Hello and welcome to the Hope Unlocked podcast . I'm your host , Kristen Kurtz , and I'm also the founder of New Wings Coaching , where I empower and unlock women to soar in their calling and roar with their voices . If you're curious to learn more about how coaching can help you unlock your potential , be sure to explore the show notes for ways to connect with me further . Get ready to dive in as we uncover empowering keys and insights in this episode . So tune in and let's unlock hope together . Welcome to the Hope Unlocked podcast . I'm Kristen Kurtz , your host . I pray this episode is like a holy IV of hope for your soul . Please help me welcome my dear friend , Heather Martinez , the show . She is another one of my friends who I met through the Facebook and we've just come to know each other . Maybe I don't even know how long it's been with them last year and I'm just so excited for her to share this testimony with you all because it is wild and amazing and his hand is all over it . But first , could you share a little bit about ?
Speaker 3yourself . Hello , thank you so much for having me . I'm so excited , I'm just . There's really nothing else better than talking about God and how amazing he is . And so I have Heather Martinez . We , my husband Lewis and I , will be married 19 years this year , and we live in Florida . We live in Palm Coast , florida , which is a little like about 30 minutes north of Daytona . We have two kids and 23 and 17 . So our 17 year old will she'll be 18 next month .
Speaker 3She's going to be graduating and going off to college soon . I know I'm really excited for her to leave the nest and fly , but I'm also like well , well , you know the oldest will be in that direction as well .
Speaker 3Yeah , so I mean it's exciting for them you know to see them , you know , do these things and but still it's , you know , a transition , a change . So , and my husband and I , we have a inter healing and deliverance ministry . It is just a passion of ours to see people set free and we just want to impart and share everything that God has done in our lives and through our marriage . God had has healed and restored our marriage and given us a new love and for one another , and we want to see people set free and we want to see marriages succeed . And we also have a like a t-shirt business and we also do tumblers and things . And recently I started a micro bakery out of my home selling sourdough bread and all things sourdough and it's called the blessed bread co and it's been quite an adventure .
Speaker 2Yes , well , this is listeners . This is why I'm having her on , mostly because of what I have been able to kind of back end witness from afar of what has happened just in a very , very short period of time , and really just want to have her share , you know , whether it's the leading up to this point or , you know , maybe if you could just share a little bit of maybe kind of how you came into this place and then get into like where you're at right now , that would be amazing , because what you're experiencing now there's a backstory , right .
Speaker 3Yes , yes , there's definitely a backstory Back in , so I'm going to go back to 2017 . In 2017 , I was not living for the Lord . We had been saved . And back in 2010 , and for about three years , we were , you know , living for the Lord . We had turned our life around , but then life got hard and instead of running to God , we ran away from God . We just did the thing that we were programmed to do , and so for me , that was kind of finding comfort in alcohol and drugs . I had always been a binge drinker . I had a lot of trauma in childhood I mean , I would say as early as the womb and in high school I turned to drugs and alcohol . And so back in 2017 , I kind of just went back to that and it was way worse than it had ever been . I you know , in all transparency , because it's part of my testimony , I was also unfaithful and things were very dark and they were very bad . And in my early 20s I had also I had several suicide attempts and several hospitalizations in mental institutions .
Speaker 3I had 18 electric shock therapy treatments when I was 20 years old and at one point I was on nine different medications for mental illness , and it's really a miracle in and of itself that I was , that I came out of that . And so now you fast forward to 2017 , the suicidal thoughts started coming back and they were just tormenting , tormenting thoughts , and the only way that I could see out of the hole that I dug for my own self was to die . And I mean the drinking was . It was just out of control . I was also doing cocaine and taking Vicodin , and I mean really anything that I could get my hands on , and I decided that one day , that this was the day that I was going to do it , and because I had so many past attempts and unsuccessful attempts , that this time I was going to do it the right way . And after a night of a lot of heavy drinking , I went home and I took 60 , 600 milligram tablets of lithium 60 , 600 . Yes , in addition to whatever else was in the cabinet and I was , because at that time I did have a bipolar diagnosis . So I took the lithium along with a bunch of other pills and I swallowed them all . When I swallowed them , I heard a voice , and the voice said what did you just do ? And when I heard that , it was almost as if I woke up and I thought to myself what did you just do ? And I ran to the bathroom and I tried to make myself sick and I couldn't . No matter what I did , I couldn't get sick . And so I told my husband what I did and told him that he needed to take me to the emergency room .
Speaker 3Long story short , I was in ICU for 24 hours . They were monitoring the lithium levels in my kidneys and if it reached I believe it was a 12 , then I would need to go to go on dialysis . And it got to an 11 . And it started dropping . After 24 hours I became stable , which in and of itself my brain should have been fried from the lithium . From the amount of lithium that I took , I should have had some sort of brain damage , and I didn't . And at the very least I should have needed kidney dialysis , and I didn't .
Speaker 3And so I then went to an inpatient program for nine days . Then I did an outpatient program for addiction and mental illness for six weeks . At the end of six weeks I finished the program and I was on my way out to go to my very first AA meeting , when I was leaving my husband . I said goodbye to my husband and he looked at me and he said did you cheat on me ?
