a lot of things that I would have liked to have done.

406
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And that was one of the first things that God began to deal with in my life.

407
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And as we started reading the Word of God, you know, you cannot read the Word of God

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and not start changing because it discerns the thoughts and the intentions of our heart.

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And so little things like maybe being proudful, all of a sudden, it's like you're seeing

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in a mirror, a spiritual mirror, oh my goodness, God resists the proud, but he loves the humble.

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Lord, break any pride that I have in my life.

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I do want to walk humbly with you.

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And you know, I just encourage people, don't be afraid to ask God to humble you.

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I think sometimes we get suspicious, a superstitious excuse me, like, oh, don't pray for God to

415
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humble you because then terrible things are going to happen.

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You know what?

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God is a loving God.

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He loves us and he does want to help us change and grow and reflect more of his love, but

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he's not a mean God.

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He does it with grace and kindness.

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And so both Chris and I started experiencing the Lord challenging us in behavioral patterns

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that we had.

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For me, it was fear.

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And so I began to say, okay, what does scripture say about fear?

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And in 2 Timothy, God hasn't given us a spirit of fear, but he's given us a spirit of power

426
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and love and a sound mind.

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So Jody, I started memorizing that verse and I started saying it every time I started getting

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fearful thoughts.

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And then also it talks about in 2 Corinthians, the 10th chapter, it talks about spiritual

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warfare.

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And it says that we're to take every thought captive into the obedience of Christ Jesus.

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So every time I had a fearful thought, I said, no, I'm taking that into the obedience.

433
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Jesus took this fear of my on the cross for me and he set me free from it.

434
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And so I intentionally started agreeing with God and battling against that spirit of fear

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in my life.

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And it wasn't long before I began to see little places where I was no longer reacting out

437
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of fear, but out of trust, trusting in the Lord.

438
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And so many of us know that scripture from Proverbs 3, trust in the Lord with all your

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00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:44,840
heart.

440
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Don't lean on your own understanding.

441
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Don't go to that old pattern of, okay, I understand I need to be fearful here.

442
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No, you don't need to be fearful of circumstances.

443
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We need to walk in fear and reverence of the Lord.

444
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So I would say that that was my big battle that I had to get set free from.

445
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When you get set free from something that's a stronghold in your life, it bursts a dam

446
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that now begins to cultivate other qualities and characteristics in your life.

447
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And for me, it was trust.

448
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And well, okay, if I'm trusting God, then I'm going to put my hope in the Lord.

449
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And it just starts snowballing.

450
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And before you know it, you're beginning to understand the character of God and that God

451
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wants to cultivate that same character in you, the fruit of the spirit, love and joy,

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peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, self-control.

453
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Again, don't be afraid to pray for patience.

454
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That's another one that people go, oh, don't pray for patience for me.

455
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No, no, no.

456
00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:05,640
Don't be afraid.

457
00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:11,060
God wants us to be open with Him and be honest.

458
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He already knows our flaws.

459
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He knows our battles.

460
00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:18,320
So why not agree with Him in prayer and ask Him for help?

461
00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:20,040
He's our very present help.

462
00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:25,120
Yeah, I think it's so good that you said, you know, and it's true that you said that

463
00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:31,200
so many times we're suspicious of God's ways or His motives.

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But we have to remember, He gave Jesus to die on the cross so we could have a relationship

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with Him.

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How would He not also graciously give us all things, it says in Romans?

467
00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:45,240
You know, like you said, He's a loving and gracious God.

468
00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:49,040
We don't have to be afraid of how He's going to work in our lives.

469
00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:53,200
The result is going to be good and He's going to be gracious in the midst of it when we

470
00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:54,680
surrender to Him.

471
00:33:54,680 --> 00:34:00,080
So Laura, you were really in a strong Christian fellowship in Tampa in those early years of

472
00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:02,480
your walk with the Lord.

473
00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:05,800
But with the military, you don't stay in one place for too long.

474
00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:11,220
And Chris eventually was given orders and you had to move again and then again and again.

475
00:34:11,220 --> 00:34:15,280
But in all the places you went, God was with you.

476
00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:20,220
What was He teaching you along the way and how did you apply those lessons in your life?

477
00:34:20,220 --> 00:34:29,600
We had a good mentorship relationship, your parents and we with the Kents.

478
00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:36,800
And many people would attend their Tuesday night prayer meeting, Bible study, fellowship,

479
00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:39,700
where there would be 80 plus people.

480
00:34:39,700 --> 00:34:43,680
And the Kents were very gracious to bring in a lot of good teachers.

481
00:34:43,680 --> 00:34:52,440
And then we also went to Bayshore Methodist with Pastor Bob Shella, yes, and again, heard

482
00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:54,160
good teaching.

