You Keep Your Eyes on Jesus, Stacy Blackstone's Story

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Hey friends, I love a good story, especially when it's a God story. And I

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have another one today that I know will build your faith and equip you in your

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walk with the Lord. I'm your host Jodie Chiricosta, ministry leader at Somebody

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Cares America and international author and traveler on this journey of faith. If

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

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your favorite streaming platform. That way you won't miss any of the stories of

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my amazing guests. In Hebrews 12:1-2 in the New Living Translation, the

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author writes, Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of

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witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us

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down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up, and let us run with

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endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus,

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the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. My guest, Stacy Blackstone,

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desires to do just that, keep her eyes on Jesus. A dear friend and former roommate

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of mine, Stacy has been a successful banker, a missionary, and a homeschooling

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mom. Now serving as administrator for Galcom International, a ministry that

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gives help and tools to missionaries and local pastors internationally so they

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can reach more people with the gospel, Stacy is also a wife and mother of three

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teenage and young adult daughters. Whenever I have the pleasure of

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connecting with Stacy, I am always encouraged and challenged in my life, and

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I know as you listen, you will be too. Welcome, Stacy. Thanks, Jodie. It's great to

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be here. Give us some background on yourself. How did you first come to

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Christ? It's probably good to start at the beginning. I was a six-week preemie in

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1963 when that was a big deal. Not so much now, but it was then. And so I was

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sick a lot, and then my father, who was a severe diabetic, died in 1966. And even

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though our family went to church before my father passed away, once he was gone,

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my mom was the sole breadwinner for the family, and as a nurse, she had to work

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every other Sunday. So we sort of fell away from going to church. But when I was

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in middle school, some friends of mine invited me to go on a retreat with

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their church. I'd never been to anything like that before, but I said yes because

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I loved them and I knew I'd have a good time with them. And at that retreat, it

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was as if my heart was just brought alive to sensing the presence of the

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Lord. On the last day of that retreat, I accepted him as my Savior. We didn't have

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much conversation about Christ as Lord at that time, but I did receive him as my

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Savior on that retreat. So you believed in Jesus. Absolutely. But didn't really

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understand that he was something more than just your Savior. He was kind of

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fire insurance, so to speak. I think a lot of people come to Christ that way

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without that full understanding of him being Lord. So life went on without too

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much interaction with God, but when you look back over your teen and young adult

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years, as so many of us do, we can see the fingerprints of God providing for us and

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guiding for us. How did you see him in your life when you look back? Well, you

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know, Jodie, my story is full of God planting seeds that I didn't recognize

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at the time or doing things in my life that I had no idea he was doing, but I

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couldn't see them clearly until much later. Just the people that he brought me

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in contact with who planted seeds that I just thought were people being nice, but

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in reality he was keeping me out of serious trouble and he was putting

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guardrails on me through the people he brought into my life that, as I said

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before, I just couldn't recognize until I was much older. So when did you come to

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the realization that there's more to the Christian life? It's interesting that you

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say that there was more. I was always hungry for more. I mean, I can remember in

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my high school and university years I would go to the Bible because, as I

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mentioned earlier, I started out in church up until the time my father passed

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away and when my mom remarried he was an alcoholic. As you can imagine, I had a lot

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of questions, you know, God, why? And I would always go to the Word looking for

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answers, but at that point in my life it was really dry. I didn't get the answers

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I wanted, but I knew something deep inside of me knew that God was there. I

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just needed to figure out how to get in touch with him. But it wasn't until when I

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was 32, I think, a friend of mine asked me would I do this inner healing retreat

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for her. I'd never heard of anything like that. We had been in a Bible study

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together because several years earlier I had started going to a local church and

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she asked if I wanted to start doing a Bible study with her and a bunch of

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other girls who are already meeting. So I said sure, and one night we were all

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sitting around and all of them were doing this retreat. And she said, well,

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why don't you do it? And Jodie, you know me, I never do anything without planning

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it or praying about it. And I just said yes, even though part of what I needed to

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do between that Wednesday and Saturday was read seven books. But I did it anyway

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and it was truly life-transforming for me because I began to understand that

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yes, the Lord had saved me, but I had a purpose in life that was much bigger than

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myself and it was about glorifying him. That wouldn't happen unless I fully

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surrendered my life to him and made my life about him and not about me. I wasn't

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emotionally in a place to really know how to live that out yet. And inner

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healing allowed me to heal from some of the wounds of my childhood and then

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become more available to the Lord to be used by him.

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So inner healing might sound strange to some people, but it's really a targeted

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form of Bible study and discipleship. Explain a little more what happened to

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you through that time. I mean, was it weird or how did the Lord minister to you

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through that and what actually was it? Well, one of the things that comes to

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mind immediately is, and it makes me laugh, because I remember sitting in this

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room full of people, worshiping, hearing teaching on the Word and thinking, Lord, I

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am a spiritual peon in a room full of spiritual giants. Do I really belong here?

