Called Late, Sent Far

What if the long wait wasn’t a setback, but training for the moment you’re finally ready? We sit down with Carrie Damiano—mentor, judge, and creator of Ms. World Traveler—to unpack how twenty-two years of “not yet” became a clear, courageous yes. Alongside Terry’s path from church mediator to VFW chaplain and prison Bible study teacher, we explore the way God’s timing, not our timelines, reshapes careers, callings, and everyday courage.

Carrie breaks down why travel is continuing education: getting on planes to learn humility, history, and gratitude, then slowing down to live like a local, find a church, and actually meet people. She also opens up about singleness as a lifelong calling filled with joy, purpose, and freedom to serve—offering hope to anyone who feels “behind” on a life they imagined. From pageant stages to mentoring rooms, she shows how poise, preparation, and presence are skills anyone can learn, at any age.

Terry brings hard-won lessons from decades in ministry, from healing and reconciliation to reading a room without manipulating it. We talk about foundations, forgiveness that multiplies patience, and the simple courage to take one lighted step at a time. You’ll hear a vivid picture of prayer as heart-to-heart with God, stories of miracles and missteps, and a spoken blessing that frames calling as delight, not drudgery.

If you’re weighing a new venture, considering a late-career pivot, or wondering whether it’s safe to try again, this conversation offers practical wisdom: seek God, plan like a builder, watch for stop signs and parted seas, and move. Mentorship, faith, and travel intersect here to show that delay can be preparation in disguise. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs this nudge, and leave a review with your biggest “late” dream you’re ready to start.

"The Flowers You Are Picking Today Come From the Seeds You Planted Yesterday. Don't Like Your Boquet Of Flowers? Then Change the Seeds You Are Planting Today." Chaplain Terry 

Transcript

Opening And Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Hello friend, Chaplain Terry Warner here. I have a special guest today, Carrie Damiano. And I I like I say, I don't like long introductions or anything else. But I she is unique. And I almost I almost I'll be honest, I almost didn't do the interview because I just didn't think it would fit. But after reading about her and studying her profile sheets, I think you're going to be highly entertained today and appreciated that we listen to the Lord and we get we get going that way. So immediately and without further ado, let's just get going, Miss Carrie.

SPEAKER_02 0:46

That just sounds great. It's it's exciting for me to be here, Terry. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

You're welcome. Uh I noticed that on the sheets, and I how did you decide to do this?

SPEAKER_02 1:00

Uh decide Ms. World Traveler?

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Yes.

Hearing A Call Over Decades

SPEAKER_02 1:04

Okay. Well, that is a bit of a long story, so it's a good thing we're we're recording it.

SPEAKER_03 1:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:10

You know, I I was in that place in my life, and this was uh early 2000, and even before that, that I knew something big was coming. I just felt, you know, God had something for me, but I didn't know what it was. And so I've had my own business for a long time, over 25 years. And uh, you know, as each sort of new adventure, each new each thing would come along, I would say, okay, Lord, is this it? Is this the big thing? And he would always say back to me, no, but this is what I have for you right now. Okay. And then the next thing would come and I would ask the same question. And this went on for 22 years.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

And finally, it was like God removed the scales off my eyes and I could see what Ms. World Traveler was. He just kind of laid out the whole thing. And I realized that all those years God was preparing me. He was putting all the things in place that I needed. And as much as I would have liked to have done it, you know, back when I didn't have white hair, that wasn't God's timing. You know, he he had things he needed for me to go through, some challenges to meet, and and lots of things had to be in the right place. Money had to be there, uh, technology had to be there. I I brought my niece alongside me to handle all my social media and that she had to be in the right place. So all these things needed to line up for God to say, here is what I have for you. So it was very exciting.

Travel As Education And Perspective

SPEAKER_00 2:40

Yes. And most of us, if you've never been out of the country, have no idea how the rest of the world lives.

SPEAKER_02 2:49

True. It's it's continuing education. And that's one of the things I love about travel. That's why I encourage people to do it, because you come back with not only learning about history and other people's culture, but with just an appreciate so much more appreciation for your own.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

A lot of examples I live by is when I was getting my pilot's license, the instructor saw the pilot inside me long before I did.

