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 Shelly Hankins.
Today we have with us a very special guest to me.
I've mentioned her quite a few times on the podcast, at least two or three times in episode
one.
She's a delight.
If you ever get to meet her, you'll be blessed.
Her name is Jen O'Donnell, and she's a Christian life coach.
She has other titles that go along with her, but she's just a delight and a blessing.
I hope you enjoy what she has to share with us.
I got a little taste of the story, and I was in tears reading about it.
I just can't wait to hear the Holy Spirit work through her with her story and be a blessing
to somebody else out there.
Like we usually do, I'm going to ask Jen to start us off with an opening prayer.
Wow.
I thank you, Father, Lord, that you are going to speak through me and speak through us through
these questions.
This podcast is, we talk about my healing journey because you showed up in so many ways.
It really is miraculous.
I thank you, Lord, for reaching the people that you have for this podcast, that you want
them to hear that you want to instill hope and build their faith in what you do and how
you work, Lord, in all the different ways.
I thank you, Lord.
I give you all the praise and all the glory for this podcast and what you are doing through
Shelly and Josh and how amazing this is to just spread the gospel and spread the word
and spread your goodness.
We thank you, and we praise you in Jesus' name, amen.
Amen.
Thank you.
I really do love sharing this story.
I have gotten through a lot of my coaching programs.
I actually walked through this journey starting in 2020, and I was meeting with a lot of women
and coaching them.
They actually got to experience my healing journey along with me.
I used a lot of this in my coaching with what they were going through.
I got to lead them and show them that when you are going through trials and suffering
and situations that God uses at all, and sometimes he, well, a lot of times he uses things that
are bad and he really does make them better.
He shows up in the bad, but a lot of times we get fixated on the bad things and we don't
see him work, right, or we forget.
So when I was starting writing out my story, I really got to see how many times there was
divine interventions that he just, like, I don't even understand how it came to be.
And so in 2020, I actually was having some health issues, and I had reached out to a
practitioner in Georgia, and here we are in Pennsylvania.
I needed to see somebody different, and some friends of mine had gone to this practitioner
in Georgia, great success with really interesting illnesses or diagnosis.
That's really odd because Pittsburgh is the place to find the best doctors.
So for you to go somewhere else, that's a pretty big deal.
Yeah, it was a pretty big deal.
It's totally out of my comfort zone.
Georgia.
Yeah, Georgia.
And so she uncovered some things going on with me, and then through a series of just
conversations.
So your connections are some amazing things because somebody connected me with a doctor
here that specialized in some things that I was going through, but not everything that
I knew I was going to walk through at the time.
And so I remember meeting with this nurse practitioner here in the Pittsburgh area,
and she uncovered some things with tests and labs and things like that.
And I was going to her for something completely different.
But during one of our conversations, I started having some pain in my right side, my right
lower abdomen.
And so she sent me for an ultrasound, and on the ultrasound, I came back that I had
this cyst that was extremely large.
It had grown, it probably had been on me for a while because things don't just show up,
right?
But it was larger than my ovary.
And then my left ovary had multiple cysts because I was having hormone issues.
And so all these things were showing up.
And she was very concerned, she was like, you're probably going to have to have surgery.
Well, this is back in 2020 where we're having a massive pandemic, and people can't come
into the hospital with you.
And I'm thinking, I am not going into the hospital.
I'm not having surgery.
And I had other things happening, and I was not going in.
So I was freaking out, and I was like, I don't want this to happen.
Why is this happening to me?
I came in for something completely different, and here this showed up.
When I took a step back, I was really grateful that I was seeing this nurse practitioner
for something different.
Because had I not, I wouldn't have caught it.
And so when I get more into my story, that will make a significant difference of how
that happened.
But I kept getting ultrasounds.
And I remember picking up a book from my mom, it was like your healing wellness, and it
was 10 days of a spiritual action plan to help you heal.
