I learned then too, that when you ask the Lord
to come into your heart, He's got to fill you.
But if you're filled with your own garbage, there's
not a lot of areas that He can fill. You have
to get the garbage out. You have to surrender
your heart You have to constantly be in tune
with the Lord You know to be quick to ask for
forgiveness when you've done things wrong and
you sit there and you ask him What do I need
to be forgiven for he'll show you? He'll show
you things in the past. He'll show you things
from long ago He'll show you things from yesterday
and you know, even with an attitude or a heart
you know, intention, anything. And as you get
those things out of your heart, he can feel you
more and more. Hey there, welcome to the God's
Goodness podcast. We are your host, Josh and
Shelly Hankins, and we're here to share real
stories of God's power, stories of hope, healing
and miracles that will strengthen your faith.
No matter what you're walking through, we want
to remind you that God is good and He's still
moving today. Let's dive in. Y 'all, I am so
honored to welcome back Elise Price to the God's
Goodness podcast today. You may have heard her
recently alongside her husband Michael, a former
pastor with such a powerful story. That episode
was so rich and I knew before we even finished
it, there is more to unpack with Elise. She's
a retired pastor's wife, a devoted grandma, and
right now she's in a full season, painting rooms,
showing their house, chasing grandbabies, planning
a beach trip, and yet she still said yes to this
conversation. We didn't plan a set direction
today, we're just opening our hearts and seeing
what the Holy Spirit wants to do. So before we
dive in, I've asked Elise to open us in prayer.
So Elise, would you do us the honors? Yes. And
we father we just thank you and praise you father
that you are God that you are the lover of our
souls And that you've given us all a purpose
We ask that you will be done today and that you
would be glorified in all that we say and do
And we ask that you be a part of every word today
we ask that you would touch the people's farts
who are listening and bless them and help them
in any way that we can today and we ask that
you would bless each and every listener and we
ask all these things in Jesus precious name,
amen Amen. Thank you for that. So Elise, you've
had a lot going on lately between the grandkids.
You're selling your house and painting and getting
all the stuff together. And now you're taking
some beach time. And how are you really doing
in the middle of all this? Like, what's God's
been speaking to you in this season? Well, he
has been definitely teaching me to live in the
moment. Because I'm a planner, I like to have
things all organized in their own spaces and
everything is just colliding at once. So I have
to continually lay it beforehand each time, each
minute as things come up and just taking one
task at a time. And I finished tating the house.
The house is on the market now. We're actually
getting showing requests and all that while I'm
sitting here. So well, it's just been a lot But
it's just continually reminds me how much I need
the Lord instead of reacting in my own You know
nature and stressing out. I just have to really
stop take a breath and focus and See what the
Lord is gonna do and look for opportunities to
witness or show my grandkids what stress looks
like and hiding in the wood or whatever happens.
Nice. I know it's cliche, but it reminds me of
let go and let God. It really does. It really
is too. Yeah. I mean, I'm painting the wall one
day and the cat comes running through the paint.
Okay, so now we have to stop and clean up the
mess. Ellie's just looking at me. I have her
in her little walker and she's in her little
space and the stairs are guarded and she's wanting
to get in the paint. And I'm thinking, okay,
maybe this wasn't a good day to paint, but I
know you told me to. And so he just is really
teaching me to wait on him and really teaching
me to be in the moment. And there's just so many
things around us that want our distractions,
but I have to stay close to him these days really
close How hard of a transition is that I know
my wife is a very type a personality likes to
take charge make plans do things how difficult
is it to Surrender your time. We all know that
God is supreme, but and and we know that he's
center But sometimes it's hard for us to put
him first Yes, it is because I'm a type a more
of a type a personality also I'm very I can be
introverted a lot, especially if I don't know
somebody. But take example for our house, we
kind of know where we want to land and we picked
out the neighborhood and, you know, they will
not allow us to put a deposit on the house till
we even get a contract on ours. So it's really
trusting the Lord that, OK, you know, I have
to help my house up. Mm -hmm. take charge of
everything, have everything in a tidy bow and
keep it on track and nothing is going on track.
So if you have to surrender it, my heart gets
anxious, my heart gets troubled, you know, and
I have to when I get into the moments, I have
to really stop and recognize where my heart is
and Lord help my heart. Just make it be still.
Let me trust you. And sometimes I have to do
that every minute. Sometimes it's every hour
and sometimes it's just once a day. It just depends
on What's going on? That reminds me of this one
video I was listening to today. It was act as
if everything always works out. And so it's basically
telling you to act in faith as if it'll work
out. And then it kind of programs your mind to
expect it to work out. And then you end up making
choices that it will work out. So yeah, the faith
walk is really important. when you trust in God
and take one step at a time, just the next step
that you can. You don't know how it all is going
to work out, but you know it is. And then He
always blesses each step you take, and then it
reveals the next step. Yes, and that is true.
