Road To Redemption
Road To Redemption
Stephanie McMinn's Road to Redemption
What if unwavering faith could pull you through life's most trying times? Join us on this heartwarming episode of Road to Redemption as we sit down with Stephanie McMinn, founder of Be Generous Ministries. Stephanie opens up about her incredible journey of faith and service, sharing how her Christ-centered nonprofit supports individuals recovering from addiction and victims of sex trafficking. Discover the profound impact of their Yellow House program, a sanctuary for women and children, and learn about their vital community outreach initiatives, including overdose prevention efforts.
Stephanie further reveals her personal testimony, sharing about the heartbreaking loss of her son, Gage, to an overdose, which inspired the creation of the annual Engage event. We delve into the stages of grief, the solace found in worship, and how steadfast faith can navigate sorrow. Highlighting the importance of staying connected to God's living water, Stephanie explains how Be Generous Ministries continues to support young women and address critical local issues like overdoses. This episode is a testament to hope, redemption, and the enduring power of faith in Christ, offering listeners a powerful, faith-filled perspective on overcoming life's toughest challenges.
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Welcome to Road to Redemption, a show sharing powerful life testimonies, giving hope to those on their own road to redemption.
Speaker 2:Good morning. This is Road to Redemption and I'm Valerie Peterson and my co-host today is John Martin. But we have a very special guest that we're thrilled she's sitting in the studio with us. We have Stephanie McMinn, and welcome, Stephanie. Thank you, what an honor. Just so glad you're here. Could we start by? Just so many people know you know your name, know your ministry, but we probably have people listening this morning that doesn't. So can you share about Be Generous Ministries and what you do?
Speaker 3:Oh, sure, absolutely. Thank you for the opportunity. So Be Generous. Is our faith-based, christ-centered nonprofit organization. I would say it's the umbrella, you know, and then we have several things underneath that that the Lord has called us to do, and so the goal of our ministry is to aid and assist sons and daughters that are coming out of the thralls of addiction and sex trafficking, and we've been established for the past 14 years. It's wild, wild to believe it's been 14 years.
Speaker 2:Oh my goodness, wow, that's gone. Those years have gone fast. Keep going.
Speaker 3:And over the years we've established which many people might know about if not it's the Yellow House program. We call it the Yellow House just because that's exactly what it is. We want to establish a place of home, a safe refuge. Establish a place of home, a safe refuge. So it's our 24-month residential safe home and recovery home that allows women to come in and seek freedom and find themselves in the Lord. And so we have two homes here locally in Walton County, and the women eventually can reunite with their children, and so some of one of our homes has the women and children. Wow yeah.
Speaker 2:Amazing.
Speaker 3:So we, that's some of the things that we do. And then there's another component of outreach. You know, in the community I've been over these years working, working towards bringing awareness and prevention measures for, you know, addiction, overdose, prevention of all of those things. And so I work with the Prevention Coalition of Walton County. I'm the lead on the opioid task force there and, yeah, we're just, we're engaging the community and trying to, you know, do our part to bring change.
Speaker 2:Can you share a little bit about it? Is there one coming up, a special event called Engage? Is it coming up soon?
Speaker 3:So we just had our Engage this past May. Yeah, actually it was April 20th. Sorry, I took National Smoke Day back 4-20. Yeah, that was intentional. So, yeah, we did that in April. Where was it located? Up in Daphniac Springs, where a lot of our operation is coming out of right now. So that's where the Lord's called us, and so we're up there around the amphitheater. We oh, it was beautiful. The Engage is an annual event that we've had. This is that was our fourth year and it was actually birthed out of, you know, a place in my testimony and my journey with the Lord where my baby boy was released to heaven at the age of 22 in 2021. Gage was his name, is his name, and so we use that for good and now bring awareness and prevention to the community, engaging the community to do that. And we had that event. And now I think you're speaking of what this month is Overdose Awareness Month. Right, let's talk about that. Yes, month is Overdose Awareness Month.
Speaker 2:Right, let's talk about that, yes.
Speaker 3:So it's Overdose Awareness Month and this weekend actually is Overdose Awareness Day and it's interesting you called me to speak, you know on loss and you know tonight we're going to bring it to the light. You know the overdose epidemic that we have in our community and so tonight we're going to be gathering around the lake yard and lighting up the night and sharing some testimonies, just passing out Narcan in hopes to prevent some overdoses in our community.
