1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,280 I'll do this for you, will you please save my family? 2 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:11,060 So she showed kindness to them because of her love for her family. 3 00:00:11,060 --> 00:00:12,860 She wanted her family to be saved. 4 00:00:12,860 --> 00:00:17,600 So she really didn't know God like we want to know God, to have him in our heart, to 5 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:18,600 accept him. 6 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:23,280 But her faith gave her enough to be able to make that choice and to see that these guys, 7 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,440 these spies, they had a God that was powerful. 8 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:31,400 She didn't know him yet, but he was powerful and she can see that in their lives. 9 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:35,800 So she was motivated by love to protect her family. 10 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:41,240 And actually in Joshua 2, in Rahab's words, I know that the Lord has given you the land 11 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:45,960 and that the fear of you has fallen upon us and that all the inhabitants of the land melt 12 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:47,160 away before you. 13 00:00:47,160 --> 00:00:53,000 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came 14 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:54,600 out of Egypt. 15 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:59,600 And what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, whom you devoted 16 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:00,600 to destruction. 17 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:04,140 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted. 18 00:01:04,140 --> 00:01:10,240 Her faith was growing and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, the Lord your 19 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:11,240 God. 20 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:14,480 He is the God of the heavens above the earth and beneath. 21 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:21,120 What she saw in them and in their God, it made sense to listen to them. 22 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:26,320 And again, it's logical and it made sense in her mind. 23 00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:30,480 She didn't really know God in her heart. 24 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:33,200 She saw that their God could do mighty things. 25 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:38,520 And I truly believe the Lord knew that that is what I needed to reach me. 26 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:43,280 Now I've been in evangelism like Sarah mentioned, pretty much for over 20 years. 27 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:44,520 I am not an evangelist. 28 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:48,560 I am pretty much been executive assistant, but I've worked with evangelism. 29 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:52,720 I worked with amazing facts and now I'm thankfully blessed to be with It Is Written. 30 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:57,720 And evangelism is powerful. 31 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:02,320 But God knew that for me, it would be love. 32 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:05,360 It would be love to reach me. 33 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:07,520 He needed to show me love. 34 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:13,160 And I didn't know God, so I didn't know anything about His love. 35 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:19,320 But I loved my family and God knew that He needed to use people in my life to motivate 36 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:20,720 me. 37 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:22,760 So I am one of five kids. 38 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:27,240 I am from Long Island, New York, born and raised. 39 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:31,200 My dad is 100% Italian and my mom is English, Irish, and Norwegian. 40 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:35,360 So I was raised in a fairly large Catholic Italian home. 41 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:37,040 My siblings all went to catechism. 42 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:42,460 We all made our confirmation and communion and we did all the usual stuff that I'd say 43 00:02:42,460 --> 00:02:45,560 we were nominal Catholics. 44 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:50,040 Because of the heritage of Italian, my dad Italian Catholic, they pretty much go together. 45 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:51,240 You can't separate the two. 46 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:54,840 So that's what I was raised as and that's my parents said, well, you know, we did the 47 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:55,840 best we can. 48 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:56,840 We knew what we did. 49 00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:57,840 That's all we knew. 50 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,080 So I respect my parents for that. 51 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:01,240 We were raised in a good home. 52 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:04,000 There was a lot of respect in my home. 53 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:09,480 We had family meals together all the time and it was just, it was a good environment 54 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:16,840 except that I didn't know that there was another way of life. 55 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:17,840 I love my family. 56 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:27,800 I'm very close to my family and when I told my mom years later that I, not years later, 57 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:32,320 but a couple months after I had met my husband, that I wanted to be an avid, it was a little 58 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,320 interesting, but I'll get to that. 59 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:43,360 You know, and my family loves me and I know people, even just recently, I know people 60 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:48,680 who when they joined the Adventist church, their family disowned them and wanted nothing 61 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:50,360 to do with them. 62 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:52,480 They just separated themselves from them. 63 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:56,960 Now not to say that I didn't get made fun of by my family and picked on a lot when I 64 00:03:56,960 --> 00:03:58,880 said I wanted to become an Adventist. 65 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:03,400 It was hard and it was challenging, but I knew that they loved me and that was important 66 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:04,400 too. 67 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:08,080 They really wouldn't disown me, especially when you have that Italian background because 68 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:09,080 that's big. 69 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,680 Italian and family is big. 70 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:17,040 Italians will, my family, they're screaming and yelling and nobody knows how to talk quietly 71 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:22,120 and calmly and softly and it's always screaming and yelling and Italians will, they'll shoot 72 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:24,720 you and then bring you to lasagna in the hospital. 