Welcome to the God's Goodness podcast, where our mission is to encourage as well as highlight
God's goodness and modern-day miracles.
We are your hosts, Josh and Shelley Hengins.
Oh, Father God, we thank you so much for this time that we have to spend with you and to
share you with others.
You are the great God of all creation, and we are so blessed to have you as our King.
Jesus, we ask that you would touch the hearts and our minds to help us to grow in you and
that you would help reach someone with this message, that they would lean into you and
seek to understand you and that you would give them that wisdom as you freely give.
In Jesus' mighty name, amen.
So, today's episode, we'll be sharing a little bit about my background, my history.
I had two parents.
I have a sister and...
Most of us have the two parents.
It usually works like that.
And when I was younger, my dad and I used to do everything together, and I was Daddy's
girl.
And when I was in fourth grade, I think it was fourth grade, my biological mom left,
and I came home and she had taken some stuff out of the house, and it was just me and my
dad, and she didn't bring my sister back from daycare that day.
So my dad, he said, where do you want to live?
And I said, well, that's a dumb question because, of course, I want to live with you.
He's like, I just wanted to make sure.
So I lived with my dad, and he and I had always gone to church together.
It was a Presbyterian church, but church nonetheless, and they taught us about God's love and His
goodness.
But one of the sermons that he and I went to when I was younger was about... They had
all the kids in the main service, and the sermon was about, ask and you shall receive.
And they said, at the end of this service, you go to that back table and ask for a bag
of candy.
They'll give you a bag of candy.
And I was like, oh, that's cool.
I'd like that.
So I'm thinking the whole time, how am I going to ask for a bag of candy?
Can I have a bag of candy?
May I have some candy, please?
They said, if I gave you a bag of candy, I'm thinking of all these different ways that
I can ask for a bag of candy.
And so we finally get to the back table at the end, and I don't even get all the way
to the table.
And this lady, she saw me coming, and she reached out her hand and gave me a bag of
candy.
And I didn't even ask for it.
So that whole time, I was all worried about, what am I going to say?
All those worries were unfounded.
I didn't need to worry about anything because God had it.
And that was one of the first times that, that was a great seed, that Bible verse was
amazing because I've used that all my life.
Ask for many, many weird things.
But if you don't ask, then nothing changes.
So that's one of the things that have carried all of my life.
Do you have something you want to share with us?
Oh, yeah.
No, I just pulled up the passage for Matthew 7.7 as you were speaking, and I just, I'd
like to read it.
So everyone's on the same page that this is a biblical principle to ask and you shall
receive.
So Matthew 7.7, this is New King James Version.
Ask and it will be given to you.
Seek and you will find.
Knock and it will be open to you.
For everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will
be opened.
Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone.
Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more
will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?
Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the law
and the prophets.
So good.
And that Matthew 7.7, 8 is at my Bible.
Those are my Bible verses of the year.
Everything I'm seeking, I'm finding, everything I ask for and receiving, everything, like
God always gives us enough.
He's always gave us enough.
But like this year, it's really standing out more so than other years.
And let me tell you, my life wasn't always as perfect as it is now.
I got the husband, the kids, the dog, well, three dogs.
I'm like a rich person.
I got three dogs.
And I got great people in my life and I'm just blessed to, with so much goodness.
And I hadn't realized at the time, before Jesus, well, before getting to know him better.
There was a time where I knew Jesus as the little girl.
And I didn't seek that relationship with him.
And he was there.
I knew to pray and he was always there.
But I didn't get to know him until after I met my husband.
And we started going to church together.
And I got into this small group, Bible studies with the ladies and anything I could learn
about with other groups of people to help guide me.
That was like my discipleship without a direct, you know, person helping me.
And I hadn't realized at the time, but I had a whole A-J-O-L-E that I was trying to fill
with worldly things before I had met my husband.
And you know, no matter what I did, I was protected no matter what.
But like back in the day, like I'll admit, I smoked a lot of dope because I grew up in
Jamestown and Pennsylvania and there's not a lot to do up there.
They have one red light.
They'll shut down the whole school for a week so they can have a fair and on the school
grounds.
So I wasn't really learning about Jesus and that relationship till after I actually had
a man to like say, oh, I think this is what we should do.
Like he saw things.
So tell about your experience when you met me.
Oh man.
So I met her online and.
Yahoo!
Personals.
It's an incredible thing because I've already, I'd been married, you know, twice before.
She's my third.
I'm not encouraging you guys do that that way.
I encourage you guys to see it married one time and stay in a relationship with Jesus.
But I didn't know God for the first marriage and I'd learned who he was in the second.
So I was, and I'd come from a blended home.