Speaker 3At this point I'm a month and a half sober and I was ready to turn away from my old life and I'm just trying to live . I was terrified . I was terrified to tell him the truth because I didn't want to lose my marriage and I didn't think I could survive losing my marriage without drinking or trying to kill myself again . I downplayed it and I was not truthful and I said that it was a kiss , it didn't mean anything , etc . He told me that he was leaving me and he was going to take the kids away , and I was devastated . I wanted nothing more than to just leave the house and instead of going to the meeting , I just wanted to go drink or I wanted to try to kill myself .
Speaker 3Instead , I did go to the meeting and it was a Saturday night and the next day was Sunday and I knew that if I was going to survive a divorce without doing one of those two things , then I needed God . I went to church and I gave God my entire life . I cried and cried , and cried and I told him how sorry I was , and I told him you can do whatever you want to do with my life I'm yours and I found someone to say the prayer of salvation with and I recommitted my life to Christ that day , and it was January 7th of 2018 . I'm going to speed it up just a little , but in the months to follow , I ended up being water baptized and after three weeks , louis , my husband , decided to come to church with me and that day he told me that he made the decision to forgive me . Well , he was at church . Well , he was at church . He also had an encounter with the Lord , and the Lord helped him to forgive . And later all the whole truth came out and I was completely truthful and honest about what actually happened and he still chose to forgive me . And that's just the Lord to help someone forgive that and to heal those wounds and hurts that we both had .
Speaker 3And so , of course , after I was water baptized , all hell broke loose and we found ourselves in a situation where I , basically , I had to choose between our oldest and him . There was a huge fight and he kicked our oldest out and I felt like if I was going to stand by my child . I was going to lose my marriage that I just fought so hard for . And if I was going to stand by my husband , then what kind of mother was I ? And I immediately fell back into depression and the psychiatrist wanted to admit me back into the hospital and that night . So there was an argument and there was like two weeks where we were not speaking to one another .
Speaker 3But , ironically enough , we were doing a marriage Bible study class on Wednesdays and even though we weren't talking to one another , we were still going to this Bible study Like you'd work together . Say that again , we'd drive together . No , no , we didn't drive together . We drove separate cars to this marriage class and we weren't even talking to one another . And after this Bible study I was kind of high-tailing it out of there because I didn't want to talk to anyone or see anyone , because I was so depressed .
Speaker 3I turned around and I saw my husband talking to our pastor . So I walked over there and my husband Louis was crying and telling him everything that had been going on and he said and then I started crying and I told him some things and he said we love you guys and I'm so sorry you're going through this . But so we went to his office and another couple , a lady . She said I'm sorry , I'm sorry , I'm sorry , but so we went to his office and another couple , a lady , and her husband . She is a Christian counselor . They came with us and the pastor left us in his office . But we later found out he was outside his door crying , and when we were in his office we explained everything that we had been going through , and even up until that point of the hospitalization and the suicide attempt and all of that .
Speaker 3And so we told them everything and she said I really feel like we're just supposed to start praying . So we all stand up and she starts praying and I'm crying , I'm hysterically crying , and they all have , even my husband . They each had a hand on my back and she said do you have your prayer language ? Have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit ? And I said no , and my husband had . And they all three were praying in the spirit . And in that moment , as I'm crying , I feel this the best way I can describe it is like a bubbling up and I feel this bubbling up and I start praying in tongues . And I was baptized in the Holy Spirit .
Speaker 3In that moment and when that happened , I felt everything leave my body . I felt the addiction , leave the depression , leave the all the mental illness leave . It was like I was wearing 100 weighted blankets and someone came by and just lifted them off of me and it immediately was replaced with this peace and this joy that I had never , ever , experienced in my whole life . And as I was crying and these weird words are coming out of my mouth and then I just start laughing because I felt so light and I didn't know exactly what happened at that moment . But I knew God did something . I knew that I had an encounter with God and also in that moment he changed our hearts toward one another and , like I said , we got there in different cars , not talking to one another , but we left that church hand in hand .
Speaker 3I was practically skipping out of the church . I looked at him and the psychiatrist wanted me to go get evaluated to and I knew that if they evaluated me that they would most likely admit me back into the hospital . But I looked at my husband and I said I don't have to go to get evaluated . God just healed me because I didn't understand deliverance at that time . I didn't know really what that was , but the Lord supernaturally delivered me and two months later I was off all men to illness medication . And this was six years ago and I've never been on medication since , nor have I been depressed or suicidal or anxious , and none of it came back . And in the years to follow up until now so that was in May of 2018 , the Lord has just taken us on this beautiful journey of discovering who he is , who we are , and this process of healing and being loved by him and just having a deeper relationship with him .
Speaker 3And then , in 2020 , we moved to Florida and that's when he started showing us what our authority is , started really teaching us about deliverance and the importance of it , but also inner healing and how also discipleship is so also important with that , because when people go through deliverance , they need the wounds that caused that need to be healed . So inner healing must go along with deliverance , but then people need discipleship and they need community and they need to be loved well and they need to . We need to do life with you know other believers , and so it's just been this really beautiful healing journey that the Lord is using to help others get healed and set free to yeah , and you know , the key here is that you had to walk through .