73 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:29,960 It's just the way they are, but they'll never disown you. 74 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:34,720 So when I told my parents that I wanted to become an Adventist, that I wanted to get 75 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:40,000 baptized, there were definitely some words and disagreements flying in the room. 76 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:45,960 And then my little brother James walked in and James was a great kid. 77 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:52,320 And James walked in and he heard all the commotion and the loud noises and yelling. 78 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:53,320 What's going on? 79 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:55,560 Oh, your sister wants to be a different religion. 80 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,440 She doesn't want to be Catholic anymore. 81 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:00,760 She just wants to do something else. 82 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:05,400 And then James just looked at my mom, all eight-year-old of him, and he said to my mom, 83 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:07,820 will she still be my sister? 84 00:05:07,820 --> 00:05:11,280 My mom was mortified and so was my dad. 85 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:14,480 And they were like, well, of course she'll still be your sister. 86 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:17,920 And then sweet little James said, then what difference does it make? 87 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:20,560 And they all came to my baptism. 88 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:21,560 So that was pretty neat. 89 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:24,240 And it really means a lot to me because my brother James actually died. 90 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:25,620 He was 30 when he died. 91 00:05:25,620 --> 00:05:30,960 So if his life only amounted for that, he had a lot of struggles in his life, it was 92 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:32,840 worth it. 93 00:05:32,840 --> 00:05:40,560 I know much of what I learned in the Catholic Church was not true, was false doctrine. 94 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:46,240 It wasn't anything that biblically I could stand on. 95 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:50,760 But I have to say that I was taught a lot of respect. 96 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:54,840 I was taught to respect authority, respect my parents. 97 00:05:54,840 --> 00:06:00,320 I was taught to have a good worth ethic and really to generally live a good life. 98 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:02,440 Actually at one time, my husband always sort of chuckles about this. 99 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:04,640 At one time, I wanted to be a nun. 100 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:09,360 But every good Catholic girl thinks that at one point. 101 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:11,440 But I'm grateful for what the Catholic Church did teach me. 102 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:17,240 It taught me reverence in the sanctuary, reverence in the church, reverence for respect and for 103 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:18,760 the church and for my family. 104 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:22,440 Although, like I said, a lot of it wasn't true. 105 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:26,840 But just on a side note, I know for me, as I've been trying to witness to my family over 106 00:06:26,840 --> 00:06:34,040 the years, I feel like we should try to spend more time in trying not to, trying to convince 107 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,360 our non-adventists, family and friends that they're doing things wrong. 108 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:41,440 I think it's important to at least try to find some common ground and build a bridge. 109 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:46,320 Years later, I mean I'll get to the part later, but I've been Adventist now for a little over 110 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:48,160 30 years. 111 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:53,560 And for me, I've noticed that my greatest witness to them is literally keeping my mouth 112 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:57,640 shut, you know, because they're not used to that. 113 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:01,120 You know, there's a lot of arguing things going on, but I'll have things of my mom will 114 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:07,400 say to me and, you know, I have three brothers and one sister, especially the older brother. 115 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:10,840 He just knows how to push my buttons, you know. 116 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:15,880 But yet, I've learned that the Lord has helped me over the years to just be quiet and be 117 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:17,360 calm. 118 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:22,000 And now, after all these years, I am the one, praise God, that they call and ask for prayer 119 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,000 when things are going crazy in their lives. 120 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:25,000 So it is a blessing. 121 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:28,960 Your witness and your example speaks a lot. 122 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:30,840 So those are my beginning steps. 123 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:32,320 I had a belief in God and Jesus somewhat. 124 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,480 Of course, you're walking to the Catholic Church and you've got Jesus hanging up on 125 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:38,200 the cross and you've got all the saints on the sides. 126 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:40,560 And, you know, but that was just me. 127 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:45,840 I mean I never, the funny thing is I look back over my life now and I remember as a 128 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:52,800 kid going to catechism and going to church and seeing everybody go up and pray and kneel 129 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:54,440 before the statues. 130 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:58,200 The crazy thing is I look back now and I never did that. 131 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:00,480 It gave me the creeps even as a kid. 132 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:02,000 It just wasn't, I thought this can't be right. 133 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:03,000 It doesn't make sense. 134 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:07,440 My mom would get a little upset at me, but I was like, it just doesn't make sense. 135 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:12,720 Going to confirmation, I mean going to confession, you know, the confession booth was scary to 136 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:13,720 me. 137 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:16,360 I had no kids, you know, so I typically didn't go. 138 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:19,240 I just didn't tell my parents. 139 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:23,600 But there were things that, you know, I just, that's the way it was. 140 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:25,160 I didn't know any other way. 141 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:29,680 I mean if you've ever, in New York, I didn't even know an Adventist either. 142 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:31,240 Never heard of one. 143 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:32,240 You're Catholic or Jewish. 144 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:37,120 I grew up with a lot of Jewish people and I grew up mostly Catholics. 