Karen Hardin: From Trauma to Triumphant Faith

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Hey friends, welcome to the Her God Story podcast

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where you will always hear a powerful story to

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encourage and inspire you in your walk with the

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Lord. I'm your host, Jodie Chiricosta, ministry

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leader at Somebody Cares America and International,

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author and traveler on this journey with Jesus.

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And I am so glad you tuned in today. You know,

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throughout scripture, God makes it very clear

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how much He cares for the overlooked and the

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hurting, especially widows and orphans. That's

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why we started the Widow and Orphan Fund at Somebody

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Cares. Together, as a company of women, we have

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the opportunity to step in and make a real difference

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in the lives of those facing incredible hardship

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around the world. Just recently we were able

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to send help to Christian widows in Myanmar,

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a nation suffering through civil war and devastated

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by a massive earthquake. Many of the men in these

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families have been conscripted into military

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service or targeted for their faith. Some have

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even lost their lives. The widows left behind

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are not only grieving, but facing crushing poverty

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and persecution. Some have felt so hopeless they've

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taken their own lives. But God hears their cries.

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And through our trusted ministry partners, tangible

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help and hope is reaching them. Because of the

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generosity of dear friends like you, these precious

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women know they are not forgotten. So I invite

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you to pray about joining us with a gift today.

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Just visit hergodstory .org and click on Help

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Now. And yes, we even accept cryptocurrency.

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Now let's get into today's episode. 2 Peter 1

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.3 tells us that God has given us everything

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we need for life and godliness, but so often

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we don't tap into all he's made available. Instead,

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we struggle, whether it's finances, relationships,

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physical, or even mental health. But as Ephesians

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6 -12 reminds us, our battle isn't against flesh

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and blood, it's against the spiritual forces

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of darkness. When we begin to see things through

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that lens, when we stand in the authority God

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has given us, everything shifts. Our perspective

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changes, and our circumstances often follow.

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My guest today, Karen Harden, knows a thing or

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two about that. She and her husband Kevin serve

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churches in Asia, equipping leaders and helping

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those in need. Karen is a former missionary,

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now an author and an investigative journalist,

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and she's walked through some tough seasons,

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but she's seen God's faithfulness every step

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of the way. Married over 30 years, mom to three

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grown kids, she's also a passionate advocate

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for righteousness in her community and a leader

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in prayer mobilization. You're going to be so

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encouraged as she shares how God has made her

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an overcomer and how he wants to do the same

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for you. Welcome, Karen. Hey, how are you? Thanks

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for having me on the show. Well, Karen, share

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a bit about your upbringing and what are some

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of the key experiences that really shaped your

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faith and relationship with Jesus? Well, I was

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very fortunate in being raised in a home with

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godly parents and my grandparents also served

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the Lord. We went to a church that was really

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way ahead of its time and was teaching on faith

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and how to serve God and how to love God. And

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so I felt like I really had a very fortunate

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upbringing. But as in many families, and there's

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always one in a family, I had a brother. older

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brother who was very abusive and even from a

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young age and So he always told my parents that

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he wanted to be an only child and one day He

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decided he wanted to make that happen and he

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tried to kill me. I was only three years old

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He was abusive ever since then Verbally physically

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and nobody really knew what to do abuse today

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isn't what it was then. You know, it was hidden.

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People didn't believe it. So I just learned how

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to stay away from him. But all of that kind of

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creates within someone kind of a fear. Just never

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know when you're going to get attacked. Then

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when I started going to school, it was very similar

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because bullies have always been. But mine were

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not just the students, but sometimes the teachers.

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And so I had, I don't know, probably five or

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six different times until I graduated from high

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school where the teachers would call me out and

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intentionally try and humiliate me in front of

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the class. And so it's just very, very bizarre

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as I look back over it because you think, you're

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the teacher, but it certainly happened. And I'm

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sure as I say that, you've got some people listening

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that go, oh, I had that happen too. And so this

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is what it can do is it can either deposit something

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on you that you carry with you or you can rise

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above it. But as a child, I don't know that.

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And so it was certainly depositing something

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on me. So I go through life, but I'm really loving

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the Lord. I received the Lord when I was four.

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I've always had within me this thing of wanting

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to serve the Lord. By the time I got through

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high school and you're looking at college, you're

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looking at a job, I didn't want to take anything

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that wasn't going to make a difference for Christ.

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And so ended up going to... or Roberts University.

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It was in my same city, but always wanted to

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go there. And there I met who would be my husband,

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Kevin. Not really, we didn't really meet at ORU.

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We met at a church that was across the street,

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Victory Church. And we were both going to church

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there. Kind of seven years of hit and miss. We

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really, it didn't connect later in our 20s. Oh

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my goodness, you know, I think, yeah, I think

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maybe this is the guy for me, right? But there

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was some obstacles in that, wasn't there? I mean,

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you kind of were really interested, but... I

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wasn't interested at all. He was interested first,

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and I wasn't interested. Kind of blew him off.

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it kind of went that back and forth and everybody's

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had those kind of relationships right it was

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just never on at the same time until I got to

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be 27 he was 28 and really sense that God was

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bringing us together but by then he had already

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decided to go overseas as a missionary and I

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knew I wasn't going to do that. I'd done some

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short -term trips. I'm like, I'm not doing that.

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So we were talking about whether we should date

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or not. Both of us sensed the Lord in it. But

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then he said, well, I'm not going to date you

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unless you're willing to go overseas. And I'm

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like, well, I'm not willing to go overseas. I

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know I'm not supposed to go overseas. And so

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we went back and forth. It was a two -hour, almost

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three -hour conversation where I just didn't

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know what to do. I was so frustrated. And he

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wasn't budging. And so finally I got this brainstorm.

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Well, I knew I would do whatever God called me

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to do. And so that's what I told him because

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I knew God wasn't calling me to go overseas.

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Little did I know. So I was in my dream job.

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I worked in publishing and I loved it. I knew

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that's where God wanted me to be. I was flowing

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in my gift. And so anyway, we did date most of

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it. Probably two or three months before he went

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overseas. So a lot of ours was just communicating

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back and forth overseas he proposed and He came

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back over the summer. We got married and three

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weeks later. I'm living overseas on the mission

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field in Asia Yeah, crazy story and I don't recommend

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that for everybody, but this is what it did We're

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over there and I Email wasn't a thing. Wi -Fi

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wasn't a thing. So to make a phone call back

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and forth was $100 a shot. And we just didn't

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have the budget for that. My parents didn't have

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the budget for that. My friends didn't. And so

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you're three weeks married. If you run into a

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problem, you don't go run into mama. You don't

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go run into your best friend to talk to him.

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You go to God. And that was probably the very

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best foundation we could have ever established

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for our marriage because we had to learn to work

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it out, talk it out, me go to God, him go to

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God, pray it out. It was really, it was a good

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thing. But again, I don't recommend it for everybody.

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Well, you know, God is so faithful though, isn't

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he? He's so faithful. And during that time when

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you were overseas and even later than that, you

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saw God's faithfulness in such incredible ways,

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whether it was financially, in starting a family,

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in the relationships that you built. Share a

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few of those ways that God showed himself faithful

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that really stand out to you. whether with God

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or without God. When he got engaged, I said,

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I don't wanna have kids for five years. I had

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grown up raising my nieces and nephews. And so

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he's like, yeah, that's good. We're overseas

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anyway. So we determined we weren't gonna have

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kids for the first five years, which was great,

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except two years into that, God began to say,

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I'm ready for you to start a family. So I'm arguing

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with God because I think I am not ready for a

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family. But just out of obedience, simply started

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down that road and I can understand God's plan

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at that point because we realized there were

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some fertility issues so we began to just kind

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of pursue that look into it we were in China

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there's no way to do that so only when we came

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home which was once a year once every year and

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a half were we able to check on that well as

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God would have it we came home about four years

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after being in China. I remember we had this

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five -year plan, right? And one of the leading

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fertility specialists in the nation was opening

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up shop in the city we were in. And so one of

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my friends told me about him and I reached out

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to him and I said, I know you're... office isn't

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opened yet, but would you mind seeing us before

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we head back to China? We're heading back in

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a couple weeks. He graciously did. We did a very

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simple procedure. We go back to China and boom,

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seven weeks later, I find out I'm pregnant. It

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was just such a God thing. And almost right at

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the five -year mark is when our first child was

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born. So I know God's up there just laughing,

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right? Because he had a plan all the time. But

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even then, our firstborn would begin to have

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fevers at five or six months, and he would spike

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up to 104, 105 degrees. Well, it's not that you

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don't trust somebody else's medicine in another

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country, but it's very different medicine. And

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so it got to be the place. They were trying to

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do things with him that I wasn't comfortable

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with. We're trying to decide, do we need to leave

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the mission field, take him home? It was very,

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very serious, and it was happening so often.

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And so I told Kevin, I said, I'm just going to

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go in the bedroom and you watch the baby. I just

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need to hear from God. I can't tell you how many

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times I've done that in my life when we have

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faced a serious situation. I said, God, I'm not

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leaving here until you give me a word. And so

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in that particular instance, he did. He said,

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you're OK to stay. Follow what the doctor is

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saying. And the doctor there was just saying

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to keep him on penicillin. Amoxicillin is what

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we use now. to keep him on penicillin. That just

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seemed bizarre. It's like how can you keep somebody

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on penicillin? But we did. Had a piece to do

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it. We ended up coming back probably three or

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four months later. Ended up back in the States.

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It was time for a break. Went to the doctor and

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the doctor there saw what was happening and prescribed

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with the exact same thing the Chinese doctor

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had So it was kind of a confirmation to me. Yes.

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You had heard from the Lord. Yes. He's gonna

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be okay several years after that we had been

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in the States a long time my kids grown and I

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was Facing a situation and the doctors had suspected

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I might have breast cancer and so we had gone

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I had gone for an MRI and we did Oh, I forget

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an ultrasound. The different things that you

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do went to, again, the leading specialist for

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that was in our city. You know, I was so fortunate.

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So I went to her, she looks at all the tests

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and she says, you know what? You just need to

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prepare for the worst. We are going to biopsy

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this and you just need to prepare for the worst.

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And what doctor says that, right? I mean, she

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was a Christian. She did believe in prayer, but

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she didn't believe in giving false hope. And

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so I had to sign a book deal, like with a few

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days, and I needed to know, could I go into that

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and truly sign it, or was I going to be in chemotherapy,

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radiation, or worse? And so again, I locked myself

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in a room and told my husband, I said, I'm not

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leaving here until the Lord gives me a word.

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And sure enough, he did. And I had two scriptures

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from the Lord. And one of them was about the

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woman with the issue of blood. And she came in

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and she touched the hem of his garment. Well,

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the other scripture he gave me was, he will arise

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with healing in his wings, right? So I'm thinking

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how on earth do these two work? And what I learned

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is when she touched the hem of his garment, it's

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called a wing in the Hebrew culture. And so both

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of them referred to the healing wings of the

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Lord by just reaching out and touching him. Long

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story short, the doctor was certain I had cancer.

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The biopsy and everything came back and I didn't.

