117. Faith, False Accusation, & a Teacher’s Resolve with Erin Ahnfeldt

Ever felt unseen or misunderstood? Erin, a public school teacher, was falsely accused & a single song reframed the battle and renewed his calling. Hear how faith steadied him and why being seen by God restored the soul.

• why stories help us spot God’s work
• how a Christian teacher navigates public school boundaries
• the weight of a false accusation and internal fallout
• the moment a song became a shield

If this episode encouraged you, share it with someone who needs the reminder that they are not alone and that they are fully seen.

Connect with Erin at: See God in Your Story

https://generationstogenerations.com/podcast

ordinarypeoplestories@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/ordinarypeoplestory

https://www.instagram.com/ordinarypeopleextraordinary/

X: @storiesextra 

Any advice should be confirmed with a qualified professional.
All rights reserved: Ordinary People Extraordinary Things

Stories shared by guests may not always be shared views  of OPET. 
Being a guest does not mean OPET approves of every decision or action in the guests' life. 

We all have a story, all of us, share your story. You don't have to have the perfect answer or the perfect life - share what Jesus is doing in your life. This is an easy, real way to witness & share your testimony.

Transcript

Scars, Memory, And Faithfulness

Nancy Bruscher 0:01

Welcome to Ordinary People Extraordinary Things. I'm Nancy Brucher, your host, and I'm so glad you found us. Here we talk with ordinary people, just like you, about real stories of faith and hope. The idea of remembering what God has done in our lives has come up so many times on this podcast. It also came up at church recently when Diana talked about setting up remembrances, like Abraham did, to mark something specific God had done. She encouraged us to create reminders in our own lives that point us back to his faithfulness. For me, what came to mind is a physical scar I carry from a surgery that saved my life, but also reminds me of a baby we lost. I had an octopic pregnancy. Our baby implanted in the wrong area and grew in my fallopian tube. When it ruptured, I was bleeding internally without anyone knowing. It's strange how physical scars often heal more easily than the ones we carry in our hearts and minds from the same experiences. That scar has always brought sadness. But I'm choosing to see it differently, to let it remind me of God's faithfulness in saving my life and blessing us with another baby afterwards. My prayer is that through this podcast and through Aaron's story today, you'll be reminded of something God has done in your own life. Something worth remembering. Well, welcome to Ordinary People, Extraordinary Things. I'm Nancy, and I'm so excited to have Aaron on the show today. Thanks for being on.

Erin Ahnfeldt 1:28

Thanks for having me, Nancy. This is a real honor.

Nancy Bruscher 1:31

And we have just gotten to know each other. It was kind of someone said, Hey, you should talk to Aaron.

Erin Ahnfeldt 1:36

He's got some really great, do you call them blogs or I just call them stories, stories of God's faithfulness and the ways he shows up in the school where I work.

Nancy Bruscher 1:45

Yes. So he's like, you should talk to him. And and I looked at some of your things and we just we just started talking. So thanks for being on the show.

Erin Ahnfeldt 1:53

Of course, of course. I'm excited about this.

Nancy Bruscher 1:56

And if people don't know who you are, can you give three words or phrases to describe yourself?

Erin Ahnfeldt 2:01

Sure. I'm a teacher in a public school, a Christian teacher in a public school. I teach English, and I would say I'm an encourager. That's one of the big things that I think I do in the classroom with my kids and people around me. And I'm a storyteller. I love stories. And because I talk about them in my classroom all the time, they're a big deal for me and for my students and for my family. So I'm always telling stories.

Nancy Bruscher 2:22

And what kind of stories are like stories that of things that you've witnessed or in your life? Or why do you love stories?