So it's, the odds were stacked against me without Jesus in the beginning.
Anyway, she came into my store to, I was not my store.
I worked in a bed, bathroom, beyond when I met her.
Also in the Army Reserve.
And she came in and to meet me and I didn't like what I saw.
But it was the same.
Like she wore like some blue eyeshadow that was like something that you would saw from
early 80s.
And like Mimi.
Yeah.
Oh man.
Yes.
And it just looked out of place for you.
But I couldn't shake the feeling that I knew you.
Like you had such a familiarity about you and it bothered me and it drew me to you.
Yeah.
Like really, you would study me like where do I know her?
Yeah.
And I never forget a face.
I may forget a name.
I mean, I may, I always forget a name, but I never forget a face.
I can always place where I've seen somebody and I was a loss.
And then the first date that we had.
It was lunch date.
And I did all the talking.
Miss talk at the time over here was just quiet.
I didn't even think she did talk a lot.
And I thought that was a winning personality trait too.
And I was let down later and she opened up.
Yeah.
I was misdiagnosed.
I was on pills for being bipolar.
Yeah.
Whereas I, no one ever taught me how to deal with my emotions.
You know, I had my dad growing up who's going to teach me about emotions.
So I got diagnosed as bipolar in high school.
Of course, every teenager could be classified as bipolar.
They're all over the place.
But like I didn't have any coping techniques and no one thought to teach me any coping techniques.
They're like, we'll just put her on some pills.
So I was on, I was taking a whole handful of pills at one time.
Yeah.
That one that you're on made you real quiet.
And then the slow talking too.
Oh yes.
Yeah.
I thought you were drinking.
And it's not until I actually started learning you were that it was that certain pill that
you were on that did it to you.
And then when you got switched off with that to another one, I was stunned because you
were a different person.
Not like you were, you're not a slow talker, but you were also not a stop talker.
And I thought, oh man, I've been hoodwinked.
I have to be tricked.
He was a scam.
It was totally a God thing that we are together because he, I didn't want any kids.
I quit.
I dropped out of college three weeks before graduation because I went to be a teacher
and then I got to the student teaching part and I learned I don't like to be around kids
a lot like that much.
And I had no idea until the end.
And he had a kid on his shoulders in his profile on the Yahoo!
Personals.
And like, and it wasn't even that good of a picture.
I'm like, oh, I bet it maybe he's cute.
Like it wasn't like even zoomed in that much, but like I was just drawn to him.
So it was totally a God thing.
You still don't like kids.
But there were some.
I was doing stuff that you're like, oh, I don't like that.
Oh, you're doing a lot of stuff I didn't like.
So she had friends that influenced her poorly.
She would drink, she would crush pills and snort them and not even knowing what they
were.
Yeah.
It was ridiculous.
Like they would tell me, but then I'd forget.
And then I'd be like, what is this again?
It was not good.
Any other kind of being on earth.
If I'd been kind that there wouldn't have been a I'm gone by.
See ya.
I wouldn't even go to ghost.
He wouldn't even a vapor trail, like in a cartoon like gone.
And I don't know why I stayed.
I don't know what compelled me that familiarity of you really rooted me.
And I was very vocal about, I was like, I don't, I don't like that.
This bothers me.
I don't like that.
And you responded to it.
Cause you quit.
And I don't know why she listened into me.
Right.
This is a person who has these habits that does this certain thing.
And the minute I tell her, I don't like it.
She stops.
And that just blew my mind.
And it's been really kind of us feeding off each other like that for 13 years now.
Well,
I think it's been a journey for us to say the least.
And I wish I could, I could sit here and talk about another friend of mine at church
who has been with his wife, I think 25 years or so.
And they don't even argue.
They've never argued in their life.
I wish I could say that's the same because it's not.
I remember I remember mentioning that I like conflict.
And so I do not.
And no, and that would bother me because you would, you would leave.
And I'm like in the middle like, where are you going?
Yeah, no, I was still learning coping techniques.
Yeah.
I was like, this is how we do this.
You gotta be head on and then you'd leave.
And I'm like, oh, and you'd come back fine.
Like whatever it is you did when you were gone and like you got yourself right and you
came out like nothing bothered you.
And that made me more mad.
It was like, oh, it was so frustrating.
It still is.
I have learned to try to look on the front, the, you know, the bright side of things.
Like what is the positive part of this that I can learn for sure?
Well, I'm still trying to learn.
I have a hard time with a lot of things.
And apparently it's because I learned things the hard way.
That's the only way I learn is the hard way.
I think I did it the same way.
But this is how God made me.
So hey, I'm glad you're here.
We're on the same adventure now.