483
00:34:54,160 --> 00:34:55,800
And I think it's so important.

484
00:34:55,800 --> 00:35:01,400
We were going to Bible studies, we were going to prayer meetings, we were going to conferences,

485
00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:02,660
Christian conferences.

486
00:35:02,660 --> 00:35:08,100
We were being saturated with the Word of God and we were growing in the Word.

487
00:35:08,100 --> 00:35:13,040
And that foundation was solid foundation on the rock of Jesus Christ was being built.

488
00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:17,960
And so we recognized the need for fellowship.

489
00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:27,080
And I would encourage everybody because we're talking today, Jody, right after Easter.

490
00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:33,100
But you know, Jesus after the resurrection stayed and was very compassionate and loving

491
00:35:33,100 --> 00:35:37,240
and kind with the disciples.

492
00:35:37,240 --> 00:35:39,480
And they continued to teach them.

493
00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:41,280
He broke bread with them.

494
00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:43,480
He encouraged them.

495
00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:51,360
And they, I love on the way to the road of Emmaus that after Jesus stayed with him and

496
00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:53,800
broke the bread, they realized who he was.

497
00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:59,360
And they said, Oh my gosh, our hearts were burning as we were talking with them.

498
00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:01,720
And they didn't realize they were talking with them.

499
00:36:01,720 --> 00:36:06,520
And then Jesus increased their understanding of the scripture.

500
00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:08,400
And that's what was happening.

501
00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:11,040
But we have to keep feeding ourselves, Jody.

502
00:36:11,040 --> 00:36:12,840
We have to be in the Word.

503
00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:14,600
We have to be in fellowship.

504
00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:16,940
Iron sharpens iron.

505
00:36:16,940 --> 00:36:18,580
We learn from one another.

506
00:36:18,580 --> 00:36:24,600
So I would say that was the greatest lesson we took from leaving our fellowship, the spiritual

507
00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:27,160
cocoon we were in, and Tampa.

508
00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:33,980
And so everywhere we moved from then on, our number one responsibility was to find a good

509
00:36:33,980 --> 00:36:35,680
church.

510
00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:42,560
And as our children began to grow, it was like, OK, what's the best church for our children

511
00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:48,280
that has the best children's programs and where they're going to grow?

512
00:36:48,280 --> 00:36:50,400
Where are we going to be heard?

513
00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:55,360
The truth preached in church.

514
00:36:55,360 --> 00:36:58,280
And where is there healthy fellowship?

515
00:36:58,280 --> 00:37:00,640
So that was our primary goal.

516
00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:03,800
Wherever we went was to establish ourselves.

517
00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:08,880
And you know, in the military, you can't waste any time because you never know how long you're

518
00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:11,120
going to be somewhere.

519
00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:16,000
Our longest assignment was five years, and our shortest was three months.

520
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:20,680
So you just have to make that a top priority.

521
00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:24,800
And I would say, regardless if you're in the military or not, you should always make it

522
00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:32,360
a top priority to be in fellowship so that you continue to grow in the Lord.

523
00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:37,760
And I'm even thinking now how, and we'll talk about this later, but I'm still growing in

524
00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:38,760
the Lord.

525
00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:42,680
And I'm amazed at the work God is doing in my life now.

526
00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:48,440
And it's like, I'm 79, to God be the glory until he calls us home.

527
00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:52,140
So I would say that that was the most important thing for us.

528
00:37:52,140 --> 00:37:59,780
And Jody, what really amazed us was that God began to use us.

529
00:37:59,780 --> 00:38:08,640
So we were either sitting under someone teaching us the Word, personally studying the Word,

530
00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:11,920
or we were found ourselves teaching the Word.

531
00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:18,480
All of a sudden we were asked to teach a high school Sunday school class, or Chris was,

532
00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:21,560
and then I was asked to teach children's church.

533
00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:28,240
Well, we would study all week long the lesson that we were going to present the next Sunday.

534
00:38:28,240 --> 00:38:31,480
And I've heard of so many people sharing the same thing.

535
00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:36,440
That's how you grow and begin to be used by the Lord.

536
00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:38,720
Christianity is not for wimps.

537
00:38:38,720 --> 00:38:40,320
We're called to be bold.

538
00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:42,600
We're called to be courageous.

539
00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:47,920
We're called to be followers of Christ, regardless of the cost.

540
00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:53,040
And we need one another to spur one another on in that.

541
00:38:53,040 --> 00:39:00,280
And so we just found that we started hosting prayer meetings in our home, Bible studies.

542
00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:07,160
Chris met with men early in the morning at every base that he was stationed at, where

543
00:39:07,160 --> 00:39:10,720
he would be accountable and they would pray together.