Stories As Windows To God’s Work

Erin Ahnfeldt 2:30

Well, actually, good question. I I love stories originally because my mom was a storyteller. She would, she would get our imaginations going. We'd be driving by um the rock on Castle Rock, and she would say, Imagine the the Indians up there, and they were, you know, they were out there and they're protecting their their cattle and they're also protecting their their tribe. And she's like, and this is where they would come, and the wagon trains would come through here, and we would get so um just excited, and our imagination would be just turning and churning. And so she would tell stories all the time, um, especially stories about history. And so I grew up just loving stories and and um loving it when people would tell stories around the campfire or tell stories as a family. And now in the classroom, I'm talking about stories. I'm talking about of mice and men and Fahrenheit 451 and and all these great stories of literature, Shakespeare, and we're talking about in the classroom, and and then I asked the students to tell their stories, and we talk about their stories a lot in the class, and I tell my story a little bit. And then there's the story that um, well, obviously, God's the author of all those stories. And so as I talk about um God being the God being the author of our stories, I'm also talking about Steinbeck and and I'm talking about Lorraine Hansbury, the raising of the sun. I'm thinking about wait, God's the author of the story, and he's weaving in these beautiful settings and conflicts and characters in our lives. And at the same time, I'm talking about how these authors are creating settings and creating characters, and it just hits me hard that that um God is so creative with our stories and does so many great things. Um, so yeah, so I'm passionate about stories.

Nancy Bruscher 4:09

Yeah, me too, obviously, with doing the podcast. And then I've had a business for 20 years where I've I've captured people's stories for them to pass on to their family. So I feel we're kind of like kindred spirits in that is, but I also feel that it is what God has also kind of put into us is this love for stories and to tell stories about um, you know, how he's working in our life and that stories just kind of connect us and kind of make the walls fall down. And I think it's just a beautiful way to share about ourselves and share about God.

Living Faith In A Public School

Erin Ahnfeldt 4:40

I so agree with that. Yeah, I I for sure agree. And I think he wants us to see the evidence of his work in our stories too, that he's he's at work in those stories and doing incredible things with them, just a matter of paying attention.

Nancy Bruscher 4:51

Right. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah. So maybe you get this question a lot, maybe you don't, but here's a question is how are you able to share your faith in a public school, or are you?

Erin Ahnfeldt 5:02

That's a great question. I feel very blessed because I have great leadership at this school at Doherty High School in Colorado Springs. Hillary Heighton is the head principal, and she is fantastic about letting people, um, letting kids express their faith and have clubs about that have to do with faith. She lets anybody have a club, so she's open to any any clubs that want to start and um is is very loving and cares about just kids being encouraged and and and just finding places that are healthy where they can grow. So something like young life, which is something I'm a part of, she's totally open to that. And um, and when kids have Bible studies, she's totally open to that too, because she knows that that's something that that is encouraging the kids and helps them where they feel support and community. Um, so yeah, so those are all great things. So, anyway, so that means that when I'm in the classroom and kids ask me about my life and about my story, I can tell them about uh how important Jesus is to me and how important my my church community is to me, and how important it is for me just to see God as the author of my story. And I write these stories about God showing up in the public school, in the school where I work, and I share them with my students as a way to say, here's how I'm doing as a writer, and here's things I struggle with. And so they see my stories up on the screen and we talk about them, and they they are they bring up my faith a lot. And I say, Oh, look how I use this dash, or look how I how I develop this conflict. And and then we'll talk about it a little bit. And and a lot of times the stories are celebrating the kids and their courage and and God using the kids powerfully in the classroom. So, so yeah, so I those are a lot of ways I share my faith. Um, kids asking questions through the stories I share um through young life. Um, so yeah, kids, kids know where I stand, but I'm never telling them where I think they should stand. Um I never come outright and just say where I think they should stand, but I let them ask me questions and I'm open about who I am.

Nancy Bruscher 6:52

Okay, that's great. And you mentioned Young Life a few times. Could you tell us what that is?