145 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:41,840 But it was more like this was just me living my life and God was up there somewhere and 146 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:48,040 I knew that he was there and wasn't necessarily a personal God in my life. 147 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:55,040 My family just did a lot of everything that most worldly people do, you know. 148 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,120 And it wasn't being taught to have a personal God. 149 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:03,280 But you know, I think we all have that space in our hearts and I believe that that space 150 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:08,940 is just for God and just for him and we try to fill it with other stuff. 151 00:09:08,940 --> 00:09:11,400 I know that was that way for me. 152 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:16,280 It was like that one puzzle piece that was in my heart and it was only the piece that 153 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:21,160 God could fit in and I was trying to fill it with other stuff. 154 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:22,160 I didn't know anything about a Bible. 155 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:24,640 We didn't even have one in our home. 156 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:31,240 I pretty much only knew the names of Mary Joseph because of course the Christmas story. 157 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:34,040 And I've heard about David and Goliath but that was it. 158 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:35,040 I knew nothing. 159 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,880 I, even when, you know, you go to catechism and you make a confirmation. 160 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:40,320 They don't teach you from the Bible. 161 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:41,320 They teach you from catechism. 162 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:43,480 So I really didn't know about any of those things. 163 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:47,280 I was more just like, I don't know, I didn't think about salvation. 164 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:49,080 I didn't think about what happens after you die. 165 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:51,120 I never even crossed my mind. 166 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:53,840 I just thought, well, I'm Catholic, I'm good. 167 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:58,080 You know, that's what everybody thought in my family. 168 00:09:58,080 --> 00:09:59,520 You know, but I was living my life. 169 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:02,800 I was partying and going to clubs pretty much. 170 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:07,160 I did that almost every weekend, smoking, dancing, doing all kinds of stuff. 171 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:08,160 I was just living my life. 172 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:09,840 We had a lot of family gatherings. 173 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:13,440 Like I said, and where I was born and raised, there was my family, there was five. 174 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:14,800 It was a very big Catholic neighborhood. 175 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:15,800 There was five here. 176 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:17,200 There was eight in the family next door. 177 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:18,480 There was 11 in the family behind us. 178 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:22,040 We had a lot of kids in the neighborhood and it was a lot of fun. 179 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:24,120 A lot of gatherings. 180 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:30,480 So I grew up just living my life completely separate from God, not even thinking that 181 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:33,440 I wanted a relationship with God. 182 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:35,680 As I got older, I loved to work. 183 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:36,680 I worked a lot. 184 00:10:36,680 --> 00:10:41,640 I actually had three jobs through high school and I barely graduated from high school. 185 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:46,200 I wasn't really good in school, but I was good at projects and getting things done. 186 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:48,860 So I loved to work and I worked a lot. 187 00:10:48,860 --> 00:10:53,280 So I worked during the week and on the weekends, on the weekends on the nights, I bartended 188 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:55,580 on the weekends and then I worked in catering. 189 00:10:55,580 --> 00:10:59,880 My family was in the catering business and so I did some catering and I did a lot of 190 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:00,880 that. 191 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:04,000 Just work, work, work, party, party, party, spend money, spend money, spend money. 192 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:06,720 I love to shop. 193 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:12,400 I would go to work in retail and that was my dream as a young person was to work in 194 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:13,400 retail. 195 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:14,400 I did go to college. 196 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:16,720 I went to college for fashion buying and merchandising. 197 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:19,160 I wanted to be a buyer for Saks and travel the world. 198 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:23,400 That was my dream and I was working towards it. 199 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:25,400 My little old lady lived next door to us. 200 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:29,200 She would tell my mom, I look out the window every morning to see what Kathy's wearing 201 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:32,000 because she always has something different on and that was very true. 202 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:33,840 I hardly ever wore the same thing twice. 203 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:36,400 I just was crazy, crazy. 204 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:38,920 It was almost literally I can look back now and see it was like my drug. 205 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:42,280 If it was on sale, I wouldn't buy it. 206 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:45,200 There's no way I would buy it if it was on sale because I knew it wasn't high fashion 207 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:46,200 enough so I wouldn't even buy it. 208 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:49,740 It had to be the latest and the greatest. 209 00:11:49,740 --> 00:11:51,720 Nothing in my life made sense though. 210 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:52,720 Nothing made sense. 211 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:53,720 I mean when you think about that, does that make sense? 212 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:54,720 No, it makes no sense. 213 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:56,680 It makes no sense at all. 214 00:11:56,680 --> 00:12:00,680 But I'd worked for almost 20 years doing window displays, dressing mannequins. 215 00:12:00,680 --> 00:12:06,400 I won awards for best windows and I was doing fashion show coordinating and I was like, 216 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:09,520 okay, this is getting towards the job that I want, my dream job, my dream job. 217 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:10,840 I'm going to be a fashion coordinator. 218 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:11,840 I'm going to design. 219 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:13,760 I'm going to work for Neiman Marcus and Saks. 220 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:16,440 It was just worldly, worldly, worldly. 221 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:22,000 God was never even remotely on my mind, not even in my radar. 