Speaker 2:Amazing, amazing what you're doing, thank you. Would you be willing? We would love to hear your personal testimony.
Speaker 3:Would you be willing to share that with us? Yeah, I can do that. Where would you like me to?
Speaker 2:start. How about when you were younger and anything back then that impacted you? Okay, yeah, younger and you know anything back then that impacted you.
Speaker 3:Okay, yeah, you know, I'm so thankful for my background, the way I was raised. I was raised Catholic. I don't know if you knew that I did not. Yeah, I was raised Catholic. I had the plaited uniform and saddle oxfords and, you know, did the private school, and what a beautiful foundation I grew up on, you know, and learned so much from that. I'm thankful for it.
Speaker 3:The devotional aspect, you know, of Catholicism and the communion, and there's so many things that I took from it that just are a part of me. And so, you know, I've known of God and known of Jesus, but it wasn't until later in life that I really knew him, and not just knowing of him but knowing him personally, you know. And so it's been a beautiful journey and you know, I think about the reason you called me here was to speak about, you know, loss, and I think that, you know, in those moments of our journey is where we really get to discover who God is, you know, and his realness, his faithfulness, his presence, and so it's been beautiful the journey of learning him.
Speaker 2:I do want to say, john, I really wanted her today to. You know she came to mind. You know I look at her through the years and I'm going to compliment you. You are such an example of just Christ-like character. You truly are an ambassador for Christ. You know I look at you. Through seasons of loss and difficulty and you've stayed steadfast, stephanie, through the valleys, through the difficulty. You know, as I was praying this morning I was like she really knows the Lord is her shepherd. You know you really do and I just we just appreciate you and the example that you are. And you know, I think can you share with people about some of your losses so they understand. Hey, I can relate to her, you know, because loss and death is a part of life.
Speaker 3:Right. So, it is. You know, it's interesting and I think I said this to you it's really hard to consider it loss when you gain so much.
Speaker 1:You know in the middle of it.
Speaker 3:I've gained so much in those moments in my life. All glory to God, because he's the one who's steadfast and faithful, and he's been the strength, you know, in my weakness. He's, he's been the thing that I've not been able to be, and so that that he gets all the glory, you know, um, but it's been his faithfulness that's encouraged me along the way and allowed, you know, allowed me to become who I am. And so, um, I just I'm thankful for the, the places in our journey that you know have allowed me to be become so dependent on him, because that's really what it's, what it's offered me every opportunity, I mean every place where it looks like it's opposite opposition. It's actually been just a beautiful opportunity to get to know him better and to be able to find him for who he is. And in the fullness of that, I go back to.
Speaker 3:You know, I was here at Destiny when we had quite a traumatic situation in our family, when, you know, we were coming here to Destiny Worship Center and my husband, chance, was drawn back into the thralls of addiction, and you know we were coming to church. He was an iron man and you know we were doing the thing, but yet there was this other lifestyle that you know was drawing him away, and that's a stronghold, that's why it's called a stronghold and wow, that quickly turned and for some of you that don't know our testimony in 2011, our family was divided and Chance and I have yours, mine and ours. We have five kids. It's a blended family. We like the kids like to call themselves smoothies when they were younger because they were well blended and yeah, it we had.
Speaker 3:It was great, you know, but there was another side of things that were happening and, unfortunately, chance spiraled out into addiction. He was in the mortgage. You know mortgages and real estate and you know flipping properties and and doing all that. And there is a social norm here where a lot of people in in those you know careers and lines of work they go out and they do a deal on the beach and they're drinking and they're partying. And you know careers and lines of work. They go out and they do a deal on the beach and they're drinking and they're partying. And you know, it's just a social norm that we have here. And for someone like Chance that struggled with addiction, it, you know, spiraled him out and so we actually separated for a temporary time, because he decided that that's the route that he wanted to go. And I prayed I was praying, you know, for the Lord to show up.
Speaker 3:I had, you know, it was Santi and Mel and Mona, like they're elders, you know at that point, like we were you know we were in it, we were praying, believing for a miracle, and you know, at that point, like we were, you know we were in it, we were praying, believing for a miracle, and you know it's. It's called a stronghold for a reason and he just we separated, and so this family that we had, that looked so well blended, was falling apart. And in a month of our separation, chance decided to go out and hang out and party on 30A and he brought the party back to his place and unfortunately it didn't end well. He fell from the four-story balcony right there in Gulf Place and was airlifted from the four-way there, right there at Skunk Gullies, I think it is, and so you know it was.