544
00:39:10,720 --> 00:39:15,680
And I would look for women's Bible studies to be involved in.

545
00:39:15,680 --> 00:39:23,400
And I even ended up, Jodi, at one point being the youth leader at our last assignment back

546
00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:26,920
in England because nobody else would do it.

547
00:39:26,920 --> 00:39:29,880
And I had two teenagers and someone had to.

548
00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:35,240
So it's just amazing how God prepares us along the way.

549
00:39:35,240 --> 00:39:40,880
And he never uses perfect people who uses people that are under construction.

550
00:39:40,880 --> 00:39:46,800
Yeah, so you already, you know, you talked kind of about how you just prepared by getting

551
00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:52,160
into the word, but how did you have the courage to step into those leadership roles today?

552
00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:59,480
You know, we have seminaries and Bible schools and Bible certificates and those are important.

553
00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:00,480
Don't get me wrong.

554
00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:03,280
They are important.

555
00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:13,240
But not everyone can invest the time and the, you know, to go into that in-depth training.

556
00:40:13,240 --> 00:40:16,400
So how did you have the courage to step into those leadership roles?

557
00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:19,200
I mean, you were fairly new in the Lord yourselves.

558
00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:20,200
Right.

559
00:40:20,200 --> 00:40:24,800
Well, remember, my stronghold was fear.

560
00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:32,200
And when God set me free from fear, I was free indeed.

561
00:40:32,200 --> 00:40:41,280
And I think this courage that had been kind of held prisoner in me was just able to bloom.

562
00:40:41,280 --> 00:40:46,320
I love the one of my favorite passages is Isaiah 61.

563
00:40:46,320 --> 00:40:48,600
And it's the prophetic ministry of Jesus.

564
00:40:48,600 --> 00:40:56,280
And it says that God sent Jesus to bind up the brokenhearted and set the captives free.

565
00:40:56,280 --> 00:40:59,640
And God had set me free from fear.

566
00:40:59,640 --> 00:41:05,760
And I also have to say, I was married to a fearless man.

567
00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:13,640
And because Chris had had some very emotional, unique experiences in the Lord, he became

568
00:41:13,640 --> 00:41:18,160
very, very bold in his faith.

569
00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:25,320
And you know, Jody, it's interesting because because Chris couldn't fly during the Vietnam

570
00:41:25,320 --> 00:41:33,200
conflict and we had prisoners of war, he started being asked to go and speak places about the

571
00:41:33,200 --> 00:41:35,480
prisoners.

572
00:41:35,480 --> 00:41:39,720
And that was a preparation that God gave for public speaking.

573
00:41:39,720 --> 00:41:43,280
And then it wasn't long before someone asked him to share his testimony.

574
00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:50,520
And he thought, well, if I can talk to crowds about the prisoners of war and the need for

575
00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:55,760
us to be aware of them and support them and pray for their families, I guess I can tell

576
00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:58,200
people about Jesus.

577
00:41:58,200 --> 00:42:03,600
And so I really say sometimes I just had to hold on to Chris's coattails.

578
00:42:03,600 --> 00:42:09,440
It was like, OK, Lord, here we go.

579
00:42:09,440 --> 00:42:16,600
And you just have to, Jody, you just have to trust the Lord when he gives you opportunities.

580
00:42:16,600 --> 00:42:25,720
He doesn't ask you to be a Billy Graham overnight, but he asks you to be faithful in the little

581
00:42:25,720 --> 00:42:27,400
things.

582
00:42:27,400 --> 00:42:35,520
I started teaching the kids and before long, my gosh, you and your siblings and my kids,

583
00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:38,080
we're all singing about Jesus.

584
00:42:38,080 --> 00:42:40,320
We're dancing around praising the Lord.

585
00:42:40,320 --> 00:42:48,440
And suddenly your mother and I start learning how to minister to children about Jesus.

586
00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:57,560
And I think that the Lord took your mother in a direction of intercessory prayer.

587
00:42:57,560 --> 00:43:04,480
And God kind of took me in the direction of starting to be involved in children's ministry.

588
00:43:04,480 --> 00:43:08,960
And I remember even at the children's birthday parties.

589
00:43:08,960 --> 00:43:15,040
I looked for little opportunities to incorporate something about Jesus in them.

590
00:43:15,040 --> 00:43:17,320
So again, it's small steps.

591
00:43:17,320 --> 00:43:22,060
Be faithful in the little things that God asks you to do.

592
00:43:22,060 --> 00:43:28,720
And just remember, when God opens a door, he's got your hand.

593
00:43:28,720 --> 00:43:31,480
You're not going in there alone.

594
00:43:31,480 --> 00:43:34,120
He is there with you.