Speaker 2Like I can say , like we have to walk through to get to breakthrough , like we have to break through to get to breakthrough right , that's right . And you have been , you're a catalyst for that , you're like a living , walking testimony , and now you get to go back and help set others free . What did that look like for you guys to like step into ? You know , having your own ministry , like what would that look like for you ?
Speaker 3Well it's . It's funny you ask because a friend of mine came to . We were life group leaders and she was in our life
group and she afterward we were kind of just talking in the kitchen and she was so excited about deliverance and how she felt like the Lord was leading her toward deliverance , and she was so excited about it . And I just looked at her and I said what's deliverance ? I didn't know when it was . And she told me , and the minute she started talking about it I was like Nope , that's not for me , I don't want to know , I don't want to know anything about that . The word demon I was like no , I don't know . I I remember looking at my kitchen cabinets thinking are there demons in there ? Like I mean , I just had no idea what it was and I just didn't want to know . I there was a lot of resistance . And then a few months later she talked to me about it again and I was like no , I just kind of tuned her out .
Speaker 3And then one day she came to me . We had already moved to Florida , we were talking on the phone and she said that she had discovered this ministry and there was some renunciation prayers . And after she read the prayers . She received a lot of healing and freedom and she really feels like . She asked if I would feel comfortable reading them and I just was like , okay , sure I'll read them .
Speaker 3I was kind of curious and it was just prayers . It didn't seem intimidating or scary , I just had to read these prayers and I read the prayers and when I was done , my mind was quiet for the first time in my whole life and I thought I just had active thoughts . Right , they weren't even my thoughts , it was just all this chatter . And when , after I read the prayers , they were gone . And then I wanted to know everything there was about deliverance and the Lord brought us to certain ministries or certain teachings and once I started learning , I mean I didn't even really know what I was doing , but I just the Lord was with me every step of the way and the Holy spirit would tell me what to say and tell me what to do , because I knew that if God did it for me and if I could be set free , that I wanted everyone Like I wanted everyone to have that same feeling .
Speaker 3Look , you don't have to be depressed , you don't have to be anxious , you don't have to be living in fear all the time . Those thoughts are constantly going through your mind and telling you that you're not good enough . And those aren't even your thoughts and like it , even still , like it's such a passion that I want other people to have that same peace , to have that same joy . So I just started doing it . I just people that I knew I was like listen , I read these prayers and I'm different and I feel so much better and I want that for you too , and if you want to say these prayers , I'd be happy to help you through them . And then it started . The Lord started teaching me and showing me who to learn from regarding the courtroom of heaven . So I started doing that and then , and it's just every step of the way he's shown us what to do , what to say , how to do it , and that's kind of how it started . And then it's not something that I don't advertise , you know or anything like that .
Speaker 3He literally just sends the people to us and so , whether it's someone who has gone through freedom and they share with someone , or people , just we start talking and they hear my testimony . It just happens , the Lord just does it , and people reach out and then they get set free .
Speaker 2And so what does that look like together to do this ? I know , at least when I think of like deliverance and deliverance ministry , I don't see a lot of couples doing it together , at least from what I've seen out there . I think it's so beautiful that , like you , together have encountered freedom .
Speaker 3Yeah .
Speaker 2People . Have you found that a lot of the people coming to you are couples , like do you tend to work with women and then he does like the men , or how does that look like on your end ?
Speaker 3Yes , so typically it's women , but he also because of what he's done . In our marriage . We also coach other couples and then we'll . However , if the Holy Spirit leads to then take deliverance through deliverance , then we do that . However , it's really , it's a really beautiful thing to do this with Lewis , because we both know God has shown us what our gifts are and there's things that , like Lewis , has these incredible visions and I am more of a feeler , though sometimes I can see right and so he uses our gifts together , and together it's like a whole thing . And so Lewis is the intercessor and I take the person , I lead the person through the deliverance , and so I call the Lord gave me this name , for Lewis . He's my spiritual bouncer .
Speaker 2I love it .
Speaker 3And he just takes care of all of the swirling or any resistance and he just kind of walks around . We have an open floor plan so the family room is kind of connected to the kitchen and Lewis just kind of walks around the whole thing and prays in the spirit and then he will release , as he's led , any visions that he sees in man . These visions they bring so much . Even . He releases the vision at the end after we do the Holy Spirit infilling at the end , and then he releases a vision and just the vision also brings so much healing and peace to the person . So it's really fun . It's really fun to do it with Lewis .
Speaker 2Like so much restoration there . It's just incredible . I mean , if you guys are listening to this testimony and just being that this is called hope unlocked it just . I feel like there's somebody out there that this is really infusing hope and maybe they're having troubles in their marriage . I want you to really listen in for the keys that she's been sharing here , just in the testimony of their own marriage and how he's truly set them free to go back instead of others free .
Speaker 3Amen . And just when you think that there's a thing in your marriage that that's the deal breaker , that there's no healing from that , there's no hope for that , there is because we thought it was over . I mean , we both were like like I knew that I was losing my marriage and he was like I'm never forgiving her , I'm never this or that . But God did it . God did it . God can soften a person's heart and help them to forgive , because forgiveness isn't a feeling , it's a choice . And the Lord showed that to Lewis , that he had a choice to forgive or not . And Lewis chose to forgive . He might not have felt the forgiveness , but then the Lord then took him on that journey to bring full healing and forgiveness , because the forgiveness wasn't even really for me . It was for Lewis to be set free from the unforgiveness . And there's no , in my eyes and in my experience . There is no marriage that is too broken for the Lord .