Speaker 3:In that moment I had five kids, you know our house was, you know everything was falling apart, you know. And what else do you do? And then pull on the Lord, call on the Lord, you know, and praise God. I had that, you know, foundation. I was, I knew of the Lord, because I don't, I don't really know how I would have, you know, been able to go from there, you know. And so here I had five kids. My husband is now being airlifted, you know, to Pensacola where they said it would be a miracle if he even made it there.
Speaker 3:He was bleeding out of every extremity. He had the most traumatic brain injury that you could have punctured lungs, all ribs broken, l1, l2, femur in half. I mean, he was a hot mess. And here I am. God, wait, you've called me to be generous. That had been birthed in 2010 and 2011. Everything's falling apart and I'm like whoa, wow, what is this? I quickly found it was just a place for me to depend fully on him. And so, you know, we go to the hospital and we're in there's, I we're in ICU and I've got Mel and Mona at the bedside with me. And what do you do? You bring the elders the church and you pray and you lay hands. And so we did that and praise God. We believe in miracles. And so we started praying and we started seeing some reaction, you know. And so we just were believing that God was about to move and do something, and that's a beautiful testament we could go into.
Speaker 3:That would take me all day long to share that with you but um, so I don't, you know know where we're gonna go, but, um, we got to see God move um, six it. It moved on, um, for 60 days. We were in in the um, pensacola, and Chance was in a coma, an open eye coma. You know, I I just remembered I'm getting somewhere. But I remember, you know, the doctor coming in and they had little hope. But I was hanging on to something, you know, and I remember the doctor coming in and saying, yeah, you go ahead. You know, just talk to him as you need to talk to him. You know he may hear you, you know. So just spend some time, just talk with him, speak to him like you want to speak to him. I was like I'm not sure you want me to do that. He's like no, it's okay, you know, go ahead.
Speaker 3:And so I had a moment, you know, where the Lord was revealing himself to me. And so there I was, and I probably did have some words with Chance that were just honest and transparent, like what did you do here? I have five kids, you know, and you know, here we are. What is this? Everything's broken and falling apart. You're literally broken and falling apart, right? And so I just, I remember kneeling beside the bed, you know, and asking the Lord like what do I do with this? Here's, all these these broken pieces, and I can't do anything with them. All I know is to give them to you. And you do something with them, you know, and I remember the Lord giving me a vision of Jesus, and I believe it was from the movie the Passion of the Christ, you know, and Jesus is there and he's in his broken, brokenness, right, and he's like Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. You know, and, and the Lord showed me right there, like that's, that's the key, that's how it all gets put back together. You know, you just, I just need you to do as I did and forgive, you know, and so forgiveness was a key there. And so he said forgive him, for he know not what he does and clearly he didn't know what he was doing. Who wants to, you know, be there. And so you know, and that space in place was an opportunity for me to learn from the one who went before us and set the example, yes, and for me to follow in the way that he did. And so I did, and I just forgave.
Speaker 3:Chance in that moment and it changed. It changed things inside of me, my interior world changed. It changed things inside of me, my interior world changed, and I knew that the Lord was having me do that so that I could handle what was before me. Because had I not given Him forgiveness? Because that's a key, that's a key, it's a key, Forgiveness is a key, and had I not had that unlocked in me, I don't know that I would have been able to cater to Him. And I knew in that moment that it wasn't unto chance, it was unto the Lord.
Speaker 3:I had a decision to make in fulfilling the vow that I made, as God is my witness and I take that serious. He's a covenant-keeping God and if I am in His image and likeness, then I too need to do as he did. And so I made a vow to the Lord there okay, I forgive Him and I'll take this as an opportunity to find you in the fullness of who you are. And that's what he did. And in that loss, he allowed me to see him as my father, as my provider, as my friend, as my bridegroom lover, as my husband, as my comforter and my counselor. I got to see the Trinity in the fullness and me in him and him in me. I got to see the Trinity and the fullness and me and him, and him and me, and I don't man, I gained so much I wouldn't. I don't think I would be as close to the Lord had I not had that opportunity of what was lost.
