Unity Community
A place where the congregation at Unity Church in Greenville, NC hear stories of life change, discover how God is working through our ministries, and hear from missionaries we support.
Unity Community
Member Stories: Rich and Becky Shasteen
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Host Tim DeCresie talks with Rich and Becky Shasteen about the life change they have experienced here at Unity.
Welcome to the Unity Community Players. We can discover how God is working through our ministries and missionaries, both here and around the world, from conversations with our staff and leaders to testimonies from our people. We're pulling back the curtain of what God is doing in and through Unity Church. Thanks for listening. Let's grow closer to the Lord as we grow closer one to another.
SPEAKER_02Welcome. I'm your host, Tim DeCreesty. Thanks for taking a moment to listen. Today we're continuing our conversation with members of our church family, hearing real stories of faith, growth, and what it means to walk with Christ in everyday life. Every story matters, every journey looks different, and today we get to hear how God has been at work in his life of his own with his own people. So we have uh Rich and Becky Shastain with us. We're so excited to have you. Thank you.
SPEAKER_03Thank you for having us.
SPEAKER_02So don't be too excited. We're just gonna sit back and have a general conversation. Uh, and it's gonna be good to get to know you since I just know your faces, and that's about as far as I go. Um, so with that, let's just start with tell us a little bit about yourself.
SPEAKER_01Well, my name is Rich Shasten. Um I've got family to go here, Dennis Shasten and my brother Ray Shasten. Uh I'm now retired mostly. I work part-time at Farmville Golf Country Club. I did 21 years in the service, uh, Air Force.
SPEAKER_02Um, go Air Force, that's me too. That's right. Amen.
SPEAKER_01I was a cop for 16 and a half years and a TI for four of that. Okay. Drill sergeant. So um I'm a golf aholic and I love golf and uh I ride Harleys in my spare time. Um and now I'm going to church a lot and getting active here and involved as much as I can.
SPEAKER_02Okay, good, good.
SPEAKER_03Hi, my name is Becky Shastine. Um I've been going to Unity what, two and a half, two years.
SPEAKER_01Two years.
SPEAKER_03Um I am married to Rich Shastin. Um we've been married almost two years. Um my hobbies are he's got me into golf and I'm enjoying that. Um we ride Harleys. Um and um I work part-time at um Farmville Pizza and watch my great nephew um Furder Dennis and Heidi Shastine.
SPEAKER_02Okay, did you both grow up in Pitt County or No sir?
SPEAKER_01I I was a military brat. Uh dad was Navy, so I was born in uh born in Tennessee, raised in Virginia Beach, but we moved all over. But mostly was Virginia Beach uh during my growing up period.
SPEAKER_03And I grew up in Maryland on the Eastern Shore um in a very tiny community, and um we had family here in Onslow County in North Carolina, so I did spend some time down here.
SPEAKER_01Um sorry, y'all, I brought another Yankee down from to North Carolina.
SPEAKER_02Well, we we don't want to fast forward the story, but how did you all end up here in Greenville?
SPEAKER_01Well, after I retired, I um I lived in in uh Clayton for 12 years from 06 to 2018. I moved down to Florida, I was down there for six years. Where at in Florida? Uh Melbourne. Okay. Yeah. And um I was in a motorcycle club the whole time, so I I was staying busy with them and working. But uh then things started turning south down there uh for a little bit. And I've been wanting to get back home because my daughter uh I had been married before, my daughter uh lived in Princeton, North Carolina. Um so when I in 03, her mom and I separated and and they moved back up to Princeton, North Carolina, and uh I was in the pan, uh stationed in the panhandle of Florida. So anyhow, when I retired and come up here and then left, and uh I just wanted to get back home. Even though I love Florida, I always said I wanted to live in Florida. You know, she's up here, she's at the age she was starting to, you know, she got married, she was wanting to have babies. My mama was turning 80, so I was like, it's it's time to move back home.
SPEAKER_02Okay, were you in Fort Walton Beach, uh Panama City?
SPEAKER_01I was stationed over at Fort Walton Beach, yeah. Uh Eggman Air Force Base. Oh, okay. Yeah, that was my that's where I retired out of. Herbert Field. Herbert Field, oh yeah. Nice golf course.
SPEAKER_02All right, so uh Becky, what about you?
