WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:23.039 Well, good morning, Awakening Church. 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:24.480 Great to be with you. 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:26.320 Happy Mother's Day. 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:30.719 Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful bride as well. 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:45.759 Um, we're in a series called Broken God, and here's what we've been saying the last few weeks is that it's easy to look around at the world today and conclude that, you know, if there is a God, he must be broken because of all the brokenness we see. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:57.600 And yet the reality is, is what's broken is our view of God, and at the root of all the problems we experience comes back to our view and understanding of who God is. 00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:07.680 And so we've been spending this series uh refocusing our view of who God is and bringing an alignment of what's true of him. 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:11.280 And so uh last week we talked about the holiness of God. 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:13.840 Today we're gonna talk about the goodness of God. 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:19.439 And before I do that, I thought I would just set us up on this idea and subject of the goodness of God. 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:22.959 So go ahead and turn to your neighbor and say the goodness of God. 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:30.079 Okay, you didn't really say it that well, so go ahead and turn to your other neighbor and say the goodness of God. 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:47.439 You know, um, as I studying and wrestling with the goodness of God, I was talking to a friend and and she said, you know, yes, God is good even when all evidence points to the contrary. 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:52.079 And I think there's many of us that walk in and feel that way. 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:54.640 And I've been wrestling with this question. 00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:58.239 Um, it's simply um here, I guess there you go. 00:01:58.319 --> 00:02:04.319 Uh, what would change in your life, in my life, if I really believed that God is good? 00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:16.879 Like, just as I was studying that, like what would deeply significantly change in my life, in your life, if you really believed God is good? 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:17.280 A. 00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:17.520 W. 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:30.960 Tozer in his classic knowledge of the holy, we've been traveling through that, writes this the goodness of God is that which disposes him to be kind, cordial, benevolent, and full of goodwill toward men. 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:34.000 He is tenderhearted and of quick sympathy. 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:42.400 By his nature, he is inclined to bestow blessedness and he takes holy pleasure in the happiness of his people. 00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:44.960 Like, what would change in your life? 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:51.919 What would change in my life if we truly believe that is the fundamental character trait of God? 00:02:52.080 --> 00:03:00.800 In fact, when Moses was asking to see the glory of God, he said, Show me your glory, which meant, show me the real you. 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:03.919 I want to know the full weight of who you are. 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:12.639 God said this, and I will cause all of my help me out goodness, the real you. 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:17.759 It's all of his goodness pass before you. 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:25.599 That's fundamentally the God we worship and serve and his heart towards each and every one of us. 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:27.439 And so let me ask you one last time. 00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:34.639 What would change in your life if you really truly believed God is good? 00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:37.199 I asked my mom to join me, which is really fun. 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:40.400 And mom, why don't you come on out uh today? 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:42.960 This is the first time we've ever gotten to share a stage. 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:46.719 Thank you for welcoming her and have this. 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:49.680 Go ahead and grab a seat. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:56.879 Um and and and part of a major reason was as I thought about the goodness of God. 00:03:57.120 --> 00:03:58.080 It should be on. 00:03:58.400 --> 00:03:59.039 Let me check. 00:03:59.199 --> 00:03:59.919 Yeah, you're all good. 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:00.639 All right. 00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:13.759 Um, and I thought about, you know, while all evidence points to the contrary, you can look back at your life right now and go, wow, God has been so good. 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:17.759 Four amazing kids, I might add, uh, that you had. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:19.680 Um, all married. 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:22.079 One in particular is really great. 00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:24.720 Um Annie, the daughter. 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:29.439 You have 12 grandkids. 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:31.519 God's using your life. 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:35.279 You just wrote a book as well, Precious in His Sight. 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:43.680 Um, and yet the beginning of your story, I would say all evidence pointed to the contrary. 