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And as it turns out, that's what he really wanted to start talking to me

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about, is that I not only belong there, but he had made me to be there. And he

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began to reveal himself to me as God, my father, my Abba father, which was really

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powerful to me, having lost my dad at three. And then my stepfather was not

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what God would have wanted for me in a father, not reflecting him accurately.

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And so as we studied the Word, sat under teaching, and prayed, the Lord just

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really opened my heart to see him for who he really was, as opposed to like my

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father, who went away when I was three, or my stepfather, who was too caught up in

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his own issues to really be a father to me. He tried, but he just wasn't equipped

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to do it. God revealed himself to me as a faithful, loving father who wanted me to

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be whole and available to him.

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Are there a few books you could recommend for anyone listening who wants to delve

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more into that realm of learning how to allow the Lord to minister to the deep

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wounds that they've had in their life?

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Oh, absolutely. The first one that comes to mind is the Father Heart of God by

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Floyd McCLung. It really helps us understand how our relationship with our

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earthly father or father figures can shape how we see God at a very unconscious

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level, some of which will be true, but some of which won't be. And so it's good

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to have our eyes open to that. And mine certainly were, and it made all the

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difference in the world to me. Another book that I read during that time was

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Something More by Catherine Marshall. And the title suggests she was looking for

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something more, and I very much identified with that because so was I.

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The last one, which is a little bit heavier than these other two, is

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Transformation of the Inner Man by John and Paula Sanford. It really digs deeply

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into how our experiences can impact us and how the Lord desires to set us free

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and bring us into a right understanding. Those are just a handful of them, but

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they made a huge difference in my life. So you had become a successful banker at

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this point. I mean you're in your 30s, but your attitudes and your

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interests and your priorities began to change once you embraced Jesus as your

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Lord and you realized he had something more. Share about that. Well yes, when I

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went into inner healing, I was very, very, very heavy with limitations that I had

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put on myself. Some because of the circumstances in which I grew up that I

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thought limited me. Some because of my own choices. You know, one of the things

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we learned in inner healing is you can't control what happens to you. The only

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thing you can control is how you react. But until that becomes part of the way

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you think, sometimes we react sinfully. And even after that becomes part of how

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we think, sometimes we react sinfully. But the Lord can handle all of that. He can

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bring us to the point of forgiveness. And as a result of that time in inner

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healing, I began to ask the Lord, what do you want to do with my life? How can I

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honor you in my life? What I had always thought I was going to do is just

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continue in banking. And suddenly I realized that may not be at all what the

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Lord has for me. And while that was both exciting, it was also a little scary. So

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I just began seeking the Lord as to what he wanted me to do. I just wasn't sure

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what it was, but I knew it would involve surrender. Yeah, and then you started

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hearing about missions. That piqued your interest. Yes, I remember before I moved

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in with you that one of the things you said is, I have to warn you Stacey, people

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move in with me and then they get a heart for missions. And that's absolutely

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what happened. Within a matter of months, a mutual friend of ours, Angela

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Dahl, invited me to go on a mission trip to China. And again, one of those times in

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my life where without even thinking about it, I said yes. It's as if the heavens

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opened up while we were in China and I began to see that the Lord might be

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calling me to something more. And in fact, I really, when I came back, I thought,

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well I'm gonna go to China and teach English. And I began pursuing that. And

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the doors just did not open. And I was very confused by that because I thought

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I had it all figured out. And in reality, the Lord was quickening something in me,

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but he was about to remind me that he does things a little differently than I

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do and I just need to keep listening. Yeah, you know, I love that scripture in

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Proverbs 16 9 that says, a man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his

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steps. And that's exactly what happened with you. I mean, you were moving toward

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the glimpse of what God had showed you, completely open at this point to God

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directing you, your steps, and he did. But it wasn't the direction he thought he

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was gonna take you. So what happened? Well, I think it was about January of, let's

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see, 97 that the door clearly closed for me to go to China. I had asked several of

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my good friends and my spiritual mother and father, John LaRose Allman, who led

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the inner healing group that changed my life, I had asked them to pray about

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this because I felt like all the doors were closing. And I really wanted to hear

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from the Lord on whether I was supposed to persevere and press into it, trusting

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him or whether he was really just closing the door. And that's such an

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important principle. I'm just gonna stop you right there, Stacey. You know, when we

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start hearing from the Lord, there are multiple ways to confirm whether that's

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really him. One, of course, is, you know, is it biblical? And two, is a council of

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godly people around us praying and saying, yeah or no, we really don't see

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that God's doing that in your life. And of course, trusted, godly, mature people who

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weren't trying to manipulate us. And that's what you had around you that

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really helped confirm what you felt like the Lord was saying. Yeah, absolutely.

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And these were people, not only whose walk with the Lord I trusted, but who I

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knew would tell me the things I didn't want to hear if that's what God told

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them. And that's exactly what happened. They all said, no, Stacey, we think this

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door is closed. And so I just began praying. And as part of my responsibility

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as a team leader, I should probably back up and say I went in 96 on the first

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trip. I went in '97 on the second trip. And that trip I was a team leader. And part

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of my responsibility as a team leader was to go to the board meeting for the

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missionaries we worked with over there and give a report on the trip. At that

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meeting, there was a man who I knew his name. I knew he was involved in missions.