SPEAKER_03Um Well, I like I said, I grew up in Maryland. Um I met him and he lived in Florida. So I was going through a divorce, and when I finally divorced my um first husband, um we were talking and he said, you know, why don't you come down and and visit? And so I came down and visited and we hit it off and I was like, he was like, Well, why don't you come down and we can you can get in a place and we'll see how it how it works out. Um and I and then, you know, like three months after I moved down, he's like, he tells me, I think I want to move back to North Carolina. I'm like, okay, and I'd been up and met his family, and and I was like, I you know, I really I fell in love with them. And he was like, I think I want to move back to North Carolina. I was like, your decision if you want to move back, you know, that's fine. He said, Well, will you come with me? And I said, Of course.
SPEAKER_02And I got on the Harleys and came on came on up.
SPEAKER_01And it was fortunately, my brother, um, I mean, not it's gonna sound weird, but my brother's uh wife's mom um had passed, and they had a her house there, so that's not the fortunate part. The house was the fortunate part, and so I was always trying to figure out I was gonna move back home, could never afford it because I had some debt. And uh, but then Ray's Ray and his wife's like, Man, you could live in the house until we sell it. So that's what happened. We moved up here and stayed in the house for a couple months and then sold it, and then we sold it more quicker than we thought they were gonna sell it. So then we ended up living in his RV in his front yard for a couple more months, and then we were uh we got a house and been living there ever since.
SPEAKER_02So let's uh let's now let's backtrack. Um you talked about how you all met. How did you get involved in church? Where did God show up in your life?
SPEAKER_01Well, I've I was I was in church off and on growing up the whole time. My dad was an alcoholic. Um, so if dad was drinking, we wasn't in church. If he wasn't drinking, we was in church. So I mean I remember back I was in kindergarten. I remember the preacher called me up one time at church because he heard me singing a Christian song, one of the kids' songs, you know. And then throughout my life, you know, on and off, on and off, on and off church. And then um we kind of stopped for a while again, dad was drinking again. So when I was 16, I was dating a girl and she went to school, or she went to church. So I was like, Well, I'll go I'll go to church with you. I got into it, you know, played an intramural game, you know, baseball or b softball, volleyball, whatever. Um, got into singing, thought I got saved, got baptized, hold on yards. And then when I got stationed in Turkey, uh two years later, I was 18, joined joined the Air Force first base was Turkey. Nobody would hang out with me. I was a church kid, you know. Uh didn't drink, didn't cuss, none of that stuff. And uh no one would hang out with me. And when you're 18 years old, away from home for the first time, you know, it was long before FaceTime and all that stuff, you know, it was 1986. Um, the guys you're stationed with is your family. And when your family don't want to hang out with you, you kind of fall into bad habits. So they've they they all went to the club every Friday night. So I started going to the club, I started drinking, and I got really good at it. And uh never quit. Uh I drank from 18 years old until uh January 29th of uh 2024. Um I had this dream. Uh so real quick before the dream, I I never went back to church. Here and there, pop in Sunday here or there, you know. But anyhow, that that Sunday that night, January 29th, I um had this dream of this big claw that was pulling me down in these flames. I mean I could see it still, just big gray claw, big black nails pulling me down in the flames, all different colors. And I was screaming and hollering. And uh Becky I had had some dreams in the past, BTSD dreams in the past, and she was always there, you know. After we got together, she found this way of comforting me in it. And uh but I just heard her say, I got you, babe, I got you, babe. And I woke up in the dream and I told her about it, and I was crying still. And she said, We need to pray about this. So we did, and we prayed to God. You know, don't know what that was. Thank you for opening my eyes, I guess, you know, whatever it was. And then um we went to church the very next Sunday to Unity because we had been invited several times after we moved home by Dennis. Hey, come church with me, okay. Come church. And I'm like, I'll get there. And then after that dream, we're like, let's go to church Sunday. And we did. Scott Coghill was here as a guest speaker. Um and everything he was saying, you know, was slapped me upside the head. And I felt the Holy Spirit just slapping me, like, this is you, this is you, this is you. And the whole time I'm telling myself, I'm not going up to that altar, I'm not going up to that altar, I'm not going up to that altar. And then Scott opened up that altar call and I was there. So that's that's my kind of crazy faith journey. But yeah, I started bawling up there in front of however many people. It's one service of 800 people at the time, 700 people, crying my brains out. And uh Becky was right there with me and she got saved too. And anyhow, I'll let her speak for a little bit.