00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:44.319 Yes. 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:46.959 And I would love just for you to share your story. 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:49.040 How did you come to know Jesus? 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:52.000 What was a little bit of your background? 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:55.360 Um you're gonna make me cry. 00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:57.759 Robbie, that wasn't fair. 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:02.000 You sang my son's song that he wrote right before I came out here. 00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:04.319 So I got all teary-eyed. 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:13.600 Um, well, my life has been really interesting, and it certainly is a lot different than I thought it would be. 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:19.199 I grew up in a very small rural area in West Virginia. 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:26.639 It's I I can hardly explain it to you because most of you wouldn't be able to relate. 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:31.040 It's it's in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:38.720 It's um a lot of the people in my town, which was very, very small, uh, lived up what we called hullers. 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:44.800 And there were a lot of poor people and uh just people that were struggling a lot. 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:55.439 And uh I just that was my environment for 12 12 or more years growing up, um going to school. 00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:59.439 So it was a lonely life for me. 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:08.959 Um my parents, my mother didn't drive, so we were stuck at home all the time, and she she was a a fearful person. 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:18.240 She was um, she was she didn't, she was very quiet, she didn't talk very much, and she was afraid to go out and do things. 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:24.879 In fact, she would send me uh when I was old enough to go and do some of the things that she didn't want to do. 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:43.439 So she was uh she's a sweet, a sweet mom, and I love her dearly, but she um she really never expressed to us outwardly in in her words or with her with hugs that she loved us. 00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:49.519 And I'm not sure why, um, because I knew that she did because of the way she took care of us. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:53.600 And my dad, it was a totally different story. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:56.560 My dad was um alcoholic. 00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:01.040 I would see him drinking as soon as he got up in the morning. 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:04.480 Every morning he had to have a drink to start the day. 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:10.160 He um he was very strict with all of us. 00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:14.399 There were three girls in our family, and he was very strict. 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:17.040 We had to stay home almost all the time. 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:23.920 We we lived away from people, uh, so we didn't have a lot of interaction and a lot of opportunities. 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:35.839 And I I hear about all the opportunities that uh all that young people have today, and I just feel like, oh my gosh, what would I have been if I had had those opportunities? 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:40.639 But the thing is, um I was right where God wanted me to be. 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:45.439 That's where He brought me into this life, and and I learned and I grew. 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:52.720 I learned to work hard and eventually came to know the Lord as my Savior. 00:07:53.120 --> 00:08:03.600 And I I didn't have any friends because we lived so far away from my school friends, and we weren't allowed to go much of any. 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:06.319 We worked very hard, we had to work a lot. 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:11.120 Um, and my best friends were my dog and the animals. 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:14.399 We had farm animals, and I loved books. 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:27.519 That's how I spent my summers was uh waiting on the bookmobile to come through so I could get books to read, and I would read, and I loved music and just things that I could do alone. 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:32.879 And I it was all the all those things that really soothed me during those times. 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:44.480 Well, as I went through high school and under such a um a strict father who I was terribly afraid of because he would punish us over the least little thing we did wrong. 00:08:44.639 --> 00:08:49.919 We felt like we had to be perfect all the time, and I couldn't be, no one can be. 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:56.480 And so when I graduated from high school, the first thing that I wanted to do was get away from there. 00:08:56.799 --> 00:08:59.279 I really rebelled in my heart. 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:14.480 I wanted more, and I knew that there was more out there for me, but I couldn't find it where I was, and so I I fought with my dad to let him um that he would allow me to go to college. 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:19.840 And so I won and and I got to go to Fairmont State College. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:30.080 And while I was there, I was I started dating a young man who loved me, or I thought who loved me. 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:36.799 And he um he was what I built my whole life upon that at that time. 