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I knew he even went to our church. But I went to the eight o'clock and he went to

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the 11 o'clock. And as the saying goes, those are two different worlds and

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every Dwayne shall meet. And so I had never met him. In that meeting, I thought,

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wow, I like this fella. But I was under the impression that he was dating

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someone. So I just, in my mind, I closed that door. But apparently the missionary

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with whom we both had been working did not. And he began pumping each of us up

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to the other in hopes that something would happen. We didn't know he was

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doing it on both sides, but he was. And then he devised a plan for the two of us

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to work on a project together for the ministry. What started out as

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conversations about the ministry project really turned into us getting to know

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each other. And the conversations were less and less about the ministry we were

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working with and more and more about our lives and what the Lord had been doing

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and what he was calling us to. That gentleman's name is Tom and it

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eventually turned into marriage. So how did that happen? Because he had, he was

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going a different direction. Absolutely. And he even told me as we got to know

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each other that he did want to ask me out. But he was under the impression at

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that point that I was headed to China. He knew he was headed to Asia. He thought,

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well, I can't ask her out. I don't want to derail her. And I often joke with him

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that if he thought he could have derailed me, he still didn't know me very

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well. Because if the Lord told me to go to China, I was going to go to China.

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But as I said, he didn't. He closed that door and we went on our first date. And

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this will shock some people, but he was getting ready to go overseas and roughly

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six weeks from the time we went on our first date. We often joke and say that

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we covered all the important territory before we went on our first date. So six

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weeks after the night before he was due to go overseas for six months, he

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proposed. And I said, yes, that's how our adventure began together as husband and

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wife. Eventually, he came back six months later. And a month after that we

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were married. And then 11 months after that, we returned to the country in

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Asia where he had been. Yeah, so you went and lived in this country for six

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years. And that was quite a time. What did God do in you and through you during

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those years? Because moving to another country is, you know, I mean, that's not

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for the faint of heart. There's a lot of challenges. But also, you knew the Lord

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had you there. So there was a purpose and a reason for you to be there.

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Oh, absolutely. And you're right. When you move to another country,

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particularly one with such a different culture, both from a spiritual

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standpoint, and just a day to day life standpoint, it's very, very humble. You

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know, I, I always joked when I told my testimony before I went overseas, that I

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was surrendered to the Lord, but I never hesitated to suggest to him a good way

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to do things. And I always thought that he probably chuckled when I said that.

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We're good planners. And so, you know, again, that's laying it down, Lord, you

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know, what you want to do. And so it was very, very humbling to be in an

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environment where it was very difficult to be understood, even though some

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people spoke English, a lot did not. I don't know if anyone else has ever had

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this experience. But if you've learned a second language, when you start to

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learn a third, sometimes you will speak your second language in the environment

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of the third. So a lot of these folks that I was encountering thought it was

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crazy, because I wasn't speaking English, but I would be speaking Spanish because

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I had already learned that. So it made for some pretty comical interactions.

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It's also amazing to report, to experience that when we were over there,

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as humbled as we were, as little as we quickly realized that we understood,

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because things operated so completely differently. For example, this was an

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honor and shame based culture. And it was shocking to me to realize that in that

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culture, lying is considered the right thing to do if it preserves honor. We had

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to realize we can't take everything at face value. And we can't assume

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everyone's going to trust everything we say, even though we know we're speaking

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the truth. But the Lord really opened doors for us that were shocking as we

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just allowed him to shape us by coming face to face with the things we didn't

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know. And also by just seeking him and doing the next thing. And early on, we

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were thrust, quite literally thrust by you into a disaster relief scenario.

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That allowed us to work very closely with some people that we may never have had

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the opportunity to work with in that country. But when that disaster happened,

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you called or emailed, I think, saying that the organization you were working

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with wanted to support the relief efforts there. And we said, with us, we're

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newbies here in this country, we don't have the contacts, and we don't speak the

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language. But you graciously said, we know you, you can work with whoever you

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want. And as a result of that, we had to reach out to the people that we knew who

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would have the contacts and know how to carry out this relief work in the way

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the Lord wanted it carried out. And that allowed us to work with these folks that

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really we never thought we'd be able to. You actually even started a family while

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you were there too, which opened new doors because, you know, children in the

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society were really highly valued and provided you more opportunity to share.

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Oh, absolutely. I can remember the neighborhood that we lived in. Every

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neighborhood in this country has, in the English version of the word, would be a

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manager. And that is the highest authority in that neighborhood. And they

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truly manage neighborhood issues. And this man really took a liking to our

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oldest daughter after she was born. And he brought her a gift very early on. And

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that was sort of like, okay, now you've been accepted into the neighborhood. And

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you're right, through those girls, we had our second daughter while we were there

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as well. So many conversations were made possible just by having them in a

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stroller when I went to the market one day a week when the market happened. And

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relationships developed that would not have easily developed otherwise as a

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result of having small children. So you all had every intention of remaining in

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the country and continuing service there. But once again, God directed your steps

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in a different way. Six years later, He called you to something new. What was

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next? The first thing He seemed to call us to was what I refer to as a time

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wandering in the desert. Our home fellowship that had sent us out to the

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mission field mandated that we take a furlough. We had been going pretty

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strongly on the field in the disaster relief and the other things we were

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involved with, a fellowship there on the field. And so they mandated that we take

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a furlough. And initially, we just did not like that because we wanted to go, go,

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go. The Lord was doing things. We wanted to be part of it. But here's another

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example of how the Lord was working when we were in the States for that furlough.