SPEAKER_02 3:14

That's beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

God, you know, saw me as a chaplain long before, long, long before I did.

SPEAKER_02 3:23

Yes. But he was preparing me, wasn't he?

SPEAKER_00 3:26

Over years. Exactly, exactly. And and I'm so happy that he did not release me early. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 3:36

He had a perfect timing for you.

SPEAKER_00 3:38

And you have I have this the second saying, why it's never too late to start a business. Mine is it's never too late to succeed.

Foundations, Discipline, And Timing

SPEAKER_02 3:47

Amen. I love that. So God brings us to various um phases of various chapters in our life and shows us success from each of those things, but it's all building blocks, right? To for whatever he has next for us. And we needed those pieces before we can move on. And sometimes we like to jump, right? A lot of the time. I want to jump to the big success. No, no, no. You know, God has a plan, a step-by-step plan, and and sometimes we only get to see one step at a time.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Enough light to light the path. Take one more step.

SPEAKER_03 4:25

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 4:27

I have done counseling and stuff like that, you know. And I would one of the big problems we have in this country, especially ours, in my own life too, is we read and we get all this knowledge, and then we try to do the deeper things without the foundation, without laying the foundation. So consequently, we wind up in a bind, broke, quit, won't work. Right? So it's so we have to go back to to the basics, uh, so to speak.

SPEAKER_02 4:59

And uh well, the ev even Jesus had to do that, he had to start as a child learning, you know, right? So if if the God of the universe had to go through the steps, shouldn't we have to go through them as well?

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Yes, and and he learned, you know, through that and everything. And and uh yes, he was the son of God, and yes, he was perfect, and yes, he was sinless, but still he had to have discipline to survive and work in his life. He had to be able to constantly hear from God to speak the words of God.

SPEAKER_02 5:36

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

So many times we speak the words that we say are gods and and they're not, or we speak the words and they're totally not God, and we say they are. So fortunately we have repentance and and forgiveness.

SPEAKER_02 5:52

Amen. Amen.

Singleness, Calling, And Joy

SPEAKER_00 5:55

So expand a little more on some of your how do you date yourself?

SPEAKER_02 6:01

Oh that's a that's a funny question. Well, I am single, never married. Uh, and you know, I had this plan, Terry. When I was 18, my plan was I was going to be married by 24 and done having kids by 30. Well, 24 came and went, and 30 came and went, and 40 came and went, and so on, and so on. And you know, I I never realized that what God was doing was being able to give me a ministry now in my 60s that I can speak about having been single all my life. And you know, for most people, it's a phase. For me, it was a lifestyle, and that's okay. Uh, I have such great joy and uh and passion for what I do and joy in the Lord that I hope that inspires people that even if you are in the phase of being single and you don't want to be, there's still joy. You know, there's there's spending time getting closer to God, uh uh thinking about becoming financial independent. Uh, you know, I mean, there's lots of things that we can be doing using the time that God gives us in the single state uh to be working on his purpose for our lives. So as for dating myself, you know, I don't shrink back from, you know, going on trips and going to the movies by myself and all of that. So it it's a lifestyle for me.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Have you had any uh strange experiences that you can share?

SPEAKER_02 7:29

No, that I would say strange. You know, whenever you travel by yourself, uh you know, there's always there's plenty of stories, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:38

Yes.

Never Alone While Traveling Solo

SPEAKER_02 7:39

Um and it it helps me connect with people, but but I tell people who are fearful of going by themselves, you can be with people as much or as little as you want to. And for me, knowing the Lord, I'm never alone. I never feel that sense that you know Jesus isn't right there alongside me with me. You know, you're you are a pilot, my co-pilot, right? Just you know, sitting right next to me, guiding every step. Uh, so even though I'm by myself, I'm not alone.

SPEAKER_00 8:10

Yes, exactly. There's always, there's always, well, me and my wife, but uh the Lord is always with me. If if I lose everything, I have I have Jesus.

SPEAKER_02 8:20

That is right, amen.

SPEAKER_00 8:22

And I have no intention of that going that way or turning that way. It's just as I have a comfort of knowing that he knows me. I found in Romans one time where uh God knows me rather I know God rather God knows me. And when I realize he's not ashamed of me, but is glad to know me, then I could be glad to know him. Yes, so to speak.