Speaker 2And the key is for the Lord . If we don't have him as part of it .
Speaker 2It can be definitely very challenging , yes , and even for my situation , where we're in an unequal yoke to marriage , the Lord is with me and he's with my husband , even if he doesn't know , it and yet he's still with us and for us , and we all have different situations in our marriages and I just am so thankful for your testimony and what you've walked through and continue to make those choices . It was probably several months ago where I just heard my spirit . Like your , choices have generational implications . So our yes or our no can just go so many different ways , right . And look that he was willing and chose you .
Speaker 3Incredible .
Speaker 2It's beautiful .
Speaker 3A miracle , and also when I when I started really going through deeper deliverance and healing I mean I was just on fire for the .
Speaker 3Lord and Lewis wasn't . And the Lord spoke to Lewis one day and he and Lewis really likes to share this testimony the Lord told Lewis that he needed to stop writing my coattails . And right around that same time I think I might be confusing , mixing up time but the Lord told me to give Lewis a word and the word was rise up , man of God . And I told the Lord I'm not telling him that , I didn't want to tell him that , and I ended up being obedient and I said the Lord wants me to tell you something . I was so nervous to tell him . And I told him and he will tell it when he shares his testimony that he got offended , not so much at me , but he was like what do you mean God ? Like rise up man of God ? Like I go to church , you know I pray , but he was just very complacent and he was counting on me to , you know , have my prayer time and protect our family . And we weren't equally yoked , we were not in spiritual order , and so the Lord shifted that and showed us and showed Lewis what he needed to do and who he was . And Lewis rose up to that .
Speaker 3And there was a time in early on where I would , you know ? Tell Lewis , well , like , did you have your prayer time ? Did you , you know ? Did you ask the Lord ? Did you ? Did you do this ? Did you read the Bible ? Did you ? Blah , blah , blah .
Speaker 3And the Lord one day told me worry about yourself , don't worry about what he's doing or not doing , worry about yourself . So I started just focusing on my walk with the Lord and in doing that I was transformed . I was different . I was more patient , I rolled my eyes a little less . I , you know , didn't like like to Lewis anymore , you know , and he started noticing the difference in me which wanted him to get it for himself . And so when I'm talking to wives who maybe their husband isn't where they know ,
like maybe he's not walking in the man that they know that their husband is , I tell them to really focus on their walk with the Lord . Don't worry about him , surrender him to the Lord , because the Lord has him and he will rise up to be the man of God that God created him to be . But it's all in , always in God's timing , which sometimes that's a little , like you know , but when we surrender our husbands to the Lord and , in faith , trust , but they will be who God created them to be , then they will .
Speaker 2Amen , I believe it . Yep , I'm releasing that over those of you who are listening today to just stand , stand for them and , like she said , release and surrender . That's . I think that was one of the hardest parts early on . Yes , for me personally , because it's been 21 years of waiting .
Speaker 2So , Lord showed me that it's weight training , w A I T training yes , oh goodness . Well , thank you for sharing . You know your story of just so much that you walk through , and now you're on A beautiful adventure that I would love for you to share with our listeners , because it's just another element of the Lord's hand , not only on your life , but just hope for others who Maybe you're waiting on their next steps , or you know they're on an adventure and yet they're like okay , like what's the next thing ? I would love for you to share this , this adventure that he has literally brought you on in a very short period of time .
Speaker 3Yes , I would love to . It's really . I can't even really put into words how I feel about it , because I'm just in awe . I'm in so much awe of what God is doing and I'll tell you that none of it I could have ever imagined on my own , like if I had a plan , like if I had to plan it out which you know , I think sometimes in our flesh we try to be like , okay , well , I think this is where God's going . I could have never predicted this , and it just makes me so like I'm just just an awe is the best way that I can explain it and I just I'm so thankful . So , um about .
Speaker 3So in November I , I just all of a sudden had this desire that I never had before to learn how to make sourdough bread , and I watched a lot of videos like for three weeks . For three weeks I watched every day sourdough video after sourdough video after sourdough video , and after about three weeks I was like okay , I think I can make that . I think , I think I'm ready to try this . So I told Lewis that I wanted to start to make sourdough bread and there are some supplies that you need to make it . So I ordered some of the things that I needed and then I set out to make my own sourdough starter and so basically it's flour and water and all the videos that I watched , all the things that I read , it said it takes about a week for your starter to become active , that you could use it to bake bread . And it took me 12 days . And it took 12 days before my starter was ready to bake . And I didn't give up . At day seven , at day eight , at day nine , at day 10 , I was like I don't know what's going on , but I'm just going to keep feeding this thing , you know . So I just kept feeding it flour and water and one day it grew and it had bubbles and it did all the things that all the videos said that it was supposed to do . And so I made my first sourdough loaf on November 18 of last year , a couple of days before my birthday .