I mean, even sometimes we get answers, you know,
in preparing for all this, we just get led along
the way. I mean, Now that we know we may not
close the same day, we have our next step. OK,
now we have to plan. If it's just a couple of
days, like I said, it's going to be the U -Haul.
If it's going to be a week, we don't know. So
we just have to trust that. Like you said, as
the days go on, we'll get confirmation and the
Lord will bring that to fruition. You know, and
it just it's very hard sometimes to live trying
to plan everything, but waiting on the Lord to
tell you each day for your nugget. And, you know,
it's the same way Jesus walked. I mean, it's
we have to really focus on not always knowing
the answers, but focus on Him to lead us every
hour and not stressed out over at the end of
the day. Maybe I'll get the answer. Maybe I won't.
Maybe it'll be tomorrow. But you just have to
be content and have your heart in line and in
tune with the Lord. And you have to do whatever
that means, whether you pray every minute or
every couple of hours as your heart, you know,
Alex anxiety Hey friends real quick talk not
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podcast coach generally Samuel messaged. I wish
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Curious? Tap the LifeWave link in my About section.
Of course, they're not meant to treat or diagnose
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Now, back to more of God's goodness on the show.
So was there a season in your life in the past
where a similar circumstance of you not being
able to be in control that Shaped you to the
point where you are now for instance you that
you didn't trust God in the past and and the
you just were headstrong and went right at it
where now you've kind of learned a little bit
of lesson and Even though it's causing you anxiety.
You're learning to just breathe and let God Yes
So my upbringing was not a very good upbringing.
I came from a divorced home. My parents were
divorced. Yeah. My stepdad moved in a few days
after my dad left and we were forced to call
him dad. We were not allowed to call him anything
else. And I was daddy's little girl. I was nine
years old. I went running down the street after
my dad's car. Not understanding. So I didn't
meet the Lord till I was 23, although the Lord
did reveal to me just recently, not too long
ago, that I did get the chance to go to church.
I was invited to church by the lady across the
street and her kids, and they lived across the
street for almost two years. And they never really
came out of their house. I did see them every
Sunday go to church and they asked me to go to
church with them. And I said, no, that's for
good people. I'm not a good people. You know,
I was 14 at the time and I was like, oh, you
don't want to come near me. I have a lot of stuff
at home. No, no, no. Well, they insisted. So
I went back in and I did, you know, I'm a people
pleaser too, back in the day. Not so much. I
still do. I'm the peacemaker of the family and
all that stuff, you know. now, but so I went
and asked my mom and like, okay, she goes, oh,
do what you want to do. So I went and I remember
being in this church in the Sunday school class
with them. And I remember them asking if you
wanted to ask Jesus in your heart. I really didn't
know what that meant, but I thought, well, maybe
I need him. I don't know. So I prayed the prayer.
I did not realize and I meant it with my heart,
not knowing what it meant all through the years
after that. I kept hearing there was a lot of
other situations that happened at home, but I
kept hearing the words there's something more
to like than this just hold on and I can vividly
remember three or four different times in my
life up until I met the Lord and knew what I
was doing at 23 that those words came to my mind,
but I searching for love in all the wrong places.
I didn't know the Lord and I was full out rebellious.
And then I met the Lord when I was 23. It was
a moment where I was at church and he was telling
me my whole life story. I'm like, okay, Lord,
I know now that you're speaking to me because
you've got my attention and my heart racing.
So I did walk down to the altar. I gave my heart
to the Lord and asked him to be my savior. And
after that, I didn't meet my husband until about
10 years later, but I was still working on all
the baggage of my life and all the abuse and
things like that. And so when I met Michael,
I was probably 10 years after that, but still
dealing at that point was control issues. You
know, I had to control everything because I had
to control who was going to hurt me and who wasn't
going to hurt me and when trying to control the
outcome. So to my own detriment when we got married,
I was still working through some of those things.
And, you know, I would have to control everything.
And sometimes I heard God say, oh, no, no, no,
wait. But I didn't wait. And then I wound up,
you know, hurting Michael really bad emotionally
because he couldn't do things right. You know,
so we worked through a whole lot of issues because
of my past, too. And so, you know, waiting on
the Lord and. Choosing my own will that was back
in the day. It was very hard for me to wait on
the Lord And now looking back at it all I can
see You know the message I've made by not obeying
and keeping my mouth shut Versus today letting
him steal my heart and letting him you know control
my thoughts and that's where my biggest battle
was in my mind with my thoughts, you know, I
could have a whole argument in my head with Michael,
you know, the whole outcome that how it's going
to play out in the ending. But he hadn't even
had a word said and I didn't have a word said.
So, you know, those were the things that I dealt
with in the past in my own childhood that made
me that way. But, you know, God is slowly unraveling
them all. Do I still do it right every time today?