595
00:43:34,120 --> 00:43:35,120
So I guess for me.

596
00:43:35,120 --> 00:43:36,120
Yeah, it's his spirit.

597
00:43:36,120 --> 00:43:38,720
It's his spirit flowing through us that does all the work anyway.

598
00:43:38,720 --> 00:43:40,720
He just wants us to be there as his vessel.

599
00:43:40,720 --> 00:43:41,720
That's right.

600
00:43:41,720 --> 00:43:42,720
That's right.

601
00:43:42,720 --> 00:43:51,160
And I really do believe that we need to be willing more than ever, Jodi, to be obedient

602
00:43:51,160 --> 00:43:54,760
to the Lord and what he's asking us to do.

603
00:43:54,760 --> 00:43:55,960
He needs us.

604
00:43:55,960 --> 00:44:00,560
He needs us to be his hands and feet, especially in this day and age.

605
00:44:00,560 --> 00:44:06,840
So Laura, you mentioned how God's always preparing us in the now for things that he has for us

606
00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:11,240
in the future, and given some examples, we usually don't even realize what he's doing

607
00:44:11,240 --> 00:44:14,000
until later on.

608
00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:18,480
And that was the case when you and Chris and your youngest daughter, Karen, were invited

609
00:44:18,480 --> 00:44:22,480
to go to Russia shortly after the wall came down, right?

610
00:44:22,480 --> 00:44:23,480
Or was it before?

611
00:44:23,480 --> 00:44:24,880
But how did that happen?

612
00:44:24,880 --> 00:44:26,980
And what did God do to you all during that trip?

613
00:44:26,980 --> 00:44:28,640
Just an amazing time.

614
00:44:28,640 --> 00:44:37,720
Chris had a successful, fulfilling career in the Air Force, and it was the Berlin Wall

615
00:44:37,720 --> 00:44:40,680
came down in 1989.

616
00:44:40,680 --> 00:44:46,940
And Christmas time of 1991, we were in England.

617
00:44:46,940 --> 00:44:54,500
The other kids had gone back to school, and Karen was still at home.

618
00:44:54,500 --> 00:44:57,960
She was a freshman at Wheaton College in Chicago.

619
00:44:57,960 --> 00:45:01,600
And Chris got a phone call from the states.

620
00:45:01,600 --> 00:45:10,020
A group of Christian couples had been invited to go to Moscow and meet with Christians

621
00:45:10,020 --> 00:45:18,000
in the Russian military, because now they're going to experience their first Orthodox Christmas

622
00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:20,800
in January of 1992.

623
00:45:20,800 --> 00:45:29,280
And they wanted to learn how to develop Bible studies for Christians in the Russian military.

624
00:45:29,280 --> 00:45:33,320
So this group in DC, I guess they couldn't get enough people to go.

625
00:45:33,320 --> 00:45:37,200
And so someone knew Chris and said, well, hey, Chris is in England.

626
00:45:37,200 --> 00:45:38,720
Let's see if he can join us.

627
00:45:38,720 --> 00:45:43,240
So Chris came home and said, we have this opportunity, because he also said, can my

628
00:45:43,240 --> 00:45:44,240
daughter come?

629
00:45:44,240 --> 00:45:45,760
She's a freshman in college.

630
00:45:45,760 --> 00:45:51,900
So Chris came home and told us, and literally a week and a half, we found the three of us

631
00:45:51,900 --> 00:45:55,800
on a plane going to Moscow.

632
00:45:55,800 --> 00:45:59,880
It was like, Lord, suddenly, what has happened?

633
00:45:59,880 --> 00:46:08,240
And Chris spent a lot of time interfacing with Christian officers in the Russian military,

634
00:46:08,240 --> 00:46:11,560
just had a wonderful time of bonding.

635
00:46:11,560 --> 00:46:15,600
Karen and I went to children's hospitals, soup kitchens.

636
00:46:15,600 --> 00:46:24,040
After meeting the Russian people, our hearts are breaking for the poverty.

637
00:46:24,040 --> 00:46:30,760
And yet we're seeing these vibrant Christians alive with Jesus, with so much hope for what

638
00:46:30,760 --> 00:46:37,600
God was going to do in their country, and so appreciative that we had come over to come

639
00:46:37,600 --> 00:46:41,600
alongside of them and just labor with them.

640
00:46:41,600 --> 00:46:48,600
And I do remember as we were leaving, first of all, we had given every bit of clothing

641
00:46:48,600 --> 00:46:53,480
that was not on our bodies that we possibly could away to friends.

642
00:46:53,480 --> 00:46:57,840
And we didn't have a dime on us as we left.