So I hadn't realized back then, but I had a whole H-O-L-E that I was trying to fill with
worldly things.
But Jesus healed me and made me H whole as in W-H-O-L-E.
So I am not the person I once was.
Not the least.
I'm still trying to get better.
But you know, there's little things that add up, such as in the compound effect, one of
the books I've read this year.
And well, last month, I did nine audiobooks last month, the one paperback book.
I love, love, love books.
And they actually say there's this, this one thing I got my friend gave to me yesterday.
I want to share it with you.
But what's really interesting is, I don't know what this is.
It's like a page in a devotional or something.
And it says, let me read this.
From Proverbs 8, 11, Wisdom is so priceless that it exceeds the value of any jewel.
Nothing you could wish for can equal her.
And it says, according to Scripture, wisdom is the principal thing and is to be sought
after as a priority.
Everything we could desire is better than or equal to the value of wisdom.
Interestingly, pursuing wisdom is prioritized much like seeking first the kingdom of God
is in the New Testament.
Throughout Proverbs, seeking wisdom is what releases the blessing of God in all the areas
of life.
Whether health, finances, position and title, or the beauty of meaningful relationships,
all are enhanced and enabled through our prioritized pursuit of wisdom.
This journey brings us to the wonderful discovery that wisdom is also a person.
Jesus is our wisdom.
It says, C 1 Corinthians 1.30.
It says, Jesus, you are the person of wisdom.
I don't know if this is Bible verse.
You are the person of wisdom and you live inside of me.
I am so aware of my need for more of you.
Help me to tap into your presence and the wisdom found there.
And then it has this, the second part, wisdom rest.
Wisdom is a person.
So living in wisdom is a relationship where we learn to truly see through his eyes, gaining
his perspective, as in Jesus.
And it is that perspective that enables faith.
It could be said that wisdom gives faith a context in which to function in the same way
that the banks of a river give direction to the water.
So wisdom gives faith a direction, a target.
It says, I created you to dream so big that you need to rely on my wisdom.
My presence and my perspective to see your dreams fulfilled.
And don't limit yourself to what you can do on your own.
I am here waiting to pour out my presence on you.
Mm, good stuff.
So maybe that's why I'm drawn to wisdom, because Jesus is inside me and He just draws
me to the right things.
The Holy Spirit.
Yeah.
Power of God.
The Holy Spirit is my favorite.
Oh my goodness.
What did I do without Him?
Oh my gosh.
I could tell you that you wouldn't have been healed of that neck pain.
That's true.
I could tell you that the things that I have seen and experienced could not have been done
without it.
I don't care what anybody says and I don't care what memes people put out there.
I will never doubt.
My people will never be shaken on that.
I am absolutely beyond reproach on that.
Once you have that experience with God, there's nobody that can tell you anything different.
No.
And it's not like I had that one experience.
I've had so many.
Yeah.
I could get some and I could tell God, you know, it doesn't matter if I can remember
them, because I know there's so many that I remember that there's so many that this
isn't going to shake me.
Yeah.
And then, you know, we had, so we met and I was healed and then, well, I filled that
hole with Jesus.
But then our lives just keep getting better and better.
Oh yeah.
We have different challenges.
It's cool.
In the first episode, we give a brief synopsis of our 27 months of unemployment and there's
a lot to say about how God sustained us in that and He had given us wisdom and we grew
in Him in those 27 months, right?
When I didn't have, when I wasn't getting up for gold, I was getting up for God and
that was a really big game changer, right?
It was a concept I hadn't understood until that moment.
So like, you know, when you sit your alarm, you say, well, I got to give it a six o'clock
so I can get ready for work.
At that point, you have to realize that you're getting up for gold.
You're getting up for that job to earn money to have a wage when really you should set
your alarm with the sole purpose in mind, say, I get to talk to God.
I get to experience Jesus bursting in the morning, right?
Everything after that is tertiary because God will provide.
Yeah, you have a job.
Focus on God first.
Oh yeah, you got a vet appointment.
Focus on Jesus first, right?
Oh yeah, you got to get the kids ready for school.
It doesn't mean you can't negate the time that you have to allow.
It's not just because he wants to hear from us, but because it is good for us to grow.
It's like watering your plants outside.
You can't expect them to go through these hot days and water it when you notice it's
bad.
You have to nurture it and tend it and take care of it.
And it's not really work if you enjoy it, right?
So if you enjoy talking to God and it doesn't have to be something that you've seen an internet
preacher do, it doesn't have to be something that you saw in a movie.
It doesn't have to be anything but you and your authentic words talking to the creator
of the universe because he wants to hear from us.
Isn't that neat?
It is.