Speaker 2:I do want to say you know, as you would go on and share, he's still living. He's a miracle. He's a miracle.
Speaker 4:He's a miracle he lived. I was wondering.
Speaker 2:Yes, and I'm thinking people are listening today. I hope they can recognize that we go through a grieving process, even though maybe the person hasn't passed. Example what you walked through, you were probably grieving over what was supposed to be. Can you talk a little bit about that?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I've learned over the years. I've got the opportunity to grieve in so many different ways and I found that grief is almost like an invitation, I guess, to the Lord to come in and be who he is the consoler of my heart, the comforter, the counselor.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's so good. I love it because in the mental health field we have these stages that Dr Keebler-Ross wrote. And I love it because from my perspective, it's like a template or it kind of gives you an idea. You may go through the anger stage, you may go through this real sadness stage, you may go through this, the denial or shock stage, but I love as believers, he's going to get us through, no matter if it may not look like anybody else's grieving process, but he's going to get us through. He promises Psalm 66, I'll bring you through fire and water, but I'll bring you to a place of rich fulfillment. And look at where you're at today and you've had several losses and I really believe that's why John and I talked about having you on, because you've remained steadfast through the losses. And I'm like, can I share with you what the Lord brought to me, my attention this morning In 2 Samuel 12, where David lost, or was losing, his son, meaning he was on the floor, he was praying, he was fasting, he was believing and he was expecting it was going to turn out a certain way.
Speaker 2:And suddenly he could tell by his servants how they were responding he had died. What did he do? He got up, he showered, he put on lotion and he went to the house to worship Stephanie that's you, you like.
Speaker 2:I just loved to hear the other night she had a three-hour worship service at her church. Three-hour worship service, I mean, is that right? Yeah, you know, you know how to worship God in the midst of pain. And can you talk about?
Speaker 3:that, wow, so interesting. We were tracking. This morning the Lord brought me to a place of worship. I was in a place of worship and revisiting a few songs I was saying earlier. I was revisiting a few songs that the Lord, you know. He's so in everything, he's perfect timing, he's the best DJ ever, but he had had these songs birthed right in the moment when I needed them. There was some songs from Maverick City that came out, and one was the God of Midnight.
Speaker 3:And you know I don't know if I don't know that I've ever spoke publicly about my journey with my baby, my baby boy Gage, and many people were believing with me and for me. You know, we were believing yet for another miracle, right? So, yes, chance did. He does live, he's breathing, well, he's. You know I brought him home with a trach, feeding tubing and diapers, okay, but he's now. God's healed him. You know that's a beautiful testimony and journey. He now does everything on his own, praise God, and you know.
Speaker 3:But I got another opportunity, you know, in 2021, when my baby boy Gage overdosed on fentanyl. Baby boy Gage overdosed on fentanyl. He had purchased a Percocet, a blue Percocet peel out of Fort Walton Beach and there was some that were circulating here locally in our area, really bad batch, which it's in everything now. But he, you know, one night, after a little stretch of recovery had gone out, and someone gave him a blue Percocet that was laced with a lethal dose of fentanyl. And you know, this is the very thing that I am standing against in the community. And the very thing that you know came against my home yet again because, chance, my husband was actually in addiction and opioids. You know, chance, my husband was actually in addiction and opioids, you know, and so he was in that whole pill mill deal. You know that was going on in our community. The very thing God called me to, you know, to stand against is the very thing that's trying to come against my own family. Right, but I was like, ok, another opportunity to give God glory, another opportunity to give God glory. But I want to touch on I think I'm supposed to share kind of the miracle in that and how, you know, I even got through it and it's definitely been the Lord showing up and his faithfulness. But you know how do I want to go here. So you know, that's not the knock on the door, the call you ever want to get.
Speaker 3:And for so long I did, I prayed that my boys have two boys that struggled with addiction, and that was always the one thing. I, you know, prayed, lord. You know I helped so many in the community, you know, against addiction. You know I helped so many and trying to pull them out of it. And you know, surely not, you know, my own.