SPEAKER_03I like I said, I I grew up in in the church at a young age. Um, you know, so I always do knew there was a God. I knew I always believed. Um, but my first husband didn't believe, so I never did a whole lot in church. Um, you know, he always told me, you know, he was kicked out of church when he was five years old and would never go back. So when we got married, I got married to him when I was 18 years old. I was still a senior in high school. I was very young, um, very immature. Um, but we stayed married for 32 years, and I just followed everything he said, and then until I didn't, and that's when things went sideways. But um, I always believed that there was a God, and whenever I would um have an issue or have a problem, I would always pray. And um, you know, I would always have like a voice in my head saying, okay, this is what you need to do, this is what you need to do. And if I didn't follow that voice, something bad would happen. If I followed that voice, something good would happen. So I got to where I would start to follow the voice. If it went against what my first husband said, I still did it. Um, and it would turn out good. He would be mad at me, but you know, whatever I was praying for would happen. Um and when he he came to me, when he came to me for the divorce, we'd had problems for a while. Um, but he the night he came to me um that he wanted to separate, um, I just heard the voice in my head say, It's time. And I was like, all right. And I prayed a little bit harder, you know, and it just I kept hearing, it's time, it's time. So I went ahead and filed for divorce um because he was cheating on me. Um I found that out later that you know that he was cheating on me. Um we um and then like I said, I met him. He was in the motorcycle club, and um we, you know, it was just something didn't know each other at all. It was my my sister and her husband, um, her husband is it was in the same club that he was in. And my sister had been inviting me for years to go to this big party that they had in Virginia. Um, they have it once a year. And, you know, when my husband and I sep my first husband and I separated, um I was like, I've got nothing stopping me, why don't I go? So I went with her that weekend. That's where I met him.
SPEAKER_01And I had been every year when I lived in I joined the club in uh 2013 and I'd been to East Coast Bash every year. And then when I moved to Florida in 2018, I hadn't been in uh well it was about five years, and I was like, you know, I think I'm gonna go this year because it was just you know, it's a long ride because I don't trailer my bike anywhere. If I'm on my bike, I'm riding it. So uh I won't look in it, you know, trailering or anything. And so I went ahead and went and uh with my buddy, and then yeah, just one day at lunch.
SPEAKER_03It was actually dinner, it was five o'clock in the afternoon.
SPEAKER_01It was lunch for me.
SPEAKER_03Um I was I was sitting there with my sister the first night, and somebody, I was just sitting there thinking, dear lord, why am I here? What is the reason I'm here at a biker party? You know, that is totally not my life. Why am I here? And then he sits down at the table across from me. And I'm like, you know, you know how you see somebody out of the corner of your eye and you kind of look, and I did a double take, and I was like, hmm, he's cute.
SPEAKER_01And that's what happened. We just kept playing those little eye games back and forth, looking and smiling, and finally, I still think it's the smoothest move I've ever done in my entire life. But I looked at the lady in front of me who was his her sister and found out, but I was just like, hey ma'am, how you doing? She's like, good. I was like, uh, who's your who's your patch holder? Because the guys in the club are the patch holder. You know, we wear the patch, the patch members. And she said my husband gave her. I was like, hey brother, how you doing? And I looked at her and I said, Who's your patch holder? She thought I don't have one. I went, How you doing? My name's Hipcheck. Hip check was my road name, you know. It was the smoothest thing I ever done in my life. I thought. It was it was kind of cute. Um cute. That was smooth. What are you talking about?
SPEAKER_03But we we just kind of kind of kept missing each other the whole weekend. Yeah. Um, I only knew him by his road name. He he did know my name, HipChat.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. That's why my Facebook page is Rich HipChat, because I have a IO Facebook page. I'm sorry, and I keep it because now the brothers I was telling Jeff it's like a testimony to them, they can see how much I've changed. You know, everything I post now is positive and it's not alcoholic drug related, and you know. So I keep that Facebook profile as like a testimony to so they can see it as well. But sorry. Yeah, no, so yeah, we kept the next day that we saw each other.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, we did see each other. He tried to kiss me, and I was like, nope, I'm not, I'm going through something because I was still going through the divorce. I said, I'm not interested in anything. No. And I was really rude to him, and I felt so bad afterwards. She should have.