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:47.279 He was going to college and and um I I went two years and then I then I took a job at the college so I could support him and put him the rest of the way through school. 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:52.000 And I had all these dreams of what life was gonna be like. 00:09:52.480 --> 00:10:02.000 That I was gonna be married, I was gonna have a home, I was gonna have children, life was gonna be wonderful, and and uh I was gonna just be so happy. 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:07.200 And so those are the dreams I had, but I didn't know the Lord. 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:10.320 Um, I didn't grow up in a Christian home. 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:14.639 We went to church, but it was just a place to go. 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:18.399 I never heard the the scriptures during all that time. 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:30.559 Um but after we got married, um, and he I worked and he finished college, he finished college and he got a job right away. 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:49.919 And I had gotten pregnant, and about three months after he graduated from college, we had twin boys, and I was shocked because at that time they didn't do sonograms, and I didn't know I was having twins until they were born, so it was a real shock. 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:53.679 And um and the the newspaper came out the next day. 00:10:53.759 --> 00:11:14.480 This was a smaller town, Fairmont, West Virginia, and so it was a big deal if twins were born at the hospital, and I and I saw the the article and it said um that I had a boy and a girl, and I was so confused because I had two boys, and I thought, oh my goodness, what do I have? 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:17.519 I don't have I wasn't sure what I had. 00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:26.480 Um but they were just uh the sweetest little little babies, and and um, and I'm so thankful for them. 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:31.679 But my husband just was so self-centered. 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:50.480 He he was so into his life, what he wanted, what would make him happy, and he became uh very uh involved in alcohol, just like my dad, and and he became involved in some drugs and partying a lot. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:12:09.039 And he started going out at night and partying and uh with friends, and uh I didn't feel I didn't feel like he really was taking care of us or that he cared about us, but I I my dreams were still, oh, this is you know, this is gonna change. 00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:13.279 We is we're just in this new season and it's gonna change and everything's gonna be great. 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:16.559 Well, I found out that it wasn't gonna be great. 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:20.480 Um when my little boys were about six months old. 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:25.519 He packed his bags, took everything out of his closet, and he left us. 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:40.720 Um he he had gotten involved with another woman, and I found out he'd been lying to me, and I found out, and and and I confronted him with it, and he just left. 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:44.480 And I didn't have any any support. 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:59.120 I lived in a little apartment with a broken down car, and I had to quit my job because I had two babies instead of one, and I wasn't able to take to take care of them when I worked. 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:01.440 And so I felt like I was left with nothing. 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:02.720 There was nothing. 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:04.559 And I didn't know the Lord. 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:08.799 I didn't have the help of Jesus in my life. 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:14.159 So he left at first and he moved down the street with this lady. 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:20.639 So I had to drive past that place every time I I went out because it was a one-way street. 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:24.240 And it was just really difficult. 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:26.480 I was I was devastated. 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:29.279 I my heart was broken. 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:33.360 And I I just I felt like my life was over. 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:35.919 There's I don't have a life anymore. 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:42.080 And I became really, really depressed, um, very discouraged. 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:52.799 But I look back now and I see God was at work and He was He was uh searching for me and calling me all that time. 00:13:53.840 --> 00:14:09.200 So I went back up to the college and they had a job opening, and I took it, and I was able to find child care for my little boys because I had to work, I had no money, um, I didn't have family that could help me in that way. 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:28.960 And so I went back and I ended up working with the director of admissions at this college, and he was a godly man, he he loved the Lord, and I knew nothing about I knew the little stories about Jesus from going to Sunday school, but I'd never read the Bible. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:33.519 I knew nothing about the Lord, I didn't even know what being saved meant. 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:46.240 And so I would go in his office, we would work together on sending out letters to uh the students, and I so I would be in his office um every day for a little while. 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:57.600 And I I went to work and I I wanted to be strong and I didn't share anything to anyone about what was going on in my life because I I guess I was too proud. 