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And I looked at her and I said, that's not what

00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:13.559
you expected, was it? And she said, you know

00:13:13.559 --> 00:13:16.059
what? It doesn't matter what I expected or what

00:13:16.059 --> 00:13:18.980
it looked like. She said what the results prove

00:13:18.980 --> 00:13:22.230
is you don't. And so I've learned through all

00:13:22.230 --> 00:13:24.850
of that is learning how to tuck myself away,

00:13:25.049 --> 00:13:27.110
hear from the Holy Spirit, because He wants to

00:13:27.110 --> 00:13:30.450
show us the things in the future. It says He

00:13:30.450 --> 00:13:33.289
will teach us what is to come when we listen

00:13:33.289 --> 00:13:36.110
to His voice. And so learning how to do that,

00:13:36.149 --> 00:13:39.990
especially when we're overseas, we saw many,

00:13:40.070 --> 00:13:43.480
many times. When we were there that there was

00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:45.720
witchcraft, you know, it's something we see a

00:13:45.720 --> 00:13:48.159
lot now in the states But at that time we did

00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:50.360
not But we would be over there and it's called

00:13:50.360 --> 00:13:52.519
she gone and they would have people that would

00:13:52.519 --> 00:13:55.320
she is the spirit that they would practice how

00:13:55.320 --> 00:13:59.059
to use it manipulate it and Throw it out. And

00:13:59.059 --> 00:14:01.039
so there was a point where there were people

00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:03.700
on the street We're watching them this Chi Gong

00:14:03.700 --> 00:14:06.679
master had them all hold their hands and he could

00:14:06.679 --> 00:14:09.629
light up a light bulb And it wasn't like a magician's

00:14:09.629 --> 00:14:12.909
trick. It was, he did it. And there was another

00:14:12.909 --> 00:14:15.289
time we had done a sojourn. We had gone up a

00:14:15.289 --> 00:14:18.350
mountain and this little boy had twisted his

00:14:18.350 --> 00:14:20.450
ankle and we get up and all that was up there

00:14:20.450 --> 00:14:23.049
was a Buddhist temple, right? And that's where

00:14:23.049 --> 00:14:26.669
you had to stay. And so it was very creepy. I'm

00:14:26.669 --> 00:14:29.669
not liking it. Here we are. He could just sense

00:14:29.669 --> 00:14:32.529
the demonic all around it. And this little boy

00:14:32.529 --> 00:14:36.570
had twisted his ankle. And so I'm ready to go

00:14:36.570 --> 00:14:39.799
in and pray for him. and this Qigong master comes

00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:42.679
in and starts doing this weird thing on his ankle

00:14:42.679 --> 00:14:45.559
and I'm thinking no in the name of Jesus. I mean

00:14:45.559 --> 00:14:49.419
doing witchcraft right in front of us those were

00:14:49.419 --> 00:14:53.100
not uncommon things to have happen there and

00:14:53.100 --> 00:14:55.259
now it's so prevalent in the states. I think

00:14:55.259 --> 00:14:57.500
people have no idea what they're playing with

00:14:57.500 --> 00:14:59.919
when they allow that kind of thing into their

00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:01.960
home, when they're playing with tarot cards,

00:15:02.179 --> 00:15:05.059
they're doing the magic eight ball, they're playing

00:15:05.059 --> 00:15:07.240
games with witchcraft and it's nothing to play

00:15:07.240 --> 00:15:10.529
games with. with? No I remember I received Jesus

00:15:10.529 --> 00:15:13.629
also when I was very young and you know my dad

00:15:13.629 --> 00:15:17.009
used to read the Bible to us you know after dinner

00:15:17.009 --> 00:15:20.090
at night and I remember him reading in the Old

00:15:20.090 --> 00:15:22.809
Testament that you should have nothing to do

00:15:22.809 --> 00:15:25.809
with witchcraft or any of those things sorcery

00:15:25.809 --> 00:15:29.470
of any kind and at a young age I made that decision

00:15:29.470 --> 00:15:32.210
I am NOT gonna get involved with that and friends

00:15:32.210 --> 00:15:34.230
would play with Ouija boards and I would leave

00:15:34.230 --> 00:15:37.440
or They would talk about their horoscope and

00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:40.899
I would just tune out. And, um, you know, even

00:15:40.899 --> 00:15:43.759
as we got, as I got older and I started traveling

00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:46.580
around the world, I have been very careful at

00:15:46.580 --> 00:15:49.639
what I bring home into my home. I've traveled,

00:15:49.639 --> 00:15:52.679
you know, to countries with a variety of different

00:15:52.679 --> 00:15:55.980
religions and, um, I didn't want to bring anything

00:15:55.980 --> 00:16:00.179
into my house that would be an open door for

00:16:00.179 --> 00:16:03.809
a satanic attack. uh today it's really you know

00:16:03.809 --> 00:16:06.549
important you and i chatted about this earlier

00:16:06.549 --> 00:16:12.750
uh the other day that we guard our gateways not

00:16:12.750 --> 00:16:16.370
even just of our bodies but as our homes as much

00:16:16.370 --> 00:16:21.070
as we can i mean on tv you turn on the tv and

00:16:21.070 --> 00:16:24.409
witchcraft shows about witchcraft are glorified

00:16:24.409 --> 00:16:29.370
and you know we really do have to keep control

00:16:29.370 --> 00:16:33.399
of that and You had some encounters, not only

00:16:33.399 --> 00:16:37.100
observing it, but, you know, God was faithful,

00:16:37.139 --> 00:16:40.620
but you did. You experienced some spiritual attacks

00:16:40.620 --> 00:16:44.240
on yourself and on your family. And how did you

00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:46.059
get through that? I mean, God showed you how,

00:16:46.059 --> 00:16:48.879
but, you know, when you feel under attack sometimes,

00:16:48.919 --> 00:16:51.259
you don't know where to go. So what did you do?

00:16:51.539 --> 00:16:54.360
Well, exactly. And people didn't know, I mean,

00:16:54.460 --> 00:16:57.039
they didn't even know to believe me. It was so

00:16:57.039 --> 00:17:00.860
bizarre. One of the worst was we had moved back

00:17:00.860 --> 00:17:02.879
to the States. My husband was going back and

00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:05.640
forth overseas at that point several times a

00:17:05.640 --> 00:17:08.579
year. And so by then we had three kids. We've

00:17:08.579 --> 00:17:10.900
got a little small house. And so I'm doing the

00:17:10.900 --> 00:17:14.559
single mom thing, right? And he's gone. One night

00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:16.819
I put him down to bed. It was probably midnight

00:17:16.819 --> 00:17:19.940
Maybe one or two in the morning and all of a

00:17:19.940 --> 00:17:22.779
sudden and there was no storm outside All of

00:17:22.779 --> 00:17:26.099
a sudden all the lights in the house go on and

00:17:26.099 --> 00:17:31.799
the stereo is blaring at light top top sound

00:17:31.799 --> 00:17:35.460
which I never played it loud much less have it

00:17:35.460 --> 00:17:37.359
at the top and it wasn't at a place that the

00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:39.119
kids could touch it they weren't that old they

00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:41.819
couldn't reach so it's not like it just accidentally

00:17:41.819 --> 00:17:45.059
got bumped and so that'll freak anybody out in

00:17:45.059 --> 00:17:46.500
the middle of the night to be woke up to that

00:17:46.500 --> 00:17:48.819
so the kids were freaked out I'm freaked out

00:17:49.389 --> 00:17:52.230
And so I put out a prayer email the next morning

00:17:52.230 --> 00:17:54.569
to our partners just saying, you know, I really

00:17:54.569 --> 00:17:56.170
could use some prayer. We've had a little bit

00:17:56.170 --> 00:17:57.910
of activity. I didn't even want to say what it

00:17:57.910 --> 00:17:59.809
was because I thought nobody's gonna believe

00:17:59.809 --> 00:18:02.990
me. So I said, you know, we're kind of under

00:18:02.990 --> 00:18:05.289
attack here. We'd appreciate prayer. And one

00:18:05.289 --> 00:18:07.269
of the other missionaries that received it, she

00:18:07.269 --> 00:18:09.029
had been off the mission field for several years.

00:18:09.049 --> 00:18:11.549
She said, you know, you get kind of whiny when

00:18:11.549 --> 00:18:13.529
your husband leaves and goes overseas. You need

00:18:13.529 --> 00:18:15.950
to just quit whining. She said that privately,

00:18:16.170 --> 00:18:18.769
not in a group, because we didn't have chats

00:18:18.769 --> 00:18:21.369
like we do now. And she just said that. And so

00:18:21.369 --> 00:18:23.809
I told her exactly what had happened. And she

00:18:23.809 --> 00:18:26.529
apologized. She said, oh my gosh you're under

00:18:26.529 --> 00:18:29.230
you're under witchcraft she said i am so sorry

00:18:29.230 --> 00:18:32.130
i will pray for you and things like that happened

00:18:32.130 --> 00:18:35.250
different times where we could tell there had

00:18:35.250 --> 00:18:37.589
been an assignment against us things were happening

00:18:37.589 --> 00:18:40.990
things were moving around again if people open

00:18:40.990 --> 00:18:43.549
the door to witchcraft you've invited that into

00:18:43.549 --> 00:18:46.970
your house we didn't invite it in we had assignments

00:18:46.970 --> 00:18:49.609
against us because of the ministry that we were

00:18:49.609 --> 00:18:52.210
doing that we had to go in and make sure that

00:18:52.210 --> 00:18:55.200
every door was closed that we had not given a

00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:59.380
place that it was invited in, we would cast it

00:18:59.380 --> 00:19:01.859
out, we would have other people pray, we would

00:19:01.859 --> 00:19:04.720
pray around our home, we would anoint it with

00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:07.799
oil. There's certainly things that we can and

00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:11.000
should do and we learned how to do that because

00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:14.160
even now with what I'm doing, there are attacks

00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:17.279
against us physically as well as spiritually

00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:19.579
and if we don't know how to protect our home,

00:19:19.880 --> 00:19:21.660
then we're going to be subject to what's going

00:19:21.660 --> 00:19:23.809
on around us. I think I shared with you when

00:19:23.809 --> 00:19:27.970
I was young we were reading the Bible in Acts

00:19:27.970 --> 00:19:30.930
and there's a story in Acts where the people

00:19:30.930 --> 00:19:33.009
I think it's in Ephesus they all brought their

00:19:33.009 --> 00:19:35.130
witchcraft things together and they threw it

00:19:35.130 --> 00:19:38.109
in a bonfire so we were part of a fellowship

00:19:38.109 --> 00:19:41.809
group and mostly young believers we were young

00:19:41.809 --> 00:19:43.690
believers at the time and so we all decided we

00:19:43.690 --> 00:19:45.069
were going to look through our houses and see

00:19:45.069 --> 00:19:47.789
if there was anything in our houses that we needed

00:19:47.789 --> 00:19:49.849
felt the Holy Spirit showed us that we needed

00:19:49.849 --> 00:19:52.440
to get rid of and we gathered all of it up brought

00:19:52.440 --> 00:19:55.579
it out together and threw it in a bonfire, prayed

00:19:55.579 --> 00:19:57.819
and renounced, you know, that, repented that

00:19:57.819 --> 00:20:00.819
we had even allowed it to be in our homes. And

00:20:00.819 --> 00:20:04.759
we noticed a marked difference in our home, the

00:20:04.759 --> 00:20:06.900
atmosphere of our home after that. And I was

00:20:06.900 --> 00:20:09.400
only probably eight years old and I could feel

00:20:09.400 --> 00:20:13.720
a difference. And I am not, you know, my spiritual

00:20:13.720 --> 00:20:16.609
gift is not necessarily. spiritual discernment.