222 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:27,320 But I praise God that thankfully I was on his mind. 223 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:33,920 Psalms 139, all of this psalm shares God's perfect knowledge of mankind for me and for 224 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:34,920 you. 225 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:37,960 I'm not going to read the full whole part but I'm going to read part of Psalms 139. 226 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:40,840 Lord, you have searched me and known me. 227 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:44,080 You know my sitting down and my rising up. 228 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:46,800 You understand my thoughts afar off. 229 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:52,140 You comprehend my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways for there 230 00:12:52,140 --> 00:12:56,440 is not a word on my tongue but behold the Lord you know it all together. 231 00:12:56,440 --> 00:13:00,400 You have hedged me behind and before and laid your hand upon me. 232 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:04,580 He knows me and he knows each one of you. 233 00:13:04,580 --> 00:13:06,920 Don't wait for Jesus to come looking for you. 234 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:09,400 Go look for him first. 235 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:14,040 It just makes sense. 236 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:19,440 So while I'm living my life, the Lord chose just the right time as only he can do to open 237 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:24,680 my eyes and show me that I needed him and that he has a plan for me. 238 00:13:24,680 --> 00:13:29,360 I mean you have to think about it, we're all pretty much a hot mess most of the time, right? 239 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:32,200 But we serve a merciful, loving and generous God who has chosen us. 240 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:34,840 He has a plan for us and we can trust him with it. 241 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:37,680 Jeremiah 29, 11 most of us know. 242 00:13:37,680 --> 00:13:40,920 For I know the thoughts that I think towards you says the Lord. 243 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:43,280 Thoughts of peace and not of evil. 244 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:49,240 To give you a future and a hope and that's what God had for me and he has for you. 245 00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:54,280 I met my husband on a blind date set up by mutual friends who convinced us both to go 246 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:58,440 which neither one of us wanted to go but we were friends. 247 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:01,200 My husband is a fifth generation Seventh-day Adventist. 248 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:06,920 His family's history is making it through World War II being Adventists. 249 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:09,360 Their stories are amazing. 250 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:14,040 He was a piece of pastor's kid and he was blindsided to go on a date with unbeknown 251 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:19,400 to him a very worldly girl who was just all over the map. 252 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:21,560 And I look back and I feel so bad for him. 253 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:23,120 Like I feel so bad from that first date. 254 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:24,320 I really feel bad for him. 255 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:25,320 We went to this restaurant. 256 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:30,320 We were with these friends of ours and I know he was an Adventist, this friend of mine, 257 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:33,440 but the girl he was with was not because I went to school with her. 258 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:34,440 Public school. 259 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:38,000 There were no Adventist schools out on Long Island so he went to our public school. 260 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:40,200 And we went out on that date that night, the four of us. 261 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:44,000 We went on this blind date and I was smoking. 262 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:48,000 I ordered my drinks and I'm thinking why is nobody else drinking a smoke at this table? 263 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:49,200 I know Linda smokes. 264 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:52,440 I know she drinks but she was hiding it from her boyfriend. 265 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:54,760 And so I thought, well, you know, I put my cigarette out. 266 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:56,240 I was a courteous smoker. 267 00:14:56,240 --> 00:15:00,280 And I put my cigarette out and I thought, well, this is unusual. 268 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:04,900 And then I thought to myself, yeah, this is not a good match. 269 00:15:04,900 --> 00:15:07,040 This is definitely not a good match. 270 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:11,720 Thankfully, though, he didn't judge me by my appearance, although the outward does tell 271 00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:14,120 the story sometimes on the inward. 272 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:18,600 I was, yeah, pretty interesting looking. 273 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:23,560 Anyway, he was definitely different than any of the guys that I had already been dating. 274 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:27,680 I pretty much looked for anybody who had money, a nice car. 275 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:31,240 Actually just a few weeks before I met John, I was dating a bouncer named Bubba. 276 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:32,760 That is true. 277 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:36,840 His dad was actually in the mafia out on Long Island and he had a Long Island girlfriend 278 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:37,840 and a city wife. 279 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:39,080 That is not just a TV show. 280 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:40,080 That is true. 281 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:45,120 Thankfully, I broke up with him and I look back now and say, man, that would have been 282 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:46,440 disastrous. 283 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:47,440 So God is so good. 284 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:52,120 I love that he had the plan for me and my life and actually made a good decision for 285 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:55,560 once was breaking up with the bouncer guy. 286 00:15:55,560 --> 00:16:01,400 So John was very quiet and kind-hearted and he was just a gentleman and he wasn't rich, 287 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:02,400 he was poor. 288 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:05,480 You know, just so opposite from what I was already dating. 289 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:11,560 And I remember after the first date and I thought, no, that is the kind of guy you marry. 290 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:12,560 That is the kind of guy you marry. 291 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:15,800 But I thought, well, I don't know if that is going to happen because I don't know if 292 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:17,480 I will ever see him again. 293 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:23,240 I couldn't put my finger on it but there was something different about John. 294 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:27,040 He was just quiet, different. 295 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:30,480 Like I said, I knew that if I ever did want to get married, it surely was not going to 296 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:31,480 be in Italian. 