SPEAKER_01But I was talking about the pool. I won't even talk about the pool. Oh, yeah, you didn't get the pool, yes, you do. I remembered your name.
SPEAKER_03He remembered my name, which is uh knowing him now, that is totally amazing because his memory's about, you know, he his memory was not very good at all. But he remembered my name. Most of the time, yes. So you didn't remember. But um, he remembered my name and we talked a little bit at the pool, and then um then he tried to kiss me, and I was like, no, no, no. Um, and then I felt really bad about it. That was the last time I saw her. And that was the last time we we saw each other. And I went home um with we we left Sunday morning, went home, and um, that was the night that I found out I I got positive confirmation that my um first husband was cheating on me. Um and I was like, okay. And then um I went to my sister's house and was talking to her a couple days later, and um the guy that does the photos for the um club did a a dump on Facebook with all the photos that he took at ECB, and his picture was in there and it had his Facebook name. And I was like, oh, okay, so he is on Facebook. So I looked him up on Facebook and apologized, and we started talking. Um, you know, just started talking back and forth on Facebook, and then we exchanged numbers and started talking, and you know, I told him I apologized and told him, you know, hey, I'm what I was going through. And he was like, hey, I've been through a couple of those. Let me, you know, if you need any help, I'll it he he just reached out as a friend. And um, so that's what it started out. It started out very much as as friends, you know, he was somebody outside of my circle that I could talk to that wouldn't judge me, you know, for anything. Um and uh we just started talking more and more that it was every day and that it was FaceTime.
SPEAKER_01FaceTiming all the time. I mean hours of conversation.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, we there there was one night we were on FaceTime for what six and a half hours, didn't realize that it was that long we were talking to each other. And um it was just it we just clicked. And uh, you know, towards when the divorce was getting ready to be final, um my stress level was over the top because my ex was doing a lot of things that were not he was trying to to to to get as much as he could and make it so that it was harder for me. Um he he still wanted to control me everything, everything. And you know, I was finally at the point where no, he's not. And um, you know, Rich said, well, hey, look, come down, visit the Florida, you know, come down to the beach, hang out. I'm working all week, you know, just come down for a week and just relax. So I decided to do that. Um, took a week off from work, it was the week of his birthday, uh, and we just uh we met, we hung out, um, got to know each other more, and uh at that point we both realized that it was it was the real thing. We we we were we fell in love with each other.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and um God definitely put us together because there's no other way we would have met.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, there's no way. I mean, you know, um and then after the after my divorce, um like I said, going up to my divorce, there was still a lot of things that were happening where my ex-husband was trying to control me. Um, even when he was supposedly giving me things in the divorce, he was working it out. So he was still controlling everything. And I was like, I knew if I stayed in Maryland that I would always be under his thumb and it would just be it would be constant battle, constant stress. And Rich said, well, why don't you come down to Florida? We could see, you know, you can get a place of your own, we can see where this goes. And I was like, All right, but I couldn't find an apartment because I didn't have a job down there. And you know, he said, Well, all right, well, you you know, I've got I've got plenty of room here, move in with me, and we'll see where it goes.
SPEAKER_01All her stuff ended up in the garage and that extra bedroom and then uh one of the extra bedrooms. And then we just clicked, started dating, and still never went to church, still kept talking about going to church, but it was all about the club life. I mean, I was I'd worked during the day and every night almost the same during the week. At least at least three times a week during the week, and then every weekend we had something to do with the club.
SPEAKER_02And uh well, so without really I don't know, another way to say this, because I believe this to be true, is God brings you to North Carolina, you know, to Greenville. You're um you have family that goes here. So you end up coming to unity. And you said your first visit? You had your dream and then your first visit.