And I had held on that to that book for months.
Didn't read it, didn't use it.
And I remember the doctor told me to go to get an ultrasound, and I came home, I picked
up that book, and I looked at my calendar to see when I was scheduled for that ultrasound.
And it was scheduled exactly 10 days later.
So I would literally walk through this book for the next 10 days and finish the 10th day
on the day I had to go back to the ultrasound.
Wow.
I mean, I've had health issues most of my life, and they've just randomly come up.
And so, you know, prior to this, I had been watching different pastors talk about how
God heals and believing him for healing.
And so that had like, I had started consuming things and understanding things that I didn't
prior.
So I had some knowledge, but it was really cool walking through that health book and
learning what scripture says on healing, and it really built my belief.
And I plugged into people and listened to testimonies of like people going through way
more serious things than me, and they were healed.
They didn't have any medical intervention, and I'm a former nurse, so I'm okay with
medical intervention, but I know there's other ways.
And so, you know, I get that ultrasound and the doctor calls me, the nurse practitioner,
she calls me a couple of days later, and she's like, okay, so the left side is everything
that was on there, it was multiple cysts are gone.
But the right side looks horrible.
And I remember getting off the phone with her, and it was like, this is awful because
once again, she mentioned surgery.
And I had to take a pause and it was like, hold on, she said the left had nothing left
on it.
But the right did.
And I understand from a medical standpoint, your focus on the issue.
So she had to focus on what was still happening, right?
But I had to pause and I had to realize like, God actually healed me because I didn't do
anything other than read this book and believe that he would heal me.
And so that was like one thing that was just amazing that happened.
But you were in the word really deep in those 10 days.
Oh man.
I consumed it.
I had no time of the day that I could read scripture.
Like I was actively praying over things, reading scripture, believing it.
Shelly, you talk like a lot about mindset and you know, whatever you put in is what
you get out.
And so like it was just all consuming.
I had scripture written on my soul.
Yeah, I had it written on my bathroom mirror.
I had posted notes all over my house because you have because the enemy comes and says,
you're never going to be healed.
This isn't going to work.
And so you have to feed yourself all the time.
Right.
I have a question.
You said that they focused on the right because that's where the issue was.
But as a former nurse, wouldn't you at least question the patient on what they did or what
they were doing that would cause?
Because to me, I work in EMS.
My question would be immediately, well, would you do different that the one side is clear
when it looked ugly before?
And now it's just once like, like that is pretty phenomenal from any standpoint, religious
or scientific standpoint, that's a phenomenal finding.
And I would want to know like, were you eating healthier?
Was it like asparagus?
Did you detox?
Like what's going on here?
That's a true because this was my second ultrasound.
So my first one found everything.
This was my second one.
And then I eventually had another one and they were not too far apart.
I would get them like I was in every month for every two months for a lab's ultrasound.
It was like continuous monitoring of me.
So I don't even know.
Yeah, it was crazy.
Like I said, I had to take a pause and I asked her a second time, like, are you sure?
Like, is this what actually did you see?
And she confirmed it.
So, but yeah, that's incredible.
Yeah.
That would not have been my first focus.
Yeah.
I think it's ugly over there, but still, let's talk about this one over here.
Yeah, no.
So because of that, after that, she was really concerned of how large that cyst was and that
it wasn't shrinking and that I could have to have surgery.
She ended up sending me to an oncologist because she was concerned for cancer because
of that.
And so I went to this oncologist, really amazing doctor.
And I remember the same thing, like I was in the word, but I was still seeking.
And I remember reading some different things and people talking about how in the Bible,
sometimes you like have like a handkerchief or, you know, a cloth or something and somebody
has the spiritual gift of healing.
And just by getting it in the mail or touching it, you are automatically healed.
And so I was like, oh, wait, maybe is there a local pastor that operates in the gift of
healing that believes this because most of the pastors that I would listen to were not
in Pennsylvania, were not in Pittsburgh.