It is the coolest thing I've ever done.
It blows my mind.
He created everything, but he wants to talk to me.
Who am I that he would consider me?
Yeah.
Right?
I am so insignificant among, amongst men, right?
I'm no greater than some, but I'm least amongst many men, right?
I was in tears, overwhelmed that the creator of the universe wanted me to make something
like this.
And I'm like, oh, he thinks that much of me.
How cool is that?
Yeah.
You know, and you look at all the laws that he has gotten, all the confusion about whether
he's fulfilled them or if we still have to do this, because clearly every single person
is broken a law.
Because you know, if a woman is on a period and she shakes hands with somebody, she's
broken a law.
Well, what woman hasn't, right?
And if you're a dude, if you've ever shaved ever, you've broken a law.
So you know, we can't live by the law.
The law is there to show us that we're sinners and that we need to save her.
So Jesus fulfilled the law and that's a wonderful thing.
And then we have the 10 Commandments which are the moral law and it teaches us like a
principle of how to be and how to act and how to treat each other.
That's a wonderful thing as well.
When you consider that without a moral law, we would be considering our good what's best
for Josh as good and what's best for Shelley is good.
And what's best for Shelley isn't always what's good for Josh.
And so it would be a conflict while thinking that we're the good guys.
That reminds me when someone says, I'm just gonna, I know about Jesus, but I'm just gonna
do what I think is good and then they think they're gonna get into heaven without knowing
him.
But then, you know, that one comedian, he talked about wanting to go to someone's house
and live there forever.
But if you don't know them, why would they let you in?
Yeah, I wonder if it was a comedian or if it was another...
It was on social media somewhere.
Yeah, it was on social.
I remember it.
He was on a radio show, a hardcore atheist, he said.
And this atheist was challenging.
He was like, all right, you know, God boy or Christian or whatever insulting thing he
tried to get him on, which obviously rolled off the galley.
It was nothing.
If I'm a good person, why can't they go to heaven?
Why does your God refuse to have me?
And so if you came over to my house and you said, I'm a good person, let me live here,
why would I let you live here if you don't know me?
I don't have a relationship with you.
And I think that's the key word is you need to have that relationship with him.
Just like the people that say, hey, there's many roads to heaven.
This guy had something on that too.
And I wish I remembered his name.
I'd love to give him credit because it's not my idea.
But I'm sure if you've heard of him, you know who it is and you know, email us, you know,
let us know.
We'll say it, we'll imagine it.
God's Goodest Podcast at gmail.com.
This guy totally needs credit for it.
It's a wonderful, phenomenal idea.
And he said, you know, if I tell you to get to my house and I say, hey, you've got to
go north on 79 and then you've got to get off exit 43.
You've got to travel 2.6 miles, make a left down this little road here and then make a
right on the street stump and that's where I live.
And you say, well, I'm going to go south on 79 because there's many ways to get to your
house.
I'm here never going to get to my house.
No.
You know, there's only one way to get to my house and I told you what it was.
If you go any other way, you'll never make it to my house.
So that is a little bit about our story.
Can you think of anything else we want to put in this little episode?
How about I do have something put you on a spot a little bit and it's, I just want to
let you know that I'm very proud of you and I love to see where you are now compared to
that person I wanted to walk away from in the very beginning.
And I thank God that he stayed me.
I thank God that he rooted me in place and I thank God that he had shared enough of him
with me at that point that I was able to share with you that you re-found a desire to be
with him.
And I'm so grateful that you responded to him and I'm so grateful that I responded to
him and I'm just so grateful for our son and our three dogs because we live like a rich
people.
That's a pause.
And I'm very, very, very pleased with the life that God has given me and I can say that
that hasn't always been the case for either one of us, that there have been times in our
lives where we have struggled, where we have thought that we're worthless or we've thought
that it was hopeless.
We thought that it can't get any better than this and I just want to encourage anyone listening
right now that there will be another sunrise.
There will be another smile.
There will be another moment to breathe and to breathe clearly and that whatever you could
be going through is inconsequential to the goodness that God has stored for you.
And just bear through and I know that saying, hey, all our hopes and prayers are with you
isn't always going to help someone feel better.
I would encourage you to reach out to someone you trust, including email us if you've got
questions and if I don't have the answer, I promise I'll find someone who does.
I won't let you hang and we'll partner with you and help you through whatever hardship
you could be going through because in the end you're worth it and so worth it that
God sent His only Son to die for you and I want you to know that we should treat each
other with that same reverence and that we love you and we want the best for you.
Well said and I didn't fully cry.
I almost did.
But thank you so much for joining us on this podcast.
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So thank you so much for being with us and we'll talk to you next time.