Speaker 3Yeah , and I the joy that I had when I took it out of the oven and saw that it looked like a sourdough bread , it smelled like a sourdough bread and it tasted like a sourdough bread . I was just amazed , I couldn't believe that I made this thing and my family was able to enjoy it and they loved it and it was really exciting and it brought me a lot of joy . And in the weeks to follow I started making more and experimenting with how to score it . You know , because they have the pretty designs , you know , on the top . So I kept watching videos , I kept learning all the things and I just kept at it .
Speaker 3And then now it's Christmas time and so I decided that for my neighbors I'm going to make them sourdough bread , and for my family and our friends I made gifts of sourdough bread . And when you have the sourdough starter you have to feed it every day . But before you feed it you have to take a little out and then you keep that in the fridge and you can and that's called discard and you can use that to then make other things . So I was making sourdough cinnamon rolls and sourdough crackers and sourdough pretzels and sourdough sandwich bread , and I mean I could go brownies , cookies , like I can go on and on and on , and I so I'm not only making the bread , but I'm baking all these other things . And I should add that I've never been a baker .
Speaker 2So important revelation there for people .
Speaker 3I've never been a baker Like . I mean I made cupcakes and cookies as the kids were growing up , or cakes , birthday cakes . I made cookies at Christmas but Like , can't you bake cakes ?
Speaker 2and cookies or out of a box back in the day . Out of a box . Okay , so let's just , let's just capture that right here .
Speaker 3Right , yes , out of a box , and most of the time I would buy , like , the tube of cookie dough . You know I didn't I mean at Christmas I did do like homemade , you know cookies and stuff , but other than that , like I just I've never really been much of a baker .
Speaker 3I didn't , certainly didn't bake every month you know , or just just every , maybe a couple times a year . So now I'm doing all this baking and I kind of was like floored by it all because I loved it so much and the things that I was making were really good and I like still I'm a little shocked , like that I'm doing it Right . So I was in my per time with the Lord and I was like what's going on ? Like why am I doing this ? Why do I love it so much and why is good ? I just didn't understand .
Speaker 3And he's so amazing and very lovingly he said it brings you joy . And in that moment I felt like our joy is so important to him . He wants us to do things that bring us joy . Sometimes I would get so focused on the mission of setting people free that I was forgetting about the joy . Of course , like every time we did a session I had so much joy and seeing someone set free . But sometimes I would get so focused on , like I said , the mission . And here I am doing something that brings me joy and it brought him joy . It brings him our father . It brings him joy when we are doing things that bring us joy .
Speaker 2Amen , it's so true . And to even realize that you didn't even know that this really brought you joy .
Speaker 3No , that's what I was like . What is this about ?
Speaker 2Yeah , so how would you attribute that ? Has this been a hidden gem within you that has been locked up in a treasure chest that is waiting for you to go unlock it ?
Speaker 3That's exactly what it was , and so the Holy Spirit reminded me that a few months prior to me suddenly having this desire to make sourdough bread and bake , I went through some inner healing . The Holy Spirit revealed that there was a certain area that I needed inner healing in and , as I , you know , I feel like I'm I'm not going to say constantly , but I'm often learning . I'm often learning about healing and about deliverance . However , in whatever way he leads me to right and I , he brought me to this teaching on a captive spirit and when we face trauma , our spirit fragments and those fragmented pieces then are taken captive by the enemy . And I was sitting with the Lord , I was in my time with the Lord and I had a . He showed me there were three caves and there were three parts of me . Two were little Heather and one I was in my twenties and it was . Those were the three ages .
Speaker 3I had significant trauma , and so there's three parts of me in these caves that had bars on them , and he each one . He took me to each , through each one and through the trauma that that part of me faced , and I did a lot of crying and releasing and he did a lot of healing and , and I did , forgiving , and I also repented . There are some things I had to repent for . And then I , in each part , I would see the , the bars slide away like a jail door . They slid away and Jesus was standing at the entrance of the cave and that part of me came out of the cave , hand in hand with Jesus , and we walked away and there was so much peace at the end of that and as I and I , and so there was so much peace and it brought so much healing , and I knew that God did a mighty , inner , deep work within me .
Speaker 3And when I went through this training of healing , a captive spirit the teacher gave a testimony of when she took someone through this , this woman . Several months after she went through this healing , she all of a sudden started painting . She never had been a painter or she didn't draw or anything like that , and all of a sudden she just took this interest in drawing and painting and she was quite good at it , naturally , and she didn't take any classes or training or anything and she just was creating these beautiful works of art . And I don't know if she I can't remember if she sold them , but it was because those gifts were locked up in that part of her that was being held captive . And when she received healing and when she was set free , those gifts emerged and the Holy Spirit took me back to that and reminded me that I went through that healing and now I'm baking bread and baking other things because I truly feel that those gifts were locked away . And now I've emerged and so have the gifts .
Speaker 2Wow , it's mind blowing , yes , so was there anything revealed like even going back to those you know younger years ? You said there was a couple caves with the younger year and then you know , like the 20s . Is there something that has even been brought back to your mind about baking or anything of this realm that was in those years at all ? Has it , has anything come to mind at all ?
Speaker 3No , but this might not like make any sense , but it's almost like I feel like myself . Wow .
Speaker 2So you're fully you and fully free when you're doing this .