SPEAKER_02 8:50

Yeah, there's a freedom in that, isn't there?

SPEAKER_00 8:52

Yes, yeah, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's liberty for sure.

SPEAKER_02 8:56

Amen.

Ministry Journey And Miracles

SPEAKER_00 8:56

Yes, um talking about the pilot part, the well the the Lord called me to be a chaplain back in 1972. The minister, he called me into the ministry in 72, so immediately I enrolled in seminary. I was excited, I was so glad to go. And uh I went to I signed up to go and I was and I was taking classes and learning and filling in as an assistant minister, and then the Lord healed me, gave me a healing in a church and a denomination that really didn't practice healing. Bona fide medical healing. And so we were asked to leave. So they just could not handle it. So we left and and that put us into a deeper walk with the Lord and things like that. I was called into ministry in 72. I was called as a chaplain probably back in about 2020. So I've been about six years. Now I I've done counseling and I've done chaplain duties all in and out all along. But I mainly was taught by the Holy Spirit and taught very well to be truthful.

SPEAKER_02 10:11

Uh-huh. Well, he is the best teacher.

SPEAKER_00 10:13

Yes. But if you don't listen and don't pay attention, oh well that that's true.

SPEAKER_02 10:19

You know, we have to have ears to hear, right? So so what was your ministry then from 72 to 2020?

SPEAKER_00 10:28

Uh filling in in 72, the church was having trouble with the charismatic movement. And instead of giving a church and being a pastor, I was sent to churches that were splitting as a mediator.

unknown 10:43

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:44

As a mediator to try to keep splitting. Yes, I told him several times this really wasn't what I had in mind when he called me into the ministry.

SPEAKER_01 10:54

I've been in some it never is, is it?

Teaching, Forgiveness, And Patience

SPEAKER_00 10:57

No, I've been in some really uh difficult situations in the churches and the board meetings and and getting upset. It it really was because I was learning. But one one thing I learned probably uh overall is forgiveness is multiplies your patience. And when you learn when you learn to forgive, you you can get more patient, more patient, more patient, and then things don't don't amount to much to be truthful. When you look at them in the light of eternity, you know, we're this is we were we are quickly passing from from death to life. And quit. It's a continual education program. And yes. Yes, I was uh I joined I retired and joined the uh veterans of foreign wars and just moved up through uh commander and district commander and then and then to the state chaplain. And and then I started doing podcasts. The podcast is really new. Uh I well I started about three years ago. I write a weekly article.

SPEAKER_02 12:26

Yeah, kind of the same as Ms. World Traveler. We started just over three years ago.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

And then uh I started uh getting more and more I do Bible study in a prison. And that's pretty challenging to do it that way. But I uh you know, you learn little by little, line upon line, precept upon precept.

SPEAKER_03 12:48

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 12:49

And and I I guess the biggest thing that I learned was God wasn't mad at me. He's not looking to teach me something in the sense of uh slapping my hands or giving me not pointing fingers. He d he does it in love and everything. That's right. And I and I've been in some really fun spots I've I've had as well as serious spots. I've had some really fantastic uh spirits in the fantastic experiences in the spirit realm. And uh and things like that. So and the and the ministry's been full of miracles and and all kinds of stuff. Positive good stuff. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:31

Well, when when we are willing, when we say yes, God, send me, uh, he does, and then he you know uh supernaturally empowers you to do things that you never thought that you could, uh, and uses you in a way that maybe you hadn't planned, but he knows better and he had better plans, right?

SPEAKER_00 13:53

Yes, I've I've stepped out so many times on my own uh ability and fell flat on my face, but the Lord has rescued me every time. So I come out, I come out smelling like a rose, you know.

SPEAKER_02 14:08

Well, I think he's in the rescuing business, he's needed all the time.

Mentoring Through Pageantry

SPEAKER_00 14:14

I have another, I have a lot of little sayings. The other one that I really like a lot is the the flowers you're picking today are from the seed you planted yesterday.