297 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:34,280 I don't mean to offend any Italians if you are here but I have been around enough of 298 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:37,200 them, I just wasn't going to marry an Italian. 299 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:39,200 And I am sure there are some good Italians out there. 300 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:40,280 I have no doubt. 301 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:42,120 I can say that because I am Italian. 302 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:45,080 Anyway, I knew I wasn't going to marry someone who was Italian. 303 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:46,080 So what did I do? 304 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:47,080 I married 100% German. 305 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:48,080 Good job with the name. 306 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:49,080 You did good. 307 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:53,720 It is very hard to say that last name but you did good, Sarah. 308 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:56,420 But there was something different about him. 309 00:16:56,420 --> 00:17:00,280 He was the first person that I could look back now and see this but I didn't know it 310 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:01,280 then. 311 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:05,560 He is the first person that I actually saw Christ in. 312 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:11,840 He did things that I was just, we went to on the first date, we went earlier, this was 313 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:14,400 after, sorry, this was after. 314 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:20,080 We went on another date, it was a month later, and we pulled into a gas station and he got 315 00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:24,160 out of the car and he went in to pay and then he came out and there was a homeless person 316 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:25,160 outside the door. 317 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:27,160 And I am sitting in the car waiting for him. 318 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:28,960 I was a very, very impatient person. 319 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:31,800 I am like, what is taking him so long? 320 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:34,760 And he finally comes out with a whole bag of groceries and he gives it to this homeless 321 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:36,240 person. 322 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:37,880 And I am thinking to myself, who does that? 323 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:39,760 I don't know anybody who does that. 324 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:43,560 Anybody in my family, if they saw a homeless person they would be like, get a job. 325 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:44,880 Go, don't work, go do something. 326 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:50,000 But he was this man that I was with doing something I had never seen anybody do before. 327 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:52,200 So compassionate and so kind. 328 00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:55,000 I am telling you, there was just amazing about him. 329 00:17:55,000 --> 00:18:01,240 And I knew, I know now, looking back, that I was not good at picking guys to go out with. 330 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:08,560 And I thought, you know, I just need to let go and not date anymore because it just wasn't 331 00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:10,240 doing very well for me. 332 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:14,240 And just as a side note for all you single folks out there, just be real, enjoy your 333 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,680 singleness, spend your time with the Lord, spending your time getting to know Jesus and 334 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:20,400 let God pick out the spouse he has for you. 335 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:22,000 Anyway, we had that one date. 336 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:23,960 I didn't see him for a month. 337 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:28,160 Rightly so, because I am sure he is thinking, okay, I don't know if this is somebody I really 338 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:29,760 want to get involved with. 339 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:32,120 This is probably not a good idea. 340 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:33,120 His dad is a pastor. 341 00:18:33,120 --> 00:18:38,680 His dad worked for the Greater New York Conference, the Michigan Conference, and then the European 342 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:40,760 African Division over in Switzerland. 343 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:44,960 So really to bring me home would be like sort of bringing home part of his wife, you know. 344 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:47,320 So I knew that wasn't going to happen for a while. 345 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:51,440 Anyway, during that month, quite a bit happened in my life. 346 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:55,200 So John and I had that one date, didn't see him for a month. 347 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:59,400 And during that month, he was like, Lord, this isn't somebody I really should get involved 348 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:00,560 with. 349 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:02,360 I need to sort of step back. 350 00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:08,720 But if you want me to pursue, then I need to be able to know that she's interested in spiritual 351 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:09,800 things somehow. 352 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:12,080 And I remember I told you, he wasn't even on my radar. 353 00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:14,320 Wasn't even on my radar. 354 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:18,000 And so John was praying that prayer that if I was interested in spiritual things, then 355 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:22,640 we would continue and he would come, we would go on another date. 356 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:28,000 So anyway, during that month, here I am, and a lot was going on in my life. 357 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:31,400 I knew someone whose baby had died and it was really bothering me. 358 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:32,400 Really, really bummed. 359 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:33,400 I love kids. 360 00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:35,400 I actually have my one. 361 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:38,640 I was told I couldn't have any more kids, so she's my one miracle girl. 362 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:43,920 And so I just was really killing me that, if there's a, why the God, why would a baby 363 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:44,920 die? 364 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:47,280 It just made no sense to me. 365 00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:51,040 And so I was just really struggling with that. 366 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:59,940 Also during that month, I was working at the bar that I worked at. 367 00:19:59,940 --> 00:20:06,200 And I walked in there and I thought, oh my word, same people sitting in the same spot, 368 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:07,200 doing the same thing. 369 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:10,160 I remember thinking, this is not what I want for my life. 370 00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:12,120 I don't know what I want, but this is not it. 371 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:13,360 This is definitely not it. 372 00:20:13,360 --> 00:20:15,760 My life was just feeling very empty. 