Speaker 3Yes and then . Well , I just want to add sorry , I didn't even realize that I didn't feel like myself .
Speaker 2So you are literally like experiencing , like being fully free within those bodies , soul , spirit , yes , yeah .
Speaker 2Yeah , I can . I can attest to some of those things that you're sharing . Just even the ways that I'm walking right now , like I wake up each morning kind of going pinch me like
I mean just being able to fully walk out what you feel like and it thinks can shift right . We have different . You know we're we are purposed and we're called and there's different ways that we express it . But when you're actually doing that thing that you know that you are like called to do in that particular season and you're literally walking it out , there's like nothing , there's nothing like it . I wake up , like I said , I am like , oh , this is what it's supposed to be like . I think Right , and it takes a little time to kind of get used to living . I'm 46 . I don't know how old you are , but 47 majority of my life Not in that place .
Speaker 3Yep .
Speaker 2Right , absolutely , and that's why there's hope for everybody to get this place . What would you say would be ? Well , tell the viewers , or not the viewers , the listeners , because I mean , we can view it . I'm just imagining your bread right now , the gluten free girls like yearning for your bread . You'll have to share a story about that as well . Yes , but in this very short period of time , like , just tell us a little bit more of what you've been experiencing , just on the back end , literally like every step of the law of the way these . Just how long has it been ? Again , tell them how long it's been . More about what happened to get this thing Moving .
Speaker 3Yes , okay . So , as I said now . So I started , november 18 is when I made my first sourdough loaf of 2023 . And then I , in December , gave him his gifts and then I kept making it and people started coming to me , the people who I'd given the gifts to . They then were coming to me saying they wanted to buy more . They wanted to buy the bread because they couldn't stop thinking about the bread and how good it was . So they wanted to now buy it . And I was like you know , and I felt like I want to , like you know , let's just say my best friend , I'm like I want to sell you , like brush is , like I'm going to pay for it , like she wanted to pay for it . So I was like okay , you know . And right around this time to , my husband's company changed their pay structure . So instead of getting bonuses at the end of every month , they were going to get their bonuses quarterly , which meant we were going to be $1,000 short every month . Now that money eventually , would you know , make its way back , but instead of every month , that was spread out to four times a year . So we were still short for January and February $1,000 .
Speaker 3And I used to before I recommitted my life to Christ in 2018 , I was a teacher and but at the end of that school year I took an FM LA when I was hospitalized . But then , in May of 2018 , that was the last time that I was a teacher and I've just been on this adventure with the Lord and the thing that I could do quickly and make money quickly was be a substitute teacher , and we did pray about it , because that's one thing . I've had to learn my lesson over and over about doing things you know , without talking about it with the Lord . So I did pray about it and I really , in my spirit , I just didn't feel like that was what I was supposed to do , because I felt like that was what the old Heather did , and I felt like there was more and in watching a video that you kindly shared with me , just about this supernatural realm of provision that is there for us , I knew that there it wasn't subbing and I felt like , because of the sudden gift and the sudden joy and the sudden bread thing that I was doing , I felt like it had to do with that , and so I took a step of faith and I created this menu of just a few different kinds of sourdough and I shared it on my Facebook page and , surprisingly , the people that I'm friends with , who are local , they started placing orders and it was very manageable . It was just , you know , a few a week and but I knew that there was more . I knew that there was more to it and I was still willing to sub , even though I didn't want to . I just kept praying , like show me what you want me to do , lord , like I know that there's something .
Speaker 3And so , in the midst of all of this , there were a lot of , there were a lot of really intense things going on in our lives . There were some things going on with Lewis's health . He had been hospitalized . A very close family member of mine was it still is fighting for her life and there were some things going on with my mom , both of my kids . There were things going on with them . There were things going on with our finances . It felt like every area of my life was under attack and I I was battle weary and the only thing that I could do to get through those things was stay close to the Lord . I didn't even really pray a lot , I just sat in his presence . I would listen to soaking music and I would just sit in his presence and I would just surrender and lay it all down and give him every battle and , you know , be still and know that I am God , just I . That's all I did . And he fought the battle for me .
Speaker 3And in the midst of all of that , this beautiful bread business emerged and one day I , like I said I took this step of faith and I said you know what ? Just post it . And it wasn't even me , it was the Holy Spirit . Post this menu in your local community Facebook page . So I did , and I got an order from that post and this woman bought a blueberry , lemon sourdough loaf for her and her coworkers . And the next day she messaged me and she said oh , my goodness , this was the best bread . We fell in love . It's heavenly , she said . I'm pretty sure she used the word heavenly to describe this bread . And she said and I said I'm so happy that you enjoyed it . Like , it really makes me so happy that people are enjoying the bread . It brings me joy .
Speaker 3And I said would you mind , because I made this post , that I'm starting to sell bread ? And then everyone who has bought bread or tasted my bread . I sent them a message and asked them if they wouldn't mind sharing the post and maybe saying you know if they like the bread , and et cetera . And I think there were like 15 of them and each one said yes . And each one did it . And I asked this lady . I said would you mind sharing my post about the bread ? And she said , well , my page is private but I'll post it in the community page . And I said thank you so much . I was so grateful . Well , not only did she post it in the community page , she posted it in like three other , like two or three other local pages . And all of a sudden I started getting . My phone started going off like crazy and I started getting all these friend requests . I started getting all these messages . I couldn't keep up . I couldn't keep up with the messages For that week and the next week I had one baking day , like so when you make sourdough bread , you make the dough one day and then the next day you bake it .