00:14:57.679 --> 00:15:01.919 I just I didn't want people to know that my life was falling apart. 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:09.279 So I would go in his office and one day he asked me how I was doing, and I just started crying right in front of him. 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:14.320 I thought this is terrible, just boohooing right in front of your boss. 00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:18.080 And uh he was so, so loving. 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:26.720 And um every day after that, when I would go in, he would tell me about the love of God. 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:33.440 And um and I heard it over and over. 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:38.080 But I didn't know him, I didn't know the Lord. 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:51.279 And so I was thinking about this for for weeks, actually, and he kept telling me that that God would take care of me, that he would take care of my children. 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:52.720 I'm so sorry, Ryan. 00:15:52.879 --> 00:15:54.320 I can't keep from crying. 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:55.279 No, you're great. 00:15:55.679 --> 00:16:15.039 Um after hearing this for a while, I thought, well, I know, you know, if if my my friend who had become my friend says that God is real and he's a uh he's a uh educated man. 00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:17.840 I mean, this this must there must be something to it. 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:23.919 And so he invited me to church to go with him one night to this little church in the country. 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:41.279 He he was a lay preacher sometimes at a Free Methodist church, and he would go around to some of these little churches when they needed a pastor, and he would preach, and he was preaching at this little church out in the country, and he asked me, he and his wife asked me if I would go, would go with them. 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:48.639 So I started thinking, um, because I didn't know I didn't know where God was, I didn't know how to find him. 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:54.879 And I'm in my mind I was thinking, well, if there really is a God, he must be at church. 00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:56.960 He's gotta be at church. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:02.960 And so I went with them and I was I really was expecting something to happen. 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:11.920 And my sister, my younger sister came and she she was helping me with the boys, and so we went to church and I sat through this church service. 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:22.559 It was just a typical Free Methodist church service, and my friend gave the message, they sang hymns, they prayed, and nothing happened. 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:25.279 And I was distraught. 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:29.599 I just remember walking out of that building thinking, this isn't real. 00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:32.000 There really isn't a God. 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:48.480 And as I was out getting in the car, um putting the boys in their in the car seats, and uh a little old lady out in the parking lot, and I I didn't know any of these people, she came up to me and just said, Do you want to be saved? 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:51.759 And I didn't know what saved meant, but I said yes. 00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:56.799 And and it was it was to me, it's a miracle. 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:02.000 Um she didn't know what was going on in my life, and God just led her to do that. 00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:17.279 And so I went back into the church, and everybody in the parking lot got out of their cars and went back into church and went to the altar with me, and and we prayed, and and um I came to know Jesus that night as my savior. 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:31.920 And when I went home, I you know I didn't I didn't know scripture and the only the only verse that I knew was Psalm 23, which I had memorized in Sunday school, and that's the Lord is my shepherd. 00:18:33.200 --> 00:19:12.640 And so I I just remember the next morning getting ready for work, and I'm I was having such a battle in my mind, and I I just kept saying Psalm 23 over and over, and I wasn't aware of spiritual uh battle at that time, and I think I was really having a spiritual battle for my soul, and I kept saying Psalm 23 over and over and over, and then I um I started to get involved with there, or I want to say I didn't start getting involved, people got involved in my life and helped me and supported me and helped me to grow during that time. 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:21.839 And um I'm just to me it's it's just um a miracle of the Lord that uh that he would choose me. 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:30.079 And uh and it's even more of a miracle that I'm up here on the stage, and my son is sitting right here. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:35.200 Um, but that's that's what what my early days were like. 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:38.799 And I was I was 25 when I came to Christ. 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:45.200 Oh, thank you for sharing, and this is fun to get to be on the stage together, hopefully many more times. 00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:46.720 We'll see. 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:47.680 We'll see. 00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:51.119 I I have to pass the test first. 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:53.279 He oh, he already passed it. 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:54.480 He already passed it. 00:19:54.720 --> 00:20:01.519 Um, you know, one of the psalms as we're talking about the goodness of God is taste and see that the Lord is good. 00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:02.880 Psalm 34.8. 