WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.580 What do you do when the marriage you begged God 00:00:02.580 --> 00:00:05.540 for feels like it's falling apart? When the person 00:00:05.540 --> 00:00:07.900 you love most suddenly feels like a stranger 00:00:07.900 --> 00:00:11.320 and you're ready to walk away? Today's episode 00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:14.019 isn't just about surviving those moments. It's 00:00:14.019 --> 00:00:16.179 about the God who steps in when we're ready to 00:00:16.179 --> 00:00:19.460 quit. The trial that nearly broke May Daris and 00:00:19.460 --> 00:00:22.260 her husband became the very testimony that launched 00:00:22.260 --> 00:00:25.160 a powerful platform helping couples around the 00:00:25.160 --> 00:00:28.019 globe. If you've ever wondered if restoration 00:00:28.019 --> 00:00:30.539 is possible for you, friend, Don't go anywhere. 00:00:31.059 --> 00:00:33.140 This might be the hope you've been praying for. 00:00:35.560 --> 00:00:38.000 Hey there. Welcome to the God's Goodness Podcast. 00:00:38.420 --> 00:00:40.939 We are your hosts, Josh and Shelly Hankins, and 00:00:40.939 --> 00:00:43.320 we're here to share real stories of God's power, 00:00:43.859 --> 00:00:46.579 stories of hope, healing, and miracles that will 00:00:46.579 --> 00:00:48.979 strengthen your faith. No matter what you're 00:00:48.979 --> 00:00:51.240 walking through, we want to remind you that God 00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:54.119 is good and he's still moving today. Let's dive 00:00:54.119 --> 00:01:03.740 in. Today's guest is Mae Daris, a biblical counselor, 00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:07.019 mentor, and host of a Spanish podcast that points 00:01:07.019 --> 00:01:09.620 people back to the God who is present in every 00:01:09.620 --> 00:01:13.519 detail. Mae's story is unforgettable. At just 00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:16.760 14 years old, God called her to ministry through 00:01:16.760 --> 00:01:19.879 a missionary visiting her school in Mexico, sitting 00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:22.599 in the very same classroom as the boy who would 00:01:22.599 --> 00:01:25.840 one day become her husband. Years later, when 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:28.840 their marriage nearly collapsed, May cried out 00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:31.939 a raw prayer, Lord, if you're really my savior, 00:01:32.299 --> 00:01:35.340 can you save me even when I don't want to? God 00:01:35.340 --> 00:01:38.620 answered. He healed, restored, and turned their 00:01:38.620 --> 00:01:41.480 testimony into a ministry that now equips couples 00:01:41.480 --> 00:01:45.620 across nations. I first met May through the Imagine 00:01:45.620 --> 00:01:48.700 Media podcast community with Genele Samuel, and 00:01:48.700 --> 00:01:52.150 I knew immediately her heart is pure gold. She 00:01:52.150 --> 00:01:55.090 is the perfect person to kick off our new series 00:01:55.090 --> 00:01:57.870 with fellow podcasters advancing the kingdom. 00:01:58.370 --> 00:02:01.230 May, welcome to the show. Would you please start 00:02:01.230 --> 00:02:04.709 us off with an opening prayer? Thank you, Shelley. 00:02:05.090 --> 00:02:08.810 Yes, of course. Father, in this time, we thank 00:02:08.810 --> 00:02:11.330 you for allowing us to be here together. Thank 00:02:11.330 --> 00:02:13.909 you because you have good plans for everyone 00:02:13.909 --> 00:02:16.530 who's listening. Thank you for the opportunity 00:02:16.530 --> 00:02:19.430 to be able to speak today with Josh and Shelley, 00:02:19.569 --> 00:02:22.569 and we look forward to hear your voice. We look 00:02:22.569 --> 00:02:26.009 forward to be led by you because you are present 00:02:26.009 --> 00:02:28.650 in every detail of our lives, God, and you still 00:02:28.650 --> 00:02:32.129 have more for us to accomplish on this earth, 00:02:32.310 --> 00:02:35.889 to have purpose, to reflect your glory, to establish 