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Not only was our third child born, but our mother-in-law was diagnosed with

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dementia. And it became clear that she could no longer live alone. And so we

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needed to remain in the States. And so our time overseas was cut short rather

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abruptly. When we left the country, we thought we were going back. And so our

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household was still in place there. And Tom had to go back and sort of sort that

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all out. And we put a lot of things in storage and hope that we would be

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returning. But during this time that we were at home with her, things changed in

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that country. And some of the other folks who had been sent out by our

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fellowship actually had to be sent home. And in hindsight, that thing that we did

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not like having to come off the field was really not only provision for his

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mother, but it was also provision for our family. It would have been a very

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different situation to go back with small children in that environment. And

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while we would have been willing, if the Lord confirmed that that's what we were

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supposed to do, because we were prepared for that when we signed up in the first

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place, he was clearly closing that door. And we just had to trust. But what

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followed that was three years of not really knowing what the Lord was doing.

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We had three small children. We were full-time caring for his mom. Tom was

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substitute teaching in the school system, part-time pastoring a church that was

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between full-time pastors. And I was, as I say, just busy caring for the children

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and my mother-in-law. And while I have always been very fulfilled as a mother,

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and it was my honor to take care of his mom, I was often saying, okay, Lord, what

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are you doing in this? Where are you taking us in this? Because it really

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feels like we're just sort of wandering right now. And that was a very difficult

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time. But it also brought to mind what I have read in the book I mentioned

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earlier, Catherine Marshall's Something More, that there are times in our lives

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when we just long for more. Not because what we're doing isn't of value, not

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because it isn't important, not because it isn't part of what he wants to do in

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us, but because we know that there is more that he has for us. And sometimes

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it's just a longing for more understanding. And I would say that's

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probably what was going on in me more than anything at that point is, it all

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didn't make sense to me. And as we've joked, I'm a person that thinks, I like

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things to make sense. I like to know where I'm going. And this is the season

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where the Lord just reminded me, you don't have to know, Stacey. I do. And

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that's enough. And he did. He was speaking to you. I mean, you kind of felt

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like you maybe weren't in the middle of his work, but you certainly were.

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Because, boy, Scripture talks a lot about caring for our families. And, you know,

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Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for not caring for their parents and for trying

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to get the Israelites to give tithes to them instead of caring for their

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families. So it's very much on the heart of God. And, you know, friends, there are

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widows and orphans all over the world who need to experience the tangible

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expression of God's love right now. Many have special needs that we as a

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company of women can meet together. Will you consider joining us with a special

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gift to help? Just go to hergodstory.org and click on the Widow and Orphan Fund

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at the top of the page. Stacey, you were a mom of three active girls. And by this

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time, you're in your routine, your daily life, but you're learning for that,

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yearning for that clarity about what God was doing and what he was saying to you.

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When Tom called you and you had a new adventure to explore.

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Yes, it was Good Friday in 2008. And he came home while you called and started

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talking to me about this ministry that your dad was heading up. And said, you

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know, they're looking for someone to take over as my dad steps back from day to

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day activities, even though he's very much an ambassador for the ministry for

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sure. And you said, you know, do you think you and Tom would be interested in

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something like that? And I said, Well, you know, let me talk with Tom and see and

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let's pray about it. And so Tom came home from work that day, and I told him about

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your call. And his mouth dropped open. And he looked at me and he said, Stacey, I

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stood in the hallway today during a quiet time when normally the hall is

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never quiet. And I just said, Lord, I don't know why you have me here. But if

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this is where you want me, I'll stay here as long as you want me here. But if

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there's something else you want me to do, let me know. And then he comes home and I

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tell him you had called. So as you can imagine, that made quite an impression on

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both of us because separately, we were constantly laying down what we wanted

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what we had frankly thought we would be doing, you know, we thought we'd still be

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on the mission field. And there's a lot that we were grieving, to be honest,

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things that we thought we had understood directions we thought our life was going

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to go. And we had to grieve that. And at the same time, you know, when you're

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grieving something, you can either hold on to it and become bitter and angry, or

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you can lay it at the Lord's feet and say, Okay, this is an offering to you. Use

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me however you want, because I know that you are good. I know that you are faithful.