Speaker 3It's a day process and I had one day for each week . I had to add three more days for both weeks because I had so many orders . So I did . I was booked out for two weeks and I had four baking days each day , because I can only do seven loaves a day because of my refrigerator space , because they have to cold proof overnight and I can only fit seven proofing baskets in my fridge . So I was limited to how many I could do and so I was booked out for two weeks . I had all these new friends , so I made a business page and applied and did the process of making it an LLC and so now the Blessed Bread Company , or CO , is an LLC and it has a business page at Facebook and in the last three weeks because it's only been three weeks in the last three weeks I've made 88 sourdough loaves and numerous orders of sourdough chocolate chip cookies . So it's been mind blowing .
Speaker 2Yes , amen . I mean I think it's Amos 913 where it says it's gonna happen so fast your head's gonna spin .
Speaker 3Yes , and that is the scripture that the Lord gave me for this year .
Speaker 2Stop it really . Yes . Amazing . Well , here you go . Here , it is my friend .
Speaker 3Yes , and I wanna add that all of that warfare as I was thinking of doing this and stepping out in faith and sharing bread with people , all of that , all of those attacks in all the different areas , the Lord reminded me that of the scripture , of the scripture , or the story of when Joshua , when they were crossing over into the Promised Land . They didn't just cross over and then they arrived and it was smooth and they got to enjoy the land . They faced battle after battle after battle after battle , but they won every single battle and the Lord was with them in every single battle . And he reminded me that it doesn't matter what I see , it doesn't matter what my circumstances are as I crossed over , and I won and I will continue to cross over and continue to win , and so will every single person listening .
Speaker 3And when we're weary in the battle , and when we can't even muster up a warfare prayer or any prayer , all we have to remember is to be still and know that he is God and he goes ahead of us and fights the battle for us , and we will always be victorious . Amen .
Speaker 2Yes , which it also reminds me of Exodus 14 , 14 . I've been sharing that one with a lot of Calislately . Do you know that one ? When they're crossing the Red Sea as well ?
Yeah , yes , because I recently read that and my mind was blown , yeah .
Speaker 2And it has variations depending on which version you're reading the Bible . But , like ESV says , the Lord will fight for you and you have only to be silent .
Speaker 2Yes , the one that really just always comes to mind for me is in the NIV , which is the Lord will fight for you . You need only to be still so . We don't need to go like striving or running around Like he literally is fighting the battles in the background and I mean I'm walking through things too right . There's a lot of us and I wanna remind many of you that I talk to a lot of women and , like there's a lot of us that are walking through and we've crossed over . And I love how you got that revelation with Joshua , because I think it was last week .
Speaker 2I just started imagining the 12 that were sent in , the 12 spies , and it was like Joshua and Caleb were the ones that were like we're going in , like it doesn't matter . I was like they're talking to each other , they're like lifting each other up and I even thought I like to say I like to be that , but God said girl for people , because there's too many like the 10 spies that are like but what if ? Like we need to have a plan B , and it's like no , we need people . We need to hear testimonies like this that are the but God stories , that are the . You know you're a but God girl .
Speaker 2You're not gonna go and be like oh my gosh , but what if ? No you're like I'm going in . Even before we were talking on here today , I was reminded of the song of you know nothing gonna stop you know you can . I'm not a singer , but gotta keep on moving , you know , and it's so , and I believe it's truly like that . I was telling her I am often called God's DJ . And what are you called ?
Speaker 3The human MP3 player .
Speaker 2We both have had this song come to us in different times in our life . So I just feel like go listen to that song . Whoever needs to listen to that song today it is a now song . You know , god speaks to us in so many different ways and for me , he speaks to me through music . Even if it's like an old 1980s or even a 1950 song will come to me and I'm like this is from like 80 years ago . What are ?
Speaker 2you trying to say and he's got so much to say through different ways of speaking to us . So I just love your story . I can't wait to have you on again to do like part two of you know . Whatever you know , maybe you have like a mobile sourdough underground railroad delivery that will make it to Minnesota for me , just for me , but I would love for you to just share . Is there anything that I just ? I do this for the one you know , for him and then for one ? Typically I see one woman who's listening . Is there anything that you would want to say to her today and would you just mind praying over the listeners today as well ?
Speaker 3Absolutely . Before I do that , I do wanna just one more thing about this bread business is that he I didn't know , I didn't know right , I didn't know that I loved it . I didn't know that this was what it would become , but he did , and he made a way for it and provided everything for it . So , without going into the whole testimony , just in a simple conversation with our pastor , they gave us a fridge and a rack , which both were things that I was saving for to get , and now I can do several loaves , so I don't have to have four baking days , I can have one or two baking days and still make the same amount . Also , my amazing sister-in-law , who has just been such an encouragement and like cheering me on in this , she bought me some more Dutch ovens so that I can cook four at a time instead of just two at a time . And then , recently so I wanted to learn how to dehydrate my sourdough starter so that I could ship it across the world or the United States .