643
00:46:57,840 --> 00:47:03,560
You just were so grateful for what you did have, and you wanted to leave as much blessing

644
00:47:03,560 --> 00:47:05,880
as you could with these people.

645
00:47:05,880 --> 00:47:09,440
And I remember Karen saying to me, Mom, how can we leave?

646
00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:10,920
How can we leave these people?

647
00:47:10,920 --> 00:47:16,800
I said, Karen, we have to, but we now know how to pray more effectively.

648
00:47:16,800 --> 00:47:22,880
We had prayed for years for the wall to come down, and suddenly our prayers were answered

649
00:47:22,880 --> 00:47:28,240
and Christians were beginning to come into Russia and come alongside the Christians there

650
00:47:28,240 --> 00:47:30,880
and help them with ministry.

651
00:47:30,880 --> 00:47:36,080
And we came back to England with hearts changed.

652
00:47:36,080 --> 00:47:42,760
This and I no longer had this desire, I guess you'd say, to be serving the Lord in the

653
00:47:42,760 --> 00:47:43,760
military.

654
00:47:43,760 --> 00:47:48,480
It was kind of like there's a whole different world out there.

655
00:47:48,480 --> 00:47:57,040
And within, I would say we hadn't been back more than a week.

656
00:47:57,040 --> 00:48:02,880
We went to a full gospel businessman's fellowship with both British and Americans.

657
00:48:02,880 --> 00:48:09,840
And there was a British evangelist that was speaking and he said, would you mind if I

658
00:48:09,840 --> 00:48:14,680
go out and speak a word over a few of you?

659
00:48:14,680 --> 00:48:16,520
Occasionally the Lord does that.

660
00:48:16,520 --> 00:48:18,240
And they said, yes, he could.

661
00:48:18,240 --> 00:48:23,240
He came directly to Chris and he said, from the moment I've set eyes on you, I've seen

662
00:48:23,240 --> 00:48:30,680
a sign over your head saying, change is coming and it's coming very soon.

663
00:48:30,680 --> 00:48:38,200
Jody, within two days, Chris was notified by his commanding general that he and his

664
00:48:38,200 --> 00:48:43,320
age group of colonels had been selected for early retirement.

665
00:48:43,320 --> 00:48:46,160
And Chris was like, wow.

666
00:48:46,160 --> 00:48:49,060
And his reaction was praise the Lord.

667
00:48:49,060 --> 00:48:53,560
Now we can go into this next phase of our lives.

668
00:48:53,560 --> 00:49:00,240
He left meeting with the general, went to the chapel where he shared about Russia.

669
00:49:00,240 --> 00:49:02,820
And that's when it all fell into place.

670
00:49:02,820 --> 00:49:10,760
And within eight months, Jody, Chris had retired and we were on our way to the Middle East

671
00:49:10,760 --> 00:49:16,440
where we would work and serve for three years.

672
00:49:16,440 --> 00:49:19,160
That really changed our lives.

673
00:49:19,160 --> 00:49:26,020
So that early retirement, it wasn't what you were expecting or even really planning on.

674
00:49:26,020 --> 00:49:28,560
You were serving in England.

675
00:49:28,560 --> 00:49:33,600
I mean, the Lord did a very quick work in your heart.

676
00:49:33,600 --> 00:49:39,820
But everything that Chris had been through with his accident in the Air Force, you could

677
00:49:39,820 --> 00:49:49,040
have been bitter or you could have been fearful or you could have been anxious about the future,

678
00:49:49,040 --> 00:49:51,280
but you weren't.

679
00:49:51,280 --> 00:49:54,960
God had done that work, but just share a little bit more about that.

680
00:49:54,960 --> 00:50:01,320
I mean, you as his wife, sometimes we take the offense of others who we love when we

681
00:50:01,320 --> 00:50:08,880
see them being hurt or we don't feel like they are being treated like they should.

682
00:50:08,880 --> 00:50:13,440
Just share a little bit about what God did in your heart during that time too.

683
00:50:13,440 --> 00:50:19,720
Well, this is the importance, Jody, of knowing the character of God, knowing the word of

684
00:50:19,720 --> 00:50:27,320
God because when suddenlies appear in your life, you're actually prepared spiritually

685
00:50:27,320 --> 00:50:29,640
in a greater depth than you realize.

686
00:50:29,640 --> 00:50:38,440
And so to address the issue of bitterness, there's a warning in Hebrews, the 12th chapter,

687
00:50:38,440 --> 00:50:46,280
to look carefully lest anyone falls out of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness

688
00:50:46,280 --> 00:50:49,800
brings up and defiles you.

689
00:50:49,800 --> 00:50:55,040
And so I knew right away that bitterness was not an option.