373 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:19,800 And thinking about that baby that died, it just was feeling very, very empty. 374 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:24,280 Well also during that month, my niece was born, my niece Jeanette. 375 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:25,280 And she was actually, I was 22. 376 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:28,000 That was the first newborn baby I'd ever seen. 377 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:29,920 I'd never seen a newborn baby. 378 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:34,640 And my sister had asked me, being the good Catholic Italian family, if I would be her 379 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:36,000 godmother. 380 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:38,640 And that is a huge honor in my family, huge. 381 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:41,920 And I was like, yeah, of course I'll be her godmother. 382 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:44,200 And I am very, very close to my niece still to this day. 383 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:45,200 She's 40. 384 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:47,360 We're very, very close. 385 00:20:47,360 --> 00:20:49,400 And so the Lord was really working on my heart. 386 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:52,080 So baby had died. 387 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:57,160 I was feeling empty, not knowing what was going on in my life. 388 00:20:57,160 --> 00:21:01,240 I was watching Jeanette one night. 389 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:02,800 And I lit up my cigarette. 390 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:04,320 And I was holding her. 391 00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:09,560 And I remember holding her, just being in awe at this beautiful little creature. 392 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:11,640 Little fingers, little toes, little nails. 393 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:13,080 And I'm smoking. 394 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:16,540 So I remember putting the cigarette down in the ashtray while I was holding her. 395 00:21:16,540 --> 00:21:17,800 And it just hit me. 396 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:20,880 Oh my word, her lungs must be so little. 397 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:22,160 I'm thinking about all of her. 398 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:25,120 And I literally quit smoking right then and there. 399 00:21:25,120 --> 00:21:26,120 And I didn't miss it. 400 00:21:26,120 --> 00:21:27,600 I was almost at two packs a day. 401 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:28,880 Didn't miss it, nothing. 402 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:35,960 I loved that little child so much that the love motivated me to quit smoking. 403 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:42,620 When I'd gone into that bar, really that night, I just didn't want to drink anymore. 404 00:21:42,620 --> 00:21:43,620 I was a weekend drinker. 405 00:21:43,620 --> 00:21:44,620 I didn't drink during the week. 406 00:21:44,620 --> 00:21:46,760 I was a weekend drinker or whatever. 407 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:48,240 So the drinking was gone. 408 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:50,080 So during that month, I quit smoking. 409 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:52,160 I quit drinking. 410 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:56,000 And just all these things now are going through my mind. 411 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:59,320 I know that something was awakening in me. 412 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:04,000 I remember going out with my friends a couple of times and thinking, this is not as fun 413 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:05,000 as it used to be. 414 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:06,000 And I don't know why. 415 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:09,000 I mean, I know I went to one dance club one night and there was a big fight broke out 416 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:10,000 there. 417 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:13,680 And it was a fancy place, but a fight broke out with two girls fighting over some guy. 418 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:15,480 And I remember the cops will show up. 419 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:17,800 And I was in there illegally. 420 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:21,960 I was 16, 17 years old, 18 years old using somebody else's driver's license. 421 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:23,480 Back then you had no picture on your ID. 422 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:26,720 So you could use anybody's driver's license no matter how old they were to get in anywhere. 423 00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:29,320 And I remember getting out of there before the cops came. 424 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:33,960 So there were so many different things in my life that were just so empty. 425 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:39,240 And I knew now, I knew that something was changing in me. 426 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:43,000 Something was changing in my heart that this has got to be something more in my life. 427 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,580 There's just got to be something more. 428 00:22:45,580 --> 00:22:49,160 I look back and I remember and I think to myself now, don't wait for Jesus. 429 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:50,160 Come look for you. 430 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:51,160 Look for him first. 431 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:53,280 It just makes sense. 432 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:54,280 Just makes sense. 433 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:57,880 Like God telling Moses, tell people, just look at the serpent. 434 00:22:57,880 --> 00:22:59,400 All you got to do is look at it. 435 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:00,400 It's just simple. 436 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:01,400 God was giving instructions. 437 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:02,400 Just simple. 438 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:05,720 Just look. 439 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:08,020 Something was waking me up in my life. 440 00:23:08,020 --> 00:23:11,360 So one month after, what I thought was the only date that John and I were going to have, 441 00:23:11,360 --> 00:23:14,000 he surprised me and came to my work and he asked me out again. 442 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:18,640 We went out again and I noticed again something was different about him. 443 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:21,040 Nothing like I've ever seen anybody. 444 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:26,040 So after that date we went on, we went to the beach and I just looked at him and I said, 445 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:29,200 you know, you seem like a religious kind of guy. 446 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:34,120 Not that I really know what that meant, but that's what I said. 447 00:23:34,120 --> 00:23:36,920 And I said to him, do you know what happens when people die? 448 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:38,600 He was blown away. 449 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:42,080 That was his prayer that I would be interested in spiritual things. 