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Welcome to the God's Goodness podcast, where our mission is to encourage as well as highlight

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God's goodness and modern-day miracles. We are your hosts, Josh and Shelley Hengans.

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In today's episode, we welcome our first guest. Since this podcast idea is from God,

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I want the Holy Spirit to guide all aspects of this podcast. And I think a conversational feel

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will work best for our purposes. So what I'm doing is I'm asking my guests to pray that the

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Holy Spirit guides them on what to share with us at the time of the recording. Because if I ask

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for something specific, I might be missing out on something better or even juicier that I am not

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even aware of that they have inside to share. So I'm asking they just pray about it and then

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share what they're comfortable with. And then we'll just go with the conversation and how it flows.

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So in today's episode, we have Karen Robinson with us. We know her from our church,

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and she's going to start us off with some prayer. Father, thank you for this time together.

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Thank you for this day. We give you glory, Lord, in this place. Spirit of God surround us

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and let each word glorify you in Jesus' name. Amen. So today we have with us Karen Robinson,

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and she's going to be leading us in a conversation. Well, we're just going to let the Holy Spirit lead

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us because this idea came from him. And he didn't really tell me how to craft, since this is like

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no other podcast. We're forging no ways to do things. And so he didn't tell me exactly how

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to do our interviews yet with other people. So we're just going to let the Holy Spirit lead

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us in the conversation. So tell us about what was on your heart that you thought that people

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might benefit from hearing a little message about. Well, today I was thinking about what to start with

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because I have a ton of testimonies, and I'm sure others do too. But today I was thinking of how

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people are in need and the economy is so bad. And so I was thinking of giving a testimony of

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how Chuck and I have been met by the Lord financially. And I did think of another one,

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Shelley. Well, the first one, and if I get emotional, just God is just so good. He's been so good to

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Chuck and me. And... Chuck is her husband, by the way, for those of you who don't know them yet.

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He's cute too. When Jeremy, our oldest son, was three, Hillcrest Christian School opened.

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It had just opened. Pastor Owen was the pastor at South Hills Assembly at the time,

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and they bought the school. And that year it opened. Our second son, this was 1981. He had just been

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born. And we went to the dedication and Pastor Rick gave a word of knowledge about the school and

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how pastors are going to come out. Many people of God are going to be coming out of this school.

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And I wanted Jeremy to go so bad, but he was only three. And so Chuck and I sat at the kitchen

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table, and we said, Father, if it be your will, just show us. Just open the door for Jeremy to go.

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Tuesday, this was a Wednesday night or a Thursday night. And it was a Thursday night.

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Enrollment was Tuesday. And we were going to go ahead and enroll him unless the Lord intervened.

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And so we said that to the Lord. Lord, we're going to go ahead and enroll him.

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And if we're not supposed to, just close the door. Friday, we got a notice in the mail.

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We had a graduating mortgage back in the day. And we got a notice in the mail that our mortgage

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had gone up. They had made a mistake. It had gone up $106 a month. Well, we had $30 to send Jeremy

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to preschool, but we didn't know where we were going to get 106. So we came back to the table

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and said, well, Lord, we know that it's not time for Jeremy to go to school. And we wondered,

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because he was only three. But we need you to give us $106 extra a month, because what are we going to do?

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And we actually had our heads in our hands, like, oh, God, we don't have this kind of money.

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We don't have this kind of money. And all of a sudden, the Lord just pricked my heart.

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And I said, Chuck, we pay our tithes. I actually stood up from the table. I said,

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we pay our tithes. And God promises to provide all of our needs. And I said, why don't we kick

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the devil in the teeth and give more to missions? Give more to missions, because you can't out give

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God. So we started giving amazily five extra dollars to missions and waited on the Lord. We trusted

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Him. A month later, my husband got a raise for $125 a month. It wasn't a whole bunch more,

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but it exceeded what we needed to pay in our mortgage, the extra. Absolutely.

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So that's that testimony. God is faithful. Oh my gosh, yes. And, you know, after all these years of

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these things doing, God doing these things for us, we've come to the place to where we just don't

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fret. We just, okay, Lord, we're just going to rest in you, rest. And there was a time when Chuck

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would come to me and say, Karen, I don't know how our bills are getting paid, because we don't have

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the money in the account. He is very, very good about keeping our finances. And he would periodically

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come to me and say, I don't know how they're getting paid because the money is not in the account,

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but all the bills are getting paid. And so God's faithfulness, you know, now one day,

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we were really low in money. And I don't know why that was, but we were really low. And Timmy was

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still taking a bottle, one bottle before bed, as he was weaned. And it didn't dawn on me that I

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didn't even have milk to give him that night. And all of a sudden, the woman that lived next door,

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her name was Thomasina. And she had that elephantitis in her legs. And she lived,

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they had, she had moved on top of the hill up on West Liberty Avenue in a high rise.