690
00:50:55,040 --> 00:51:05,520
I also knew that God was directing our lives and we have to hold our lives and our plans

691
00:51:05,520 --> 00:51:12,480
loosely and always be willing for God to move at a moment's notice.

692
00:51:12,480 --> 00:51:19,560
And so both Chris and I found ourselves embracing what the Lord was doing.

693
00:51:19,560 --> 00:51:26,600
Instead of being bitter, instead of holding on, we knew that God was our provider.

694
00:51:26,600 --> 00:51:34,060
We thought we would be sent back to the states for one last assignment and that didn't happen

695
00:51:34,060 --> 00:51:38,520
in the military, but God always has new assignments for us.

696
00:51:38,520 --> 00:51:46,680
Whether he moves us or not or doesn't move us, our lives are always in motion and God

697
00:51:46,680 --> 00:51:49,760
is giving us new opportunities.

698
00:51:49,760 --> 00:51:52,520
And this was a new opportunity for us.

699
00:51:52,520 --> 00:51:57,400
And so we found ourselves embracing it.

700
00:51:57,400 --> 00:52:04,680
And sure, we were a little concerned, like, Lord, this is all new to us, but we're trusting

701
00:52:04,680 --> 00:52:05,680
you.

702
00:52:05,680 --> 00:52:12,120
And we found out that we had a wonderful two and a half years in the Middle East and God

703
00:52:12,120 --> 00:52:19,320
just gave us such a heart for the Middle East and a greater understanding of conflict in

704
00:52:19,320 --> 00:52:20,320
the Middle East.

705
00:52:20,320 --> 00:52:25,880
And again, it was just a wonderful time of learning and serving the Lord.

706
00:52:25,880 --> 00:52:34,200
And then we came back and Chris went to seminary and we started a new chapter in our lives.

707
00:52:34,200 --> 00:52:40,360
So, you know, it's so important that root of bitterness to not let that grow in our

708
00:52:40,360 --> 00:52:41,360
lives.

709
00:52:41,360 --> 00:52:44,120
Like you said, I had a similar experience.

710
00:52:44,120 --> 00:52:50,800
I wasn't in the military, but I had been serving in an organization very faithfully for over

711
00:52:50,800 --> 00:52:52,240
two decades.

712
00:52:52,240 --> 00:52:58,640
And one day I was let go, you know, no warning.

713
00:52:58,640 --> 00:52:59,800
It wasn't a mass layoff.

714
00:52:59,800 --> 00:53:00,800
It was me.

715
00:53:00,800 --> 00:53:07,480
But, you know, the night before the Lord had just said, the Lord had kind of told me and

716
00:53:07,480 --> 00:53:09,440
there was no, I didn't do anything wrong.

717
00:53:09,440 --> 00:53:14,400
They just, the organization was changing direction and they didn't need my position anymore.

718
00:53:14,400 --> 00:53:19,120
But the Lord had told me and you know, when I walked out of that building that day, I

719
00:53:19,120 --> 00:53:21,280
had a lightness.

720
00:53:21,280 --> 00:53:23,960
You know, it was like God had opened a new door for me.

721
00:53:23,960 --> 00:53:26,480
It wasn't a door closing in my face.

722
00:53:26,480 --> 00:53:29,300
It was a door opening for something new.

723
00:53:29,300 --> 00:53:33,320
And when we do have that trust in the Lord, that God is a good God, that He's the one

724
00:53:33,320 --> 00:53:38,360
who directs our steps, that He's the one who raises us up and the one who places us, then

725
00:53:38,360 --> 00:53:40,280
we can have that confidence.

726
00:53:40,280 --> 00:53:43,600
Doesn't mean it might not be bumpy a little along the way.

727
00:53:43,600 --> 00:53:49,080
Doesn't mean we're going to have to hold on tight, but we can always have faith that God

728
00:53:49,080 --> 00:53:53,200
is good and that He's going to see us through.

729
00:53:53,200 --> 00:53:57,200
And there's a lot more to Laura's story, which we're going to talk about in our next episode.

730
00:53:57,200 --> 00:54:03,000
But as we close this one, Laura, would you share about a woman in the Bible who's inspired

731
00:54:03,000 --> 00:54:05,160
or encouraged or taught you something?

732
00:54:05,160 --> 00:54:10,360
Yeah, I have to say Ruth, I love the book of Ruth.

733
00:54:10,360 --> 00:54:12,760
It's only four chapters.

734
00:54:12,760 --> 00:54:14,040
It's a love story.

735
00:54:14,040 --> 00:54:16,640
And who doesn't really enjoy a love story?

736
00:54:16,640 --> 00:54:22,560
I find it interesting when couples get together invariably, how did you two meet?

737
00:54:22,560 --> 00:54:24,680
And then they want to hear your story.