What Young Life Offers Teens

Erin Ahnfeldt 6:57

Sure, sure. Yeah, so Young Life is an organization and nation, well, actually worldwide organization that's really for teens to um come into a kind of a safe place. Um, usually they'll meet in sometimes in churches, but usually in somebody's house and and they come in and they meet there and and there's songs and music and there's skits and games, and and then there's someone who gives a brief talk about who Jesus is. And it's usually not in a church, just because a lot of times kids have baggage with churches and and they're scared of churches. Um, but it definitely is a becomes a bridge for kids to find a church and find a Christian community and find out about who Jesus is. And they're big on camps, and so they send kids off to camp, and kids have these experiences where they bond with a group of people and feel really close and and hear more about who Jesus is.

Nancy Bruscher 7:46

That's good. Why do you think kids would have this rejection to church? Or do you have any thoughts on that? That just kind of came up when you said that.

Erin Ahnfeldt 7:54

I think kids associate church with um rules and with um adults and with um just the stuffy kind of religion. Um, not that any of that is true, but that those are just things in their heads. And um, and then and I think coming into a setting when you're not when you haven't searched out who God is and feel like kind of questioned about Jesus, you haven't even really thought about those questions, coming right into a church can be scary for a kid. And so young life is a way to say, hey, all your friends are coming from school and we're all gonna be there at this place and come on and let's hear about who Jesus is and let's play some games and have some fun together and and they feel safe in this community of friends that they already know.

Nancy Bruscher 8:35

Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. Well, when we talked, you said that um you had a few stories that you could tell, and we kind of landed on this one. And I I'm so excited that you would be, I'll just say, brave enough to share this story, but you were talking about how you got falsely accused by a student. Would you share that story with us?