450 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:46,720 And he literally was, took his Bible out of the back seat. 451 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:50,120 He actually had it with him, pulled it out and he said, let's just, we can see what the 452 00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:51,120 Bible says. 453 00:23:51,120 --> 00:23:53,160 I was like, whoa, who has a Bible in their back seat? 454 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:54,400 I'm like, who does that? 455 00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:58,520 You know, I only have one in my house, let alone my car in the back seat. 456 00:23:58,520 --> 00:23:59,520 So I was shocked. 457 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:01,620 That was a totally foreign concept to me. 458 00:24:01,620 --> 00:24:05,640 So from every date we had from that time on, we studied. 459 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:08,360 We went through all the amazing facts study guys, went through everyone. 460 00:24:08,360 --> 00:24:09,780 I was like a sponge. 461 00:24:09,780 --> 00:24:12,160 It all made sense. 462 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:17,200 It was so logical for somebody who had no Bible background, no nothing. 463 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:23,040 The motivation of love in my heart, seeing it in John, seeing this guy must have an amazing 464 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:24,040 God. 465 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:25,040 I need to know more about this. 466 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:29,800 I was so drawn to that, that everything I was learning, I was just soaking up all the 467 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:30,800 Bible truth. 468 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:31,800 State of the dead? 469 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:32,800 That makes sense. 470 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:36,560 Who wants to think of grandma up there or your husband or your spouse or somebody there 471 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:38,760 looking down and all the bad stuff that's happening to you? 472 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:39,880 How sad would that be? 473 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:40,880 That made sense to me. 474 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:44,160 You know, and plus being a Catholic, you know, there's this part and there's this part and 475 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:45,240 you have the floating between. 476 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:47,440 It was just, that doesn't make any sense. 477 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:48,880 So this was making sense. 478 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:50,840 All the things that I was learning was making sense. 479 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:54,520 The Sabbath, to somebody who worked three jobs, that made a lot of sense. 480 00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:56,720 I made a lot of sense to say, rest. 481 00:24:56,720 --> 00:24:59,720 At first it was even hard, you know, really hard for me to just say, you mean I'm not 482 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:00,720 supposed to do anything? 483 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:01,720 You're supposed to rest? 484 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:03,480 John's like, well, no, nothing. 485 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:05,520 So I started learning a lot of things. 486 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:06,520 It just made sense. 487 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:07,520 A healthy lifestyle? 488 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:11,600 Well, that made sense for somebody who smoked two packs a day, was drinking and partying 489 00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:14,040 and doing all kinds of hours of the night. 490 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:18,080 I mean, I was 22 and running out of breath up a flight of stairs. 491 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:20,200 That made sense, healthy lifestyle. 492 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:26,320 I went to church with John a couple of times and I thought, wow, Adventist women are gorgeous. 493 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:27,680 They're like, hardly any wrinkles. 494 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:28,680 They look great. 495 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:29,680 They don't look like that, you know. 496 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:31,880 It's just, I was just really impressed by that. 497 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:33,920 So healthy lifestyle made sense. 498 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:38,980 Not that things weren't challenging for me, but I knew I was growing to learn. 499 00:25:38,980 --> 00:25:44,720 My faith was growing and my love for the Lord was growing moment by moment. 500 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:47,320 And I think that we talked about this in Sabbath school. 501 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:53,560 The faith of my husband, I was actually pulling from the faith of my husband to continue to 502 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:55,560 grow my faith. 503 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:58,160 And we talked a lot about faith in Sabbath school this morning. 504 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:04,760 It was really good because God gives us, each one of us, that measure of faith. 505 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:10,600 And I think the rest of it for me was that I was using his faith, John's faith, and John 506 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:15,240 was being a witness to me to lead me to Christ. 507 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:20,320 God knew that love would motivate me to make the changes in my life. 508 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:24,320 I didn't know him, but the love I had for my niece, the love that I was having for growing 509 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:27,280 for John made the changes in my life easier. 510 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:29,560 And he was there as partnering and helping me. 511 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:33,800 I know when I wanted to quit eating meat, my mom's like, oh, what are you going to eat? 512 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:38,080 I was barely 100 pounds at 5'8 back then. 513 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:39,560 And so my mom's like, you can't do that. 514 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:40,560 You're going to starve. 515 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:41,560 You're going to starve. 516 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:42,560 I'm like, no, I'm not, Mom. 517 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:44,260 There's a million things I can eat. 518 00:26:44,260 --> 00:26:46,480 And then she got mad at me. 519 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:48,880 I think you were always destined to be one of those vegetarian people. 520 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:49,880 And I said, why? 521 00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:52,680 Just because whenever I asked you to help me clean the turkey on Thanksgiving, you would 522 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:54,840 say, I'm not cleaning that turkey. 523 00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:56,400 So anyway, maybe I was. 524 00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:57,400 I don't know. 525 00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:00,440 Lord had a plan, and that was good. 526 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:05,520 But God was using earthly love to motivate me, because I didn't know him. 527 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:09,640 I didn't have a love for him, but the love I had for my niece, the love I had that was 528 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:17,640 growing for John, this love was drawing me to know the love of God, which I'm so thankful, 529 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:18,680 thankful for. 530 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:21,040 So all the truths I was learning was making sense. 