Speaker 3:But the day that my baby, caleb, my oldest baby, which is, you know, 31, he's not a baby anymore, but he's always my baby, but when he came to the door, you know, on his knees, crawling in my front door, mom gauge is gone, he's, he's passed, you know. Like no, you know there's a short period of denial? Like no, Okay, so what do you do? Well, the word says that we can lay hands on the sick, we can see the dead rays. So, okay, where's he at? You know I'm going to go, I'm going to, I'm going to go and I, where's he at? You know I'm going to go, I'm going to go and I'm going to lay hands on him and I'm going to believe for him to raise up. And so you know that was a really challenging place, you know to be. But I knew if the word said it. You know. If God said, then what do you do? What do you have to lose? You know, you go lay hands. When you get that call, you go lay hands and you pray and you believe. You know.
Speaker 3:And so interesting, I remember it was a holiday weekend, so I don't know if it was. If it's February, it might have been Memorial Day or what is what is. Whatever holiday, it is for an extended holiday, um, but I go to Pensacola, I'm heading to the morgue because that's where my baby is, and they're closed because it's a weekend. Oh my gosh. And so I go there and I'm bringing an army, we're all going and we're going to pray and we're going to believe for him to raise up, and we all go and we're sitting out in the parking lot and it's closed. But there just happens to be someone in the building and so John and Sula, they go up.
Speaker 3:Hey, there's a mother that has heard that her son has passed and he's here and she'd like to pray. And this new medical examiner, you know, was like, oh well, we're closed. And you know, I'm sorry, she'll have to come back. We're closed on Monday, it's a holiday, so it'll be Tuesday. And I'm like, oh, that's three days, okay, three days Okay, three days Okay.
Speaker 3:So they, they talk, we pray. We're like we need to, I'm not really going to settle for that. So we pray and her heart softens and she's like just come in for a minute, let's talk, you know. And so we all go to the table and we sat down with this medical examiner and, um, I'm like I don't know what you're doing, but like you know. So all I want, all I'd like to do, is to you know, just go, maybe pray. Can you let them go in and pray? And they're like I don't think it's a good idea that you go pray. You know you probably don't want to go in there and do that, but maybe we're not really supposed to let them go back there. But I guess I can, you know, make an exception.
Speaker 3:I said, well, all I'm asking, like, if you, if you're not okay with this, you know, if you could just go back there? And you know, just say the name of Jesus, you know, then the word says that in the name of Jesus, he could rise up. And and she's like well, I'm not really religious. And I said, well, neither am I. I'm just asking if it was your baby boy, would you go in? And if you knew that could possibly work, would you do that? And she's like, okay, I'll, I'll let him, I'll let him go in.
Speaker 3:I was like, okay, hey, if this is all we get out of this, she's taken faith steps. She's in, you know, she's taken a step of faith with me. Okay, that's great. And so, um, she, she said this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to I'm going to this weekend I'm going to leave him out. I'm not going to put him in the wall. I'm going to I'm going to this weekend I'm going to leave him out. I'm not going to put him in the wall, I'm going to leave him out on the table so if he does wake up, he can get out. I was like, well, he know where he's going. And she's like, well, I guess he'll find his way out, right? So we're going through this.
Speaker 3:And I'm like, okay, god, you know she's believing with me, you know. So I'm like I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm just going to have faith and believe you for who you are. And so, you know, I'm good with that. We leave and we have three days. Three days to pray and to believe for him to rise up, like Lazarus, you know. And so, like you were saying, like there's a place where you know you can have faith, and you know, believe it to happen one way, and you know, and it doesn't believe it to happen one way, and you know, and it doesn't. So, you know, I I got the phone call that Tuesday morning, you know, and I had been praying and and that song that the God of midnight, you know, I was believing up into the midnight hour, like God, you know, surely you can, surely you will, you know, do what you said you were, you, we could do, you could do, and you know, just like you, to wait till the midnight hour, you know, and then him raise up.
Speaker 3:You know, and I'm going to have faith to believe you for that. And then that morning, that third day, that I got the phone call from the medical examiner, you know, and she's like Ms McMahon, you know, I really didn't want to call you, you know, I really didn't want to. I didn't want to call you because I know what you were hoping for and I'm so sorry that you know I can't tell you what you wanted to hear and I was like, okay, he didn't wake up. And she said, no, he didn't. And I okay, well, that's all right. Thank you for trying. Thank you know.