00:20:16.609 --> 00:20:19.069
Some people can walk into a room and they know

00:20:19.069 --> 00:20:22.329
exactly what the spiritual atmosphere is at any

00:20:22.329 --> 00:20:24.769
given moment. And that is not one of the gifts

00:20:24.769 --> 00:20:26.609
that the Lord has given me, thankfully, because

00:20:26.609 --> 00:20:29.230
I go into some pretty dark places sometimes and

00:20:29.230 --> 00:20:33.109
that would be hard. But I could even feel the

00:20:33.109 --> 00:20:35.150
difference in our home at a young age from getting

00:20:35.150 --> 00:20:38.829
rid of those things in our house that had had

00:20:38.829 --> 00:20:41.730
open doors for the enemy to come in and work.

00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:46.460
Disagreements fear things like that that had

00:20:46.460 --> 00:20:49.980
been harassing us were lifted not that we were

00:20:49.980 --> 00:20:53.160
never afraid again But you know the the spiritual

00:20:53.160 --> 00:20:56.099
part of it the human part stayed but the spiritual

00:20:56.099 --> 00:20:59.500
part lifted right And I think as soon as people

00:20:59.500 --> 00:21:01.380
began to recognize that because he's given us

00:21:01.380 --> 00:21:04.980
authority Over that and so we don't walk in fear

00:21:04.980 --> 00:21:07.740
when we walk in fear. It's just opening up more

00:21:07.740 --> 00:21:11.230
doors to it but we've certainly had to We've

00:21:11.230 --> 00:21:13.109
had to learn that. It's not something you learn

00:21:13.109 --> 00:21:16.049
overnight. Certainly when you see activity like

00:21:16.049 --> 00:21:18.710
that happening in your home, it'll freak you

00:21:18.710 --> 00:21:21.789
out. So learning that, getting into the word,

00:21:21.849 --> 00:21:24.289
learning how to speak the word, that's probably

00:21:24.289 --> 00:21:26.089
one of the greatest things that we learned is

00:21:26.089 --> 00:21:28.349
how to speak the word because he said he watches

00:21:28.349 --> 00:21:30.650
over his word to perform it. So when you're speaking

00:21:30.650 --> 00:21:32.430
his word, you don't have to pray if it be your

00:21:32.430 --> 00:21:35.109
will. No, it's in the word, so it's his will.

00:21:35.470 --> 00:21:38.109
And we speak that out and it says they have to

00:21:38.109 --> 00:21:43.410
bow. That is so good. Well, after being on the

00:21:43.410 --> 00:21:46.470
mission field for so many years, you came back

00:21:46.470 --> 00:21:48.829
and were, you know, were mom to your children.

00:21:49.089 --> 00:21:51.750
And you had, miraculously, you had two additional

00:21:51.750 --> 00:21:55.349
children after having a struggle with infertility.

00:21:56.490 --> 00:21:59.589
But God showed you that there are different ways

00:21:59.589 --> 00:22:02.450
of ministry. You know, some people think once

00:22:02.450 --> 00:22:06.109
a missionary, always a missionary. But God showed

00:22:06.109 --> 00:22:08.589
you well ministry happens in all forms and in

00:22:08.589 --> 00:22:13.170
all spheres of society so He took you into media,

00:22:13.529 --> 00:22:17.119
which is But boy, do we need Christians in media,

00:22:17.380 --> 00:22:22.380
influencing media. Share a little about how you

00:22:22.380 --> 00:22:25.039
got into that and how you have stayed grounded

00:22:25.039 --> 00:22:27.019
in your faith while you've navigated some of

00:22:27.019 --> 00:22:29.619
the challenges that you face. Well, and that

00:22:29.619 --> 00:22:31.859
was just part of God guiding and directing our

00:22:31.859 --> 00:22:34.079
steps. He said, I will instruct you and teach

00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:35.619
you in the way you should go. I will guide you

00:22:35.619 --> 00:22:38.960
with my eye upon you. And so I thought I had

00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:41.579
a plan for my life and I didn't realize that

00:22:41.579 --> 00:22:45.160
God had a different plan. So I got involved in

00:22:45.160 --> 00:22:47.700
a job where I was hired just basically as an

00:22:47.700 --> 00:22:50.400
administrative assistant because I was very good

00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:52.920
with details. I didn't even realize at that point

00:22:52.920 --> 00:22:54.839
that I had a writing gift, but it was a publishing

00:22:54.839 --> 00:22:57.440
house. And even how I took that job, it was very

00:22:57.440 --> 00:23:00.900
bizarre because I was a manager at a company,

00:23:01.299 --> 00:23:03.759
the gal that was working underneath me. We didn't

00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:06.019
have the money to pay her anymore. She needed

00:23:06.019 --> 00:23:07.740
more money. And so she said, you know, I'm going

00:23:07.740 --> 00:23:10.900
to quit. I've got this other job. And it was

00:23:10.900 --> 00:23:12.900
at this publishing company. And when she told

00:23:12.900 --> 00:23:15.640
me she was quitting, something came on me and

00:23:15.640 --> 00:23:18.539
I looked at her and I said, that's not your job.

00:23:18.980 --> 00:23:22.420
That's my job. And you're supposed to stay here

00:23:22.420 --> 00:23:26.339
and you're supposed to do this. And after I said

00:23:26.339 --> 00:23:29.299
it, I'm like, where did that come from? I had

00:23:29.299 --> 00:23:31.559
no intention of quitting and it just came out

00:23:31.559 --> 00:23:33.240
of my mouth and she looked at me and she said

00:23:33.240 --> 00:23:35.059
that she said where did that come from I'm like

00:23:35.059 --> 00:23:40.039
I don't know but I knew at that moment that God

00:23:40.039 --> 00:23:42.619
was leading me somewhere and so I went to that

00:23:42.619 --> 00:23:46.799
company I did interview I got the job and I took

00:23:46.799 --> 00:23:52.220
about a 60 % pay cut to go do it and I really

00:23:52.220 --> 00:23:56.210
had to pray I'm like Why, why, God, why are we

00:23:56.210 --> 00:23:58.490
doing this? But it was just one of those things

00:23:58.490 --> 00:24:00.650
that didn't make any sense in the natural, but

00:24:00.650 --> 00:24:02.670
the Spirit just kept saying, I want you here,

00:24:02.690 --> 00:24:05.009
I want you here. So I did it by faith. Went to

00:24:05.009 --> 00:24:07.730
that job, had no idea it was my dream job. Had

00:24:07.730 --> 00:24:10.250
no idea what I would learn there. I had the best

00:24:10.250 --> 00:24:13.869
boss ever. That he was one that could call out

00:24:13.869 --> 00:24:16.809
things in people. And so I remember after being

00:24:16.809 --> 00:24:20.660
there, for a few months. And I really didn't

00:24:20.660 --> 00:24:22.759
have, it didn't seem like a lot of favor. I'm

00:24:22.759 --> 00:24:25.160
working as administrative assistant. I just kept

00:24:25.160 --> 00:24:28.160
beginning to do things that took writing and

00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:30.839
I began to do them. And the more I did them,

00:24:31.180 --> 00:24:33.559
the more they let me do them until they actually

00:24:33.559 --> 00:24:36.079
created a position for me in that company to

00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:38.339
begin to write and to do publicity, which is

00:24:38.339 --> 00:24:40.980
really where I realized my gift is. And he called

00:24:40.980 --> 00:24:43.160
me in one day and he said, you know, we've had

00:24:43.160 --> 00:24:46.500
a hiring freeze. We're not able to give raises

00:24:46.500 --> 00:24:49.640
right now. But God told me there's three people

00:24:49.640 --> 00:24:51.599
in this company I need to listen to and you're

00:24:51.599 --> 00:24:55.680
one of them. And now mind you, I was in my early

00:24:55.680 --> 00:24:58.440
20s at that point because we hadn't even married

00:24:58.440 --> 00:25:02.640
yet when that began to happen. And it just shows

00:25:02.640 --> 00:25:05.140
how God got me into writing. He said, God told

00:25:05.140 --> 00:25:07.000
me to listen to you. You're one of three people.

00:25:07.480 --> 00:25:09.440
He said, I'm not supposed to give any raises.

00:25:09.500 --> 00:25:11.640
He said, but you're getting a raise. He bumped

00:25:11.640 --> 00:25:14.599
me up to almost where I had walked away from

00:25:14.599 --> 00:25:19.200
my other salary. And it just began this journey

00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:22.920
of what is God doing here? They gave me a free

00:25:22.920 --> 00:25:25.599
rein. Just let me begin to do things. I began

00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:27.640
to learn how to write. I began to craft that

00:25:27.640 --> 00:25:32.019
skillset. We went to, then got married. We went

00:25:32.019 --> 00:25:35.259
to overseas. But when I came back, God began

00:25:35.259 --> 00:25:37.380
to open those doors again with publishing, and

00:25:37.380 --> 00:25:39.480
people began to call me. Publishers called me.

00:25:39.480 --> 00:25:42.880
They wanted me to write and to do things. And

00:25:42.880 --> 00:25:45.180
so that's even before the dot -com businesses

00:25:45.180 --> 00:25:48.400
were starting, but I had my own business from

00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:50.559
home because I'm raising kids at that point,

00:25:51.619 --> 00:25:54.779
but I'm able to stay at home and work from the

00:25:54.779 --> 00:25:57.720
computer, write things, send it in. And I began

00:25:57.720 --> 00:26:00.700
homeschooling my kids. It worked out so perfectly

00:26:00.700 --> 00:26:02.660
because this skill set that I didn't even know

00:26:02.660 --> 00:26:06.789
I possessed God began to develop it. So a few

00:26:06.789 --> 00:26:08.829
years later, as we're just praying and asking

00:26:08.829 --> 00:26:11.190
God what to do for ministry, I felt like he said

00:26:11.190 --> 00:26:14.250
to start to write books. I'm like, I don't got

00:26:14.250 --> 00:26:18.349
anything to say, God. So he said, but other people

00:26:18.349 --> 00:26:20.829
like just like what you're doing. He said, other

00:26:20.829 --> 00:26:23.430
people have amazing stories, write their story.

00:26:23.650 --> 00:26:26.109
So I began to interview people and I interviewed

00:26:26.109 --> 00:26:31.079
some very well -known people. I interviewed ladies

00:26:31.079 --> 00:26:33.359
that just lived next door that had these amazing

00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:35.859
miracle stories. But what it did is it began

00:26:35.859 --> 00:26:38.500
to teach me how to do an interview, how to ask

00:26:38.500 --> 00:26:40.920
the right questions, and how to write it into

00:26:40.920 --> 00:26:43.400
a story that people would want to read. So my

00:26:43.400 --> 00:26:46.759
first two books were at first contracted with

00:26:46.759 --> 00:26:49.960
Walmart, which is almost unheard of for a newbie

00:26:49.960 --> 00:26:52.980
getting out there. In the end, they didn't. They

00:26:52.980 --> 00:26:54.700
ended up not shipping, but that's not because

00:26:54.700 --> 00:26:56.299
they weren't contracted, it's just because the

00:26:56.299 --> 00:26:58.539
supervisors changed. But it was quite a boost

00:26:58.539 --> 00:27:01.299
of confidence thinking, wow, I can really write

00:27:01.299 --> 00:27:04.420
and that people care. And so from that, it began

00:27:04.420 --> 00:27:07.519
me doing interviews. I got hired after that to

00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:10.819
work for Intercessors for America was one of

00:27:10.819 --> 00:27:13.220
the places to begin to do interviews and to write

00:27:13.220 --> 00:27:15.960
articles. And they went on a national level.