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:05.920 Blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:10.720 And so now you're a single mom with twin babies, which are my brothers, by the way. 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:12.799 So if you're wondering, oh, is Ryan a twin? 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:13.279 No. 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:14.559 Um those are my older. 00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:19.279 Ship adopted the boys after we got married, so we we are a family. 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:20.240 Absolutely. 00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:29.599 Um, and so how in those early days and early years did you begin to taste and see that the Lord is good? 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:45.519 You know, we're gonna sing a song after this that says you keep on getting better, and it's not that God's getting better, we've talked about this, but the more you get to know God and his goodness, the better he becomes to you because you're experiencing more fully who he is. 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:49.599 How did you begin to taste and see his goodness through those next years? 00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:54.799 I have to say it's a slow process, but also for some it's a vast process. 00:20:54.960 --> 00:21:04.160 And uh I began real slowly, but when I uh really grasped uh who God is, then it was that was all I needed. 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:13.519 I I I really grew spiritually during that time, but I have to say it was people in my life that helped me. 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:32.480 Um it was my my friends who helped lead me to Christ, who encouraged me to go to church, they encouraged me to get in the Word, and um they helped me, they brought things that I needed, brought food, took care of um helped me with my kids. 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:40.640 It was people it was the body of Christ who really loved me that got me off in a good in a good way. 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:56.240 And uh just having that reminder, even when I didn't want to go to church, uh having that reminder of someone calling and saying, you know, we'll pick you up, we'll we'll help you, but we just want you to be there. 00:21:56.559 --> 00:21:59.200 And so that would that I would say that was number one. 00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:18.799 And then I I learned to get in the word of God, which was, you know, God, God says that his word is a refuge, that he is a refuge, and his word is um gives us strength, and his word gives us hope and and gives us direction. 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:26.799 And as I beget in get in the word of God, it's was like a light went on. 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:32.720 I would, you know, when you're when you come to Christ and you're saved, you have the Holy Spirit. 00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:34.799 We have Christ living in us. 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:37.599 And it was like my eyes were opened. 00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:42.400 And when I read the Bible, it would just jump off the page. 00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:44.799 And I would, God would speak to me. 00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:53.279 And it was such a precious time for me, especially in those those years of being a single mom and just feeling alone and feeling desperate. 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:56.799 God's word was my delight. 00:22:57.599 --> 00:23:07.680 And I'm very thankful that I learned even the people that helped me just to get going in my Christian life helped me to get in the word. 00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:10.640 And they spent time with me and they taught me. 00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:13.920 And um, and I'm very grateful for that. 00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:16.400 And I learned how to pray, the same people. 00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:25.440 I went through a prayer class early on, very early in my Christian life, with a group of five ladies in the basement of a Free Methodist church. 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:35.839 And what's amazing to me, you kind of think in those little obscure places that God's surely not working there. 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:38.559 And you know, that there's not godly people there. 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:40.720 But I'm I'm telling you, there are. 00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:26.319 You know, as I was in the word, as I would cry out to him, he he just kept showing up all over the place. 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:38.559 I'm I just remember a time that uh I had a car that broke down all the time, and I was driving along, and I had the boys in the back seat, and my car broke down, and I never knew what to do. 00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:48.000 And there just happened to be a mechanic right behind me, and he got out of his car and helped fix my car and get me back on the road. 00:24:48.240 --> 00:25:00.480 And another time I was so lonely on the weekends, just I had too much time to myself, and and I liked being busy when I could get through the weeks, but the weekends were really hard. 00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:06.079 And I I was sitting on the floor in the living room one time after it was after the boys went to bed. 00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:08.079 I do everything after the boys go to bed. 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:11.039 Um, but I was praying. 00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:13.599 I said, Lord, I am so lonely. 00:25:14.079 --> 00:25:17.759 Will you please send someone to my door? 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:23.039 And it was it was the most amazing thing. 