Speaker 3:Thank you for believing with me, and I don't know why I'm going here, but I'm just going here and you know, maybe someone needs to hear it but, um, what's really cool is I did have a moment where I was like, okay, so, god, this could have been a great opportunity for you to do a miracle and be glorified in the greatest measure. Like you know, why not? Like, if you said it, but why not, you know? And I did have that real vulnerable moment with God, like you know, and you said this. You said that Gage would, um, you know that he would preach, he would prophesy, he would um, counsel his peers, he would be an amazing husband, a great, a great father and have an opportunity to raise his daughter. You said he would do all these things right, and so I just need you to show me your, show me yourself faithful in all of this. I need you to show me what this looks like, what like? And he said he did, and I did. And I was like, wow, okay, take me through this. And he's like no, I, I did what I said I was going to do, and he did what those things that I said he would do, do you not remember? And so the Lord just started revealing to me, like, giving me this Rolodex, you know, and he showed me that Gage, you know, he praise God for COVID. I mean not that God gave us COVID. Praise God that we could use COVID for good. Praise God that we could use COVID for good. Gage got to be quarantined with his baby girl for like this moment in time where he would have never been able to spend with Nadia had he not been home and had this private, intimate time with his baby girl, and we have video and moments of this special time that he had with her, of this special time that he had with her.
Speaker 3:You know, gage did find recovery and he found the Lord in his time of sobriety and his detoxing and he came just in November. He had come to Impact and he shared and he prophesied and he gave a word of encouragement to people to say, give God credit where credit is due, like he is a God of the impossible, he, he can do great and mighty things, like he did preach and prophesy on stage of God's goodness and um, you know. And then, uh, you know I would get messages from people after Gage passed, um, kids messaging me through messenger. Hey, I don't know if you know this, but I was in a place where I was suicidal and Gage counseled me and talked to me through it and you know he was encouraging me on the sidelines and you know, so God got to show me. He was like he did all of those things and I did and I was like, okay, well, let's talk about the resurrection thing. You know, you said that we could see the dead raise and he said, and I did, just not the way you thought. And I did raise him, just not this side of heaven. And now he is here and I had people calling me you know, the Terry's call me from Kenya, prophesied, giving me visions of them seeing Gage sitting with Jesus over the side of a bed, dangling his feet with Jesus. You know, and, and I got a, a word, I was getting prophetic words from Texas, from Kenya, all these words coming in, going.
Speaker 3:You know, um, I actually saw Gage sitting with Jesus and he was dangling his feet and and he asked um, you know, you know your mom's down there praying. You know you have a choice you can go back or you want to stay. And he chose to stay. I mean, who wouldn't right? And so I even learned in that moment God, the God that gives us free will and free choice, he gave Gage that freedom of choice. Even still up into that moment. Do you want to come back? You want to stay, and he chose heaven. He chose to stay, and so God showed me himself in all of this, chose to stay, and so God, like, showed me himself in all of this. I got the opportunity to see him in his faithfulness and in his goodness. He's a good God, and I don't know, I just so yeah, you know.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for sharing this. And, john, I don't you know. You know I'm looking at her and thinking what did she do? She pressed in to hear from her Heavenly Father.
Speaker 2:You know, so often in grief, we can just be angry. We can just be angry at God and I want to say to our listeners that is okay, but go to Him in your anger, don't run away from Him. To him in your anger, don't run away from him. Tell him Think of Psalm 139, right, I know when you sit, I know when you stand, I know your thoughts from afar. He knows what we're feeling, he knows what we're thinking. He knew what you were feeling and thinking, but you went directly to him, yeah.
Speaker 3:Wow you know, there's a good takeaway there's learning in the leaning. When you lean into Him, you learn so much about Him. You learn so much about you and Him inside of you. I just find that it's just beautiful opportunities for us to learn about Him and who we are. Inside of Him, we're stronger than we think because he's in us. He's the strength in my weakness. Love Him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, isn't that true? I was this morning meditating in 2 Chronicles, 20th chapter, and I think sometimes we can overthink grief and loss, and I should be here. I should be doing this and where God says, through a prophet to King Jehoshaphat and all his people is the battle's not yours, it's mine, and I look at you as I've seen you through the years. It's like you just take a hold of his hand, as it says in Isaiah 41.10, I'm here, take a hold, don't fear, I have you by the hand and I'm going to take you through this process.
Speaker 2:And I just look at where you have walked through other losses too. I think of Megan, a spiritual daughter to you, my baby girl.
Speaker 3:Yeah, megan, a spiritual daughter to you, my baby girl yeah.