No. But I'm more apt to now I want to please
my lord and savior and I want to do the right
things and I take the step back and You know
try really hard not to make a mess of things
and do my own will Mm -hmm. Do you see this season
that you're in now where you're learning this
patience, which is ridiculous patience for someone
like you Do you see this as a step in your healing
process? Well, I'm sure yes it is I mean because
god works everything for the good and he's taken
definitely he's Doing this for me and my patients
and you know, there's always something I'm going
to be learning and I'm not going to be under
construction until the Lord brings me home and
I don't always still do things perfectly but
I am quick to listen more than I was and I'm
quick to ask for forgiveness when I mess up and
I'm going to mess up but yes patience God has
been teaching me that, and even this season in
my life now where everything is up in the air,
I have to wait for those nuggets each day for
the direction God wants me to go and surrender
what my plans are. Type -8 personality wants
to do to him and I have to ask them. What do
you want today? How am I supposed to do this
today? You know, and I just give it to him in
prayer and just wait for an answer and He may
choose answer me at that moment or he may choose
to answer me later in the day or later in the
week How scary is that? Well, I've learned Ten
years ago probably would have put me over the
edge if I'd had this ten years ago Today, it's
like, OK, Lord, I'm waiting. I'm hearing. I'm
going to listen. And, you know, and there's another
moment in our lifetime, you know, between Michael
and I, I think we were that was an 08. So Dylan
was eight. Zoe was five. Those were our kids.
I was homeschooling them at the time. And we
had I knew I would only be homeschooling them
up to high school. So in high school, they were
going to go to what I thought was a Christian
public Christian. high school, Christian school.
And Michael was starting to show signs of, you
know, that was his first diagnosis at the time
they thought he had MS before they recalled it.
And he was having diabetes issues. And I was
like, OK, Lord, what is this going to look like?
You know, it was one of those times when it's
like four o 'clock in the morning, you're kind
of awake, you're kind of asleep. You kind of
was like, was I dreaming? Was I not dreaming?
But I can remember seeing, how is this going
to work? How am I going to put my kids through
school? What is that going to look like? I stayed
home at the time. I wasn't working. And I heard
the Lord say, it's going to work out. I have
it. OK, well, what about a house? Where am I
going to live? What am I going to drive? What
am I going to do for money? I have it. Well,
what about Michael? Is he going to be there?
How long is he going to be there? And every time
I asked him a question of my biggest fears, he
came and said, I got it. Trust me. I got those
three answers I got for the three biggest questions
I had. And so now looking back on the past, looking
back on him teaching me patience and looking
back on the things that he has brought us through
victoriously every time individually and as a
married couple, he is faithful. He can be trusted.
And it may not always be what I look like, what
I think it should look like, but It's always
perfect. I've learned that his way is always
perfect. I've learned that even in with this
move, you know, and everything up in the air,
it's going to be so much better than I can even
plan it to be. And I'll be more fulfilled and
more satisfied than I could have even made it
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show You know, I've always said that your relationship
with God your heavenly father directly correlates
with your relationship with your earthly father
and Since you kind of got a little mixed up background
with your earthly father Do you think that played
a huge part in your trust issues with God and
letting him direct you? Absolutely So when I
was 23, I was saved. Six months later, I got
married the first time. My husband wound up cheating
on me with, you know, women and men for drugs.
He got addicted to cocaine and drinking. We tried
to work it out several times and he finally came
home and said, it's not my problem, it's yours.