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And she was walking down our hill. I was outside talking to a neighbor and holding Timmy on my lap.

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And I saw her walking down the hill. And when she got close, she was so huffy and puffy and

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all worn out. And I said, Thomasina, it's good to see you. And she said, I've been trying to call you

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and call you and call you. She said, you don't answer your phone. I said, I've been out here talking,

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you know, I haven't been in the house before cell phones. Chuck was at a men's meeting that night.

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She said, I wanted to give you this because your husband was always doing things for me.

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And she gave us money. We lived on that money. I think it was $25 she gave us. We bought groceries

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and ate the rest of that week. And I didn't even know, you know how the Bible says, be as a child?

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I didn't even know we weren't going to have money, or we didn't have milk for Tim. But we did. We lived

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off of that for a week. And so that's that testimony. And then there's another one about God's goodness

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in giving, providing our needs. We had no food in the house. And we had condiments. Of course,

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we always have condiments. But we didn't, I didn't know what I was going to make for dinner.

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And I said to my husband, I'm going to put my jacket on and go up to the 7-Eleven and wait,

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because I know the Lord's going to provide. Somebody's going to come up and give me money,

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or something's going to happen. And I just had this. I was starting to put my jacket on when

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there was a ring at the doorbell. And I went to answer the door, and there were two bags. Oh,

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before that, I told Chuck, I'm hungry for a bologna sandwich. And there was a ring at the doorbell,

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two bags sitting on the porch. Guess it was sticking out of the top of the bag.

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I'm going to go ahead and say bologna sandwich. There was bologna and bread in there.

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And I didn't have to walk up to the 7-Eleven. I would have never put my hand out asking for

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food, but I knew the Lord was going to do something. And I had to be out there.

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Yeah, you had to take that step. Yeah. Yeah. So, angels brought us food. So,

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it's important, you know, be still and know that his Lord doesn't mean do nothing.

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It's just be still for a moment and realize who he is. And then he often calls us to do what he

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needs us to do. And sometimes that is do nothing, but not always.

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When we had 27 months and one week of no discernible income, my verse of that season was be still and

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know Psalms 4610. And I still have that shirt that says that because it was just, it was a long season.

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It felt very, very long. When you're in it, it's like, oh, when is this going to end?

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But then when the provision comes, I should have written a book with all the different

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ways that God provided because he was so creative. Like how this person would give us money.

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We tied on everything though. Like if someone gave us 20 bucks, we tied 10%.

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And people thought we were crazy for giving away that little bit. But like you said,

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you can't out give God. And that's like one of the things you can test him in is the provision.

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And when I got inspired by Bob and Linda Lodick for their financial classes, their story on Focus

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on the Family talked about the more they gave, it like expedited them paying off their mortgage in

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nine months instead of three to five years. They started giving more and then they paid it off and

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they never expected it. But the way God works, everything together. And just, it's like at one

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of those cross-stitch, the counter cross-stitch where it'll look all nice on top. But then

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underneath, you're like, wow, that's a big mess. So like we're right now, we're in the big mess,

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but God sees the big picture of what he's making. Making us beautiful.

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We are masterpieces in the making. I feel like I'm loving my 40s. I mean, I'm like a fine line,

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you know, just getting better with age. The more that God works on me and refines me and builds,

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you know, these lessons for me to learn. And I've learned to try not to have to go through the lesson

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again. I try to grab that lesson so we don't have to do another season of new income. Because that

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wouldn't, well, it's just an adventure. But I've experienced that adventure. So like a new one.

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I love that. It is an adventure. We are on an adventure with God. It's exciting because he's

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always going to come through. Yeah. And there's always some, he's so creative in how he provides.

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Like bologna sandwiches, who would have fun? But that meant so much to you. And he brought it to

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you. And he's like, yeah, I heard you. I got you girl. And he wanted you to know. He heard you.

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Our granddaughter, our daughter just told us that they moved, just moved to London and it was 90

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degrees when they were moving into their apartment. And they were looking at lows for a fan and they

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could not find a fan anywhere, anywhere. Anna, seven years old, prayed and asked the Lord to help

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them find a fan. And Emily said, well, let's go back. So they went back and Emily said, Mom,

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I don't know where this fifth fan wasn't there. But I have an oscillating fan I found for Anna

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because she prayed. God is so good to us. And that, I was so thankful to the Lord for that

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because he's showing our granddaughter how faithful he is at a young age. And I'm excited about that.

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Yeah. That couldn't last her her whole lifetime. Like when I was, when I went to church, there was

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a sermon with the little kids got to go. And they said, if you ask for a bag of candy at the end,

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you'll receive it. So it was asking you shall receive. And that's been like my Bible verse of

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my lifetime because, you know, if you don't ask, nothing changes. So why not, why not ask?