The False Accusation Unfolds

Anxiety, Doubt, And Night Walks

A Song, A Shield, A Turning

Erin Ahnfeldt 8:55

Sure, yeah, yeah. That was one of the harder points in my career. I mentioned I have great principals here that I work for. Um, one of them, um, his name's Trevor, and he is a former student of mine, actually, which is crazy. So he was my student and now he's my my boss, basically. And uh, and he is fantastic. Um, he'll he came in my room one day and he was observing my class, and he was we all had, I think we had a mice and men out, and he asked some of the kids next to him, he said, What are we reading? And they said, We're reading a mice and men. He said, Oh, I remember reading that. And so it was kind of fun. He observed the class and it went smooth. And um, a week later, a couple weeks later, I went down to his office for a mid-year review. I walked in and we had a great, great discussion about the class and about the kids being engaged and about the flow of the lesson, and it was all fine. We talked about um our plans for Christmas break and um just just real fine, great, great conversation. And then he said, I have something to tell you, Aaron. And I said, Okay. And I could tell just by his demeanor that it was weighing on him that what he was about to say. And uh I felt like, well, he's not gonna say anything too heavy. I'll be fine, whatever he's gonna say. And but I did kind of feel bad for him because he's my former student. Here he's telling his teacher about something rough that he has to tell him about. And then he says, A girl told me, um, one of your students said that you touched her uncomfortably. And when he said that, I'm just all of a sudden my mind is just churning. Who is this? What, what, what it, what did I do? What did I what happened in that classroom? What is how how would she think that I touched her uncomfortably? And I'm trying to process back to the, you know, any time where I may have done that or may have even been close to that, and I couldn't think of any any time that I had touched her at all, not even patter on the shoulder. And um, and then he said, and I I pulled a student who sits next to her in class and asked her if if she had seen any time when you had touched her uncomfortably. And she said that she remembered maybe that you had patted her on the shoulder and said, good job. And so I thought about this girl, and I and I remembered she this girl I had barely seen in class. She had been skipping class, she she was failing my class. And as we sat there, and I was just trying, trying so hard to figure out what could have made this girl say that she was touched uncomfortably. It both it hit both of us that she was probably just wanting to be out of my class, not be in my class at all, and just um was failing and wanted an excuse to not be in the class. And um, and then Trevor said, Yeah, this this is not anything that we're gonna continue to move forward with with this investigation. There's nothing I know that you didn't do anything wrong and I trust you. And he said, So, so this is over as far as I'm concerned. But he did say that her parents had come in and they were upset too, and had talked with him. And so that, of course, got me also kind of feeling this anxiety and feeling overwhelmed about man, these there's parents upset about this, and I have no idea what even happened or where this is coming from. So I left the office, knowing that the principals were behind me, that this was all settled for them. But for me, it wasn't settled at all. I just, it just was eating me up inside. And the anxiety was building, and um, and I started to, I mean, the enemy can get in there, you know, when these when you start questioning and and the anxiety is there, I just started thinking, what am I doing in this school? I've been teaching for 30 years, and I'm thinking maybe it's time for me to retire. Maybe, maybe with students kind of finding ways to get at teachers or or using these kind of tactics to like accuse teachers that maybe it's time for me to be done, especially with I was thinking about how maybe the student that was pulled from my class was maybe creating rumors, or maybe they're talking about Mr. Onfeld's touching people uncomfortably. And I'm just thinking about um a reputation and and just just felt horrible. So I walked with my wife that that night and and um we talked, and then um I couldn't sleep that night. The next morning I wake up, I'm getting in my car, and uh I'm driving my car back to school, kind of thinking that that's the last place I want to be. And I'm playing Spotify, and I'm a terrible Spotify listener. I have um one folder that says Aaron's list, and it has like 120 songs on it, and so I'm playing my Spotify lists in my car, and um, I've got about a seven-minute drive, and I'm not hearing the music. I'm just thinking about what I am doing teaching still, and maybe I need to be done. And I can't believe kids kids are probably talking about this, and and then all of a sudden I hear this piano music, and it's a song that's very familiar from way back in the early 90s. Um, and it's Stephen Curtis Chapman singing, When You Are a Soldier. The song starts off with Um, When you are a Soldier, I will be your shield, I will go into the battlefield. And then he says, When the arrows start to fly, hold my take my hand and hold on tight, and I will be your shield because I know how it feels when you're a soldier. And it was the absolute perfect song um for that seven-minute drive going to school. And I just started to cry. I just started to weep. And it wasn't weeping of you know, anxiety and and um discouragement. It was more of a weeping of joy and relief that um that God saw me, that I was not alone in all this, and that he was with me in the battle, and that he knew that there were arrows flying at me, like the song says. He knew about those, and he wanted me to know that he knew in that car. And suddenly I I had purpose. I felt like, okay, this is a battle. That's how God sees this. This is the battle, and I'm in that battle, and I am his man in that battle, I'm his warrior, and um, and it's a good place for me to be. So I had this renewed purpose. The Holy Spirit was there speaking in my heart. And when I walked back into those, into that building through those double doors, I knew I was right where I was supposed to be and that I was not alone.

Nancy Bruscher 15:05

That's really good. That's yeah, that's really good. Have you ever thought, like, should I share this story? Why should I share it? Like, it would be kind of easy just to, okay, that's in the past. I don't ever want to think about it again. I don't want to talk about it. It's, you know, it could be like an odd story or a weird story. Do you feel like led by God to share it? Kind of like what we were talking about before with stories and how it might impact someone else.