738
00:54:24,680 --> 00:54:30,880
Well, of course, the greatest love story is for God so loved the world that He sent His

739
00:54:30,880 --> 00:54:37,400
only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

740
00:54:37,400 --> 00:54:42,720
But I find that Ruth is another great love story.

741
00:54:42,720 --> 00:54:45,240
When you think of it, she was a Moabitist.

742
00:54:45,240 --> 00:54:49,000
She had been married to an Israelite.

743
00:54:49,000 --> 00:54:50,960
She lost her husband.

744
00:54:50,960 --> 00:54:52,500
She lost her brother-in-law.

745
00:54:52,500 --> 00:54:54,720
She lost her father-in-law.

746
00:54:54,720 --> 00:55:05,240
And now her mother-in-law, Naomi, who is destitute, is going to return back to Bethlehem.

747
00:55:05,240 --> 00:55:09,000
And she refuses to leave her mother-in-law.

748
00:55:09,000 --> 00:55:15,360
And you hear it quoted at so many weddings, for wherever you go, I will go.

749
00:55:15,360 --> 00:55:17,560
Wherever you lodge, I will lodge.

750
00:55:17,560 --> 00:55:22,080
Your people will be my people and your God will be my God.

751
00:55:22,080 --> 00:55:30,000
So she went from a culture of worshipping many gods to making a decision out of a heart

752
00:55:30,000 --> 00:55:34,080
of compassion to remain with her mother-in-law.

753
00:55:34,080 --> 00:55:42,120
But she also, I believe that Naomi had somehow been a witness that the God of Abraham, Isaac,

754
00:55:42,120 --> 00:55:45,040
and Jacob was the true living God.

755
00:55:45,040 --> 00:55:49,480
And so we see that she is a courageous woman.

756
00:55:49,480 --> 00:55:52,360
She's hardworking.

757
00:55:52,360 --> 00:55:59,320
And at the end, the fourth chapter of Ruth, we see that she's married.

758
00:55:59,320 --> 00:56:04,400
She has a child who is the grandfather of King David.

759
00:56:04,400 --> 00:56:12,860
But the women say to Naomi that, oh, the Lord has given you a daughter-in-law that's better

760
00:56:12,860 --> 00:56:15,200
than seven sons.

761
00:56:15,200 --> 00:56:23,920
I mean, she went from nothing to being this loved and honored woman in a culture that

762
00:56:23,920 --> 00:56:28,020
was not to, really did not like the Moabites.

763
00:56:28,020 --> 00:56:36,760
And so it's just a wonderful story of, you see the chesed of God, the kindness, the faithfulness,

764
00:56:36,760 --> 00:56:38,720
the compassion of God.

765
00:56:38,720 --> 00:56:45,360
That became her source of provision, and the blessings were just amazing.

766
00:56:45,360 --> 00:56:48,440
Yeah, much more than she would ever have imagined.

767
00:56:48,440 --> 00:56:49,440
Exactly.

768
00:56:49,440 --> 00:56:53,500
And Jodi, every time you go in, it's a quick read.

769
00:56:53,500 --> 00:56:56,700
You see something else that's significant.

770
00:56:56,700 --> 00:57:03,320
You see the picture of Jesus being our Redeemer in Boaz, and you just see so many beautiful

771
00:57:03,320 --> 00:57:04,320
truths.

772
00:57:04,320 --> 00:57:10,920
And I encourage women, if you're discouraged, if you're lacking faith, if you just are like,

773
00:57:10,920 --> 00:57:15,600
Lord, I just want to give up, go and read the book of Ruth.

774
00:57:15,600 --> 00:57:22,200
It's a delightful account of God's faithfulness, His loving kindness.

775
00:57:22,200 --> 00:57:24,200
His loving kindness is better than life.

776
00:57:24,200 --> 00:57:29,520
Psalm 112, verse one and verse seven in the New Living Translation says, praise the Lord.

777
00:57:29,520 --> 00:57:34,960
How joyful are those who fear the Lord and delight in obeying His commands.

778
00:57:34,960 --> 00:57:36,720
They will not fear bad news.

779
00:57:36,720 --> 00:57:39,820
They confidently trust the Lord to care for them.

780
00:57:39,820 --> 00:57:46,480
They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly.

781
00:57:46,480 --> 00:57:49,120
Laura was delivered from fear that had gripped her for years.

782
00:57:49,120 --> 00:57:53,960
And as she read God's word and learned of His character, she realized He is worthy of

783
00:57:53,960 --> 00:57:57,880
all our trust, our praise, and our adoration.

784
00:57:57,880 --> 00:58:03,880
She learned to fear God, which means great awe and great respect and so much more.