And I could be, I remember being on the floor
before God. Asking him to release me from this
marriage. He chose not to he said wait wait wait
every time and forgive forgive forgive So after
the third time the big time that I thought I
was forgiving again. He was out for days, I never
saw him he bankrupted the bank account and During
backing up a little bit. I kept hearing Don't
cast your curls before the slime. I had no idea
what that meant I was a brand new Christian and
I had to really search out what that meant but
you know after the third time I Really felt the
Lord was saying you may go now, you know the
truth You know, you know because I was assuming
I knew the truth, but it wasn't until he finally
admitted that all these times He was out drinking
he was out doing drugs and he was out with other
women and other men and I then learned the truth
I still chose to forgive one more time and Go
to counseling and do all of it that I felt the
Lord was telling me to do and I waited when I
was supposed to wait Not understanding and laying
out on the floor crying like why why I don't
understand but all that to say Yes, I know that
my Heavenly Father's view of what it should have
been versus what my Heavenly Father, it played
a huge role. It was very hard to trust the Lord
because of the Father that I saw. The Father
that I saw and loved abandoned me, didn't come
back. I saw him three times. And the last time
I saw him was when I was 18. He came up and introduced
me to Introduced himself to me at my grandfather's
funeral and asked what side of the family I was
on Wow, and I Just was dumb -counted and hurt
and crushed and I'm like, okay then I don't need
you for a father You know, that was my attitude
and I wasn't saved then but at the same time
I'm like, how could you I was daddy's little
girl, you know, so It was very hard. I didn't
trust anybody to take care of me much less, you
know my husband and We went to counseling and
you know Did all the things we're supposed to
do and he was he came home and said I am not
willing to change I'm gonna stay this way and
I've heard then the Lord say you may go, you
know the truth you waited on me if You would
have left when you wanted to leave you would
have not known what? He'd done and unmerital
and faithfulness and all of that so I'm protecting
you so he released me from that and I'm as sure
as that is I'm sitting here because we've had
huge conversations about it all the time got
the Lord and I and I waited when he said wait
and I cried through it all and I'm not understanding
but you know, but he used all that and then six
months later, you know, well, so I was saved
You know in June of 20 when I was 23 married
the first time in December six months later and
six months after that I had my breakdown and
that's when the Lord really dealt with me and
my issues and codependency and all the abuse
and It was during that time that the Lord was
teaching me to trust him as well as a brand new
Christian what that even looked like I remember
laying on the bed thinking what's my favorite
color? What do I even like to do? What are my
hobbies? How should I even act? Because I had
at that point, I reached my counseling in the
year and a half where I felt like I was completely
empty. I did not have anything left in me. I
was broken. I was empty. I couldn't cry anymore.
And, you know, it was just. something. And I
was like, I don't have the answer to those three
questions. I don't even know what I like to do.
And I do laid in my bed and I thought, Lord,
you have to fill me with what you want me to
be. You know, I'm empty. I don't know what I
want to do. You have a purpose for me. I've heard
that, you know, and he I gave him my heart then,
you know, the year before. And I'm like, now
you have to fill me and help me to be what you
want me to be. Because I don't know what I want
to be. I don't know answers to anything. So And
over the years, you know, and I learned to trust,
you know, men and Michael, even through the marriage,
you know, because then being divorced, I didn't
I'm like, I'm not getting married again. No way.
You know, you know, and the Lord led me to Michael.
you know, a year later, and I'm like, Okay, Lord,
okay. Is this really from you? You know, did
I do everything right in my marriage early on?
No, you know, because I was in this perfectness,
I was type A personality, and I tried to control
everything. And, you know, the Lord was gracious.
He healed both of us through all that time, too.
And, you know, he had his own issues that he
was dealing with at the same time. And the Lord
still managed to grow us together. And then we
also, you know, healed separately. And then we
heal together in some instances and the Lord
is a perfect master of putting things together
and healing things together and doing the perfect
construction of our lives I love that you said
that you were empty and then you said you just
asked the Lord to fill you like what a perfect
container to have the Lord fill then one that's
not already full of junk one that's that's ready
to receive everything he has and it doesn't obviously
remove that the container was flawed that you
had your own personality Kinks and quirks and
such like type -a personality and he still uses
that Right, and I'll never forget the time to
shortly after that I went through support group
and that's where the Lord led me for where my
ministry was I went through support group and
it was called search for significance and it
was at my church where I was saved at and next
to being saved That was the second biggest thing
that taught me about the Lord to trust the Lord
who I was in the Lord my identity in Christ all
of that and God orchestrated all that at perfect
timing because I did not have that I wouldn't
have even learned who I was and what my inheritance
was, you know, and I learned then too That when
you ask the Lord to come into your heart, he's
got to fill you but if you're filled with your
own garbage There's not a lot of areas that he
can fill. You have to get the garbage out. You
have to surrender your heart You have to constantly
be in tune with the Lord You know to be quick
to ask for forgiveness when you've done things
wrong and you sit there and you ask him What
do I need to be forgiven for he'll show you?
He'll show you things in the past. He'll show
you things from long ago He'll show you things
from yesterday and you know, even with an attitude
or a heart, you know intention anything And as
you get those things out of your heart, he can
feel you more and more. I liken it to like a
garage. You know, we put all these things in
our garages so we have no room in our houses
for him. But when we take everything out and
sweep it out and keep it all clean. Only then
can he keep us filled to where he can use us
completely. Hey friend, sometimes all it takes
is a good honest conversation to find clarity.
That's why we're now offering affordable one
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pricing. Just head to the link in our About section.