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And so that's what we were doing to the best of our understanding. And so on our

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10 year wedding anniversary, we flew down to Florida, and we interviewed with the

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folks at Galcom, your dad being part of that group. And we were really excited

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about it. But we also saw that God's hand had been all over every step of the

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founding and functioning of this ministry. And so after that weekend, we

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went back and we just started saying, Lord, this is such a powerful work of

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your hand. If this is not for us, block it. Don't let us go anywhere near it. But

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if it's a view, please confirm it undeniable. Because what we want more than

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anything is just to be where you want us to be. And at that point, saying that was

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a little scary, to be honest, because look where he just wanted us to be in the

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season where we really felt like we were wandering. And he could easily say, Nope,

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you're going to wander a little bit more. And trust me, you need to grow and

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trusting me. By this time, Tom's mom had also passed away. Well, no, not yet. She

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didn't pass. Yeah, she didn't pass away until after we took the job with Galcom.

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Because the Lord confirmed it clearly, we put up every obstacle, and the Lord

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overcame them very clearly. And we moved to Tampa in 2008. And then in 2009 is

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when she passed away. You've told me that the Lord invited you into something

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better than you had been grieving. You had been grieving, you know, the mission

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that you had had to leave. But, you know, share how God just revealed to you that

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he called you into something better than what you had. Absolutely. Both Tom and I

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had felt a very strong call to missions. We had done the perspectives on the

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world Christian movement course that opened our eyes to the missional theme

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throughout the word. And it was very much a part of our identity. I shared with you

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before that prior to us coming off the field, a doctor there in Hampton Roads

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had offered to do a surgery that would correct my eyesight. And it was very kind

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and very gracious of him. And then after we came off the field, I had contacted him

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to see if that was still a possibility. And one of the people in his office said,

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it is a possibility. We can schedule you for it, but you'll have to pay for it.

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And I said, oh, well, Dr. So-and-so had offered it. And he said, well, but you're

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not a missionary anymore. That was a moment where the Lord, I think, decided,

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I need to deal with that. And what I mean by that is when I read the book,

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something more, Katherine Marshall said that the Lord will be faithful to take

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you through a stripping process that will remove anything you're relying on

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for your security, your identity, all the things that the Lord wants to be for you,

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He will remove because He wants you focused on only Him for those things.

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And in that moment, I realized, wow, my identity as a missionary had become

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more important to me than the Lord wanted it to be. And so I had to lay that down,

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not just not being on the field, but I had to lay down missions and say,

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okay, Lord, you called me to this, but you can call me to something else if

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that's what you want. And then as it turns out, the calling to Galcom took us

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from grieving over not being able to be in one country that we loved deeply,

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we loved the people, we knew we were supposed to be there. But the move to

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Galcom took us to a place where we were part of reaching over 100 countries in

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the world. And that staggered me. And I almost can't talk about it without

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crying because that's another story in my life that the things that I thought I

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wanted, the things that were so important to me, the things that I thought the Lord

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was leading me to, I had to lay down, but He gave me something even better, not

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only by my own estimation, but for His kingdom purposes. And since we've been

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at Galcom, and it's been almost 15 years now, I continue to be stunned at the

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privilege He has given me to be part of strategically reaching so many countries.

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And I have to laugh now at how downcast I was over not being able to stay in one

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country. And I'm thankful for the Internet and all the ways that I can stay in

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touch with the people we knew there. But I'm also grateful that the Lord brought

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us into a place where we could be even more strategic than we were there.

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Yeah, and one of the strategic things that we've done together with Somebody

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Cares in Galcom is we've provided audio Bibles in Ukrainian to Ukrainians in

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Ukraine and those who had to flee Ukraine once the war with the Russians

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started. And also, I think providing some Bibles to Russians as well, in the

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Russian language. So it's been, and the hunger for the Word of God has been

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phenomenal. I mean, when people are in crisis, they want truth. And those audio

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Bibles have solar powered audio Bibles even so they don't even have to have a

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charger, which is important in Ukraine because a lot of the electrical power

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grid has been damaged. It's just been a lifeline for many, many people. So

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that's just one of the strategic ways that Galcom and you have been able to

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have an impact in the world.

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One of the things we love about being here is the ability to pivot quickly to

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enter into what the Lord is doing. And that's what happened with Ukraine. The

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Lord just opened the door through Somebody Cares and through our partners

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with Galcom Canada to be able to get those devices on the field quickly. And

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that's just, that's a God thing. No one else could do that. And it's amazing to

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watch him do that. It's amazing to watch him turn us in a direction we had no

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way he intended to take us and then make provision for it. And I see him do it

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over and over again. I want to share one of the most exciting things also that

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I've been a part of here, even though I wasn't on the ground, I was part of

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getting the team on the ground that did it. As missions oriented folks, we like

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to take the gospel to people. We particularly like to be part of taking

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it to people who've never heard it before. But one of the things that we

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had the blessing of being part of doing is taking audio Bibles to some folks in

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the mountain areas of Mexico in their heart language. While they had heard

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people read the Bible, it had never been in their heart language. And so we were

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able to bring them to a primarily oral culture, audio Bibles in their heart

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language, and see them. I've seen it only on video, but to see what happens when

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you hear the Word of God in your heart language for the first time. It's

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humbling to be part of that, and it's so powerful to see someone recognize that

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God speaks their language. And these are small tribal groups that are in Mexico

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and speak Spanish, but their, as you say, their heart language is a tribal

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language. Yes, and they're largely oral cultures. They can read, but they

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choose not to, because it's their cultural way of functioning to have

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stories passed down, as opposed to reporting things in writing and passing

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them down. Yeah, so audio Bible, I mean, it's the story of God's work in the

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world, is an amazing entree to those cultures and those people groups.