And so I happened to reach out to a pastor that was about 30 minutes away from me and
called and spoke to the secretary and I said, do you do healing services?
And she was like, wait a minute, what are you talking about?
I said online, it says that you do healing services and you, you know, you have the cloth,
you could mail and things like that.
And she was like, where does that say that?
No, we don't.
And then she ended up calling me back and I, because I told her my situation and she said
the pastor actually would like to meet with you.
And so I went in and I talked to him and I sat there for two hours and he told me the
most incredible stories of healing.
His son had major complications when he was born with his heart and he was healed.
His daughter actually fell from, and he, he has a book, he wrote a book, but his daughter
actually fell from the second floor story of their house, like off the deck and you'll
think this is amazing.
And he never took her to the hospital.
She was bleeding out of her eyes, never talked to, took her to the hospital.
He started bringing tongues over her and held her and then put her to bed and she got up
within a couple of hours, walked to his bedroom and within a couple of days she was fine.
He poured the scripture and showed me the scriptures that talked about healing and then
he poured stories into me.
And so for two hours, it was like the Holy Spirit was like holding me down and just pouring
all of this into me.
It was the most amazing thing I've experienced.
And then two weeks later, you know, after that, I woke up in the middle of the night
and I was having this severe pain.
It was horrendous and thought it was something else that was going on.
I didn't even think about my right side because it was just all over me in my stomach.
And so I like waited it out.
I'm very stubborn with health things sometimes and I waited it out and I was like, told my
husband I can't take it anymore.
This Tylenol is not doing anything to me.
I've got to go to the hospital.
Like I don't know what's going on, but something severe is happening in my body.
And he took me to the hospital and it was insane because I was shaking because the pain was
so severe.
And they did another ultrasound and it came back and crazy enough, they could not find
anything going on on the ultrasound.
Like they didn't see anything.
And so they were actually going to send me home and I would have went home, but the pain
was so severe.
I was like, this is worse than childbirth times 20.
I won't make it if I go home.
And so at the hospital, turns out this, the oncology surgeon that I had been seeing didn't
go to that hospital.
So I had to be ambulance transported to a hospital inside Pittsburgh and it was taking
a long time.
They had things to do.
So I was waiting there for three hours and they were pumping me through full of meds.
I was at the hospital for nine hours, no TV on, my husband in the room.
We were talking a little bit here and there.
My grandma actually ended up in the emergency room, a couple, a couple, you know, things
down and I got to see her before she left and went into the hospital.
And I had like this incredible piece, my prayer group, my prayer organization, they were my
wellness organization that I'm with.
They were praying over me and I had this piece, no TV.
I wasn't doing anything.
I wasn't on my phone, but it was just incredible.
I wasn't fearful.
I was like, whatever they need to do is whatever they do.
Did you have that piece the whole time or was there a certain point where you realized
it like, you know, hey, I should be feeling some different way, but I'm not.
Yeah, I would say I had it the whole time.
Awesome.
I had it the whole time and the ambulance ended up coming to pick me up late at night
and they transferred me to the next hospital and the attending physician was trying to
figure out what to do.
They were like, should we take you to surgery?
Should we wait it out?
And they were on the phone with the surgeon.
So they just made a decision.
They were like, we're going to assume this ruptured and we're going to take you to surgery.
So at midnight, here I'm having surgery.
I went, waited, I had severe pain in the morning.
That morning was the Sunday and at midnight on Sunday or Monday morning, I'm going in
for surgery, then I was a little nervous, but woke up and turns out I had ruptured
and it twisted my ovary and cut off the circulation.
So my ovary died and I was full of blood.
Like it would have been terrible to go home.
But my ultrasound in the hospital was they couldn't see any of that.
Couldn't see the rupture.
Couldn't see anything going on, which is the oddest thing, but it's just miraculous.
Especially without much internal bleeding.