I'd love to connect with you. You know, I firmly
believe that when you were 14 and you said the
prayer and believed in your heart, even though
you didn't know what that meant, that he took
that seriously. You may not have, you may not
have understood it, but he did. And as you said
before, your heart was already full of a bunch
of junk. So he really couldn't get through to
you until you emptied all that junk out in a
moment of desperation, right? He meets us at
our lowest points often often. He can meet us
in our high points He can miss at any point but
he often finds us in our lowest point because
that's when we finally let go of who we are and
Decide to let him be who he is It's just what
a beautiful transformation I'm glad that you
were actually saved at 14 and that he holds a
promise that we can't That he held on to that
even though you couldn't you couldn't even measure
up to what it meant And he held on to that promise
and he said no no I asked me along the way when
I went to make huge mistakes, you know, or when
I was broken the most, you know They're hold
on. There's more. There's more to light than
this. I have you I had no idea where those words
were coming from but they kept giving me a hope
not to give up You know, and I kept thinking
okay, where's that coming from? But okay, I'll
take it How long did it take you to realize that
was the Holy Spirit speaking? Well, I was saved
at 23 and then it wasn't until search for significance
the next year when I was 24 that the Lord was
just putting all these things together. So when
I finally realized, you know, how the Holy Spirit
worked and that I was filled with the Holy Spirit,
then he connected the dots for me. You know,
I had forgotten that I had asked the Lord that
prayer when I was 14. I'd only remembered that
a few years ago when someone was asking me my
testimony. And then all of a sudden that just
popped in there. And I'm like, that's it. That's
where those words came from. Although I knew
how the Holy Spirit worked. But the whole piece
of asking him to be my savior at 14, I didn't
really remember it because I didn't understand
what I was doing. But like you said, he knew
what I was doing. and he picked that promise
to heart yeah he sure did and he protected me
from a lot of things because you know i like
i said i was 14 at that time but you know we
never had it for a few i can remember getting
my brother up at nine years old getting him ready
for school walking us to school my mom and we
would walk to school together she'd show up a
little bit before we left to make sure we had
everything but There'd be times she'd call me
on the phone when I was 10 or 11. I'm not coming
home. I'll be home late Here's how you cook dinner
get the pot out filled up at water. She was at
work telling me this, you know Wait for it to
boil where you see the bubbles and she'd walk
me through making spaghetti out of a box with
you know the spaghetti sauce, you know, and so
I There was so many things, you know looking
back on I had so much time on my hands It's a
miracle of God that I didn't get into more trouble
than I did not having curfews, you know and everything
I tried to do like in my 20s before I met the
Lord. I mean, he made sure I hated it. I took
my first drink, you know, I swore I never would
drink because my father turned out to be an alcoholic.
You know, now I tell my kids don't even mess
with that, you know. You don't know if the devil
is going to use that with you or not. Your first
sip, you'll find out if you're an alcoholic or
not and why take the chance. But I have that
wisdom for my own self. You know, when I was
15 and 18 and 20, you know, but the first time
I tried to take a drink, you know, I can remember
being 20 years old. I was afraid of everything
because, you know, my dad drank, but I did it.
And oh my goodness the next day. I mean, I I
remember falling I was with my girlfriends swat
back on my back like they're passed out and he
made sure I never took another drink after that
because of the reaction I have and The friends
I was with and they took care of me, but you
know, it was so everything I tried to do was
so extreme Until the point I knew what I was
doing and I knew now in hindsight after I was
saved Looking back on it. I knew the Lord was
that was his hand on me protecting me Incredible
Wow So when he does all that reveals to you what
he saved you from and what you could have been
He gives you the little visions of you know,
he gives you visions He lets you see things sometimes
the answer to things and when you realize it
was his hand on you all this time Yours you sit
back and go. Oh my thank you Lord, you know and
that helps you trust him more and more and more
Mm -hmm. He's trustworthy. Absolutely Now, is
there something God's been highlighting to you
lately, like through scripture or prayer, even
in the day -to -day speaking to you, that you
could feel could encourage someone listening
right now? Well, my life first, I found it 15
years ago, and it's Isaiah 43, 19. And it says,
Behold, I will do a new thing. Now it shall spring
forth, ye shall won't you shall know it. I will
even make a way in the wilderness and rivers
and the desert." So making a way in the wilderness
and making a river in a desert, those are big
words and the Lord can do all of that. There
have been times in my life where it's been so
dry and so desperate and I've seen him make the
rivers in the desert. He'll make a way. And when
you trust Him, He will do that. And so anybody
listening who's hurting, who has a broken heart,
who may have had a past like mine, our Lord Jesus
Christ is so... trustworthy he can work miracles
if you keep your eyes open and look at him and
trust him he can heal your heart he can give
you a new life direction he puts desires in your
heart that you don't even know you want or need
you know and i could not have planned my life
any better looking back on all of it would i
change anything no because of who I am today,
who he is in my life, and where he's bringing
me to. You know, it's like an adventure. I keep
my mind and my heart open knowing that life is
an adventure, and it's gonna be the greatest
adventure. You know? Is it always gonna be easy?