00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:18.579
I began to write for Western Journal some and

00:27:18.579 --> 00:27:22.359
Charisma, just different places. And so that

00:27:22.359 --> 00:27:25.859
started me learning how to investigate, learn

00:27:25.859 --> 00:27:27.940
what's happening when COVID happened. I began

00:27:27.940 --> 00:27:30.680
to investigate that. And way before, I mean,

00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:34.519
this was March, remember March 2020. And I began

00:27:34.519 --> 00:27:36.920
to investigate and maybe one or two people had

00:27:36.920 --> 00:27:39.319
said, you know, this actually started in China

00:27:39.319 --> 00:27:43.940
in their lab. And I'm thinking, no way. So began

00:27:43.940 --> 00:27:46.680
to do the investigative reporting that I was

00:27:46.680 --> 00:27:49.960
learning to do. And I realized after about a

00:27:49.960 --> 00:27:54.450
month of investigation of this started in China

00:27:54.450 --> 00:27:58.390
in a lab and so I came out way early now I didn't

00:27:58.390 --> 00:28:01.690
have a big old national platform it was a small

00:28:01.690 --> 00:28:04.170
national platform but not like you would see

00:28:04.170 --> 00:28:06.670
on CNN or something so not not many people read

00:28:06.670 --> 00:28:08.730
it but I came out early and said no this was

00:28:08.730 --> 00:28:12.109
this came from China Wuhan lab this was actually

00:28:12.109 --> 00:28:14.589
man created it this is not what they're saying

00:28:14.589 --> 00:28:17.849
it is and that was like right after it started

00:28:18.430 --> 00:28:21.750
And it's so funny because I realized then God

00:28:21.750 --> 00:28:24.589
was teaching me how to investigate, how to investigate

00:28:24.589 --> 00:28:27.549
well. One of my friends has said recently, she

00:28:27.549 --> 00:28:29.670
said, you know what, Karen, I realize if you

00:28:29.670 --> 00:28:32.569
say it, it's almost always right because you

00:28:32.569 --> 00:28:35.950
know how to investigate. And I really take that

00:28:35.950 --> 00:28:38.710
to heart because then God began to move me into

00:28:38.710 --> 00:28:40.609
political realms. I went to the National Prayer

00:28:40.609 --> 00:28:43.329
Breakfast because prayer is really at the core

00:28:43.329 --> 00:28:46.440
of what we do. And so I love prayer. I love to

00:28:46.440 --> 00:28:48.119
be involved with that. We have a prayer network

00:28:48.119 --> 00:28:51.759
called City by City Prayer. And so I got invited

00:28:51.759 --> 00:28:54.980
to go to the National Prayer Breakfast. And immediately

00:28:54.980 --> 00:28:57.619
after we got back, I began to get calls from

00:28:57.619 --> 00:29:00.680
some federal legislators just out of the blue,

00:29:01.000 --> 00:29:03.640
not even people I'd met. And the first one I

00:29:03.640 --> 00:29:07.099
remember, he said, this is representative so

00:29:07.099 --> 00:29:10.299
-and -so. He was in Illinois. He said, somebody

00:29:10.299 --> 00:29:12.750
gave me your number that you could help me. out

00:29:12.750 --> 00:29:15.470
of a situation and write something for me. And

00:29:15.470 --> 00:29:17.869
I thought it was a joke. I'm thinking it's my

00:29:17.869 --> 00:29:19.750
friends pranking me, right? Because I don't know

00:29:19.750 --> 00:29:21.670
who this guy is. Why would he be calling me?

00:29:21.890 --> 00:29:24.049
So after a few embarrassing moments that I'm

00:29:24.049 --> 00:29:25.670
kind of treating it like a joke, he said, no,

00:29:25.730 --> 00:29:31.130
this this really is who it was. And so I began

00:29:31.130 --> 00:29:33.210
to talk with him and began to write some things

00:29:33.210 --> 00:29:35.769
for him. Some others heard about me. They they

00:29:35.769 --> 00:29:38.190
began to hire me to write press releases or articles.

00:29:38.730 --> 00:29:41.369
And so all of a sudden, I'm working in political

00:29:41.369 --> 00:29:44.279
realms. Then a friend asked me to go to the United

00:29:44.279 --> 00:29:48.940
Nations to speak. What's happening, right? I

00:29:48.940 --> 00:29:50.940
mean, this is not something I'm looking for.

00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:53.660
So I did go to the United Nations. I went and

00:29:53.660 --> 00:29:57.200
spoke and didn't have the money to do it, but

00:29:57.200 --> 00:29:59.640
just felt like God said, you need to take this

00:29:59.640 --> 00:30:02.259
opportunity. So this is what was so bizarre.

00:30:02.359 --> 00:30:06.099
Now I've lived for years as a missionary, just

00:30:06.099 --> 00:30:08.740
flat out poor, right? People are just given to

00:30:08.740 --> 00:30:10.539
us, but missionaries are not known to be wealthy

00:30:10.539 --> 00:30:13.640
people. So we understood what it meant to pinch

00:30:13.640 --> 00:30:16.339
pennies. So going to the UN, it really took a

00:30:16.339 --> 00:30:18.859
lot of faith to try and get the money and raise

00:30:18.859 --> 00:30:22.660
it. Well, then I realized, oh, this one organization

00:30:22.660 --> 00:30:24.920
was actually going to, they wanted me to go and

00:30:24.920 --> 00:30:27.000
speak for them, so they paid for that. They gave

00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:30.019
a stipend. They paid for all sorts of stuff.

00:30:30.059 --> 00:30:33.140
We stayed in a five -star hotel in New York that

00:30:33.140 --> 00:30:36.299
was just amazing, nicer than I'd ever stayed

00:30:36.299 --> 00:30:40.289
in. The food was amazing. got to stay up there

00:30:40.289 --> 00:30:43.109
while I was there on their dime. I got to go

00:30:43.109 --> 00:30:45.170
speak because I was a literary agent as well.

00:30:45.170 --> 00:30:47.490
I got to go speak to some New York publishers

00:30:47.490 --> 00:30:50.250
while I'm there, got back and had more money

00:30:50.250 --> 00:30:52.509
in my pocket than when I'd left and I hadn't

00:30:52.509 --> 00:30:55.369
had to pay for anything. And I sat down, I'm

00:30:55.369 --> 00:30:58.150
just shaking my head and God said, there's a

00:30:58.150 --> 00:31:00.450
different way to do ministry. Let me teach you.

00:31:00.789 --> 00:31:04.369
And that's when I began to understand I was always

00:31:04.369 --> 00:31:07.099
taught the missionary ministry way. You go and

00:31:07.099 --> 00:31:09.319
speak in churches, you raise money, you go overseas,

00:31:09.759 --> 00:31:13.160
you come back, wash, and do it again. But there's

00:31:13.160 --> 00:31:17.579
this other way of working with political people,

00:31:17.859 --> 00:31:21.779
of working with legislation, and figuring out

00:31:21.779 --> 00:31:23.920
grants and things that are out there, figuring

00:31:23.920 --> 00:31:26.559
out there was a different way to do ministry.

00:31:26.619 --> 00:31:29.940
And it was just as much ministry. So we began

00:31:29.940 --> 00:31:32.700
to do that. We couldn't deny the fact that my

00:31:32.700 --> 00:31:34.819
husband was still going overseas quite a bit.

00:31:34.890 --> 00:31:38.430
I'm suddenly working in legislative circles figuring

00:31:38.430 --> 00:31:41.069
out what's going on. One of our board members

00:31:41.069 --> 00:31:43.269
actually said because we changed our ministry

00:31:43.269 --> 00:31:48.069
name to embrace some of this and he said I'm

00:31:48.069 --> 00:31:50.410
not even sure what you're doing is ministry anymore

00:31:50.410 --> 00:31:53.329
because it was so different from what we had

00:31:53.329 --> 00:31:55.910
already done. He has since repented of saying

00:31:55.910 --> 00:32:00.609
that. because the people I reach now are people

00:32:00.609 --> 00:32:02.569
I could have never reached. You know, we're talking

00:32:02.569 --> 00:32:04.690
with congressmen and we're talking with governors

00:32:04.690 --> 00:32:08.250
and we're talking with city councillors and mayors

00:32:08.250 --> 00:32:11.829
and it's just, it's so different and not anything

00:32:11.829 --> 00:32:14.829
I would have ever thought I would be doing. Then

00:32:14.829 --> 00:32:20.180
I ran for a couple of... seats in our Republican

00:32:20.180 --> 00:32:23.259
Party, which is a much lower level. I became

00:32:23.259 --> 00:32:25.240
an elector for the state of Oklahoma. There's

00:32:25.240 --> 00:32:27.400
only seven elected in the whole state, and I

00:32:27.400 --> 00:32:31.319
was elected. I just have to look at myself in

00:32:31.319 --> 00:32:33.519
the mirror and go, what is God doing here? Because

00:32:33.519 --> 00:32:36.779
it's not ever anything I aspired to. And there's

00:32:36.779 --> 00:32:38.900
so many times I've told God, it's like, I want

00:32:38.900 --> 00:32:41.440
out. This is not a place I've ever seen myself.

00:32:41.799 --> 00:32:44.359
And he just goes silent on me. It's like, You'll

00:32:44.359 --> 00:32:46.200
get out when I'm ready for you to get out. Well,

00:32:46.200 --> 00:32:48.920
you know, when our parents, in our parents' generation,

00:32:50.200 --> 00:32:53.460
the country was really grounded on biblical principles.

00:32:53.640 --> 00:32:56.720
There was an overall understanding of biblical

00:32:56.720 --> 00:32:58.759
principles, even though not everybody necessarily

00:32:58.759 --> 00:33:02.299
believed. But pretty much everybody embraced

00:33:02.299 --> 00:33:05.019
the Ten Commandments and, you know, the basic,

00:33:05.019 --> 00:33:07.619
the fundamentals of the Judeo -Christian values.

00:33:09.279 --> 00:33:12.980
And so ministry was going overseas and preaching

00:33:12.980 --> 00:33:17.490
the gospel. But today, our country and our culture

00:33:17.490 --> 00:33:22.390
has changed so much, we need a Christian presence

00:33:22.390 --> 00:33:25.970
and influence in every sphere of society, in

00:33:25.970 --> 00:33:30.069
business, in schools, in government, in every

00:33:30.069 --> 00:33:33.230
sphere. And so ministry isn't just for overseas

00:33:33.230 --> 00:33:36.130
anymore. And it really wasn't then either. That's

00:33:36.130 --> 00:33:39.670
the reason everybody, yeah, that was just the

00:33:39.670 --> 00:33:44.410
perception. But everybody who's listening wherever

00:33:44.410 --> 00:33:48.329
you are you are an influencer for Christ in whatever

00:33:48.329 --> 00:33:50.849
position God has you whether you're at home with

00:33:50.849 --> 00:33:55.400
your children or in the workplace somewhere and

00:33:55.400 --> 00:33:57.500
I would say too for those listening you know

00:33:57.500 --> 00:34:00.420
I had we all have a plan how we think our life

00:34:00.420 --> 00:34:03.500
is going to go very rarely does it go like that

00:34:03.500 --> 00:34:05.740
but especially when you're willing to say God

00:34:05.740 --> 00:34:08.699
here I am use me I have had some of the most

00:34:08.699 --> 00:34:12.119
bizarre opportunities open up simply because

00:34:12.119 --> 00:34:15.239
I was willing to say yes yes God I'll do it and

00:34:15.239 --> 00:34:17.639
I didn't even know a lot of times what it was

00:34:17.639 --> 00:34:20.199
going to entail or what it would what it would

00:34:20.199 --> 00:34:22.900
take to do it. And I remember one job, it was

00:34:22.900 --> 00:34:28.420
bringing Mario Morillo in to our city. And they

00:34:28.420 --> 00:34:30.619
just, they brought me on. It was me and two other

00:34:30.619 --> 00:34:32.639
people, but it was, it was mainly me because

00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:34.920
the other two guys had full -time jobs that they

00:34:34.920 --> 00:34:37.460
couldn't work as many hours as I did. It became

00:34:37.460 --> 00:34:40.300
my full -time job. And so figuring out how to

00:34:40.300 --> 00:34:42.820
fill the stadium, it was working with Flashpoint

00:34:42.820 --> 00:34:45.840
USA. It was the first time Flashpoint had taken

00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:49.820
something to one of the states. And we just didn't

00:34:49.820 --> 00:34:51.599
know how to do it. And I just began to work.