SPEAKER_01Our very first visit. Yeah, sorry, we went off on a tangent with the club. Yeah, our very first visit. Scott Coghill was preaching, and uh the the Holy Spirit was just hitting me the whole time. He was talking about uh the the flock leaving leaving the flock in 99, you know, going after the one stray, and I was that stray sitting in that pew. And uh yeah, it was it was amazing. Um I I've never felt the Holy Spirit hit me so hard. And I've talked to Jeff about it a lot. Um because I told him, I was like, you know, I I thought I was saved at 16, you know. I've I never liked when people use the Lord's name in vain. I'd you know, and I I always prayed all the time, even before my motorcycle rides, while I was in the club at my worst, I'd pray um for a safe ride and everything. I said, but so I thought I was saved. And he said, but you you never really had a life-changing you know, a life change. He said, So I honestly think that day in unity is when you were saved. And 'cause you did, because I it was such a blessing to it was like all this weight was lifted off me, you know. It was and I was always angry, quickly angry. Like I said, I was drinking a you know half gallon of rum every other day and doing cocaine all the time and and all that went away. I mean when I when I had that when I had that uh dream and then we woke the next day when we were praying. Um actually it was after the prayer when when we were gonna go somewhere and I was like, should I have another drink? And Becky's like, I think you drank it all last night. And I went, oh well, best time to quit then, huh? And we prayed, and I mean I you know, you hear alcoholics and people doing drugs that when they quit, they go through all these withdrawal syndrome when symptoms and DTs and all this stuff shake. I had none of that. I mean, it was literally just gone, you know. It's so it was definitely the Holy Spirit, you know, that was there that took that from us, you know, and took me up to the altar and had Becky up there at the altar, and we both experienced that just Yeah, it w it was amazing.
SPEAKER_03Um, you know, he touched on it before with his PTSD. I was always uh very protective of him, you know. I was always making sure he was okay, and you know, I was sleeping. Yeah, while he was sleeping, and you know, and you know, he got up and went, and I'm like, oh no, I'm not letting him go up there by himself, you know, and I went up there and just had my whole, you know, I was gonna make sure that, you know, he had somebody there that knew that that knew him, that was he was okay. And you know, I got up there and I just started praying and I had my hand on his shoulder, and I heard this voice in my head that said, Welcome home. And then just this this lightness came over me, you know, like, okay, you don't have to worry about anything. You you you I've got you. Somebody's, you know, it was like I don't I don't know how to explain it. It just felt like that, you know, somebody had me wrapped in their arms and was comforting me. Um it was it was it was beautiful, it was scary. Um, but you know, then I realized, you know, he was feeling it too, and I was like, okay, this is where we're supposed to be, you know, and then when I heard we're home or you're home, and I was like, okay, this is where this this is what I'm supposed to be doing. This is the reason we're here.
SPEAKER_02And so what has life been like um now that you've turned your life over to Christ? Amazing.
SPEAKER_01Um always I was always angry or quick to anger. I mean, I but now I'm I'm always happy. Um I've I have this joy every single day. I mean, yeah, I still get mad. Everybody still gets mad, you know. But it's not that quick to anger. Uh I I think before I react now, like if someone you know, I feel like they disrespected me, I'll just breathe, you know. And I matter of fact, to sum it all up, I'll tell you how how it's changed for me. Is the other day I got the best compliment I've ever received in my life. Um this guy, we were about to play golf, and uh it was Sunday afternoon. And he's like, Rich, I I don't usually see you out here on Sundays. I was like, No, I said, I'm usually at church. I said, but Becky wasn't feeling good, so we only went to the first service, and um, so we didn't go to the second service, so she's home resting, so I said, I'm gonna go play some golf. And he, there's the bit here's the biggest compliment. He said, You know, Rich, you know, because I've worked out there for two years, he said, you know, knowing you and the way you treat people and your demeanor and and how you talk, he's like, I always kind of thought you was a Christian. Nice that's the best that's the best compliment I could compared to the to hip check.