No, but I... And if I didn't have the Lord on
my side... Don't know that I would make it. I
would not make it. Yeah, I don't know because
the Lord is there He's got me in his hand. He's
got my kids my husband knee Everybody in his
hand and he's got the hurting person who's been
through so much in his hand You know and one
of the biggest things I can remember during my
healing. I was sitting there crying I avoided
my mom for two years Because I was the angriest
at her For allowing things to happen that happened
for bringing the people in our house that did
it, you know And I was not ready and she would
never call me from her house because it costed
her money She called me on the 800 number at
work where it didn't cost her anything But I
had the luxury of two years that I needed to
heal mom. I can't talk right now I have to go
to work, you know, it's not a good time and Finally
one day she said I'm coming and I'm coming on
Thanksgiving. I'm going to see you And I remember
sitting in my pompous on chair having my quiet
time and I was scared I was not ready to see
her I didn't think I was still angry at her and
I was almost to the point where I was forgiven
her and I knew the Lord was working on me to
forgive her and I was I Can't remember it to
this day. I'm like Lord. I need a hug. I don't
know what I'm gonna do or say I don't even want
to open that door and He gave me the biggest
hug I could never, I mean, I knew it was a hug.
I felt it was a hug. I just felt a peace and
a calm and a tightness wrapped around me that,
and he said, I got it. So, I mean, she did come.
It was awkward, but it was good. And he allowed
it to be. And today, you know, I led her to the
Lord two years ago. The Lord was gracious enough
to forgive me, and I forgave my mom. He worked
on me and worked on me and helped me to heal.
Now we're friends today. And here we are. We
are friends. She is saved. Now, was I always
that happy to have her around throughout the
time? that she was saved, she was saved two years
ago, Easter. I moved to North Carolina from Florida
and she announced that she was coming up here
as well to live. And I'll be honest, we never
lived in the same city and we could never really
take more of each other than five or six days.
She was manipulative, she was controlling if
things didn't go, I mean, I'd be driving, turn
here. Park here. Let me think for myself, you
know, that's my flesh, you know, after so many
days of hearing that and telling me how I think
and feel and move, I kind of like, okay, I have
enough. But then I have to give it to the Lord
and stop and breathe. And, you know, she was
the only Bible because she was a Catholic, a
diehard Catholic, and they were brought up differently
and so ritualistic. And she held on to those
things. You know, now she was also had a lot
of hurt in her past, too, because they excommunicated
her when she got divorced. So she had a lot of
hurt from the church and she loved all churches
in Christ as the same. And the Lord reminded
me several times throughout my walk with him
in all these years, you know, you treat a stranger
better than you treat her. Ouch. Okay, Lord,
I'm sorry. Help me with that. You know, and then
again, he'd remind me she's the only Bible. You're
the only Bible she see. Okay, Lord, that's a
lot to put on me. But okay. You know, but he
likes our honesty. You know, you have to be honest
with the Lord. You may not always like it. but
he's giving to you and there have been times
where I've sat and then the last thing that I
really had a hard time with is when she announced,
like I said, she's moving up to North Carolina
with us. I'm like, why? Why Lord? I got on my
knees and I'm like, I don't like it one bit.
So am I going to deal with her on a day to day
basis when we can't even stay five days together?
I will understand this, you know, and I'm like
you have a sense of humor and I was I poured
out my heart to him and he was big enough to
take it and until we actually pour our heart
out to him like that garage I was telling you
about to get all those feelings and emotions
that are not of him out We can't be used we can't
be filled. He can't change our hearts. He can't
let forgiveness and healing take place until
we do So, you know, as time went on and she was
preparing to come up here and we were looking
for houses for her, you know, the Lord told me,
you're going to be the key person in her life
that she's going to see me through. And I'm going
to use you for that. I'm like, okay, that was
just a big hefty words and you need to, you're
going to need to do this because I cannot. You
know, you're going to have to show me the error
of my ways. You're going to show me the attitudes
that are going to come with it. And I knew there
was going to be attitudes that come with it because
I'm fleshly. I had hurts, you know, and there
there's even been times when my kids were born
that I had Michael and I had to draw the line,
you know, that she can't be left alone with my
kids. Because she she knows she picks on them,
she hurt them with her. Be with her words and
boundaries had to be set and I wasn't putting
my kids in that I feel so sorry for You know
because she's a product of of how she was raised
Right and and so all her hurts are just projected
of what was hurt her Yes, and the Lord showed
that to me too. Oh man, I feel so bad for her
that she had to go so long before you brought
her to the Lord, that she had to go so long before
she could finally start healing. I'm so grateful
that she got to that. I am too. I am too. I tried
to witness to her. My kids were born, so it had
to been, oh, at least since 2000, I'm going to
say it was before he moved to Pinellas County,
so it was somewhere between 2000 and 2008 somewhere
in there we were going down alligator alley of
Florida From Fort Myers to the other coast and
the alley was the only way to get there Desolate
you broke down there. There was nowhere but swamps
this little highway went right through there
and Anyway, I remember she was driving. I was
witnessing to her and I was telling her, you
know what Jesus Christ did for us and He died
on the cross for us and we were born of Adam
and Eve and we have sin in our life because of
that. They chose to sin and we're all born from
them and I laid it all out and then told her
that Christ didn't want heaven without us and
He died on that cross and took our punishments
for our sins to make us right with the Father
so we could go to heaven and we have full forgiveness.