Sharing The Story To Restore

Erin Ahnfeldt 15:30

Definitely. Oh, yeah. I put it out on my blog. It's one of the stories I published on my blog. People need to know that they are seen, that God sees them, that they're not alone in the midst of their discouragement. Um, and they also need to know that um, just like Psalm 23 says, God wants to restore our souls. He is in the business of restoring our souls. He not only sees us in our struggle, um, but he wants to restore us. He doesn't want to leave us in those places of anxiety and discouragement and lies that we might be believing. He is in the business of restoring us. Um, yeah, so Psalm 23 says that after it says that he brings us to, you know, still waters and makes light down green pastures, it says that he restores our souls. Um it also says that he's with us in the valley of the shadow of death. And I definitely, in the midst of my shadows and my storm, um, I felt that he was there. And another scripture that means so much to me is um is in first, I think it's first Peter, where um Peter says that Jesus is the shepherd and overseer of his soul. God sees those deep places in our in our hearts where we're really hurting. And when I published that story, the principal actually, Trevor, who I had that conversation with, he came up to me and he told me later, he's like, I didn't realize that it that this all affected you like that, that it hit you so hard like that. Um, because I put on my veteran teacher front and I acted like everything was fine and like, okay, thanks, Trevor. Thanks for letting me know, and we'll deal with this. And um, and if you need the parents to talk to me, I can talk with them. You know, we just kind of acted like everything was good, but man, it just weighed on me. And he didn't know that, but God knew that, God saw that. And I think people need to need to see that God sees them.

Nancy Bruscher 17:04

Yeah, no, that's so good. And I think that other people might be feeling the same way as you are, as far as maybe not the exact same thing that you went through, but I do think that there are those uncomfortable situations where something is said about you, or you know, it could be, I didn't say that. Why did someone think I said that? Or the idea of being misunderstood, maybe a complete lie being said about you. So I feel like this is just a really great story for anyone who's feeling like I'm I'm not being heard right, something's going on. And then yours was just a little bit more than that, right? Because this could be a huge problem if it got kind of taken further, or if if you weren't believed, or I don't know if I'm saying that correctly.

Erin Ahnfeldt 17:51

Oh, yeah, for sure. It could have, it could have I could have lost my job. Yeah, for sure. And sometimes principals are in a hard place because they they want to make sure that the kids feel heard and the parents feel heard, and they need to hear both sides of the story. So that's why he had to do the investigation. Trevor had to look into you know the what the what the student side of the story was and and talk to the parents. So yeah, I could have definitely lost my job. But I think, I think you're right. There's a lot of pieces of that story that people can relate to. Um and even the lies, you know, the the fact that we believe lies that are just kind of lingering in the back of our heads and and working their ways into our hearts. Um, those lies can can do some serious damage, and we might not even know that we're believing them. But um, I think God sees that too, and he wants to free us from those lies.

Nancy Bruscher 18:34

Yeah, or the devil kind of seeing, oh, hey, I've got a little in right now with Aaron, right? I can I can kind of mess with him, I can take this to a whole new level.

Erin Ahnfeldt 18:44

Oh, for sure, for sure. And he wants to make us ineffective. He wants me, he wants me to quit. And I think a lot of us are in places where God's using us, whether, you know, whether you're a mom with your kids and you're feeling overwhelmed because you've got this full, full load of kids and dealing with practices and and taking them to school and everything, and and you're just done, and they're and you feel like you're not good enough and you're not doing a good enough job as a mom or as a wife, or if you're, you know, if you're a pastor and you feel like your congregation is is struggling and broken and fractured, or I mean, all kinds of places where we're where God's using us. And the enemy doesn't want us to be effective. He wants to make us preoccupied with ourselves and our lies and our um in anxiety and take us out of the game.

Nancy Bruscher 19:26

Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Well, Aaron, we always end with some questions, but before that, I want to I want to have our listeners be able to get in touch with you. Is there a way that they can find you and get more of your stories?

Erin Ahnfeldt 19:39

Yes. So I've I've written a book about God being the author of our story. As an English teacher, like I said, I just see him, I see all the ways that authors reveal themselves in their in their books. And and I also see how God has been the author of my story, especially as a teacher in a public school. And so I've written a book about God being the author and how he shows up in the symbolism and in the conflicts and the settings and the characters of our of our stories. And so I've I'm going to publish that book. And so if people want to get the book, they can subscribe and also get the short stories that I write. I write one every two weeks and send them out. And they're they're like your stories, Nancy. They're stories of hope. Um, so I send those out once every two weeks. And then I also have a 21-day guide of finding God as the author of your story. And all that can be found on your story has an author.com. And click there and you can get that 21-day guide, and you can also get the stories and also find out about the book when it comes out, which I'm super excited about.