SPEAKER_02 14:25

I like that. Yeah, I like that. So where where do you get to go uh now? Uh do you have a particular group of people that you work with, or are you sent out to uh various uh um service groups, or who do you minister to?

SPEAKER_00 14:43

Well, right now I'm doing the podcast and I and I I I was writing a weekly article in the newspaper. I've quit. Uh mainly because I'm doing a podcast, a weekly newsletter. I don't I don't do public speaking much anymore. I'm 79 and my wife is 88, I think, 88. And so we're sort of confined. We we can't travel near like we used to that way.

SPEAKER_02 15:15

But uh it's it it's okay to slow down a little.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

Well that's what everybody keeps telling me.

SPEAKER_02 15:20

You know, and and God's still gonna use you know no matter what your pace is, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:25

Yes, yes, and but I do I play a lot of golf. I have Parkinson's from being sprayed range and orange in Vietnam and and so I have Parkinson's. Well, golf is an excellent exercise for no shaking. Wow, so I play a lot of golf.

SPEAKER_02 15:43

That's wonderful. And I had well and and that's that's a mission field in and of itself, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 15:49

Yes, I had a couple of little T I A's and it ruined my right side, so I just switched, start playing left-handed.

SPEAKER_01 16:00

I don't think that's fair that you can just switch from one side to the other.

Calling People Where They Are

SPEAKER_00 16:04

Well, I'm left, I'm left-handed, I do everything right-handed. I'm actually I write left-handed, a bowl left-handed. Okay, and that now I play golf left-handed, but that's the only thing I do with my left hand. So that's funny.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

Yeah, I my left hand, other than playing the piano, my left hand is just about useless.

SPEAKER_00 16:25

Oh, I tell you. I try to I I like music a little bit, and the only thing I can play the harmonica and the drum. Yeah. I remember my grandfather yelling at me one time to I was listening to Elvis Presley. He yelled at me to turn that jungle music off. Well, anyway, well a little more about yourself. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 16:57

Do you was that I'm sorry, uh was that tell me, did you say tell me more about your stuff?

SPEAKER_00 17:02

Yeah, do you uh do you mentor mentor people still? I took it that you did.

Hearing God’s Voice In Real Time

SPEAKER_02 17:07

Yes, yes. Well, I've been in the pageant industry for over 40 years now. Uh, God called me into that when I was in college, and uh I went kicking and screaming. I thought that was for fluffy girls, and uh, you know, that's where God had for me. And little did I know that he meant for me to um, you know, I sort of became more of a matriarch. And um, so I do a lot of judging, judge all over the country and some out of the country. Uh I do a lot of speaking and mentoring young women. And so God brings these precious uh girls to me. And I never had any daughters of my own. So they they become like my daughters. And uh, you know, for a season I get to walk alongside them. And so that is something very special that um God has given me and it's very rewarding. And uh that's partly what I think has kept me so involved in it. Um, and then that's sort of where the Ms. World Traveler came from. You can see I'm wearing a banner here. Uh that this is it's it's not a pageant, it's a YouTube uh series about travel, shopping style, uh, art antiques, design, all those sort of girly things. But this is an homage to my decades in the pageant industry. So that's kind of how the two marry. Because I travel a lot for pageantry on pageant-related business. I'm leaving tomorrow for London. I'm speaking at an international pageant expo. Um, it's it's sort of again, the two are very married together. So those are the two main things that I do, along with a lot of design work with my pageant girls.

SPEAKER_00 18:49

The uh contestants, what age group are they?

SPEAKER_02 18:54

Uh I have had as young as 12, which is a little younger than I typically like. Uh so 12 up to um 70. My my oldest girl right now is 70. Um, let me see. I don't know if I've had one older. I think seven, that's about the oldest I've had. I've judged older than that. But um, you know, it's for all ages. And that's the thing is, you know, God calls us to step out of our comfort zone at any age. You know this. But becoming a chaplain just a few years ago, you know, it's something new, it's something different, but it's a new chapter, uh, just like Ms. World Traveler was for me. Um so sometimes God calls gals, you know, later in life to I want you to do this because I have a reason to do it.

SPEAKER_00 19:39

Uh I say when I was so old when I was a kid, the Dead Sea was just getting sick. So I borrowed that from George Burns.