Yeah.
I had like a pop can full of blood in me.
It's just like I was literally when I look back, I was protected the whole time because
that situation could have gotten really scary, could have gotten really bad.
They could have sent me home because they did give me the option, but and I would have
went, but the pain was so severe.
So I always, when I take a look back, I think sometimes when we go through these bad things,
sometimes it's like that wake up call and you need it to be so bad because you'll do
something that'll prevent you from that protection.
Right.
And then all the ways God just showed up, right?
He aligned me and moved me towards that pastor who I would never have met and he would never
report all that into me.
Reading that book that I had for months that I never even opened and then I opened and it
was 10 days later, I had my ultrasound in that left sided healing.
So it was just incredible how he showed up so many.
I pulled like there was like five divine interventions in those two years of my healing.
You know, it's incredible when you consider that your left side was healed, but the right
side wasn't.
And then you had a rupture that gave you like an ovarian twisting that actually you lost
the ovary.
Yeah.
And it wasn't the good one.
Yeah.
Right.
And it's like he had a plan for you that said, I'm going to preserve the one that I know
is going to be preserved tomorrow.
And that's, you know, obviously it's God's foresight, not mine, but I would never have
thought that kind of a plan.
He allowed certain things to happen, but he didn't allow you to suffer twice.
And I think that's so amazing.
And he allowed you to grow in faith with him.
I think it was at Romans 828.
You mentioned at the beginning of it how he works all things for his good.
And I pulled this up in the NIV.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been
called according to his purpose.
I love hearing how upbeat you are about that because that's scary.
And for you to have that kind of peace, we've experienced peace through storms.
And so we know what it's like to have that, but neither one of us has had a health scare
like that to experience that peace from.
And that is such an incredible story.
And I hope that really encourages people to lean more into God, to lean more into trusting
Jesus, that they could also have that peace because he is the Prince of Peace.
And he is who we are joy from.
So I have a lot of joy, not so much today.
You know, I worked like we said 24-hour shift.
And so I'm a bit on the struggle bus today, but normally I'm pretty joyful with interactions
with lots of different people.
And so I can only credit that to Jesus.
And you're very warm, you're very sincere, you're very genuine.
I think that is a directly result of your relationship with Jesus.
And that's all he wants, right?
He wants that intimacy with you.
He wants that relationship with you.
He wants you to come to him through everything, no matter what happens.
Right?
So it's that no matter what happens, peace.
The good and the bad.
Oh yeah, I don't know what I would do in my life right now if I hadn't known the love
of God or the different intimate moments that I've had with him and the healings that we've
experienced in our lives.
And you've actually encouraged me by the way you sought healing, by the way that you were
believing in healing through the Word and through a pastor who is building you up through
experiences that he had had.
And it encourages me that before I lay on hands that I would do the same and reciprocate
and pour into them all the healings that I have seen him do.
And I feel that that's pretty important because that was important for you.
And I know that we're not alone.
So I know that has to be important for others.
So I really appreciate that part of your story that really speaks volumes to me.
I don't know about anybody else, but it definitely does me.
I have a question.
How did you find that pastor if the lady says it wasn't on the website?
Like what you were, and where was that?
Yeah, so I was googling about pastors that understood healing and believed in healing.
You know, not everybody believes that God heals.
And put it on websites.
Yeah, it was not on their website.
It was like another website that had them on there.
So I called like, I'm telling you completely out of my covered zone.
I was like, I'm doing anything and everything because I know he heals.
So I called and I talked to the secretary and she was like, that's not right.
We believe in that, but we don't do healing services where you can come and they'll lay
hands on you.
You know, that's also kind of gives me an idea for healing services.
There's obviously a need for it.
I honestly feel that most people don't do it because they're afraid that God won't answer
it.
And they're afraid that they won't be healed or they're afraid to look like a fool, which
is silly because how can you ever look like a fool in front of your king?
Right.