Speaker 3:He's been so faithful to carry me. You know that's what a bridegroom does he carries his bride through the thresholds of life and when you truly understand the union and oneness that you have with him, then in those moments you don't feel separated, you just feel closer. He's a covenant-keeping God. He's kept His covenant to me even when those around didn't keep their covenant, didn't keep their promise to carry me. He did, you know, and I just find more value in the union that I have with Him. You know that I have with Him, you know, and I just I think that it's key to, like Psalm 1 says, to stay rooted and planted in the truth and the water. You know, the living water.
Speaker 3:There was a there's seasons where I was dry and, you know, had I not been rooted and grounded in who he is and drawing from that life source, who, where would be the fruit from each season? It says that we bear fruit in every season if you're rooted and planted in him. So there's no excuse for me not to bear fruit, even in those seasons where there looks like storms and the elements around you seem to, you know, not be conducive to like fruit bearing. Yes, no like. You can bear fruit in every season, if you just get planted in.
Speaker 2:I love it. I love it. If someone wants to find out more about your ministries, do you have a place that they can go? You know your website. Can you tell people who are listening in where to go to find out what you're?
Speaker 3:doing yeah, so they can go to BeGenerousIncorg.
Speaker 3:And on there they'll see tabs where you can kind of click around and find out all the things that we're doing. You can also come up to Defuniac Springs in the downtown historical district. We have All Things New, which is our social enterprise, our gift shop, where our daughters get to work and when they graduate they can be employed with us, and so now they're helping me run things, those who've graduated and you can come up there and just sit in the presence of God and learn and hear testimonies and more about His goodness. So, yeah, we have a lot of opportunities in the community for community involvement. Opportunities, like tonight I'm going around the lake yard to bring light you know, bring it to the light about the overdose overdoses in our community and ways that we can, as a community, come together and prevent this from happening passing out Narcan, educate and all of that. So there's just go on the website.
Speaker 3:I think we have Facebook and we might have. We have Instagram, but they do all that. I don't know how to even operate all that. But yeah, the girls can, yeah, get connected with us. We'd love it. You know we've been running for 14 years because of the community. You know it's a community.
Speaker 2:It's just amazing. I just love to hear what you're doing well.
Speaker 4:This has been such a great show show Stephanie and Valerie. This has blessed me so much. Just what I've been hearing is just having an eternal perspective, like Valerie, you know, in her book it's this life is so short, so short, it's just over in a moment, and I really think we all need to really spend more time with our family, um, don't be so stressed and worried about the things of life, um, and just just really trust God and spend more time, because life is over in a second and you know we've got to have an eternal perspective and try to make sure that everyone knows about Jesus, yeah, and because through your belief in Jesus, you have eternal life. Yes, forever, it never ends. So this life that everybody's so stressed out about is over in a second. So there's hope, there's hope. So that that was my big you know, and it goes back to this great book that Valerie wrote, eternal Perspective.
Speaker 4:We need to have eternal perspective and you know, as we come to the end of our show here, we always just want to tell anyone listening the way you find hope is through pursuing Jesus, and he wants to know you and the ways that you go about doing that is first, just read his word and just open a Bible right now and just start reading. He will speak to you through his word, through the Bible. Do that, get into a church, into a Christ-centered church, and give it one year of your life. We promise it'll change your life and get into a small group in that church that you can do life with. But that's it. It's been such a great show.
Speaker 2:I've been so blessed by it. John, were you closest out in prayer.
Speaker 4:Yes, yeah, thank you, lord. Dear Heavenly Father, lord, we just thank you, we thank you for this great show. We know, lord, that you're going to bless many people. We know, lord, that you're going to bless many people, and we just pray that anyone listening that you would, just, they would seek out you, lord, and not be afraid to take that step. Just take a step to reach out to someone because there is hope. Don't give up hope and don't hesitate to give it another try. And we just we pray. We know many people are going to be blessed by this show, by these words, and we're going to see people set free and receive the joy, the true joy, that you provide, lord. Thank you, jesus, amen.
Speaker 1:Amen. You've been listening to Road to Redemption, sharing powerful life testimonies, giving hope to those on their own road to redemption. If you have any comments or questions, we would love to connect with you. You can reach out to us at destinyradiolive. Thank you for listening and we'll see you next week on Road to Redemption.