00:02:35.889 --> 00:02:39.189 your kingdom on this earth. So let this conversation 00:02:39.189 --> 00:02:42.250 be pleasing to you. Let this conversation be 00:02:42.250 --> 00:02:45.810 encouraging to the audience and let us worship 00:02:45.810 --> 00:02:49.229 you in every minute of this time. Thank you, 00:02:49.310 --> 00:02:51.370 Lord. I praise you and I worship you in Jesus' 00:02:51.610 --> 00:02:56.009 name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you. May today 00:02:56.009 --> 00:02:58.830 you boldly share Jesus with women all over the 00:02:58.830 --> 00:03:01.270 world, but that kind of passion usually comes 00:03:01.270 --> 00:03:04.009 from a deep personal encounter. Can you take 00:03:04.009 --> 00:03:06.250 us back to the moment or season when you realized 00:03:06.250 --> 00:03:08.629 God was calling you to share his love and truth 00:03:08.629 --> 00:03:12.750 with others? Yes. Thank you, Shelley. You know, 00:03:13.150 --> 00:03:16.270 the Lord called me to ministry when I was 13 00:03:16.270 --> 00:03:20.969 years old. I was still in school and it was through 00:03:20.969 --> 00:03:23.250 a missionary. I was in a Christian school and 00:03:23.250 --> 00:03:27.000 a missionary came. and she ministered to us, 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:31.000 and I felt the Lord calling me. And it was this 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:35.099 crazy experience where I truly believed I was 00:03:35.099 --> 00:03:38.639 going to become a missionary to China or to India. 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:41.780 Back in that time, I am from Mexico, so I was 00:03:41.780 --> 00:03:46.120 living in Mexico. And little did I know that 00:03:46.120 --> 00:03:49.020 in that same classroom, in that same setting, 00:03:49.099 --> 00:03:52.520 it was my future husband, which at the time, 00:03:52.620 --> 00:03:56.969 we weren't even friends. Wow, I didn't even like 00:03:56.969 --> 00:04:03.110 them very much But a lot has happened since right 00:04:03.110 --> 00:04:07.150 many ups and downs many valleys I have not been 00:04:07.150 --> 00:04:09.849 a missionary in China I have not been a missionary 00:04:09.849 --> 00:04:13.789 in India, but the Lord brought us to the United 00:04:13.789 --> 00:04:16.899 States and what's interesting is that Our church, 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:19.439 my husband is an assistant pastor in a church 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:23.379 now, is so multicultural. We have people from 00:04:23.379 --> 00:04:26.300 all over the world. And now with the Lord allowing 00:04:26.300 --> 00:04:29.660 me to have a podcast in Spanish, and I see the 00:04:29.660 --> 00:04:32.259 different countries where people listen, you're 00:04:32.259 --> 00:04:34.399 like, wow, Lord, you're really accomplishing 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:37.399 your purpose. But in a way that I never imagined 00:04:37.399 --> 00:04:40.339 it to be, you know, in a way that I never thought 00:04:40.339 --> 00:04:43.139 it was going to be that way. So that's kind of 00:04:43.139 --> 00:04:47.680 cool. Wow. That's amazing how you knew him all 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:50.579 those years ago. And then God said, Oh, this 00:04:50.579 --> 00:04:56.399 is your man. Yeah, it didn't happen overnight. 00:04:56.620 --> 00:04:59.560 I was 14. He was 15 when we were in school together. 00:04:59.560 --> 00:05:04.189 And then we part ways when we went to college, 00:05:04.350 --> 00:05:06.449 we went in different colleges. I honestly thought 00:05:06.449 --> 00:05:09.509 I was never going to see him again. But recently 00:05:09.509 --> 00:05:11.910 I was praying to the Lord to help me remember 00:05:11.910 --> 00:05:14.629 certain details from my past because I'm writing 00:05:14.629 --> 00:05:18.290 a book and I want to remember accurate stuff, 00:05:18.370 --> 00:05:21.290 you know? And so I was like, Lord, can you remind 00:05:21.290 --> 00:05:24.970 me how is it that I went from not even liking 00:05:24.970 --> 00:05:28.509 this guy to falling deeply in love with him and 00:05:28.509 --> 00:05:32.110 over heels for him? And I remember, you know, 00:05:32.110 --> 00:05:35.009 he helped me remember that I said a little prayer. 