You know, to keep that positive mindset and to remember that you can't impress God with
a gift he's given you.
That's crazy.
Like, God, look what I can do.
It's like, I know, I'll give it to you.
It's from him, right?
It's not from us.
Yeah.
So that one part reminded me of my Bible verse of the year, Matthew seven, seven and eight.
Seek, find, you know, knock and you'll find everything you're seeking.
Yeah.
So you saw it out and went after it and he's like, I got this every step of the way.
Every step of the way.
So cool.
And I was listening to this video.
It was probably a TikTok and it mentioned that the when God showed up for a Shadrach
Meshach and a Bendigo, they were talking about that at Sunday church too.
I've listened to the story a few times and I've had a few lessons from it.
But the one was God showed up when they were in the fire, you know, the deepest parts,
you know, like the hardest parts.
Well, it's, I think it's important to note that he didn't just show up when they're
in the fire, but he made his presence known when he was in the fire.
Because if some of the strongest guards died throwing him in and they didn't die getting
thrown in, then he was clearly there for him when they didn't realize it.
And I think that's important to note that God is with us, even if we don't see his presence.
Right.
Because it's only a matter of time before we're walking in the fire with him, like,
Hey, you're here.
He's like, I'm the one to help you in.
I want to make sure you didn't get cooked on the way to it.
I love that too.
Yeah.
So good.
So a question for you, Jen.
You said you've had multiple health issues throughout your lifetime and you clearly really
sought the healings of Jesus later in this lifetime.
How hard was it for you to get on board with healing through faith after you've already
struggled from whatever age you started your health journey till now?
I would say it was not hard.
I've been growing with God definitely in the last like 11, 12 years growing like intentionally.
Right.
And so because of that, I have, and especially in the last like three years, I've gotten
super hungry for the word and really what people are missing.
And so I started seeking things and it's funny because my family travels and we'll go camping.
And you know, when we go camping, my mom always has these incredible books on faith.
And so I consume.
And so I always say like when we go camping, like it's fun and it's family time.
But that's like my spiritual growth time.
And when I'm in nature, that's where I experience God.
And that's where he's talked to me and told me some of the most like incredible things
that he wants us to know of how to walk with him, right?
Your authority and healing.
And that's where he's spoken to me most is when I have been away, right?
And I just have that time.
So yeah, it wasn't hard.
Like I was laying the foundation for a couple of years and then when this happened, I just
knew to pick it up, right?
And to start seeking, which is something I didn't do when I was younger.
I didn't even think really to do this, right?
But I didn't have anything happen like this either.
But I'm very thankful.
Like I was intentional and growing and hungry, right?
Sometimes people aren't hungry enough for the word or for seeking God.
They're just kind of lukewarm, right?
We've been learning about revelation in the churches.
Sometimes you're lukewarm and God doesn't want you to be lukewarm.
He wants you to be hungry.
He wants you to come to him and seek him.
And so laying that foundation was huge for me.
Awesome.
So currently, do you have any health issues that you need prayed for?
I mean, I could always use prayer.
I mean, there are still things I'm waiting for on, you know, on healing.
So but comes with time sometimes too.
Oh, absolutely.
It's amazing.
Would recommend to have the hands laid and prayers answered.
And you know, since we wrap it up, I'm more than willing to go through that.
I'm definitely down.
Life at Chirngune.
Yeah, that was the lane of hands when we had him pray over my neck and shoulders and
then my ankle and then Nathan and other people's bodies.
So that was that was good too.
So God shows up everywhere all the time.
Yeah, even when you don't want him to.
Yeah.
Yeah, sometimes we just don't look for him.
Something I've realized is sometimes I think we miss things that he's doing, right?
We're caught up in whatever we're going through or what we're seeing, right?
The reality of what we're seeing.
And so we get caught up in that and we miss things.
And then, you know, sometimes you take a step back and you start to see things and how he's
working.