And I can remember her looking at me and I remember
thinking that's not her face. That's the devil's
face because it almost looked like a gargoyle
when she turned around. She was like seething.
I'm like, Oh, it took me back. And she says,
I'm glad you found your crutch, but I don't eat
one. And I was like, Oh, wow. Okay. And the only
words that I could mutter and I think I even
said them out loud was Lord forgive her. She
doesn't know what she's saying. You know, she
doesn't know and so I prayed for her all these
years and then She announced she was coming and
I was like, oh no, it's real You know and I better
start you know, and that's when the Lord really
revealed to me You thought you've forgiven her
but I don't think you have and that's when the
Lord forgiven, you know showed me I still need
to work on things. I Fought it for a few hours
and probably almost a whole day to be honest
and more than a few hours, but You know, a whole
day before, I finally said, okay, Lord, it's
your will, not mine. She's coming here. You're
going to have to help us live together and you're
going to have to make a way here again. My Bible
verse where there is no way and you're so faithful
to do it all these years. And I know you're going
to do it again. And the biggest joy was to lead
her to the Lord a few years ago. And we, I could
see the Lord changing her. I could see, you know,
we're friends. We do things together on a regular
basis. And it's been a blessing. And she's been,
she recently, she waited a while to get baptized
because she wanted to make sure she knew what
she was doing and understand it all. And she
was baptized last year. It was just a glorious
moment. So are things still perfect between us?
Do we still have issues? Sometimes we do but
now it's different because she's a Christian
and I'm a Christian and now Not only are we just
mother and daughter. We're also sisters in Christ
and we also Really try to please our Savior.
So we both trying to take a step back and we
give each other grace And one day you're gonna
enter eternity together and all that nonsense
will be far far behind you Yes, yes, you know
and I had to heal without the blessing of her
Without her blessing because she for years never
wanted to talk about it I remember she asked
me one time how come you don't like your stepdad
and looked at her in the eyeballs I said, are
you really ready to hear it? And she shuddered
and she said and she's changed a subject so I
guess she went with it But you know and then
that's when the Lord revealed to me you need
to move on you need to heal You need to for you
know, forgive with my help, you know, because
you can't do it on your own without her blessing
and without the blessing of understanding why
all this happened and You know the Lord orchestrated
it, you know last year the year before we had
our talk Completely took me off guard that we
were gonna have that talk and She now understood
why I reacted the way I did all these years and
I understood how she reacted all these years
I still don't know her story behind her but I
do know her mother my grandmother and That was
another heartbreaking moment in my life. My grandmother
was like the best loving person ever but I never
saw her true colors and until one day she stayed
at my house and I saw the manipulation and I
saw the contention and I saw her using my husband
against me at that time and how mean she was.
I was like, it took me, I had to, I remember
standing there blinking like, is that really
my grandmother? Oh my gosh, that is so polar
opposite than what I knew her to be. And I had
to say something to her and I knew I had to.
I was a Christian then and I was like, okay,
you can't stay here. You have to go home now
because I can't allow this in my house. You know,
and that was heartbreaking. So then I kind of
do understand why my mom was the way she was.
That was the only piece I got to see. I understood.
Wow. And you know, like you said earlier, Josh,
that she has her own story, and I don't know
what it was, but the Lord allowed me to see a
little bit of it and how she turned out the way
she did. There is a story behind everybody and
everybody, how they react. You know, grief comes
in different ways. Every person is different.
How we take grief in, how we handle it, how we
live our life. And it's not until the moment
we meet Jesus that we can actually handle grief
the correct way. and He helps us through the
grief. He helps heal us through the grief. He
starts it and he finishes it for us and We may
have to walk through it again You know a couple
two or three times until we have totally forgiven
people and those in our lives that need that
He wants us to forgive So we can be whole and
we can be usable and he promised us to do that
for us and he does And like Paul says in the
New Testament, forgetting the things that are
behind us and focusing on the things in front
of us. And that's what Christ wants us to do.