00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:47.279 There was a knock at the door a few minutes later, and it wasn't my knight in shining armor, it was my friend Edith, who was next door, and she was just a lovely older lady, and she came to the door and we sat and we became the best of friends, and I had the opportunity later on to lead her to Christ. 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:53.200 And so God just showed up in just amazing ways. 00:25:53.359 --> 00:25:58.400 Um, uh another another way is just meeting my husband, my my new husband. 00:25:58.559 --> 00:26:02.799 Where I can't see him, but yeah. 00:26:04.640 --> 00:26:06.640 The lights are too bright. 00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:19.359 Um but I was praying for a husband, and I just I never met a Christian man in my life, other than the man who led me to Christ. 00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:22.720 And he was already married and had three kids. 00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:28.319 But I'd never I didn't know what it was like to be with a Christian man. 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:36.799 And so I was praying, my friends were praying that God would give me a husband, and I want I wanted my my kids to have a dad. 00:26:37.119 --> 00:27:00.319 And so as I prayed, I um my friend suggested that we go to this navigator meeting, which was a college ministry meeting that was uh was hosted by this navigator group, and Chip, my now husband, was leading that group, and so it was it was a Bible study, it was singing and worship, and it was just just for college kids. 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:07.519 But I I went and and I'm I went uh just to meet him because uh my friend was telling me about him. 00:27:07.759 --> 00:27:11.440 And so I I went to meet him, um, and I did. 00:27:11.599 --> 00:27:24.240 I saw him and I was really, really attracted to him, and I I thought, oh, maybe he's the one, maybe he's the one God's God has sent here for me because I haven't met anyone else. 00:27:24.480 --> 00:27:27.599 And so the next literally the only one at best. 00:27:28.880 --> 00:27:30.079 The only one. 00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:40.240 And so the next week I I thought, well, I'm gonna go back because who knows what God is doing. 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:45.599 And I really believed in the power of prayer, and so I took my little boys with me. 00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:54.480 So they were they were babies, they were like two years old, and I took them in their little little pajamas with feet on, and I mean, with you know, that have the feet. 00:27:54.720 --> 00:28:12.400 And uh so we walk in this this uh rally with all these college kids, and you know, I just sat down and act like I'm a part of it, and had these two little boys, and uh, because I I thought he if if he's the one that's God has for me, he needs to know I have kids. 00:28:12.880 --> 00:28:15.920 And uh so then he didn't pay much attention to me. 00:28:16.079 --> 00:28:21.440 I think he might have, you know, said hi or something, but he didn't particularly notice me. 00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:30.559 And so I went home that night and I was so distraught again, and I thought, this I'm not going back there. 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:44.480 And that was the first time in my life I surrendered something to God, and I remember sitting on my bed that night, and I just put out my hands and I said, Lord, I'm I'm not going back there. 00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:50.640 And if he's the one you've brought here for me, and see, I still was thinking that, then you bring him to me. 00:28:50.720 --> 00:28:52.640 I'm not going to do anything. 00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:57.200 If you want him to come to me, you bring him to me. 00:28:57.440 --> 00:29:08.319 And so, you know, a few weeks went by and nothing happened, and I just thought, well, you know, nothing is going to happen. 00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:25.279 And but then one night Chip called me, and he had been thinking about me this whole time, and he went through the pages of the um, they had a roster where people that would come would put their names and their telephone numbers just so they could keep track of who was coming. 00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:31.839 And he flipped through the pages until he found my name, and he called me, and that was the beginning. 00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:34.079 I I was I was in shock. 00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:56.319 And that was the beginning of um a relationship that that grew into um just what we've shared for the last 43 years, and and then he became the father of my children, and then we had two more children, and and uh that was just one of the most amazing answers to prayer that I ever had. 00:29:57.759 --> 00:29:59.039 Am I taking up too much time? 00:29:59.279 --> 00:30:01.680 You're doing great, you're doing great. 00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:12.400 Um, you know, one of my you're speaking about prayer, and I just can tell you that my mom is a prayer warrior. 00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:36.559 Um and one of my fond memories growing up as a kid is I would wake up in the early mornings, you know, to have go use the bathroom, and she would always be up and she'd be on the couch and the lamp would be on, and she'd have a hot cup of coffee, and she'd just spend hours in the morning with Jesus. 00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:44.559 And you know, it's been said that God doesn't have favorites, but he has intimates, and you are an intimate. 00:30:45.039 --> 00:30:50.400 And I I think that model for me was always so powerful in a picture. 00:30:50.559 --> 00:30:52.640 Sorry, I don't mean to make you cry. 00:30:52.880 --> 00:31:01.680 Um, and I love the the psalm, Psalm 73, where it says, But as for me, the nearness of God is my good. 00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:11.599 And then when it's talking about the goodness of God, it kind of you see this repeated, is that when you really believe that God is good, you make him your refuge. 