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But God knows what we need before we ask. And that's encouraging. Yeah. He just likes us to open

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up with that intimacy with him. That's right. He knows what our hardship is. The reason why he likes

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for us to tell him what that hardship is, is because it says, God, I trust you with my hurt. I trust

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you with my despair. I trust you with my fear. I trust you with every facet of what's bothering me.

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And I'm going to let you in, even though you already know every single thing you could possibly

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know about me, you knew about it as soon as you created me. This shows him that you want this

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intimate relationship with him. And that is a very good start, intimacy with God.

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I do have a Bible verse. I pulled up Matthew 25 through 30 because I think it really speaks to

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provision for Christians. And I'm reading out of the New King James Version. So don't criticize me.

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I really like it. And I don't think anyone is better than another, you know, read the Bible

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version that best suits your aptitude and your ability to receive it. Therefore, I say to you,

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do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body,

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what you will put on is not life more than food and the body more than clothing.

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Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly

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father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one qubit

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to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field,

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how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. And yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory

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was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field,

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which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you?

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Oh, you of little faith. And I think it's important also to note that it doesn't mean

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necessarily that you have no faith or small faith, but in short distance faith. You've covered that

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before, but duration as in little, not as in the kind of faith it takes to come to Jesus and to

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know Jesus, but sometimes we forget in our worry. Good word. That's what is always good, isn't it?

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Yes, not mine. I can't think better for that. Listen how on time he is. We recorded the first

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few episodes. There was the where the podcast came from, then a little bit about Josh, a little bit

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about me. We had the lane of hands episode. And then we met the first financial goal.

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And we were able to purchase the first three microphones of our own, which is really cool.

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And then they were able to come just in time for our first interview. So how cool is that?

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Wonderful. Always on time. And just how good of him to think of us and lay it on someone's heart

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like, yeah, they heard the mission. I shared the mission with them and all the things that I saw

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coming from this. Because besides just the podcast and showing encouragement to others and modern

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day miracles, we have the ability to just show signs and wonders. And with the vision, there's

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also an Etsy shop I see where we can have merch. And I have that set up. I just have to finish

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setting up all the background stuff, like printify and all that stuff. It's a lot to learn.

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Like you don't know what you don't know until you look it up. And then you're like, oh, I need to

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learn about SVG files and mockups and all this stuff. But I'm learning it. And it's baby steps

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to lead to big things and the compound effect. One day at a time and the Holy Spirit will help you.

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Yeah. And he's guiding me to the right people I need to copy off of. You got it. Mary Kay always

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said you got to copy the right cat. It's okay to be a copycat. Just make sure you copy the right one.

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And then besides the Etsy shop, then there's also one day we're going to have our last credit card

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paid off. And then we're going to have a camper one day and that's going to be paid off. And then

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we're going to travel the United States. And we're going to do the podcast from wherever we want to.

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And then we're going to meet people all over the United States. And we're going to share those

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stories too. And then it'll just grow from there. And then we'll have a great community.

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And it's starting now. So if you see us on the social medias, make sure you comment, share.

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And if you comment, then you can prove that you are one of our first followers. It's pretty exciting.

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And if we're going to be one of the top podcasts in the world, get on board now.

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And I for one can't wait to hear more testimonies from you. I know you've got a bunch.

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I do. I really do. And some of them are scary, especially, but I wasn't scared. It could be

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scary to people, but the Spirit of God moved on me and there is no fear. And so, you know.

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Yeah. We got to rebuke that. And which Timothy is it? First Timothy, God did not give us a Spirit of

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fear. Our love and a sunlight. Yeah, that's good. We should put that up. God always provides our

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needs. Always. We should never be afraid. We can rest in the Lord because His word is true.

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You can hear other encouragement from people, but they're not the word of God. They might encourage

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you. But the main thing we want to stand on is God's word because He never fails and will never

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fail. And He hasn't failed us yet. Right. Of all the things God knows how to do, I don't think He

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knows how to fail. He doesn't. No. We're on the winning side. Second Timothy 1-7. God did not

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give us a Spirit of fear, but a Spirit of power, love, and self-control. Well, that's one of the

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versions. Yeah. Anyway, we just have so much to talk about. And it's hard to talk about so much

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in one episode when we can bounce from one thing to another to another. But we're going to try to

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keep it focused a little bit at this current time and not go down too many rabbit trails.

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So they'll wrap up this episode. But I do want to say one thing else. That we have a,

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it wouldn't be an episode if I didn't mention the Give, Send, Go account we have. So if you're

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able to give to our ministry, there's Give, Send, Go. And then our campaign is called God's Goodness

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Podcast. And in it, you can just donate and it'll go towards perhaps a fourth microphone. So then

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we can have Chuck on with us next time. And he can help share those testimonies with us. And it'll

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be great. So if you can do that, that would be wonderful. And thanks for listening and we'll

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talk to you next time.