00:34:51.679 --> 00:34:53.179
And every day I would sit down. It's like, OK,

00:34:53.260 --> 00:34:56.199
Holy Spirit, what do I do today? And so did that

00:34:56.199 --> 00:34:59.340
for six months. And we filled the ORU Maybe Center

00:34:59.340 --> 00:35:02.679
with 10 ,000 people two nights in a row. They

00:35:02.679 --> 00:35:04.559
said it couldn't be done. And we were turning

00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:07.139
people away the second night. And I remember

00:35:07.139 --> 00:35:08.980
Flashpoint came to me afterwards and they're

00:35:08.980 --> 00:35:13.280
like, tell us what you did. Because they had

00:35:13.280 --> 00:35:17.059
gone to other states, other cities to do it.

00:35:17.179 --> 00:35:19.760
And they never got the same result as what we

00:35:19.760 --> 00:35:22.059
had here. It was never nearly as big as what

00:35:22.059 --> 00:35:25.059
we had here. And all I could say was, you know,

00:35:25.199 --> 00:35:28.539
yes, we had a plan, but it was because God talked

00:35:28.539 --> 00:35:30.480
me through what to do every day. And it's not

00:35:30.480 --> 00:35:33.239
necessarily I could go and do it in another city

00:35:33.239 --> 00:35:34.960
and it be the same way. It's not like I could

00:35:34.960 --> 00:35:37.039
create. That's what they wanted is me to create

00:35:37.039 --> 00:35:40.420
a book, say here, this is how you do it. It was

00:35:40.420 --> 00:35:43.230
a Holy Spirit led thing. And that's what I found

00:35:43.230 --> 00:35:45.429
is when you say yes to the Lord, he'll take you

00:35:45.429 --> 00:35:48.070
into Holy Spirit led things that you would have

00:35:48.070 --> 00:35:50.429
never expected, but he's simply looking for people

00:35:50.429 --> 00:35:53.250
to say yes. You know, we talked about another

00:35:53.250 --> 00:35:55.449
thing, Karen, the other day, a really powerful

00:35:55.449 --> 00:35:58.230
truth. You said, if you don't deal with your

00:35:58.230 --> 00:36:02.190
stuff, your stuff will deal with you. And you

00:36:02.190 --> 00:36:04.789
were juggling, you know, through your life, raising

00:36:04.789 --> 00:36:10.590
kids, homeschooling, writing, Kevin was traveling.

00:36:14.360 --> 00:36:16.760
internationally and you did struggle. You know

00:36:16.760 --> 00:36:19.219
there were some times when you were in intense

00:36:19.219 --> 00:36:22.179
spiritual warfare. Take us through that season

00:36:22.179 --> 00:36:24.440
and what you were struggling with and how it

00:36:24.440 --> 00:36:27.059
affected you. Well and I think most people have

00:36:27.059 --> 00:36:30.440
experienced a dark night of the soul. It's not

00:36:30.440 --> 00:36:32.940
talked about nearly enough I think in churches

00:36:32.940 --> 00:36:36.699
because it's real and I was never one to deal

00:36:36.699 --> 00:36:39.960
with depression. It's just not something I'd

00:36:39.960 --> 00:36:43.119
ever dealt with and had always been the strong

00:36:43.119 --> 00:36:47.000
one in the family. But years of pushing things

00:36:47.000 --> 00:36:49.840
down, I told you about the abuse that I experienced

00:36:49.840 --> 00:36:52.519
by my brother, by teachers and bullies in school,

00:36:52.800 --> 00:36:56.219
and was so embarrassed with some of it, just

00:36:56.219 --> 00:36:59.099
didn't know how as a child to deal with it, just

00:36:59.099 --> 00:37:01.340
stuffed it down and really thought I had forgiven

00:37:01.340 --> 00:37:05.440
the people, that I had gotten it out, and I had

00:37:05.440 --> 00:37:08.409
forgiven, but I hadn't gotten it out. it was

00:37:08.409 --> 00:37:10.929
stuffed down and again what you don't deal with

00:37:10.929 --> 00:37:13.570
will deal with you and so about the time i hit

00:37:13.570 --> 00:37:17.429
late 40s or right at 50 pandora's box opened

00:37:17.429 --> 00:37:22.510
and i it was hell it's just like everything from

00:37:22.510 --> 00:37:26.369
my past came and hit me in the face the the fear

00:37:26.369 --> 00:37:30.269
the not feeling that i could do anything the

00:37:30.269 --> 00:37:32.849
rejection you name it and it came back in my

00:37:32.849 --> 00:37:36.130
face and Satan will always take advantage of

00:37:36.130 --> 00:37:38.150
that and bring people into your life to help

00:37:38.150 --> 00:37:41.869
affirm what you're believing. There were three

00:37:41.869 --> 00:37:45.670
months that truly just the victory was being

00:37:45.670 --> 00:37:50.559
here the next day. I wasn't going to commit suicide,

00:37:50.599 --> 00:37:53.639
but certainly Satan was bombarding me with those

00:37:53.639 --> 00:37:56.320
thoughts. I never had thoughts like that and

00:37:56.320 --> 00:37:58.679
just cried every day. It was horrible. It was

00:37:58.679 --> 00:38:01.460
a horrible time in my life, but God was really

00:38:01.460 --> 00:38:03.820
wanting to deal with stuff because you can't

00:38:03.820 --> 00:38:06.099
go on and reach your identity and destiny until

00:38:06.099 --> 00:38:08.099
you deal with the things that are down there.

00:38:08.800 --> 00:38:11.559
And so it began with, I still have kids at home.

00:38:11.659 --> 00:38:13.760
We're homeschooling. You don't have time to just

00:38:13.760 --> 00:38:17.300
lay on the couch and cry. So you just keep moving.

00:38:17.599 --> 00:38:20.059
My family didn't know what I was dealing with.

00:38:20.260 --> 00:38:22.260
I would go in on Saturdays. I would tell my husband,

00:38:22.400 --> 00:38:25.739
I just need the morning by myself. Please don't

00:38:25.739 --> 00:38:28.659
knock on the door. I just, me and God. and God

00:38:28.659 --> 00:38:31.920
began to over, it probably took a year or two

00:38:31.920 --> 00:38:34.679
that I feel like I got normal after that, but

00:38:34.679 --> 00:38:36.699
it was me sitting with the Holy Spirit and just

00:38:36.699 --> 00:38:39.619
asking him, what can you tell me about this?

00:38:39.639 --> 00:38:42.400
Because I had gone to counselors, I'd gone to

00:38:42.400 --> 00:38:44.500
ministers, I would tell him some of the things

00:38:44.500 --> 00:38:46.619
I was dealing with and what I was going through,

00:38:46.900 --> 00:38:51.449
and not a single one. Said they knew how to deal

00:38:51.449 --> 00:38:53.269
with what I was dealing with because I had lots

00:38:53.269 --> 00:38:56.190
of weird stories lots of weird things that happened

00:38:56.190 --> 00:38:58.590
People who have tried to kill me I would walk

00:38:58.590 --> 00:39:00.730
into a room and somebody started screaming me

00:39:00.730 --> 00:39:02.750
at me that they were gonna kill me They didn't

00:39:02.750 --> 00:39:06.070
even know me. I mean just weird things had happened

00:39:06.070 --> 00:39:11.630
and so ministers just I Don't we don't know what

00:39:11.630 --> 00:39:14.429
to tell you Karen Well, that's really encouraging,

00:39:14.849 --> 00:39:18.869
right? so it was me and the Holy Spirit and The

00:39:18.869 --> 00:39:20.730
Holy Spirit just began to show me things. He

00:39:20.730 --> 00:39:23.829
showed me things generationally from my past

00:39:23.829 --> 00:39:26.150
that needed to be broken off that had been in

00:39:26.150 --> 00:39:28.969
my family line. I didn't even realize it had

00:39:28.969 --> 00:39:30.969
been there, but he would show me conversations

00:39:30.969 --> 00:39:33.650
maybe from my dad or my grandfather or things

00:39:33.650 --> 00:39:36.190
where I began to write things down and learn

00:39:36.190 --> 00:39:39.989
how to break those off of our family line. and

00:39:39.989 --> 00:39:42.550
then just things that had been put on me as a

00:39:42.550 --> 00:39:44.869
child from the abuse and the words that have

00:39:44.869 --> 00:39:46.909
been spoken over me and learning how to pull

00:39:46.909 --> 00:39:49.889
that out and learning how to destroy it and get

00:39:49.889 --> 00:39:52.909
it out of my life and get my feet planted on

00:39:52.909 --> 00:39:55.650
strength. That's what God wants to do for all

00:39:55.650 --> 00:39:58.750
of us. But most people, we don't sit down and

00:39:58.750 --> 00:40:01.150
do that. I wouldn't have. Taking the time to

00:40:01.150 --> 00:40:03.110
do that had I been able to go to a ministry who

00:40:03.110 --> 00:40:04.630
said oh, yeah I know what you're dealing with

00:40:04.630 --> 00:40:07.130
and here take this little pill and you know Because

00:40:07.130 --> 00:40:09.750
we all want a quick fix right, but this wasn't

00:40:09.750 --> 00:40:13.289
a quick fix And so really after a couple years

00:40:13.289 --> 00:40:16.190
of doing that and just Filling myself with scripture

00:40:16.190 --> 00:40:18.190
and the word of the Lord and beginning to speak

00:40:18.190 --> 00:40:21.710
it out So much was birthed out of that and a

00:40:21.710 --> 00:40:25.739
strength that I really I would never have imagined

00:40:25.739 --> 00:40:29.500
was in me, that now when I'm in the political

00:40:29.500 --> 00:40:31.619
realm, and I take a lot of hits, I take a lot

00:40:31.619 --> 00:40:35.099
of abuse, a lot of lies said about me, you know,

00:40:35.099 --> 00:40:38.780
it doesn't even faze me. I mean, not even a minute.

00:40:38.980 --> 00:40:41.219
Taryn, you talk about going into your room for

00:40:41.219 --> 00:40:44.500
four hours or however long it was, and there

00:40:44.500 --> 00:40:46.380
are people out there that are thinking, there's

00:40:46.380 --> 00:40:48.949
no way. I could do something for four hours.