00:05:35.050 --> 00:05:36.750 So we stopped seeing each other for a couple 00:05:36.750 --> 00:05:41.110 of years. And then I needed a job and I was in 00:05:41.110 --> 00:05:45.430 college and there was a conference, spiritual 00:05:45.430 --> 00:05:49.069 war conference near my college. And so my friend 00:05:49.069 --> 00:05:51.389 invited me to go there. And the way she lured 00:05:51.389 --> 00:05:54.250 me in, she said, there's going to be free dinner. 00:05:54.389 --> 00:05:58.689 And being a broke college girl, free dinner was 00:05:58.689 --> 00:06:02.649 like, you know, sweet to my ears so I went there 00:06:02.649 --> 00:06:07.250 and my husband was leading worship and so he 00:06:07.250 --> 00:06:10.709 was leading worship and he saw me I was all the 00:06:10.709 --> 00:06:14.149 way in the back I wanted to just I honestly just 00:06:14.149 --> 00:06:16.990 went there for the food and he saw me and then 00:06:16.990 --> 00:06:19.410 when he stopped playing he came to the back and 00:06:19.410 --> 00:06:22.459 greeted me and invited me for coffee. At that 00:06:22.459 --> 00:06:25.620 time I was resenting the Lord. I had gone through 00:06:25.620 --> 00:06:28.740 a lot of struggle and a lot of pain and I had 00:06:28.740 --> 00:06:32.060 decided to stop going to church. So he invited 00:06:32.060 --> 00:06:34.879 me for coffee next day. We went for coffee and 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:38.819 his mother, he's a pastor's son. So his mother 00:06:38.819 --> 00:06:43.100 was a counselor. And so after we talked and caught 00:06:43.100 --> 00:06:45.439 up, we hadn't seen each other for two or three 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:48.680 years. He said, why don't you talk to my mom? 00:06:48.819 --> 00:06:51.199 And I was like, no, I don't want to go to church. 00:06:51.379 --> 00:06:54.120 I don't want to. I want people telling me I'm 00:06:54.120 --> 00:07:00.050 wrong. No one wants to hear that. Yeah, but he 00:07:00.050 --> 00:07:02.829 convinced me and so I went to talk to my mother 00:07:02.829 --> 00:07:04.310 -in -law who became my mother -in -law in the 00:07:04.310 --> 00:07:06.769 future. She became my counselor first and the 00:07:06.769 --> 00:07:09.050 Lord brought me back to church and the rest is 00:07:09.050 --> 00:07:13.149 history. But through that I needed a job my in 00:07:13.149 --> 00:07:15.089 -laws had at the Christian school. So they gave 00:07:15.089 --> 00:07:17.009 me a job in the Christian school. He was working 00:07:17.009 --> 00:07:19.389 in the Christian school and that's how we started 00:07:19.389 --> 00:07:22.379 a friendship. and then eventually got engaged 00:07:22.379 --> 00:07:25.379 and got married. So what was interesting though 00:07:25.379 --> 00:07:29.139 is that at that time, I really felt that I was 00:07:29.139 --> 00:07:33.939 so unfit to be his wife because he was already 00:07:33.939 --> 00:07:37.160 serving in ministry. He was already like, you 00:07:37.160 --> 00:07:40.139 know, the pastor's kid. He was like so involved 00:07:40.139 --> 00:07:44.620 in church and I was so broken. I had a terrible 00:07:44.620 --> 00:07:48.379 childhood, very difficult. And the Lord literally 00:07:48.379 --> 00:07:52.000 saved my life through my counselor, through the 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:55.420 church, through the community of faith. And so 00:07:55.420 --> 00:08:00.000 I thought I was so unfit for him, like so. I 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:04.600 was so broken that I was not up to par for such 00:08:04.600 --> 00:08:08.620 a great guy. And it has been so gracious from 00:08:08.620 --> 00:08:13.839 the Lord to help me and help us learn that he 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:18.060 