SPEAKER_03Yes, yes, I mean the uh the drunk the the change in him, you know, because I like I said I met him as hip check and the change in him, the instantaneous change in him that I saw w is just amazing. Um you know, it's really wild. Um but as for me, um I've gone back to Maryland a couple of times because I do have two two grown children up there um and a grandchild. Um and so my ex-husband runs a hotel, um, and he was kind enough to allow us to stay there when we come up because nobody had extra rooms for us to stay, no family members. Um and one time I went up to see my grandson and to see my mom because she was she was sick at the time. Um I went up and while I was up there, um I was talking to him and you know, I just I I went and talked to him. Something something made me want to I needed to talk to him. And we started talking, and I just told him, I said, you know, I just want to let you know I forgive you for everything that happened. And he just kind of looked at me totally stunned. And he was and that's when I realized I had forgiven him. I'm not I was bitterly angry um for supposedly wasting 32 years of my life on him. But you know, I realized that God had done that to teach me something, to teach me what I needed, and I found what I needed. Um, and and I I forgave my husband my first husband, and um, you know, he kind of af after we talked a little bit, and we were able to talk calmly, not you know, no arguments or anything. Um he was like, wow, you you really have changed. That's that's amazing. And I was like, Yeah, I have. And you know, and I owe it all to God. That's what I told him. And he just said, that's just a cult. And I was like, no, no, it's not. It's the truth.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And with the with the drinking, you know, I I thought I would be I could never ever, you know. First of all, I never thought I'd quit because excuse me. I never thought I'd quit because I never thought I had a problem, you know. I was just a social drinker. And then uh, you know, when I did quit about a year later, I was golfing one day and I they had these liner cugos, it was like a lemon beer. So I was like, I'll try one of those. So I had one. And I started drinking them like, you know, a couple times a week I'd have one, and then uh it turned into you know it's just the taste. I'm not again, it's nothing that I don't they they've had very low alcohol, and so I I kept telling myself, I'm fine, I can just do these. And so um I they I didn't drink like I drank liquor, you know, like I was pounding that stuff. But I'd have these every once in a while, and then it turned into daily, and then I was I was talking to Dennis the other day about it, and I said, Man, I said I said, I've I've been feeling guilty. If I when I go up to the counter with this line of Google, you know, which is uh alcohol, you know, it's it's a light beer, but still technically alcohol. I said, I I don't get drunk off of them, I don't catch a buzz, I don't do any of that stuff. I just when I sit down for after work, I just have one or two. And he said, uh, but you're feeling guilty about it? I was like, Yeah, he's like, Man, that's that's the Holy Spirit convicting you. He's he's he's like, I don't know exactly what he's telling you, but he's like, I think he's saying, You've been down this road before with alcohol, you don't need to be doing this no more. I don't think I can share this with Jeff. It's kind of weird. So, but um and it just slapped me in the head. I was like, Man, I yeah, it probably is the Holy Spirit saying, knock it off, dude. You've already you were an alcoholic, you don't need to drink this because it tastes good. Go get some lemonade. You know what I mean? So uh yeah, so everything's different. Every everything we do is now, you know. What would Jesus do? You know, how can I do this? And I want to be more like Jesus. I I I want to, like that guy said, you know, I want people to see Jesus through me, you know. And you know, we've obviously our prayer life's gotten better at Unity. We're in small group, we've been in just uh Jennifer's small group for over a year now. Um which is what I wanted to kind of get to is how is Unity.
SPEAKER_02No, you're going right where I was gonna ask the question. So, you know, how is Unity supporting uh your new choice in life? I guess new lifestyle.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. It it's amazing. I mean, when when when we first started the the small group with Jeff, um we were like, oh my gosh, the pastor asked us to if we want to be in this group.
SPEAKER_02So don't worry, don't worry. When I first started coming here and got saved, uh I met with uh Jeff one-on-one. So you at least were in a group. So you were way better off than I was. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01I mean, because it can be kind of intimidating, you know, the pastor saying, Hey, you should like this group. But it's so amazing because we have um is it six couples, seven couples? Seven, yeah. Man, we are we're our friendships have grown so much. Um not just studying the word together on Sunday nights, but the friendships that we've we've built there, and we're all there for each other, you know. We'll we have a group chat from that group and we'll we'll lean on each other all the time. We joke around with each other all the time, and it's just a a family, and and uh and you know, I I help out with Jordan sometimes with the with the kids, and I I want to do that more, but um it's so it's unity's been amazing. And and when I f when we first came that very first day, we saw the building, and we're like, uh even through my ups and downs of church as my my childhood, it was always like when you were talking with Jeff on the podcast, like you know, y'all had a hundred people, maybe it was a good good Sunday.
SPEAKER_03Little country churches.