531 00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:25,480 It was all making sense to me, every bit of it. 532 00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:30,400 You read the scriptures, and even though sometimes things may seem confusing, it's not. 533 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:36,880 Just keep reading it, because it'll make sense. 534 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:42,280 I wanted to start making good choices, and I had John to help me, and as I was growing 535 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:47,000 and learning more from the scripture that I can have a personal savior in my life was 536 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:48,000 just wonderful. 537 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:53,080 So like Rahab, my heart wanted to know and have these truths that could set me free. 538 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:59,280 I wanted the mercy, the kindness, and I wanted the love that only a loving savior can give 539 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:01,720 each of us and to set us free. 540 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:06,960 I had my struggles, and I still do, but now I'm learning to have a personal walk with 541 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:12,760 Jesus and have him in my life, and I can bring my cares and my sadness and trials and things 542 00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:16,400 that I'm going through, I can bring them to him. 543 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:20,680 I'm sure that Rahab had many opportunities to suck Jesus throughout her life. 544 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:23,840 I know I did, I just didn't do it. 545 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:27,440 Don't let the candy coating of the world has to offer suck you in, and it can. 546 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:31,300 We all know somebody who they're trying to fill that space in their heart with something 547 00:28:31,300 --> 00:28:34,160 other than only God can fill. 548 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:37,080 Rahab was motivated by love to protect her family. 549 00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:41,320 I believe the Lord knew that that worked for Rahab, just like in my case. 550 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:48,120 Love motivated her for her family to be protected, and love was motivating me. 551 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:50,580 Love is a very strong motivator. 552 00:28:50,580 --> 00:28:51,580 Don't settle. 553 00:28:51,580 --> 00:28:53,400 God has more for you than you can ever dream of. 554 00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:56,240 Seek him and seek his plan for your life. 555 00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:59,320 I love Jeremiah 29, 13, and 14. 556 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:04,320 Those who seek me will find me when they search for me with all of their heart. 557 00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:08,520 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore you. 558 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:13,600 I really believe that I was being restored, I was being renewed, and then I know we can 559 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:17,600 all say we all want to be restored, don't we? 560 00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:22,360 Rahab's testimony is my testimony too, and it's your testimony as well. 561 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:26,000 Although Lord was working things out for Rahab in her life, I can't help but wonder how different 562 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:28,920 her life would have been if she had sought the Lord early in her life. 563 00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:33,240 Less pain, less heartache, less guilt, less shame, less fear. 564 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:34,240 Myself too. 565 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:39,560 I mean, I look back and there were many times that, man, I wished that, you know, and prayed 566 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:44,800 that I didn't have to be raised the way that I was raised, that I could have known the 567 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:46,720 Lord from a young child. 568 00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:49,640 Those of you that are parents, those of you that have children, those of you that are 569 00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:52,640 kids that are children, seek the Lord now. 570 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:54,920 Teach your children about the Lord. 571 00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:58,680 Every child given the opportunity would love Jesus. 572 00:29:58,680 --> 00:29:59,960 I'm so glad you're doing VBS. 573 00:29:59,960 --> 00:30:01,520 I love VBS. 574 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:03,360 I'm so glad you're doing VBS. 575 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:07,560 It's so fun to see these kids and to teach them how much to love Jesus, that He is there 576 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:09,040 for you. 577 00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:11,160 You don't have to have all the hurt and the pain. 578 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:12,800 He'll help you make good choices. 579 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:15,440 He'll help you do what's right. 580 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:19,720 And I'd like to submit to you that if Rahab was standing here today, she would say, accept 581 00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:22,420 Him now while you can, because it makes sense. 582 00:30:22,420 --> 00:30:24,120 She saw those spies. 583 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:25,720 She saw the things that God did for them. 584 00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:26,720 It makes sense. 585 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:27,720 I looked at my husband. 586 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:29,080 I saw the life that he lived. 587 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:30,320 That makes sense. 588 00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:34,160 His family was amazing. 589 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:40,120 We often make choices and plans in our lives from the ones, plans apart from the plans 590 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:41,640 the one that Lord had for us. 591 00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:45,880 And many times, there's consequences that we have, bad choices that we've made. 592 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:50,140 But He loves us and He works our choices out no matter what. 593 00:30:50,140 --> 00:30:54,280 God had a better plan for Adam and Eve, but He worked through that, didn't He? 594 00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:59,080 He had a better plan for David, and He has a better plan for us. 595 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:04,920 So I'm asking you today, seek the Lord while you can. 596 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:06,800 Seek Him no matter what your age is. 597 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:12,920 Seek Him and accept Him into your heart, fully and completely. 598 00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:13,920 Don't wait. 599 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:18,720 2 Corinthians 6.2 says, behold, now is the day of salvation. 600 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:22,160 I'm going to ask if you would please raise your hand with me today if you want to move 601 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:24,320 first in reaching out to the Lord. 602 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:25,800 I know I do. 603 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:53,160 Let your love for Him seek out for Him with all of your heart.