00:40:48.969 --> 00:40:51.949
If I went into my room and thought about what

00:40:51.949 --> 00:40:56.070
my life was like, I would just break down. What

00:40:56.070 --> 00:40:59.230
did you do for four hours? How did you spend

00:40:59.230 --> 00:41:02.010
that time? And how did you hear God listening

00:41:02.010 --> 00:41:04.989
to you? I mean, really break it down. I mean,

00:41:04.989 --> 00:41:06.809
I'm sure the first few times you went in there,

00:41:06.869 --> 00:41:09.429
it wasn't as clear as it was later on, but how

00:41:09.429 --> 00:41:11.449
did you even get started with that? For those

00:41:11.449 --> 00:41:15.130
out there listening who might say, I can't even

00:41:15.130 --> 00:41:18.989
relate to that. I can't grasp it. Well, yeah.

00:41:19.269 --> 00:41:21.349
And the first few times, because again, just

00:41:21.349 --> 00:41:24.929
in a very low place, it was a lot of tears. I

00:41:24.929 --> 00:41:27.789
mean, it's me just crying, crying out to God

00:41:27.789 --> 00:41:30.389
and just pouring it all out to God. And there's

00:41:30.389 --> 00:41:32.989
a, there's a time and a place for that because

00:41:32.989 --> 00:41:35.690
God, he's our father. And so it's like sitting

00:41:35.690 --> 00:41:38.590
on his lap saying, this is what's going on, God,

00:41:38.969 --> 00:41:41.590
but you have to get past that place too. And

00:41:41.590 --> 00:41:45.320
so I learned sometimes it was just reading. in

00:41:45.320 --> 00:41:47.920
the Bible. And I felt like, you know, God, where

00:41:47.920 --> 00:41:49.559
do you want me to read? What do you have to share

00:41:49.559 --> 00:41:53.039
with me? And I stayed in Isaiah a lot, just lived

00:41:53.039 --> 00:41:56.119
in Isaiah. And he began to piece things together

00:41:56.119 --> 00:42:00.699
of things that had happened to other of his prophets

00:42:00.699 --> 00:42:04.280
and his ministers and showed me how it could

00:42:04.280 --> 00:42:06.320
relate to what I was doing today. And I would

00:42:06.320 --> 00:42:09.099
begin to dig into the Hebrew and the Greek and

00:42:09.099 --> 00:42:12.510
just sit there and study. And then ask the Holy

00:42:12.510 --> 00:42:14.710
Spirit, I would pray and ask the Holy Spirit,

00:42:14.789 --> 00:42:16.489
what are you showing me? And learning how to

00:42:16.489 --> 00:42:19.469
just sit and listen. And that's a component that

00:42:19.469 --> 00:42:23.369
I think we don't do enough of. Me shutting up

00:42:23.369 --> 00:42:25.630
and letting God speak. And if he wasn't speaking,

00:42:25.730 --> 00:42:28.789
I would just still sit there and just be quiet,

00:42:29.250 --> 00:42:32.750
just listen. Sometimes just pray in the spirit.

00:42:33.610 --> 00:42:36.530
It was amazing how many times God would speak

00:42:36.530 --> 00:42:38.210
and it was in so many different ways. When I

00:42:38.210 --> 00:42:41.250
was at my low points, it would be just opening

00:42:41.250 --> 00:42:43.170
up the Bible and you know, you put your finger

00:42:43.170 --> 00:42:45.429
on a scripture because God will use that when

00:42:45.429 --> 00:42:48.010
you're in your low points, right? People laugh,

00:42:48.010 --> 00:42:50.670
but I'm telling you, he does it. And so, and

00:42:50.670 --> 00:42:53.469
it would be exactly the word I needed. Or an

00:42:53.469 --> 00:42:57.570
email, there was a ministry called Small Straws

00:42:57.570 --> 00:43:01.090
in a Soft Wind. And it became like a lifeline.

00:43:01.610 --> 00:43:04.090
And some people would say, it's like a horoscope.

00:43:04.230 --> 00:43:07.510
No, it wasn't. This was God's version of really

00:43:07.510 --> 00:43:10.269
of listening to the spirit. The horoscope is

00:43:10.269 --> 00:43:15.889
the alternative from the depths of hell. And

00:43:15.889 --> 00:43:18.030
so they would just give out a word each day in

00:43:18.030 --> 00:43:20.369
a scripture. And it was like it was speaking

00:43:20.369 --> 00:43:23.869
directly to me. And so things like that that

00:43:23.869 --> 00:43:26.530
I just knew God was guiding me to read the right

00:43:26.530 --> 00:43:29.650
verse or go to the right place in the Word or

00:43:29.650 --> 00:43:31.869
the Holy Spirit would begin to guide me and speak

00:43:31.869 --> 00:43:34.969
to me and I would journal everything down what

00:43:34.969 --> 00:43:37.929
he was doing till eventually after a couple years

00:43:37.929 --> 00:43:41.090
I was driving one day and I still feel like I've

00:43:41.090 --> 00:43:43.230
got a lot of healing to do because you just don't

00:43:43.230 --> 00:43:47.539
get over 50 years of crap overnight. And I received

00:43:47.539 --> 00:43:50.260
a phone call from a gal and she said, you probably

00:43:50.260 --> 00:43:52.820
don't know me, you don't remember me, but we

00:43:52.820 --> 00:43:54.980
were at a retreat together and she told me where

00:43:54.980 --> 00:43:57.199
it was and I remembered and I was in a very messed

00:43:57.199 --> 00:43:59.059
up place, not a place that I could minister.

00:43:59.780 --> 00:44:01.639
And she said, God told me if I called you, you

00:44:01.639 --> 00:44:06.000
could help me. And I'm thinking, what? I'm not

00:44:06.000 --> 00:44:10.389
in a place to help anybody. And so she said,

00:44:10.530 --> 00:44:12.510
can I tell you my story? She said, it's really

00:44:12.510 --> 00:44:15.070
weird. And she began to tell me her story. And

00:44:15.070 --> 00:44:18.289
it had some of the very strange things that had

00:44:18.289 --> 00:44:21.530
happened to me happen to her. And she had the

00:44:21.530 --> 00:44:23.170
same thing. She said, I've gone and talked to

00:44:23.170 --> 00:44:25.010
ministers and I've talked to counselors. Nobody

00:44:25.010 --> 00:44:27.889
knows what to tell me. This is all very bizarre.

00:44:27.989 --> 00:44:30.750
They don't know what to say to me. But God told

00:44:30.750 --> 00:44:32.510
me, if I called you, you could help me. Can you

00:44:32.510 --> 00:44:38.099
help? And I said, yeah, actually I can. And so

00:44:38.099 --> 00:44:40.340
I just began to share with her what I had learned

00:44:40.340 --> 00:44:42.320
to what I had learned at that point, which I

00:44:42.320 --> 00:44:44.099
didn't feel like was much, but it was more than

00:44:44.099 --> 00:44:46.940
she had. So I began to instruct her what I was

00:44:46.940 --> 00:44:48.940
doing to get out of my dark night of the soul.

00:44:49.639 --> 00:44:52.440
And I remember I got off of that phone call and

00:44:52.440 --> 00:44:54.380
because I'd been driving in the car when I'm

00:44:54.380 --> 00:44:57.139
talking to her and I parked the car and I threw

00:44:57.139 --> 00:45:01.300
it in in park and I'm like mad. I was mad at

00:45:01.300 --> 00:45:05.400
God. It's like, how dare you? I begged you for

00:45:05.400 --> 00:45:08.539
somebody. I begged you to send me somebody, somebody

00:45:08.539 --> 00:45:10.639
to mentor me, somebody to pray with me, somebody

00:45:10.639 --> 00:45:16.380
to teach me. And she gets me. You're giving her

00:45:16.380 --> 00:45:20.280
somebody and all I got was the Holy Spirit. And

00:45:20.280 --> 00:45:24.360
it taunt on me. Oh my gosh, I got the Holy Spirit.

00:45:24.380 --> 00:45:27.880
She just got me. The Holy Spirit taught me what

00:45:27.880 --> 00:45:31.539
to do. I never complained again. Oh my gosh.

00:45:31.920 --> 00:45:34.280
And so it was such precious times. I got another

00:45:34.280 --> 00:45:36.059
call like that. It was probably two or three

00:45:36.059 --> 00:45:38.420
weeks later. Another call just like that. You

00:45:38.420 --> 00:45:40.539
probably don't remember me, but God told me if

00:45:40.539 --> 00:45:43.019
I called you, you could help me. And so things

00:45:43.019 --> 00:45:45.320
like that began to happen that the Lord was showing

00:45:45.320 --> 00:45:48.199
me that what I was learning, I was able to impart

00:45:48.199 --> 00:45:50.940
to others so that they could get out on top as

00:45:50.940 --> 00:45:55.500
well. There's just not enough in the church,

00:45:55.579 --> 00:45:58.780
I think, dealing with some of the the things

00:45:58.780 --> 00:46:01.400
that are happening in the world today and so

00:46:01.400 --> 00:46:03.679
whether that's the witchcraft whether it's the

00:46:03.679 --> 00:46:07.019
bullying whatever it is we go into church and

00:46:07.019 --> 00:46:09.760
they'll give you a pat sermon and nothing wrong

00:46:09.760 --> 00:46:14.480
with with good sermons at all but When they're

00:46:14.480 --> 00:46:17.000
not able to deal with the practical side of what

00:46:17.000 --> 00:46:19.039
life is happening, that's why people are leaving

00:46:19.039 --> 00:46:21.699
the church. Because like if you can't relate

00:46:21.699 --> 00:46:24.760
to what's going on in my life today, what I need

00:46:24.760 --> 00:46:27.079
is manna for today. I don't want you to tell

00:46:27.079 --> 00:46:31.280
me about how the ark was, you know, 40 days and

00:46:31.280 --> 00:46:33.699
40 nights. If you can't draw it into what's happening

00:46:33.699 --> 00:46:36.960
today. But the Bible is relevant for today. And

00:46:36.960 --> 00:46:38.860
so it was me sitting with the Holy Spirit to

00:46:38.860 --> 00:46:41.920
find out what it was that he was speaking for

00:46:41.920 --> 00:46:45.739
me today. As you were talking about, you know,

00:46:45.880 --> 00:46:50.099
you were sharing what God had told you with the

00:46:50.099 --> 00:46:52.699
other women who called you, just brought back

00:46:52.699 --> 00:46:56.539
to mind that verse in Revelation that said, they

00:46:56.539 --> 00:47:00.000
overcame him, Satan, by the blood of the Lamb

00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:03.739
and the word of their testimony. And I just can't

00:47:03.739 --> 00:47:06.599
help but think part of that healing and victory

00:47:06.599 --> 00:47:09.980
for you was you sharing the testimony of what

00:47:09.980 --> 00:47:12.900
God had already told you, in addition to helping

00:47:12.900 --> 00:47:15.940
them. God always, you know, uses things in so

00:47:15.940 --> 00:47:20.059
many ways. It's never just singular. It's always

00:47:20.059 --> 00:47:23.659
multifaceted, isn't it? It is. And so I've heard

00:47:23.659 --> 00:47:27.119
Bill Johnson say that they actually tested that,

00:47:27.280 --> 00:47:30.340
that what is within a testimony. They had shared

00:47:30.340 --> 00:47:34.750
a testimony one time of a kid that had something

00:47:34.750 --> 00:47:36.269
wrong with his feet. I can't even think of what

00:47:36.269 --> 00:47:38.610
it's called now, but it's not common, a common

00:47:38.610 --> 00:47:42.610
occurrence anymore, club feet. And so as they

00:47:42.610 --> 00:47:45.349
were sharing the testimony at one of their services,

00:47:45.869 --> 00:47:48.389
eight other people in the audience got healed

00:47:48.389 --> 00:47:50.909
just from hearing the testimony. And I'm like,

00:47:51.070 --> 00:47:54.190
how odd is that, right? So he began to test it.