00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:19.680 You make him, he is the true safe harbor, and so instead of trying to navigate on your own, you you run to him. 00:31:20.319 --> 00:31:29.279 And I think that's the story that I've seen over and over, is that the nearness of God is your good and you've made him your refuge. 00:31:29.680 --> 00:31:31.440 And what is it? 00:31:31.599 --> 00:31:36.480 Or maybe just help us a little on how you you talked about prayer. 00:31:36.640 --> 00:31:45.279 What are those times like for you as you've made him a refuge through all the ups and downs in those prayers as you've grown? 00:31:45.359 --> 00:31:52.400 I mean, literally, uh, if if we needed anything as kids, you know, even grown kids, we just ask mom to pray. 00:31:52.720 --> 00:31:54.720 God will answer her, you know. 00:31:54.880 --> 00:31:59.680 Uh, just because you've you've learned that intimacy with Jesus. 00:31:59.920 --> 00:32:01.039 How did that foster? 00:32:01.119 --> 00:32:02.480 How did that develop? 00:32:03.279 --> 00:32:07.599 I think I think it happened because I was desperate. 00:32:08.160 --> 00:32:12.079 Um and I and I needed God. 00:32:13.839 --> 00:32:23.839 And I at a time when I felt like I had nothing to give, that he came to me. 00:32:24.240 --> 00:32:29.440 And um and I learned that I could pour out my heart to him. 00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:37.519 And he's carried me through all kinds of trials of life, and and we all have those. 00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:52.079 Um but he's with us all the time, and he cares, and I I've learned he listens, he cares about what we say, he cares about what we think, and um, and he wants to hear us. 00:32:52.559 --> 00:33:03.839 He wants us to talk with him, and he wants to speak to us through his word and through nature and through people, and he speaks to us in many ways to give us hope and encouragement. 00:33:04.480 --> 00:33:17.920 And so I became that's I think I was really blessed that um it was through difficulty that I came to know the Lord because I realized that he was all that I needed. 00:33:18.160 --> 00:33:36.960 Um and one thing I've always thought about is when when you realize that um God is all you have, then you realize that he's all you need in whatever situation that you're going through. 00:33:37.359 --> 00:33:46.720 So that's how it all started, and then the hunger, you know, for God's word, as as we're in his word, that hunger develops and you develop a relationship with him. 00:33:46.960 --> 00:33:55.119 And um it's the it's a it's a treasure, those treasured times to be able to spend in in God's word and prayer. 00:33:55.200 --> 00:34:16.559 And and when I was when I was a single mom and I was hurting so badly, and and I was learning to pray, when I would come home from work, the first thing I would do because I was hurting so much, uh, and I had read in the Bible that uh, well, you don't have to do this, but I thought you did, that you go into your closet and pray. 00:34:16.800 --> 00:34:18.480 I took it all literally. 00:34:19.440 --> 00:34:22.400 And uh so I would run into my little closet. 00:34:22.559 --> 00:34:32.159 There was hardly room for me to get in it, it was so tiny, but I ran in there and I get on my knees and I just pour out my heart to God, and he met me. 00:34:39.119 --> 00:34:54.400 And um, and I've spent my life um fortunately with a wonderful husband, um to be able to express to other people that God has the same for you. 00:34:55.840 --> 00:35:00.400 That when you cry out to him, he will meet you in your need. 00:35:01.599 --> 00:35:08.880 It doesn't mean everything will change, but he's with you and he gives you all that you need in that moment. 00:35:10.480 --> 00:35:21.840 And uh so I think for me, God became so real that um it was like he was my friend walking beside me. 00:35:22.159 --> 00:35:36.079 And uh I just as we're talking about the goodness of God uh this weekend, um that verse that most of us know is that all things work together for good to those who love him. 00:35:36.400 --> 00:35:46.639 And I I can verify that that we may not see it all in this life, but whatever we go through, that God is working for good in our lives. 00:35:48.159 --> 00:35:50.320 Thank you so much, mom, for sharing. 00:35:50.639 --> 00:35:55.440 Can we thank my mom for being with us really coming? 00:35:58.159 --> 00:36:08.880 Would you would you mind just praying for us and maybe moms in particular and moms who are this is a very painful Mother's Day? 00:36:09.519 --> 00:36:11.599 I'd have to be so emotional. 00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:14.239 Um, yes. 00:36:20.480 --> 00:36:34.719 Heavenly Father, we come to you today, we approach your throne with confidence because um because of Christ, because of what Jesus has done for us. 00:36:36.159 --> 00:36:41.199 And Father, we are so grateful that you care about mothers. 00:36:43.199 --> 00:36:54.639 It always impressed me how you cared about your mother, Mary, when you didn't leave her alone after you went to the cross, and that you care about every mother. 00:36:56.079 --> 00:37:03.280 And so, Father, I pray today that you would give strength to each of these moms. 00:37:04.559 --> 00:37:11.920 Some that are hurting, some that there's some that just really want to have children, they want to be mamas. 00:37:12.559 --> 00:37:13.760 Would you give them strength? 00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:15.519 Would you give them perspective? 00:37:16.239 --> 00:37:22.159 Would you, those that are in the midst of caring for little ones, would you give them great wisdom? 00:37:22.800 --> 00:37:27.360 Help them to lead their children in a way that's pleasing to you. 00:37:28.159 --> 00:37:44.239 Um you provide their needs, father, will you um just do a great work in the women in this room that um they would just multiply little warriors for Christ all over the place? 00:37:45.119 --> 00:37:48.719 And Father, thank you for thank you for these women. 00:37:49.039 --> 00:37:51.280 And will you bless them today? 00:37:52.880 --> 00:37:55.119 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:37:55.360 --> 00:37:59.760 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:37:59.920 --> 00:38:02.000 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:38:02.239 --> 00:38:08.159 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.