Nancy Bruscher 20:34

Oh, that's exciting. When are you hoping it's done?

Erin Ahnfeldt 20:37

Well, it's all finished. It's all finished. I'm just looking for a publisher. So I'm talking to some different people and also trying to get the word out about the stories and about the book. And so we'll see what God does. I'm leaving it in his hands and we'll see, we'll see what he's gonna do with it.

Nancy Bruscher 20:50

That's awesome. That's awesome. Congratulations.

Erin Ahnfeldt 20:53

Thank you.

Nancy Bruscher 20:54

Yeah. I just self-published a book, was it in September? I think it went out. And it's about uh people being able to capture their heirlooms and the stories behind it. So I did the self-publishing route. So I was interested to hear how how yours goes.

Erin Ahnfeldt 21:09

Now, what do you mean by heirlooms? Capture the heirlooms and the stories behind it. You mean like some specific little material thing that they hold on to that represents a story?

Nancy Bruscher 21:18

Yes, yes. So, like the idea of like, for example, we have a like a rocking horse upstairs, and it's like a kid's rocking horse. And honestly, even right now, I can't remember, okay, was that Chris's grandpa's or was it his great grandpa's? And did he make it, or was it his, like, you know, I I know it's important to the family, I know it's his side, and I know it's a grandpa or a great grandpa, but I can't remember if it was one he rode, played on, or if he made it for a kid. Like, so it's like, okay, these stories that we have these heirlooms, these keepsakes that are passed down, but then we kind of forget a little bit of what's important about it. Why is it important? So this air this book. Helps people to put that in there so that you can pass it on or remember it yourself a little bit better.

Erin Ahnfeldt 22:07

And I think that goes back to God being an author of our stories because he puts these things, even physical things in our lives that represent something bigger, symbols like symbols in our lives, that represent something bigger that that um kind of encourage us and show us that he's a part of part of our lives and what he's doing in our lives, how he's crafting our stories in our lives. I think material things, he puts material things in our lives that we can hold on to and see that he's there. Just like an author does with symbolism in their books.

Nancy Bruscher 22:32

Right. Yeah, that totally makes sense or kind of reminds you of a of a time, right? I uh at church the other weekend they were talking about having a remembrance stone, kind of like how Abraham put the stones up, right? And so, what do you have in your life as a remembrance of of what God's done?

Erin Ahnfeldt 22:50

Yep.

Nancy Bruscher 22:51

Yeah, so yeah, I love that.

Erin Ahnfeldt 22:53

Me too. That's so cool. What a great book, Nancy. I love it.

Nancy Bruscher 22:56

Oh, thanks. Thanks. So as we wrap up, what is um your favorite Bible verse or story?

Erin Ahnfeldt 23:05

Um, I think right now I've been thinking a lot about God seeing us. And just like I mentioned earlier, um, in John chapter one, Nathaniel is asked by Philip to go see Jesus. And and and Philip says, You gotta see this Jesus. He's amazing, he's the Messiah. And and Nathaniel walks towards Jesus, and and Jesus immediately says, Here's a man who has no guile. He's he's like a man with no deceit. And then immediately Nathaniel says, Wait, how do you know me? And then he says, I saw you under the fig tree. And then that just that's that's that's all it takes for Nathaniel. He's like, Oh my gosh, you are Jesus, you are Lord, you are Lord, Jesus, you're the savior, you're the messiah. And um, and that I just love that because I think when we recognize that we are seen, when we see that God sees us, it changes everything. When we can see, when we can recognize that maybe he was in that song that I heard in the car, or maybe he was in that object that I saw in the room at the right time that reminded me of a story that I needed to remember. Um, when we see that he sees us, or of the verse, a verse we got just the right time. And when he sees that he sees us, it changes everything for us. We realize that we are loved so deeply and that he's right here with us. So that I love that passage in in John one in John 1.