So I like that one word intentional, you know, you were intentional about it, not just have
passively taking in the word.
He's very faithful, more faithful than we are.
And even if we're not intentional, he's still with us.
But I see that we have the greatest potential for growth when we are intentional, when we
are diligently seeking him, that we are making it about our hunger for him, for our knowledge
of him, for doing what his will is, which means we'd have to be in the word to understand
what his will is.
Not that any of that is what saves us, that it is totally a foundation on believing in
his son who died for us, but it is a good way to get godly thoughts and to get closer
to Christ through obedience.
You know, we've heard the five love languages.
I believe God operates in the sixth.
And I believe his love language is obedience.
And not because he demands things from us, but because he wants just the best for us.
And when we violate one of his commands, he ends up usually hurting us or another one
of his people, and he doesn't want that for us.
And it's not because he doesn't want to have fun.
It's not because he doesn't want us to joke around.
It's not because he wants to be oppressive or mean or, you know, worship me or else.
You know, it's never been that kind of relationship with him.
And I really feel bad for people that don't understand who God is because of Christians
who misrepresented him.
And I would like to encourage anyone listening that is not a Christian now, but has heard
of God, but believes certain things about him because of a person that told you, let
me be the first to tell you that God is not defined by people very well and that he is
a class above what we can even be cognizant to speak.
That he is love and he is patience and he is long suffering and he is kind and gracious.
And, you know, it's because of his love for us, not because of anything we did, but because
of his love alone that we had a way for salvation that he gave his only son for us.
I for one, I'm very grateful for that.
And I'm very sorry if anyone has ever been hurt by a person who misrepresented or was
so bent on one sin being more offensive than another sin and drove someone away from the
arms of love.
And he really does.
He comes after you, right?
Because he loves you so much.
So even if you mess up, he constantly wants to come after you to seek you.
All you have to do is just kind of relax, you know?
So I mean, all through the Bible, that's all he is doing every time the Israelites messed
up.
He went to seek them again and again, you know?
And so there's a lot of freedom when we follow the ways of God because he's wanting us to
have freedom and, you know, it's not the opposite, right?
So.
He laid that foundation out in the garden, right, when he saw Adam and Eve after they
were hiding from him.
And he knew what they did.
And I'm a hard learner.
Like when people ask the best way I learned, it's the hard way.
And if it wasn't for God constantly coming back to me and constantly turning around to
see, you know, hey, catch up, what's going on?
I would not have what I have.
I would not have any of the thoughts that I have.
I wouldn't have any of the beliefs that I have.
But if it wasn't for him nurturing me, there have been many times where I felt undiscipled,
where God literally stepped in himself and discipled me through lessons, through experiences
that without which I could not have grown.
And so he personally discipled me.
And I am so grateful because, again, I learned the hard way.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, lessons and experiences.
That's how we, I mean, that's how we learn.
That's how we change.
Otherwise, why are we going to change?
You know, why would we grow if you didn't want something more?
Mm-hmm.
I've wanted a lot of more this year.
And you've been very intentional.
I have been.
I told my boss, I'm like, I'm making goals and I'm crushing them this year.
So we're working on it.
Set up the Etsy shop.
So that's going to be going and being open and released soon once I get the details ironed
out.
So thank you so much for coming on tonight and being with us and sharing your story is
just such a great testimony.
And I hope it's a blessing to others.
And if this episode has been a blessing to you listening, I pray that you share it with
others and, you know, if any of the podcasts are.
And also, if you could say some prayers for donations and downloads, we're hoping that
we spread the word.
And also, if you are able to give financially, we have a GiveSendGo account called God's
Goodness podcast, and, you know, you could help us pay for the audio editing because
that's not a thing that I.
It's not your gift.
It's not.
It does not bring me joy.
So if you could help us with that, that would be a great help and we would greatly appreciate
it.
Thank you for listening and we'll talk to you next time.