SPEAKER_02 19:49

Um my mom said I was an old lady when I was born. So I get it.

Grace, Identity, And Hope

SPEAKER_00 19:57

But anyway, that's well, uh the Lord called me called me into the ministry, you know, and then put me in homeschool for years, years when I said that I had a pretty good home education. The Holy Spirit was taught by the Holy Spirit. And I met people and I knew the scripture, and I had you would think I was well read, but it was b the from the Holy Spirit teaching. Because well, they said, Oh, you've been reading Kenyan, or you've been reading uh Spurgeon, or you've been reading uh uh several others. No, I I don't I I didn't even know who they were at the time. But I found out that the Holy Spirit was well was a good teacher. If you pay attention.

SPEAKER_03 20:42

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

Same way with a good pilot. You you you you sooner or later you you've got to fly the plane. And in your life, sooner or later you've got to quit learning and quit reading and quit and start teaching. And if you can't, I mean well, you you know, you get to fix yourself and go on. You can see my Parkinson's coming in now. Uh when I get nervous or ups or start thinking. I start thinking, I call it my PD dance.

Next Steps: London And Australia

SPEAKER_02 21:16

So I like it. Well, you're talking about uh you know becoming teachers, and and I think you know, we're all called to that. No matter what age you are, you we are called to that because there's somebody that you can teach. You know, for example, in Titus 2, where it talks about the older women should teach the younger women how to love their husbands. Well, I've got not been married, so I'm not going to be called to teach another woman how to love her husband, but I am called to teach. And so I have done that with the experiences and the wisdom that God has given me through the things He's led me through. That's what I pass on to other women.

SPEAKER_00 21:54

So we're all called to be teachers. You don't see it much that way, but my wife, you You know, she relates to other women better than I do, and and though that she can give them wisdom and insight. And uh men are headliners, women are fine print.

SPEAKER_02 22:13

That's interesting.

A Spoken Blessing And Life Story

SPEAKER_00 22:16

Well what I mean is the man sees prettiness and beauty and and things, and the w the women sees the the color and the dress and the and the clothes and the the makeup and stuff like that. Men for the most part can't tell you what color hair they have or what the color of their eyes are. They like the person, they're you know, they're in love with the person and and they're attracted to the person. But the fine details as a rule are are uh something that hasn't needs to be discovered. I used to sell I got in a bind uh one year and I had to sell vacuum cleaners door to door. But I had a guy that taught me how to read people, and when it would get done, they'd say, Okay, you heard what they said, now tell me what they didn't say. Oh, oh that's a good way to look at it, isn't it? Yes, and and so it was just amazing because I thought a couple of times we were gonna get thrown out of the house, you know. Selling door-to-door vacuum cleaners is sort of hard. It is hard. But you I knocked a hundred doors a day, is what I tried to do. And if I could show my product uh three times, I I I could make really good money. I was not that successful. But boy, did I learn how to read people and pay attention to what was being said and facial expressions and stuff.

SPEAKER_02 23:47

Yes, and that's well, that's a great life skill, no matter what you're doing, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 23:51

Yes. Now I can read an audience. I I learned to read the audience quicker and more quickly than I did, not to mean not to manipulate them, but uh teach what they need to hear. Yes, you know, same way with your proteges, not not to not to teach them what to do, but to show them how to do it, you know, right.

SPEAKER_02 24:15

Teach them, teach them how to find it within themselves, yes, because because most of the time it's there, and nobody wants to be told what to do. I mean, seriously, nobody wants to be told what to do, right? Um that's why I say walk alongside, you know, to to help them, not uh blind, you know, not blindly follow, um, but so that they get the skills to be able to learn and um discover on their own.

It’s Never Too Late Closing

SPEAKER_00 24:43

Yes. And and God can take you at any age, at any disposition. He might change get you to change a lifestyle or something that that's better suited for Christianity than what you're doing, you know, absolutely, but then he may not, he may leave you in that so that you be a witness to others and other people see you.

SPEAKER_02 25:05

Well, God needs people in every single aspect of life, yes, right?

SPEAKER_00 25:09

And I don't know Christians that you do you would never really know it. They were Christians, judging by my standards or judging by what I see.