Nancy Bruscher 24:19

Yeah, that's good. And he reminds us all over the Bible, right? That he that he sees people, and yeah, that's beautiful.

Erin Ahnfeldt 24:27

Amen.

Nancy Bruscher 24:28

What are you grateful for?

Erin Ahnfeldt 24:29

I'm grateful for my wife. My wife is such a good listener. I mentioned in the story that we took a walk together after this uh accusation came out, and she is she is such a good listener. She listens to me, she listens to our kids at late hours of the night when they want to talk. We'll take a walk and she'll just she she not only will just take it in what I'm saying, but she'll she'll help me process it and ask me questions. She is an incredibly selfless person, and I am so thankful for her in my life. God has used her mightily.

Nancy Bruscher 25:05

I like it. I like it when people bring up their spouse because I think we need more of that. I think we need more of you know, building one another up and building our marriages up. So I'm glad that you brought that up.

Erin Ahnfeldt 25:16

Amen. I agree, I agree.

Nancy Bruscher 25:18

And what's a kindness you've seen or a kindness you've shown in the last week?

Erin Ahnfeldt 25:22

I think a kindness that we got. We went to a house where there was someone was dying in the house. This is an 83-year-old woman at a friend at a friend's house, whose mom was dying. The woman who uh my friend's wife, who's there, and she's my good friend too, she came out and um kind of told us about what was happening with her mother-in-law and was very honest and open about all the things that they had experienced. They were worshiping with her and praying with her, and um, and at one point they were reading a liturgy, and they're they're reading this liturgy, and in the liturgy, it's a it's a perspective of a person who's dying. And in the liturgy, they it says, Um, God, you know my regrets. And as they're reading this, um, the woman um who was dying, uh, her name's Ann, she raised her hand and she said, I don't have any regrets. And then um, and then they said, and then later in their liturgy, it says, and and God, you know the the fears that that I have for death. And she said, I'm not afraid of dying. Um, because this woman is uh she's she's a she's a believer and she knows where she's headed and their time together, when she described their time together, praying and and crying together and laughing, um, it just really spoke to me. It was a big encouragement um to me. And I felt like I was on sacred ground when I was there, um, just knowing that what God was doing with that family in that time. Um, so I I felt like it was a great kindness just for me to be there and and be reminded of the fact that this world is not all there is, there is so much more um waiting for us. So um that was that was a kindness. I felt them letting me come and be a part of what was happening there with that family.

Nancy Bruscher 27:01

Yeah, yeah, that's good. That's a good reminder that this time of the real dying part doesn't always have to be so scary and weird. And you know, it can actually be a beautiful time to spend with people.

Erin Ahnfeldt 27:16

Yeah, for sure.

Nancy Bruscher 27:18

Yeah. Well, Erin, I've enjoyed our chat. Thank you so much for being on.

Erin Ahnfeldt 27:23

Oh, you're welcome, Nancy. Thank you for having me. This has been great talking with you.

Nancy Bruscher 27:27

Yeah, and on ordinary people, extraordinary things, your story is his glory. This episode is such a beautiful reminder that God sees me and he sees you too. In Genesis 16, Hagar gives God the name El Roy, which means the God who sees me. It's the story of a woman who felt completely outcast, alone in the desert, and at the end of her road. Yet even there, God saw her. I hope you'll take some time to read Genesis 16 and sit with the truth of El Roy. If this conversation stirred up feelings of being misunderstood or wrongly accused, I'm praying that right after this episode you'll pause, be still, and ask God to remind you how He has already shown up in your life, how He sees you and knows the truth. I can't wait to hear how Aaron's story impacted you. If this episode encouraged you, share it with someone who needs the reminder that they are not alone and that they are fully seen. And I'll see you in two weeks for a brand new episode.