He doesn't always want us looking in the rear
view mirror and being stuck. I think looking
in the rear view is only acceptable if you want
to compare how far you've come. And to prove
like, hey, he's done it before, God can do it
again. Exactly. Right. Not to dwell on who you
used to be. Right. Yeah. Well, I just wanted
to, like, this has been, like, encouraging because
there are a lot of people who have Catholic relatives
who don't want anything to do with Jesus or the
Church because of their past with the Catholic
Church. And we've had pastors that used to be
Catholic. And, you know, your mom's story, she
used to be Catholic, didn't want anything to
do with the Church. And it just goes to show
that prayers do get answered. And there is hope
for people praying for their relatives that seem
far from the Lord. I know my biological mom,
she grew up Catholic and she doesn't want anything
to do with Jesus. And I'm like, what did they
do to you? So we can just keep praying for people
like that. And because God can change anybody.
Look at Saul, he used to kill Christians and
then He turned into Paul and it's just amazing
what he can do in people's lives. And you get
to have a front row seat eating with popcorn
if you want you to see it. It's really awesome
to watch. Oh, what a relief that must have been
to bring her to the Lord. And then another thing
that I was reminded of when you, a lot of couples
are married. There's a lot to get used to in
the relationship and one of the things I had
to learn was it's not wrong. It's just different
You just have to be happy that you know, for
example, the dishwasher was loaded You know doesn't
matter how as long as all the dishes fit in there
just as it's not wrong. It's just different It
took me a while to learn that yeah, unfortunately,
I'm I'm a hard learner sometimes. Yeah, we all
are Yeah, I had a lot of learning that. And it
was good, though. It's a good lesson to learn.
And I hope people can learn it early on. Yeah.
And I'll never forget one first time learning
it after so many times of Michael showing me
grace. He looked up at me and said, Isn't there
more than one way to do things that we can get
to the end? And it took me and stopped me in
my tracks. I'm like, Wow. Like, I guess. I would
tell Shelly... You're being so nice about it.
Yeah, I was not as gracious as Mike. I would
tell Shelly, like, we could do this two ways.
You can do it or you can have me do it. But if
you tell me how to do it, then you better do
it because you already know the best way. Yeah.
It took him a while to get there. He wasn't always
that nice either. But I think he was so exasperated
he didn't know what else to say. Yeah, I think,
you know, I think that was his desperate way
of saying something has to change and it got
my attention. Yeah. You know, but yeah, he, you
know, and if I wasn't always the one people weren't
going to tell me what to do because I've been
told what to do on my life with my mother, you
know, where to turn, how to turn, when to turn,
what to wear, what, you know, everything. I mean,
so no, don't tell me. And that was my own fleshly
rebellious side. God had to change that because
it was not easy to change perfectionist with
that, you know, much of trying to control everything
either. Yeah, the letting go is hard. And then
another thing I resonated with was you'd have
a whole conversation of how your husband would
react. And then you tell him and he's like, why
would you think that? You know, the whole conversation,
you're like, oh. I'll never forget the time I
told him that. I'm like, I already had the argument
in my head. He goes, what do you mean? I said,
you did it. I argued with you. I had the answer
of everything you were going to come back with,
and I fixed it. He says, all without me present?
I'm like, yep. And at that moment when I was
so proudly telling him that, I'm like, oh, wow,
that really, really stunk. You know, look, you
just left him completely out of life. I'm like,
yeah, OK, that didn't work. Never mind when we
lose the argument and then you're mad at us.
And we have no idea or like why are you mad you're
like you want to know I'm like I have no way
of knowing You're not kidding. There have been
so many times that I was upset with him hold
them off in my head had the argument fixed it
and he had no idea all this had happened and
It was eye -opening. I mean the power of our
minds and our thoughts and where we carry ourselves
to You know, God has really been showing me that
these last several years. Mm -hmm The reason
why the enemy likes to play in our mind It starts
in the mind exactly. Yeah, that's why we have
to choose where we're gonna dwell and You know,
I'm really trying to learn more scripture, you
know, I've always kind of had scripture memory
in my mind, but you know Right now, I think the
Lord is trying to teach me and not be tripped
up. You know, just dwell on scripture, Psalm
91. I'm halfway through remembering that. And
it's been wonderful. And when I go to choose
to dwell on something I shouldn't, I focus back
and try to go back to my scriptures and memorize
that instead of dwelling where my mind shouldn't.
Good tips. Yeah. Elise, thank you so much for
sharing. What would be a very vulnerable past
with us and our listeners? Thank you for being
open and honest about it and on your faith journey
Which clearly has holes in it from you know disbelief
unbelief as you grew into the pastor's wife that
you became I'm very very honored that you shared
your story with us today And I'm very very proud
of how far you've come and that you've allowed
God to manage Despite the fact that you want
to hold the steering wheel I'm really, really,
really proud of you. Thank you. And I'm really
grateful and thankful to be on your show. I've
really enjoyed it myself. Thank you for having
me. Thank you for being with us. And we ask the
audience, if this has blessed you, if someone
came to your mind, we pray that you just pass
this along to them and then they can encourage
them and others. And with that, we will talk
to you next week. Thanks for tuning in to today's
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