SPEAKER_03 25:19

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 25:20

But they were they were very much aware of what was going on. But they didn't do it the way I did it.

SPEAKER_02 25:25

Well, and we can't, we can't all do it the same because people don't receive it.

SPEAKER_00 25:29

That's the same. That's true.

SPEAKER_02 25:30

You know, and and and I often say this, you know, because there are people who mistakenly have an impression that if you're in pageantry, it's all about exterior. Uh and one, that's just not true, means you don't know anything about it. Um, and and two, God calls us and gives us the experience that we need to minister to the people he's called us to. So you were mentioning a prison ministry. God has never called me to a prison ministry because I have no experience with that kind of thing. I'm not going to be able to relate to those kind of people. They can take one look at me and, you know, go, you're a fluffy girl, uh, you know, and I'm not going to be able to relate. So, but he did call me to women who look a little bit more like I do. And they can relate to me and I can relate to them. I've been through it, uh, you know, been in the foxhole with the girls and understand what it's like to have your knees knocking as you walk out on stage. Um, and so, you know, God calls each one of us to uh to answer whatever his call is, where he leads us. And a lot of times we don't get to choose that.

SPEAKER_00 26:37

When I was called my first sermon, okay, they said, All right, Terry, this is your first sermon. Don't make notes, don't do anything. The Holy Spirit will tell you what to say. So we went up to a campground in up in Colorado, and I gave my sermon there. And of all things, I spoke about littering. And somehow the Holy Spirit found Bible verses that related to littering and everything. And I finished that and I was so disappointed and so bummed out. I told Arlene, I said, Well, that that that career was short, you know. I wonder what's I wonder what's next, you know. And uh nobody else said a word. Nobody said a word. There was probably about 60 people there. Nobody said a word. And as I was pulling out of the park, a guy flagged me down and said, I'm so glad you preached on that. Yesterday I got fined$650 for littering. And he said, I I learned that I need to I need to declutter and delitter my life of the thing that's keeping me away from God. Well that had a very specific message. Exactly. And the same way with the prison. Uh I'll I'll I'll break a something that you perceive that's not necessarily true. The the guys that I minister to in the prison are very knowledgeable when it comes to the Word of God because they have time to sit down and study. Now the ones that are not are not, but the ones that are are in it, are in it pretty good and pretty thorough and pretty deep. Wonderful. And ask you questions that make you think, you know. Or have to ask the Holy Spirit well I need to know what to say, you know. I need to be like Daniel, you know, help.

SPEAKER_02 28:38

Yes, yes. So how wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 28:42

But that the uh anyway the being in the foxhole I had I had three close encounters in NOM and one of them ex all three were extremely uh death defined. But but it took me several years. It took me several years to even talk about it.

SPEAKER_03 29:07

Really?

SPEAKER_00 29:08

Yeah. So what do you have on like pros and cons on starting a business? Evidently you're if if you feel the Lord wants you to do it or you want to do it, you know, that's something else. A lot of times we we get we mess up by waiting on the Lord to tell us what to do. The word tells you what to do. That's right. And if you don't know what to do, just just start reading the word. One thing be kind and and uh comfort the widows and orphans. That's one thing. And children, you know, with this abortion mess going on. There are a lot of people that are they're hurt and damaged by that that you don't see on the on the outside.

SPEAKER_02 29:56

Well, the I think the pros and cons of uh starting a business is um first is to seek God and you know see if it's somewhere where he's leading you. Because I know this has happened in my life, that uh you know there's a stop sign, you know, a spiritual stop sign when I am not supposed to go a certain direction. Or sometimes God parts the Red Sea and the way is just clear. So I know I'm supposed to be moving forward. So if you see God first, then the answer becomes clear to you what you're what you're supposed to be doing. Um so I I think it's it's not so much of you know, you know, people always say, Well, you need to make a business plan and all that. Okay, well, it's good to think through those things, very much like the man who's gonna build a house. You know, you have to think through what are the costs and that sort of thing and you know uh determine that before you get going. Um so you know, there are some practical things that should be done, but really is that where God is leading you? And it is a step of faith. You know, you you were just mentioning about waiting for God to uh tell you. And sometimes you don't get a thunderbolt. Sometimes it's a um, okay, Lord, I believe that you're leading me this way. Here we go. Let's take a step. And if the stop sign comes out, okay, what now? But if the Red Sea parts, then you know, take the next step and the next step after that.