SPEAKER_01I saw this one, I was like, oh my gosh, I'm not gonna like this, I'm not gonna like this. And that Sunday, bang, I we got saved the very first Sunday we were here. And this huge building of a church feels like a homecoming every time we walk in the door. It's such a small family church, you know, in a big a small family church feel in a big church, you know what I mean? Because everybody is, you know, so so wonderful here. But we love it. We just everything we do, every time we come here, we love it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I we do. Um, and like you said, you know, the first the you know, just months after we got saved, Jeff and Jennifer asked us to join their married small groups. Um, and then Jennifer asked me to be in her even smaller D group, which was just with uh two other women, her and I. So it was just the four of us. And that was really intimidating, but it it helped me because I'd never really read the Bible, and so it helped me be able to discuss it with other women, what what was being said, and um you know to understand it more. Because we we had started after we'd been saved, we um started reading the Bible from the New Testament. Um and you know, we we still had a lot of questions, and you know, we were bouncing them off of Jeff. Um, you know, he he we were texting, hey, well, what about this? What about this? So I think that's why Jeff did the the group for us.
SPEAKER_01Well that and before I was really just thinking that we had skipped over a huge part how we even got in the group was because we were reading the New Testament and we were reading about adultery, and you know, someone gets divorced, you're committing adultery. And I was telling Jeff, I was like, you know, we're we've both been divorced. I don't want to commit adultery, and she didn't want to commit adultery. And uh and he says, Well, you know, you're living together. And uh I was like, Yeah, he's like, so uh honestly, y'all need to abstain. Okay, and I said I was never getting married again, never ever. We were gonna date forever. But then when the Holy Spirit is knocking on your head, you know, pointing it out in the word that hey, yes, this ain't right, you know, and then Jeff's like, yeah, y'all need to abstain. And then so we, you know, we got saved February 4th, we got baptized April 8th, and then we got or April 18th, and we got married uh May 18th. Oh yeah, that's what the Holy Spirit did with us and and and Jeff's counseling. And I think that's why our relationship is so strong now. Not only do we have a great church relationship, you know, with our church friends, but our our relationship, our marriage has grown in the church. Us, you know, our household is uh, you know, involved in the church. We pray every day. We're we do as much as we can on our off time for the church. And uh I think that's what it is, you know, just the Holy Spirit has really blessed our marriage.
SPEAKER_02Hey, God's in the business of changing lives. He's done that with you all, yes, sir. Um, along with anybody that puts their faith in Jesus Christ. So that's right. Uh well I really appreciate your time. It's been a it's a phenomenal story, uh, how God brought you all together, brought you here to unity, and really it's just impacting your life. Um, you know, as new believers, we look forward to you continuing to come and grow with us and uh have an influence over other people that come here, or maybe those on the podcast that hear the hear your story and think, man, I I need some of that. I need a life change like that.
SPEAKER_01It is a great change. I'm so proud of Becky, you know, because she went to Guatemala with the women's group last year and she's in two two Bible studies with the ladies, and uh the ladies' ministry here is amazing. The men's ministry is great. It's just it's it's been wonderful. I'm sorry, I hope we didn't babble too much. I know No, you're good, you're good.
SPEAKER_02So before we go, I do want to I do want to pray for you. And um just thanks again for all that you're doing. Dear Heavenly Father, we just thank you so much for uh the work you do in ordinary lives in extraordinary ways. Thank you for your faithfulness, um, the growth, the testimony we've heard today, continue shaping each other, shaping them, um, and growing them more into your image. Uh, continue to use unity and uh its members to speak encouragement into their lives, Lord, and um help them to continue to grow closer to you, and may their testimonies uh bear witness to uh the life-changing power that you possess, Lord. And we just thank you for all that you do for us and that you loved us so much to send your son to die on the cross to save us from our wicked ways, Lord. And so we just thank you for everything that you do for us. And I just pray that you would just go before Rich and Becky and continue to work in their lives. In that name I pray, amen. All right, so as always, uh as God is writing a story in your life, go and tell. Oh, absolutely.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. Thanks so much for listening to the Unity Community Podcast. If today's conversation encouraged you, we'd love for you to take one or more next steps. Join us this Sunday morning for worship at 9 or 1030. Get connected to a life group andor find a place to serve. You can learn more about Unity and how to get plugged in by visiting the links in the show notes. So until next time, let's grow closer to the Lord as we grow closer to one.