785
00:58:03,880 --> 00:58:07,040
And that gave her the confidence to trust the Lord.

786
00:58:07,040 --> 00:58:12,320
We're going to hear more in the next episode of just how God has been true to His word

787
00:58:12,320 --> 00:58:13,320
in her life.

788
00:58:13,320 --> 00:58:17,760
But Laura, would you take a moment and pray for everyone who's listening to this episode?

789
00:58:17,760 --> 00:58:18,760
Yes.

790
00:58:18,760 --> 00:58:20,960
Oh, Father, we bless you.

791
00:58:20,960 --> 00:58:22,240
We praise you, Lord.

792
00:58:22,240 --> 00:58:25,880
We thank you that you are our faithful God.

793
00:58:25,880 --> 00:58:29,720
Lord, we thank you that you never leave us.

794
00:58:29,720 --> 00:58:33,120
You never fail us, Lord God.

795
00:58:33,120 --> 00:58:36,800
You are compassionate, forgiving.

796
00:58:36,800 --> 00:58:44,240
You always, always are there with us no matter what we face, Lord God.

797
00:58:44,240 --> 00:58:52,480
So I pray as we end this time of sharing this morning that all listening will be encouraged,

798
00:58:52,480 --> 00:58:55,920
Lord God, to get to know you better.

799
00:58:55,920 --> 00:59:03,360
Lord, give them, give each of us, Lord, a continued hunger for your word, for your presence.

800
00:59:03,360 --> 00:59:09,280
Lord, put a garment of praise against any heaviness, Lord God.

801
00:59:09,280 --> 00:59:15,600
Thank you, Father, that in Isaiah 61, 7, we see that you remove shame and replace it with

802
00:59:15,600 --> 00:59:17,680
a double portion of honor.

803
00:59:17,680 --> 00:59:21,000
So I honor all that are listening today.

804
00:59:21,000 --> 00:59:30,760
Lord God, as I pray a blessing of peace, of joy and courage as they trust you, as we trust

805
00:59:30,760 --> 00:59:33,940
you, Lord, every day.

806
00:59:33,940 --> 00:59:37,920
And we will give you praise and glory in Jesus' name.

807
00:59:37,920 --> 00:59:38,920
Amen.

808
00:59:38,920 --> 00:59:43,280
You know, friends, there are widows as well as orphans all over the world who need to

809
00:59:43,280 --> 00:59:47,420
experience the tangible expression of God's love right now.

810
00:59:47,420 --> 00:59:51,200
Many have special needs that we as a company of women can meet together.

811
00:59:51,200 --> 00:59:53,820
Would you consider joining us with a special gift to help?

812
00:59:53,820 --> 00:59:59,160
Just go to hergodstory.org and click on the widow and orphan tab at the top of the page.

813
00:59:59,160 --> 01:00:00,160
Thank you for tuning in.

814
01:00:00,160 --> 01:00:04,520
In our show notes at hergodstory.org, you'll find scriptures and other information we talked

815
01:00:04,520 --> 01:00:12,280
about as well as a link to a more in-depth testimony of Kris Mineau and his airplane accident.

816
01:00:12,280 --> 01:00:15,980
Don't forget to sign up for our emails and get a six-week devotional book you can download

817
01:00:15,980 --> 01:00:21,520
for free, or you may want to purchase a 12-week devotional on women of the Bible for just

818
01:00:21,520 --> 01:00:26,080
$12, knowing that all the proceeds go to our Widow and Orphan Fund.

819
01:00:26,080 --> 01:00:30,920
We'd also love to pray with you on our 24-7 prayer and text line, so give us a call anytime

820
01:00:30,920 --> 01:00:38,160
at 855-459-CARE or email us at prayer@somebodycares.org.

821
01:00:38,160 --> 01:00:43,720
And now, dear friends, I bless you from Psalm 112: 1 and 6 -9.

822
01:00:43,720 --> 01:00:48,560
First are you who fear the Lord, who find great delight in His commands, you will never

823
01:00:48,560 --> 01:00:53,860
be shaken or fear bad news because your heart is steadfast, trusting God.

824
01:00:53,860 --> 01:00:56,160
You are secure and will have no fear.

825
01:00:56,160 --> 01:00:59,320
In the end, you will look in triumph on your foes.

826
01:00:59,320 --> 01:01:04,780
You will freely scatter gifts to the poor, and your righteousness will endure forever.

827
01:01:04,780 --> 01:01:08,480
Your horn will be lifted high in honor.

828
01:01:08,480 --> 01:01:12,520
Her God Story is a ministry of Somebody Cares America and International.

829
01:01:12,520 --> 01:01:16,680
To find out more about or support the ministry, go to somebodycares.org.