SPEAKER_00 31:24

I was preaching a sermon in Wally, Colorado Sunday morning at a brethren church. And I feel I have filled in in several all denominations. Uh and I was I'm Pentecostal, but I'm in the Brethren Church. They approved me. I I went to fill in one Sunday and stayed two and a half years. And and then the and the Brethren Church. So that the Brethren Church got Pentecostal gospel for two and a half years. And then they finally decided to get another, to get another minister. But what I was gonna anyway, I was up there, I was preaching, and I was going along fine, preaching my sermon, and the the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, When when you pray, how do I hear your prayers? And I thought, I said, Well, I don't know. Uh you got some kind of speaker system or a loud system or a switchboard or something. You can hear and understand everybody all at once. And I don't quite know how you do it, but I I don't know. I said, How do you do it? And he said, Well, how do you hear me? And I said, Well, that's easy. I hear you in that still small voice in my heart. Not in the earthquake or the wind or the fire, you know, but in that still small voice. And he said, That's exactly how I hear you. I hear you in my heart. Beautiful. Isn't that neat? Oh, that that stopped the sorry, that stop the bawling and squalling and begging and pleading and everything. Do what you think God wants you to do. And let the Holy Spirit make up the difference. He's here to help us. He's not here to f us to follow blindly follow him and not know the whys and ins and outs and stuff. Uh, we're put here on earth to have a good time, not a sinful time, but a good time in the Lord by doing good and what's right and and correct and things like that. You know, we're in here to study know and study his word, because the more we know and study his word, the more blessings and prosperity and goodness will come over us. He's a good God, he's a God of love. But we turn him around to where he's got we got him beating up people and taking making them sick and everything else. And if if it's bad, it's the devil. The devil comes to kill, steal, and destroy. He comes we might have life and have it more abundantly. Well, that life is fed by the bread of heaven, which happens to be the manna that the Israelites ate 40 years in the desert. Now they didn't mix faith with it, so they got a loaf of bread. We mixed faith with it and we get the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_02 34:11

Amen. Beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 34:14

Yeah, anyway, that that really got to me. It messed my I I had to I had to stop my sermon and share with the congregation.

SPEAKER_02 34:25

But you know, when you when you get that moment and you get that poke from the Holy Spirit, answer it.

SPEAKER_00 34:32

Yes, yes. And there's been times I've missed it. You know, there's been times I but you know, well, even when when I have missed it, the Lord's only realigned me so that I can experience it again and give me the He's the God of He's not only the God of a first chance, a second chance, third, fourth, fifth, some hundred chances, you know. Our sins, it dawned on me the other day. We talk about our sins being forgiven, past, present, and future. When my sins were forgiven 2,000 years ago. That's right. That's right. Talk about future, right? Yeah, and talking about, you know, well, God doesn't know I'm doing this, or God, you know, I can get by with it. I mean, come on. He 2,000 years ago, he was buried in with sin in the baptism, but he rose in newness of life, and we got to rise with him. We got to rise with being the righteousness of God. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, as long as we have the Holy Spirit in us. Sometimes we don't live like it, but behavior does not determine stature or not.

SPEAKER_02 35:42

That's right, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 35:43

Or idea.

SPEAKER_02 35:44

And there's hope for everyone.

SPEAKER_00 35:45

Yeah. Yes, yeah, as long as as long as you're breathing and on this earth and in a body, there's hope. There's hope.

SPEAKER_03 35:53

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 35:56

Well, this has been a neat interview. The time has gone by over fast. What would you what are your future plans? You're going to London tomorrow. That's something. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 36:07

Yeah. So so I'll be there for a week and then I'll be back. I'm based in Phoenix. I'll be back for about 10 days, and then I head off to Australia for a full month. So that will be working on uh miserable traveler content. And uh so I try and when I go for a month, it's living like a local. So really trying to get more in-depth into the culture and uh meet people and uh you know, find a church while I'm there, and you know, just it's different than when you're a tourist and you boop boom boop boop boom, you know, you're you're moving from one place to another because that's often how vacations are. You just don't have time. Um, so this is it's kind of the luxury of time to be able to slow down, go more in depth. Um, so I'm really looking to that.