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As you well know, we also have solar powered radios and then devices that are

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a combination of a radio and an audio Bible. And audio Bibles open the door in

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a culture and then create the need or desire, I should say, for a radio

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station. And so it just grows and grows and grows because, like me, they want

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more. The more they know of the Lord, the more they want of the Lord. Well, that

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00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:21,920
was 15 years ago when you joined GalCom, as you mentioned, and so much has

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happened in your life since then. Your daughters are now in their late teens

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and young adult years, which can be a little scary from time to time for moms

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and dads. GalCom, as you mentioned, has expanded. But what has God been teaching

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you and revealing to you in this season? I mean, you've been involved in a lot of

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the work that he's been doing, but what has he been speaking and sharing with

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you? Because, gosh, we're always in that process of transformation with the Lord.

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You know, we're always moving from glory to glory, so to speak. Absolutely. The

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recurring theme in my life, Jody, is intimacy with him. It's really easy in

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our Christian walks, not intentionally, but through a desire to do the things the

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00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:20,160
Lord wants us to do. It can be really easy to get into a habit of just doing

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00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:27,120
what we think we're supposed to do. And increasingly and consistently, the Lord

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reminds me, no, I want you to do the works I've prepared in advance for you

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to do as Ephesians 2 10 references. But we're not going to know what those are

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if we're not in regular conversation with him, seeking him and listening to

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him and obeying him, yes, and then trusting him. Because we often don't see

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00:37:54,800 --> 00:38:00,320
the results of what we're doing. We just have to trust him for those results. And

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we have to trust that if we've misunderstood him, like I did about China,

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that he will redirect us, not in a punishing way, but because he loves us

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00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:15,520
and because he's faithful. And so more and more, as I get older, things become

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00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:20,400
more simple for me in one regard. And that is, just keep my eyes on Jesus. Just

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00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:26,160
keep talking to him, keep listening, keep doing what he tells me to do and

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00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:31,840
trusting that everything's going to be okay. And when I say okay, I mean, I'm

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00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:35,920
going to be in the center of his will and he will have made provision for my

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needs and everything that is necessary to accomplish his will. Well, often that

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00:38:42,560 --> 00:38:46,160
just means I need to be reminded that his ways are different than mine. And I have

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to be willing to go, okay, Lord, I'm getting increasingly comfortable with

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00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:55,200
being clueless about what you're doing. I'm just really grateful that I can trust

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00:38:55,200 --> 00:39:00,560
you at every step. Yeah, and you know, so important that in your younger years, the

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00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:08,480
Lord healed those concerns that you had about fatherhood and revealed to you

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what a good, good, good father he is. Because when we have that understanding

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of God's goodness, of God's love, of God's compassion, of God's mercy, it is

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00:39:18,800 --> 00:39:26,160
so much easier to trust him. You know, if you don't have that revelation that God

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is a good father and loves you and cares for you, it's hard to trust him. Because

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00:39:31,120 --> 00:39:34,400
you think, well, maybe he's just going to zap me if I step out of line. And that's

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00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:39,760
not as hard at all. I was reading in Exodus this morning, how Moses was

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00:39:39,760 --> 00:39:42,960
talking to God and said, God showed me your ways. And God said, I'm going to show

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you something and I'm going to call my name out to you. And I don't have it open

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00:39:47,840 --> 00:39:52,080
right in front of me. But he says, I, you know, I am the Lord. I am gracious to who

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00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:55,200
I want to be gracious. I'm compassionate to who I want to be compassionate with.

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I show my love to, you know, generations. And that's who he is. He's not an ogre

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God up there looking to discipline us because we're out of line. When he

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disciplines us, it's in love for our good. And that's why we can trust him.

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Absolutely. And as you were talking, one of the things that came to my mind that

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may seem random, but it's a great example of what you were talking about.

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When I was overseas in a predominantly Muslim country, and I was pregnant with

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our first daughter, I was having my time with the Lord one morning and I just

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00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:39,040
said, Lord, give me a scripture for her. I just, I want something to hold on to as

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I walk through the rest of this pregnancy, which towards the end, I had a

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little complication, nothing serious, but still something that was a little scary

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as a first time mom. He gave me Isaiah 54. And one of the parts of that talks

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00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:59,200
about terror being far removed. It also talks about great will be your

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00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:05,200
children's piece. Well, a week before she was due to be born, we were in the

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United States to have her because of the complications that had happened. My

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doctor over there said, you need to go to the States because of your age. I was

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over 35. And because of this complication, the week before she was born was 9 11.