Speaker 3And I was just having a conversation with someone last Sunday and he said what kind of dehydrator do you need ? And so I told him and he's like well , I have two , I'm gonna give you one , stop it , listen . So God literally has provided for this dream that he gave me , that I didn't even know that I wanted , and here I am doing this , and it's such a beautiful thing . Not only am I doing something that I love , but I'm able to spend my entire day with the Lord . As I'm baking this bread , I talk to him and dream with him , and I get to meet people that I would have never met before , and he gives opportunities to even pray for people . But one of the other things and this is the last thing is that in that scripture of Exodus 14 , not only , like you know , in the NLT , I just had it but I lost it , but it's oh the Lord himself will fight for you . Just stay calm . Yes .
Speaker 3Not only that , but they were positioned , they were in the right position , and so I would just encourage your listeners , and even to the one , that we don't necessarily have to worry . If we're doing the right thing or if we're in God's will , he will position us exactly to where he wants us , because that was something I used to always worry about Is this your will ? Am I doing the right thing ? Am I gonna make the wrong choice ? We have choices , yeah , and the Lord will bless us . He will always make a way . He will always make a way when there seems to be no way . And so , even if I did sub , he would have used it . He would have used it to help me to be the light and maybe a child's life , but in my spirit I just knew that that wasn't the thing , and so he blessed this .
Speaker 3And so sometimes we get so caught up . Is this the right thing ? Is this God's will ? But we don't have to . We just need to stay calm , because he will position us , and my encouragement would just be also to be still in his presence . It's so the word is so important , and it's the way that our minds are renewed and transformed , and it's the only thing that has saved my mind , right .
Speaker 3But there is nothing like sitting in your place where you pray to the Lord and just quieting your mind and emptying your mind , giving him everything , giving him every unanswered prayer , giving him every worry , every burden , releasing , emptying yourself . Maybe you have to repent , maybe you have to forgive , but just empty yourself . And when you do that and you are quiet before the Lord , he's doing something . He's healing the deep wounds in your soul , in your mind , in your heart . He's healing your body . Because when we release unforgiveness , when we repent , healing comes in one form or another . And he's doing and he's loving us . He's loving us and I think that so many and me included I was not really loving myself or receiving his love . I was orphaned . And in those quiet moments with him is when I fully walk into being his daughter and receiving his love , and doing that changes everything .
Speaker 2So , beautiful . I can just feel like somebody's just getting washed and his love and to the overflow .
Speaker 3So I would love to just pray , is that okay ?
Speaker 2Yes , I would just love that , thank you .
Speaker 3So , father , we just thank you , lord . We thank you for who you are . We thank you that you are such a good , good , good Father . We thank you , God , that you have so much love for us , so much mercy , so much grace that we don't have to worry about for messing it up , that you are just there ordering our steps .
Speaker 3So , god , in the name of Jesus , I plead the blood of Jesus over every person listening and I pray a mighty firewall hedge of protection around them and I declare no weapon formed against them will ever prosper . And , lord , I ask that you would release angels concerning them , according to your word in Psalm 91 , god , to guard them and protect them in all of their ways . In the name of Jesus , I bind fear , I bind worry , I bind heaviness , I bind every tormenting thought and I render them all mute , blind and paralyzed in the name of Jesus , and I loose power , love and a sound mind over them . Lord , I loose life , and life abundantly . I loose love , joy and peace over them , god , and I pray for the deliverance , for the healing and the salvation of every person listening , god . I ask , lord , that the blood of Jesus would speak on their behalf against every accusation of the enemy , and that you would be able to do that and that you would issue a cease and desist order , of restraining order and a gag order from the courtroom of heaven to every demonic entity that is afflicting them , tormenting them , stealing , killing and destroying anything that has to do with them .
Speaker 3God , and I thank you , lord . I thank you for peace that surpasses all understanding . I thank you for making a way out of no way . I thank you for setting their captive spirit free , god . I thank you , jesus , for leading them out of captivity . I thank you for the dreams and the gifts and the talents , god , that have been locked away , that they are emerging , that they are rising up , beauty , from ashes , god , and that you are doing a new thing , and I thank you for every new thing that springs forth from this God .
Speaker 3I thank you , god , that you are not a respecter of persons , that because you did it for me , you will do it for them , that you are not a carrot-dingling God , that you don't say look what I did for her , but I'm not doing it for you . No , it's the opposite . And so we thank you , god , we wrap our faith around it and , in the name of Jesus , I send the blood of Jesus forth to cancel the assignment of the enemy over every person under the sound of my voice , and I thank you , holy Spirit , for filling them , filling them until they overflow , and we just give you all of the glory and all of the praise and all of the honor , and in Jesus' name we pray . Amen .
Speaker 2Girl , you are a firecracker . I just love you . Thank you so
much for you know , openly sharing , you know , parts of your testimony and just being what I like to say a brave voice that sets others free . I'm gonna close with our anchoring verse over the podcast . I see how it interweaves with what you're doing . May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that , by the power of the Holy Spirit , you may abound in hope , and that's Romans 15-13 . So thank you again , Heather , for being on and for , like I said , to having you on again some time for part two , and I will be back with another episode next week . Thank you so much .