SPEAKER_00 36:55

So will your will your uh speaking engagement be more than one time, one more than one day?

SPEAKER_02 37:01

Um no, this particular uh it's uh uh it's a pageant expo and it's one of those all day long kind of things, and there'll be vendors and um uh different speakers and Q ⁇ A sessions and you know, all of those kind of things, but it's all on one day. So it's a yeah, it's it's kind of a quick trip, but um you know, but hopefully with you know, there's no jet lag, so I speaking and I fall asleep. Hopefully not, right?

SPEAKER_00 37:29

I like the uh exposed all the vendors and see all the new stuff. Yeah. Well, I have a word from the Lord for you.

SPEAKER_03 37:39

Oh wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 37:40

That uh while I was going over things this morning, he he interrupted me and gave me this. I confess this is Carrie. I confess that unusual graceful favors will be over your life today. That God is going to do something for you that will make you rejoice. God is going to do you good and make you happy, very happy. God's blessing will overtake you. You've been made the head and not the tail. Everything is going to turn out okay. 2 Corinthians 4 13 said, I believe and therefore I speak. Start speaking your words of faith, keep them in your heart, and watch the blessings of God come upon you and an unmeasurable amount overtake you. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you so much. Beautiful. Thank you. You're welcome. I get it, I get real emotional too.

SPEAKER_03 38:47

The wife may be Itali.

SPEAKER_00 38:49

She may be Italian, but I'm the emotional one.

SPEAKER_02 38:54

But you know, when the spirit softens our hearts, that's when emotions can be uh, you know, we are more prone, right, to uh to to feeling things deeper. So so nothing wrong with that.

SPEAKER_00 39:08

Well, it was our last day on my last day on the job. I fixed a refrigerator. That's what I was I was working for Sears. I fixed a refrigerator, asked her to go hit golf balls. She was in the middle of a divorce. So we got six months later we got married, and we raised her three children. They're grown, two miscarriages and a stillborn, and we adopted four more. Oh my goodness. And so now we went but we wound up with an empty nest again, and I started the the chaplain ministry. Well, I got elected department chaplain for the VFW. And then I started writing articles. Oh, my and my book is at the printers.

SPEAKER_02 39:53

Uh congratulations.

SPEAKER_00 39:55

Well, thank you. My first book, I have another one that I that's that's about uh a third done. And then I have a biography that that uh goes over my uh three near-death experiences in Vietnam.

SPEAKER_02 40:11

Oh my goodness. Wow. Well, God is gonna use your story in a mighty, powerful way.

SPEAKER_00 40:17

Yeah, and you know, just I'm having I'm having a ball. He gets to he gets to play golf every day. Love it. Well, is there anything else you'd like to add?

SPEAKER_02 40:31

Uh well, I always like to end with, you know, it's never too late. Uh, you know, living out your calling, living out your dreams, your passion. Um, that there's no age limit on that, there's no time limit on that. So, you know, you are a perfect walking example of that. That um, you know, a later chapter for you was to become a chaplain, uh, kind of for me too. Uh, I'm working harder than I've ever worked in my whole life and loving every moment of it. And God has has re-energized me like Sarah, you know, when Abraham and Sarah had to wait so long for a baby, and and she was old, but God gave her the youth of a young mother to be able to raise a child. So um, you know, it's just it's never too late. Uh, if you're waiting on God, you know, He has a plan, He has a perfect plan. And it just, you know, it's not about time, it's about His timing.

SPEAKER_00 41:26

Exactly. Well, thank you so much for the interview. I enjoyed it so much.

SPEAKER_02 41:32

Thank you, Terry.

SPEAKER_00 41:33

Oh, you're welcome. It should air out next Monday, the uh 16th, I think.

SPEAKER_03 41:40

Okay. So thank you very much. Okay, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 41:48

Oh, it was so nice visiting with you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

SPEAKER_03 41:52

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_00 41:53

God bless. God bless.