476
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And here we are having a newborn and getting ready to go back to a Muslim

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country. And we didn't know what it would be like. We knew what it was like

478
00:41:31,520 --> 00:41:35,680
when we left, but we didn't know what it would be like when we went back. Not

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00:41:35,680 --> 00:41:41,520
only did we immediately begin receiving emails from folks there saying how

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sorry they were that this happened, but immediately the Lord brought to mind

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that scripture. I have made a promise to you. And it gave us such peace about

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00:41:54,240 --> 00:42:00,320
taking her back to that environment. And she was a pretty powerful missionary on

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her own when she went back there as we talked about earlier.

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00:42:03,600 --> 00:42:08,720
Yeah. So Stacey, are there any key truths that have guided you in your journey

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00:42:08,720 --> 00:42:12,000
with the Lord? I mean, she looked back over all of the experiences that you've

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00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:14,880
had, and there have been many more even than we haven't been able to talk about

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00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:18,640
today. What are some of the key truths that have really guided you?

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00:42:18,640 --> 00:42:26,400
Well, you said earlier, He is good always. And one of the things that's driven that

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00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:32,960
home for me is as I look back later at situations that at the time I was saying,

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00:42:32,960 --> 00:42:39,040
Lord, why? What are you doing? Or Lord, are you doing anything? I look back and

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00:42:39,040 --> 00:42:43,840
those were the times when He was exercising His goodness and His faithfulness

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00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:49,360
towards me the most. And the reason I couldn't see it at the time was because

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His ways are not our ways. Rather than keeping my eyes on my circumstances or

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00:42:55,920 --> 00:43:01,760
the way I think He was going to work or should be, how dare I be so bold as to

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00:43:01,760 --> 00:43:05,280
think I should know how God should work, but I have to confess that there were

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times that I did, He just was so faithful to remind me my ways are not

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00:43:10,000 --> 00:43:16,080
in ways. But as everything plays out, His goodness is revealed over and over and

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00:43:16,080 --> 00:43:21,440
over. As I said earlier, things just get simpler and simpler the older I get. I

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00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:25,760
just have to keep my eyes on Him and remember who He is because when things

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00:43:25,760 --> 00:43:30,000
don't make sense in life, or when things are particularly difficult, or we feel

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00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:34,640
confused, or we're grieving, or we feel directionless, or we feel like God's

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00:43:34,640 --> 00:43:42,000
forgotten us, it's the knowledge of His character, the essence of who He is that

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00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:50,560
tells us He cannot abandon us. He cannot forget about us. He cannot be taking us

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00:43:50,560 --> 00:43:58,000
in the wrong direction. Everything that He does or He allows in our lives is

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00:43:58,000 --> 00:44:05,120
truly for our good and will be used for His glory. Just staying close to Him,

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00:44:05,120 --> 00:44:13,680
loving Him, understanding how incredible it is that an all-powerful, all-knowing

507
00:44:13,680 --> 00:44:19,160
God, one who knows every ugly thought I've ever had and every mistake I've

508
00:44:19,160 --> 00:44:27,000
ever made, chooses to love me, chooses to save me, and miracle after miracle to me

509
00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:32,760
chooses to use me to advance His kingdom in any way, whether it's the young lady

510
00:44:32,760 --> 00:44:40,240
that I have coffee with during the week or on the mission field. He will use me

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00:44:40,240 --> 00:44:47,200
however He sees fit, and all I have to do is keep in touch, you know, sit and listen

512
00:44:47,200 --> 00:44:52,360
to Him every day, praise Him, and be available. And He does things that I

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00:44:52,360 --> 00:44:58,600
could never have imagined. If someone had told me in my early days that I would

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00:44:58,600 --> 00:45:03,200
ever have been on the mission field, I would have laughed. I remember in high

515
00:45:03,200 --> 00:45:10,800
school studying all of the ancient ruins and thinking, oh I'd love to see those,

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00:45:10,800 --> 00:45:14,920
but thinking I never would. And then one of the first things I did is went and

517
00:45:14,920 --> 00:45:19,800
stood in those types of ruins, and I remember being overcome by His goodness

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00:45:19,800 --> 00:45:23,960
that He gave me the opportunity to be there, and it was only because He called

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00:45:23,960 --> 00:45:28,720
me to the mission field. And we don't have enough time, but I could tell story

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00:45:28,720 --> 00:45:37,760
after story after story of how He has done that, and knowing who He is defeats

521
00:45:37,760 --> 00:45:42,440
so many of the lies that the enemy tries to tell us when we're confused, when

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00:45:42,440 --> 00:45:47,000
we're grieving, when we're hurting, when we don't know what He's doing. But He is

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00:45:47,000 --> 00:45:53,480
good, good, good, always. Well Stacey, I'd love to ask my guests what women or

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00:45:53,480 --> 00:45:59,600
woman of the Bible has encouraged or inspired or taught you something. Who

525
00:45:59,600 --> 00:46:05,480
comes to mind for you and why? Well you know Jodi, as I get older more and more

526
00:46:05,480 --> 00:46:12,400
women in the Bible inspire me as my life experience changes, but the two Marys

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00:46:12,400 --> 00:46:18,880
come to my mind. First, Mary the mother of Jesus because of her abandonment of

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00:46:18,880 --> 00:46:26,480
herself to whatever He had for her. It humbles me, it inspires me, and I just