00:47:54.190 --> 00:47:56.349
He would go places. He would share that same

00:47:56.349 --> 00:47:58.889
odd testimony. And people with club feet were

00:47:58.889 --> 00:48:02.690
getting healed. And so he began to study it and

00:48:02.690 --> 00:48:07.550
realized within the word testimony it means to

00:48:07.550 --> 00:48:11.150
do it again. And so even now as I'm sharing my

00:48:11.150 --> 00:48:13.710
testimony, as you each week have women sharing

00:48:13.710 --> 00:48:16.969
their testimonies, within the DNA of a testimony

00:48:16.969 --> 00:48:20.289
is the ability to... do it again. And so when

00:48:20.289 --> 00:48:22.670
people realize that, when we take hold of the

00:48:22.670 --> 00:48:24.969
Word, when we hear testimony, what God does for

00:48:24.969 --> 00:48:27.289
one, He said He will do for another. He isn't

00:48:27.289 --> 00:48:30.050
a God that plays favorites. If we will take hold

00:48:30.050 --> 00:48:33.510
of a testimony of a Word, He will do it within

00:48:33.510 --> 00:48:36.570
us. I think I told you, whenever we had our first

00:48:36.570 --> 00:48:40.550
child overseas, came back here, and that was

00:48:40.550 --> 00:48:44.530
through a fertility specialist, God said, I don't

00:48:44.530 --> 00:48:47.349
want you going down that road again. And so I'm

00:48:47.349 --> 00:48:49.920
like, well. Okay, but I haven't been able to

00:48:49.920 --> 00:48:52.460
get pregnant in how many years of marriage now

00:48:52.460 --> 00:48:54.960
and so I think we were in seven years of marriage

00:48:54.960 --> 00:49:01.179
at that point and By then we had had two ministers

00:49:01.179 --> 00:49:03.800
coming to our church and it was Charles and Frances

00:49:03.800 --> 00:49:06.820
Hunter and if you ever listen to them anybody

00:49:06.820 --> 00:49:11.579
they were just as Unique as could be but I don't

00:49:11.579 --> 00:49:15.719
even healed once under their ministry and I not

00:49:15.719 --> 00:49:18.480
because I believed in them or trusted them, but

00:49:18.480 --> 00:49:21.300
because I just got healed. You know, it was God's

00:49:21.300 --> 00:49:23.619
grace and this healing power of God flowed through

00:49:23.619 --> 00:49:25.920
that. So they were coming to the church and I

00:49:25.920 --> 00:49:28.260
knew that they often gave words for women who

00:49:28.260 --> 00:49:31.480
were having struggles in that area. So I told

00:49:31.480 --> 00:49:32.840
my husband, I said, we're going to go and I'm

00:49:32.840 --> 00:49:34.579
going to get healed and that's how we're going

00:49:34.579 --> 00:49:37.179
to get our second child. So we went, they went

00:49:37.179 --> 00:49:39.659
through the whole service, they ministered, and

00:49:39.659 --> 00:49:41.340
they were calling out a lot of things at the

00:49:41.340 --> 00:49:44.039
end as far as God healing different people, and

00:49:44.039 --> 00:49:45.940
got to the very end of the service and never

00:49:45.940 --> 00:49:49.079
called out infertility. And so people are leaving,

00:49:49.119 --> 00:49:51.420
the service is obviously over. They're still

00:49:51.420 --> 00:49:56.039
ministering to a few at the podium. And my husband

00:49:56.039 --> 00:49:58.360
turned me and he said, well, we need to go. I'm

00:49:58.360 --> 00:50:03.510
like, I'm not going. because I went expecting

00:50:03.510 --> 00:50:07.170
a miracle, expecting a testimony, right? And

00:50:07.170 --> 00:50:08.969
so we just stood there and he knew enough not

00:50:08.969 --> 00:50:12.550
to make me move, right? So it's almost all empty.

00:50:12.730 --> 00:50:15.590
I'm still standing there and finally, Frances

00:50:15.590 --> 00:50:18.090
Hunter called out, if you're having fertility

00:50:18.090 --> 00:50:21.250
issues, come forward. So me and three other ladies

00:50:21.250 --> 00:50:25.230
went forward and she had a very specific word

00:50:25.230 --> 00:50:27.210
for us. Now this was in February, first part

00:50:27.210 --> 00:50:29.610
of February and she said, you will get pregnant.

00:50:29.719 --> 00:50:32.079
you will have a child before the end of the year

00:50:32.079 --> 00:50:34.360
and you will have a delivery of four hours or

00:50:34.360 --> 00:50:37.179
less." She spoke that over all four of us. Well,

00:50:37.179 --> 00:50:40.380
for me, oh, I took it because I was ready at

00:50:40.380 --> 00:50:43.420
that moment. I don't have the names of the other

00:50:43.420 --> 00:50:45.079
ladies. I really wished I would have gotten them

00:50:45.079 --> 00:50:47.320
to find out if their testimony was the same as

00:50:47.320 --> 00:50:50.539
mine, but that's February. You can do the math.

00:50:51.000 --> 00:50:53.239
You know, nine months you got to have for a pregnancy.

00:50:54.139 --> 00:50:57.980
My daughter was born December 14th and in a delivery

00:50:57.980 --> 00:51:01.019
of three and a half hours. And so everything

00:51:01.019 --> 00:51:05.460
was exactly what she had said. But, you know,

00:51:05.500 --> 00:51:08.039
I think people, we can get a word, we can hear

00:51:08.039 --> 00:51:10.780
a word, but if we don't take hold of that word

00:51:10.780 --> 00:51:14.059
and let it be planted in our soul, whether it's

00:51:14.059 --> 00:51:16.500
the word of God or there's somebody speaks a

00:51:16.500 --> 00:51:19.059
word into us, it doesn't mean it's going to come

00:51:19.059 --> 00:51:22.940
to pass. But for me, oh, no, I think at that

00:51:22.940 --> 00:51:25.239
moment it was like me getting pregnant because

00:51:25.239 --> 00:51:29.039
I took hold of it in that moment. And so the

00:51:29.039 --> 00:51:32.900
power of testimony, the DNA that's within it,

00:51:33.099 --> 00:51:36.539
we need to realize that. Within our ministry,

00:51:36.800 --> 00:51:39.860
destinybuilders .world, we have on our website

00:51:39.860 --> 00:51:42.699
numerous scriptural prayer declarations that

00:51:42.699 --> 00:51:45.420
I have created, just taking the word and putting

00:51:45.420 --> 00:51:49.059
them in declaration form. And we give those out

00:51:49.059 --> 00:51:52.019
free. Most of those have come from situations

00:51:52.019 --> 00:51:54.039
that either I've walked through or our family

00:51:54.039 --> 00:51:56.340
members have walked through and I just make it

00:51:56.340 --> 00:51:58.119
available to everybody else. That's why I don't

00:51:58.119 --> 00:52:01.679
charge is is we just did it as ministry. I needed

00:52:01.679 --> 00:52:04.400
this. I know it works. I want to make it available

00:52:04.400 --> 00:52:07.420
to others because it says in the word he watches

00:52:07.420 --> 00:52:10.340
over his word to perform it. So when we realize

00:52:10.340 --> 00:52:14.130
we speak out the word. It's his obligation to

00:52:14.130 --> 00:52:16.829
perform it. It's not ours. When he said, I am

00:52:16.829 --> 00:52:18.750
the Lord that heals you. I will raise you up

00:52:18.750 --> 00:52:20.849
off your sick bed. I will restore you to health.

00:52:21.210 --> 00:52:23.730
When we learn to speak out the word and not speak

00:52:23.730 --> 00:52:26.610
out the problem, that's when something begins

00:52:26.610 --> 00:52:29.289
to shift. And for me, I learned a long time ago,

00:52:29.809 --> 00:52:32.570
it's not that we deny a situation is there. I'm

00:52:32.570 --> 00:52:36.329
not saying that. I'm saying it isn't what guides

00:52:36.329 --> 00:52:39.409
us. When I was working at the publishing house

00:52:39.409 --> 00:52:41.789
way before I got married, I got really, really

00:52:41.789 --> 00:52:44.849
sick one day. Now that was back in, I should

00:52:44.849 --> 00:52:46.909
have just gone home, right? Not get anybody else

00:52:46.909 --> 00:52:50.170
contaminated, but needed the money, had only

00:52:50.170 --> 00:52:53.469
two more hours of work, and so I'm obviously

00:52:53.469 --> 00:52:58.190
getting sick. and I was out in front working

00:52:58.190 --> 00:53:01.010
with some some of the guys in the warehouse and

00:53:01.010 --> 00:53:03.730
one of them who was a rama student right he should

00:53:03.730 --> 00:53:05.690
have known better he said you're sick you need

00:53:05.690 --> 00:53:08.710
to go home and I said I believe by the stripes

00:53:08.710 --> 00:53:11.670
of Jesus I'm healed he said shut up you're sick

00:53:11.670 --> 00:53:15.210
you need to go home now I probably did need to

00:53:15.210 --> 00:53:17.469
go home but it was making me mad because he kept

00:53:17.469 --> 00:53:20.809
saying declaring over me I'm sick and I said

00:53:20.809 --> 00:53:24.389
I declare by the stripes of Jesus I'm healed

00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:27.480
What I didn't know is there were six other people

00:53:27.480 --> 00:53:29.420
at work that day that were getting the same kind

00:53:29.420 --> 00:53:33.059
of flu thing that I was getting And so I drove

00:53:33.059 --> 00:53:35.420
home that day just feeling sicker than a dog.

00:53:35.639 --> 00:53:38.000
I'm driving all the way home I'm just praying

00:53:38.000 --> 00:53:41.079
got something warm to drink got medicine and

00:53:41.079 --> 00:53:43.219
I just prayed I said Lord I don't have time to

00:53:43.219 --> 00:53:46.159
be sick right now I need you to heal me and so

00:53:46.159 --> 00:53:48.460
I just got in prayer as long as I could I mean

00:53:48.460 --> 00:53:51.980
I really wasn't feeling good went to bed woke

00:53:51.980 --> 00:53:57.559
up the next day completely 1000 % healed. Fever

00:53:57.559 --> 00:54:00.480
was gone. Every symptom was gone. Got up, went

00:54:00.480 --> 00:54:03.699
to work. Nothing on me at all. The other six

00:54:03.699 --> 00:54:06.519
people were sick for a whole week. Now, could

00:54:06.519 --> 00:54:09.119
they have received that same healing? It's there

00:54:09.119 --> 00:54:12.139
for all of us. And it's not a condemnation if

00:54:12.139 --> 00:54:14.539
somebody does walk through something like that

00:54:14.539 --> 00:54:16.840
and doesn't get healed. But what I'm saying is

00:54:16.840 --> 00:54:20.329
the power was present to heal. And I took it,

00:54:20.329 --> 00:54:22.409
and that was the manifestation of it. You know,

00:54:22.409 --> 00:54:25.289
the other thing that you said that it's really

00:54:25.289 --> 00:54:28.369
powerful is, you know, we can receive a word.