529
00:46:26,480 --> 00:46:33,520
want to be like her in my willingness to lay everything down and trust Him that

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00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:38,800
what He's doing is so much better than anything I could imagine, even when I

531
00:46:38,800 --> 00:46:43,880
don't understand it, like Mary didn't understand it. And then also Mary, the

532
00:46:43,880 --> 00:46:50,080
sister of Lazarus, you know she knew the better thing of just sitting at Jesus'

533
00:46:50,080 --> 00:46:57,920
feet, being in His presence, absorbing what He had to share on that day. And you

534
00:46:57,920 --> 00:47:02,000
know if I'm honest, and I think you'll identify with this too, I can tend to be

535
00:47:02,000 --> 00:47:09,280
a little bit more like Martha, but I long to be more and more like Mary, and He has

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00:47:09,280 --> 00:47:17,400
grown me in being hungry daily for His presence. But the reality is I think in

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00:47:17,400 --> 00:47:22,360
life there are seasons when He prompts us to be a Martha because there are

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00:47:22,360 --> 00:47:27,520
things that have to be done, and there are seasons when He prompts us to be

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00:47:27,520 --> 00:47:33,680
more like Mary, but the reality is both of those things are part of His plan for

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00:47:33,680 --> 00:47:40,000
us, but we're only gonna know if we start out like Mary sitting and listening and

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00:47:40,000 --> 00:47:45,840
then doing when He tells us to do, or waiting and trusting when He tells us to

542
00:47:45,840 --> 00:47:53,840
wait and trust. And so I just love being more like Mary because I get to know Him

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00:47:53,840 --> 00:47:59,680
more and I get to trust Him more and my hunger for others to know Him grows and

544
00:47:59,680 --> 00:48:07,880
grows and grows because He is so good. Well Psalm 141 verse 8 in the NIV says,

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00:48:07,880 --> 00:48:13,440
But my eyes are fixed on you, Sovereign Lord. In you I take refuge.

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00:48:13,440 --> 00:48:18,000
Stacey's learned the beauty and peace that comes from keeping her eyes fixed on

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00:48:18,000 --> 00:48:22,920
Jesus. Our world today can be scary and confusing if we fix our eyes on the news,

548
00:48:22,920 --> 00:48:28,480
the economy, the circumstances around us, but when we fix our eyes on Jesus we are

549
00:48:28,480 --> 00:48:34,480
flooded with peace and hope and purpose. Stacey would you take a moment and pray

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00:48:34,480 --> 00:48:40,720
for everyone who's listening to this God story? Lord I thank you that you are

551
00:48:40,720 --> 00:48:47,220
always working, Lord, and in ways that we can't even begin to imagine. I think

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00:48:47,220 --> 00:48:51,120
today of the people that you have brought to listen to this podcast because

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00:48:51,120 --> 00:48:56,480
there's something that you want to use to touch their heart and draw them closer

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00:48:56,480 --> 00:49:02,600
to you. Lord I thank you for that evidence of your goodness, your deep love for

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00:49:02,600 --> 00:49:08,460
each person that's listening. Father I pray that you would miraculously take

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00:49:08,460 --> 00:49:14,080
the things that Jodie and I have talked about today and use it according to your

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00:49:14,080 --> 00:49:19,440
good plan to draw these people closer to you, to reveal more and more of who you

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00:49:19,440 --> 00:49:25,200
are, and I pray for each person listening more that their hearts would be opened to

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00:49:25,200 --> 00:49:31,560
receive all that you are, to walk in the assurance of your goodness, of your

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00:49:31,560 --> 00:49:37,920
faithfulness, of your purposes in their lives and through their lives. Because

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00:49:37,920 --> 00:49:42,240
Lord that's who you are. You're always doing something good and you're always

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00:49:42,240 --> 00:49:48,000
seeking to bring glory to your name, that more would know you, more would love you,

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00:49:48,000 --> 00:49:53,600
and more would be used by you for your kingdom purposes. So thank you Lord

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because we know that's what you're doing today in Jesus name and for his glory.

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00:49:58,800 --> 00:50:05,240
Amen. Amen. Thank you for tuning in. In our show notes at hergodstory.org you'll

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find scriptures and other information we talked about, a list of the books Stacey

567
00:50:09,760 --> 00:50:14,880
recommended. Don't forget to sign up for our emails and get a six-week devotional

568
00:50:14,880 --> 00:50:18,520
book for free that you can download, or you may want to purchase a 12-week

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00:50:18,520 --> 00:50:22,840
devotional for just $12, knowing that all the proceeds will go to our widow and

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00:50:22,840 --> 00:50:28,120
orphan fund. We'd love to pray with you on our 24-7 prayer and text line so give

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us a call anytime at 855-459-CARE or email us at prayer@somebodycares.org.

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And now dear friends I bless you from Philippians 4:7, may the peace of

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God which transcends all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in

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Christ Jesus. Her God Story is a ministry of Somebody Cares America and

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00:50:50,560 --> 00:50:54,320
International. To find out more about or support the ministry go to

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