00:54:28.489 --> 00:54:31.789
We can also reject a word. And you rejected that

00:54:31.789 --> 00:54:35.949
word from your coworker that you're sick. And

00:54:35.949 --> 00:54:39.730
you, I'm sure through your life, rejected other

00:54:39.730 --> 00:54:42.550
words that people spoke over you that were negative.

00:54:42.909 --> 00:54:45.889
And, you know, we all can do that. When people

00:54:45.889 --> 00:54:47.690
speak a negative word over us, we don't have

00:54:47.690 --> 00:54:50.809
to receive it. We can reject it. If we do receive

00:54:50.809 --> 00:54:53.989
it, it comes in and festers there. But we can

00:54:53.989 --> 00:54:56.409
reject that and only receive words from the Lord

00:54:56.409 --> 00:54:58.690
and words that are positive and encouraging and

00:54:58.690 --> 00:55:01.250
reinforcing. So we have that choice. I think

00:55:01.250 --> 00:55:03.940
that's really key. Because when I was young,

00:55:03.980 --> 00:55:06.119
I didn't know to reject it. And that's where

00:55:06.119 --> 00:55:09.880
all of that went down in me. That when Pandora's

00:55:09.880 --> 00:55:12.139
box, because I hadn't learned how to reject it

00:55:12.139 --> 00:55:14.760
when I got older, I did. So I think it's so key.

00:55:14.880 --> 00:55:17.559
What you're saying is we need to learn to reject

00:55:17.559 --> 00:55:20.500
that those things that people try and speak into

00:55:20.500 --> 00:55:23.500
us are honest. You know, you'll never succeed

00:55:23.500 --> 00:55:26.760
or you'll always be fat or you're not smart enough.

00:55:27.059 --> 00:55:29.519
You're not rich enough. You're not educated enough.

00:55:29.980 --> 00:55:33.090
You know what? It doesn't matter. If God has

00:55:33.090 --> 00:55:35.530
called you to do something, if he has opened

00:55:35.530 --> 00:55:40.309
that door, his revelation is an invitation. And

00:55:40.309 --> 00:55:42.130
so when people will get a revelation of what

00:55:42.130 --> 00:55:44.130
God's calling them to do, it's an invitation

00:55:44.130 --> 00:55:46.150
to walk in it. You just have to do it. Yeah.

00:55:46.389 --> 00:55:48.289
And because God is timeless, he is not bound

00:55:48.289 --> 00:55:51.190
by time. Even if you believed something when

00:55:51.190 --> 00:55:54.219
you were younger, you can reject it now. God

00:55:54.219 --> 00:55:56.239
gives us the power to reject it now so it will

00:55:56.239 --> 00:55:58.880
no longer influence our lives. Sometimes it takes

00:55:58.880 --> 00:56:02.900
a little while to renew our mind to change the

00:56:02.900 --> 00:56:06.519
way we think, but if you're listening and you

00:56:06.519 --> 00:56:08.480
realize that you have believed something that

00:56:08.480 --> 00:56:11.619
is not of God, you can reject that now and ask

00:56:11.619 --> 00:56:13.639
the Lord to start renewing your mind. So it's

00:56:13.639 --> 00:56:16.800
not going to influence you anymore. Well Karen,

00:56:17.380 --> 00:56:20.380
as we wrap up, tell us about a woman of the Bible

00:56:20.380 --> 00:56:23.469
whose story has really spoken to you. How has

00:56:23.469 --> 00:56:25.989
her journey encouraged or shaped your own? It

00:56:25.989 --> 00:56:29.269
would probably be Esther. And I know many of

00:56:29.269 --> 00:56:33.289
us, we can really admire Esther. Boy, what a

00:56:33.289 --> 00:56:36.269
woman of courage, right? But how many times I

00:56:36.269 --> 00:56:39.750
feel like God has put me in a place where I just

00:56:39.750 --> 00:56:43.989
have to step out in courage. And he always gives

00:56:43.989 --> 00:56:47.389
us a choice. You can either do it or not. You

00:56:47.389 --> 00:56:50.539
can either do it or not. And but I've realized

00:56:50.539 --> 00:56:52.860
if I will be willing to step out and courage

00:56:52.860 --> 00:56:56.340
in those hard things God always shows up Because

00:56:56.340 --> 00:56:59.179
it's not really it's it's not about me. It's

00:56:59.179 --> 00:57:02.019
about what he wants to do He's just looking for

00:57:02.019 --> 00:57:05.480
somebody to do it And so I really have related

00:57:05.480 --> 00:57:08.900
to that story so many times and I would encourage

00:57:08.900 --> 00:57:13.820
others Courage begets courage and if you will

00:57:13.820 --> 00:57:16.300
step out and courage it will give somebody else

00:57:16.559 --> 00:57:19.460
the ability to step out and courage. And it's

00:57:19.460 --> 00:57:22.699
not a matter of we think we can do anything great

00:57:22.699 --> 00:57:28.400
or do anything that's going to turn the world

00:57:28.400 --> 00:57:31.780
around. You turn the world around with one act

00:57:31.780 --> 00:57:35.559
of kindness. you know, with one act of courage.

00:57:36.179 --> 00:57:38.320
And sometimes it's just knocking on a neighbor's

00:57:38.320 --> 00:57:40.659
door. Sometimes it's taking somebody a meal.

00:57:41.440 --> 00:57:43.219
Sometimes it's writing them a small check. One

00:57:43.219 --> 00:57:45.539
of my friends, when I was when I was working,

00:57:45.579 --> 00:57:48.519
I was out of college. A good friend had gone

00:57:48.519 --> 00:57:50.739
on to her master's and her family just didn't

00:57:50.739 --> 00:57:53.539
have the money. And I didn't know that she was

00:57:53.539 --> 00:57:55.840
going to have to drop out of school. But I was

00:57:55.840 --> 00:57:57.860
already working and I had a really good job.

00:57:58.360 --> 00:58:01.119
And so she just came to me crying one day and

00:58:01.670 --> 00:58:03.730
She's like, I've got to drop out of school. She

00:58:03.730 --> 00:58:06.750
wasn't doing it to get money, but I realized

00:58:06.750 --> 00:58:11.250
I could probably pay that for her. And so just

00:58:11.250 --> 00:58:13.869
as a young kid, because I didn't have a lot of

00:58:13.869 --> 00:58:18.329
other bills, I just wrote her a check and won.

00:58:18.639 --> 00:58:22.159
act of kindness, right? Where years later, we're

00:58:22.159 --> 00:58:25.159
on the mission field and we come back, we're

00:58:25.159 --> 00:58:27.920
really in need of money. And they had gotten

00:58:27.920 --> 00:58:31.099
an inheritance and she wrote us a very large

00:58:31.099 --> 00:58:33.199
check, much larger than the check I wrote for

00:58:33.199 --> 00:58:37.300
her for school. And she said, I want to pay back

00:58:37.300 --> 00:58:40.739
what you did all those years ago. And it just

00:58:40.739 --> 00:58:42.980
so blessed me because I thought God knew all

00:58:42.980 --> 00:58:45.340
those years ago I was planting a seed that was

00:58:45.340 --> 00:58:48.179
going to reap a huge harvest years later when

00:58:48.179 --> 00:58:50.539
I needed it. You just never know what God's going

00:58:50.539 --> 00:58:53.940
to do. Well, I hope that you listeners have really

00:58:53.940 --> 00:58:57.239
been encouraged by the testimony of God's faithfulness.

00:58:57.559 --> 00:59:00.320
As I mentioned before, Romans 12 -11 tells us,

00:59:00.539 --> 00:59:03.139
they overcame Him, that's Satan, by the blood

00:59:03.139 --> 00:59:04.800
of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.

00:59:05.059 --> 00:59:07.579
That's what we've heard today, the powerful testimonies

00:59:07.579 --> 00:59:10.420
of overcoming, not by human strength, or by human

00:59:10.420 --> 00:59:13.099
wisdom, but by the power and wisdom of God in

00:59:13.099 --> 00:59:16.059
His Word. Karen, would you take a moment and

00:59:16.059 --> 00:59:18.099
pray for our listeners? Father, I just thank

00:59:18.099 --> 00:59:21.619
you for this opportunity. to be on this program

00:59:21.619 --> 00:59:23.840
and for all of those who are listening right

00:59:23.840 --> 00:59:26.199
now and watching. Father I thank you that you

00:59:26.199 --> 00:59:28.119
know each one, you know their heart, you said

00:59:28.119 --> 00:59:31.019
they are fearfully and wonderfully made. And

00:59:31.019 --> 00:59:34.300
I pray for each one that they will recognize

00:59:34.300 --> 00:59:37.239
who they are in Christ, they will recognize that

00:59:37.239 --> 00:59:40.619
you have made them with a specific call, that

00:59:40.619 --> 00:59:43.940
they will fulfill their identity, they will recognize

00:59:43.940 --> 00:59:46.619
it so they can walk in their destiny. I pray

00:59:46.619 --> 00:59:49.679
for any right now who are battling suicidal or

00:59:49.679 --> 00:59:52.039
depression I bind that in the name of Jesus and

00:59:52.039 --> 00:59:54.920
I cast it out and I say you will walk in the

00:59:54.920 --> 00:59:57.059
fullness of what God has for you and I loosen

00:59:57.059 --> 00:59:59.559
to them the joy of the Lord and the strength

00:59:59.559 --> 01:00:01.840
of the Lord that they will recognize who they

01:00:01.840 --> 01:00:05.219
are that they will rise up in Christ and cast

01:00:05.219 --> 01:00:07.820
it out Father I pray today that they will hear

01:00:07.820 --> 01:00:09.960
a voice behind them that says this is the way

01:00:09.960 --> 01:00:12.320
walk you in it that the joy the Lord would be

01:00:12.320 --> 01:00:14.219
their strength that you would turn their mourning

01:00:14.219 --> 01:00:17.159
into dancing and their sorrow into praise and

01:00:17.159 --> 01:00:19.559
so Lord as we pray and as we come together and

01:00:19.559 --> 01:00:22.360
they hear this testimony, I pray for others that

01:00:22.360 --> 01:00:24.719
it would give them the insight and courage to

01:00:24.719 --> 01:00:28.019
say, God, do it in my life too, in Jesus' name.

01:00:28.179 --> 01:00:31.300
Amen. Well, thank you for tuning in. And now

01:00:31.300 --> 01:00:33.420
I bless you with a word of encouragement from

01:00:33.420 --> 01:00:37.119
1 Thessalonians 5 24. The one who calls you is

01:00:37.119 --> 01:00:41.920
faithful and he will do it. May you walk forward

01:00:41.920 --> 01:00:43.940
in confidence knowing that the God who calls

01:00:43.940 --> 01:00:47.789
you will also empower you to overcome. I encourage

01:00:47.789 --> 01:00:50.010
you to visit the show notes at hergodstory .org

01:00:50.010 --> 01:00:52.130
for scriptures we talked about and other helpful

01:00:52.130 --> 01:00:54.289
resources. And while you're there, don't forget

01:00:54.289 --> 01:00:56.590
to download your free six -week devotional on

01:00:56.590 --> 01:00:58.929
Women of the Bible. It's a great tool to encourage

01:00:58.929 --> 01:01:01.269
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01:01:27.489 --> 01:01:30.530
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01:01:30.530 --> 01:01:34.090
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01:01:34.090 --> 01:01:36.670
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