is the one who makes beauty from the ashes. He 00:08:18.060 --> 00:08:21.379 is the one who transforms things. He is the one 00:08:21.379 --> 00:08:25.259 and he respects our decisions as well. I mean, 00:08:25.480 --> 00:08:29.420 he was praying for a wife and surely, I'm sure 00:08:29.420 --> 00:08:32.340 his parents wanted like a wife already made, 00:08:32.620 --> 00:08:36.600 you know? already ministry, already, you know, 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:40.820 preaching, teaching, whatever. And he chose me, 00:08:40.820 --> 00:08:43.039 right? But I think that one of the things that 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:46.320 God honored was the fact that I was actively 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:50.659 seeking the Lord. I was actively, you know, passionate 00:08:50.659 --> 00:08:54.419 about Jesus, even though I was so broken. And 00:08:54.419 --> 00:08:57.820 so I believe that the Lord, you know, supported. 00:08:58.839 --> 00:09:01.240 his decision for choosing me and my decision 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:03.419 for choosing him, even though it didn't seem 00:09:03.419 --> 00:09:05.700 at the time that we were at the same level, if 00:09:05.700 --> 00:09:09.440 I can call it like that. And later on, years 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:14.399 later, we had a lot of problems and I think those 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:18.659 kind of problems helped him humble himself because 00:09:18.659 --> 00:09:22.419 he was like this great Christian that had it 00:09:22.419 --> 00:09:26.700 all together. And when he was able to sin in 00:09:26.700 --> 00:09:30.860 ways that hurt our marriage, it was a humbling 00:09:30.860 --> 00:09:35.179 moment for him. to say, I need Jesus to, not 00:09:35.179 --> 00:09:38.179 because I know all of this, not because I know 00:09:38.179 --> 00:09:41.000 how to sing in worship. I'm a worship leader 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:43.820 and this and that. I got it all together. He 00:09:43.820 --> 00:09:47.879 had to learn also that he had to guard his heart. 00:09:48.139 --> 00:09:51.220 right, against sin and against the things of 00:09:51.220 --> 00:09:54.860 this world. And for myself, when I was so broken 00:09:54.860 --> 00:09:57.419 and I worked so hard with the Lord for him to 00:09:57.419 --> 00:10:01.159 heal me and everything, years later I was also 00:10:01.159 --> 00:10:05.029 sinning against my husband. And for me, it was 00:10:05.029 --> 00:10:08.049 an identity issue because I got to a point where 00:10:08.049 --> 00:10:11.889 I thought I was never going to overcome. And 00:10:11.889 --> 00:10:14.389 specifically it was sexual sin. And I thought, 00:10:14.610 --> 00:10:17.210 of course I'm going to deal with sexual sin because 00:10:17.210 --> 00:10:19.850 my mom dealt with it, my father dealt with it, 00:10:19.870 --> 00:10:23.090 my grandparents dealt with it. And so it's just 00:10:23.090 --> 00:10:26.509 a matter of time that I'm going to be sinning 00:10:26.509 --> 00:10:30.429 this way and I won't be able to. You know overcome 00:10:30.429 --> 00:10:34.090 this and and it was a time of of a lot of defeat 00:10:34.090 --> 00:10:38.570 in our marriage And it was embarrassing. It was 00:10:38.570 --> 00:10:41.909 shameful because both of us were serving the 00:10:41.909 --> 00:10:45.490 lord at that time we switched churches and we 00:10:45.490 --> 00:10:48.350 stopped going to church and And we thought we 00:10:48.350 --> 00:10:50.509 were never going to serve the lord ever again. 00:10:50.509 --> 00:10:53.929 Our our marriage got to a point of brokenness 00:10:53.929 --> 00:10:58.509 that it was very embarrassing very shameful because 00:10:58.909 --> 00:11:01.870 In our case, it wasn't a matter of ignorance. 00:11:02.769 --> 00:11:05.690 It was not that we didn't know better. It was 00:11:05.690 --> 00:11:09.610 not, I think it had to do a lot with pride in 00:11:09.610 --> 00:11:13.690 our hearts and selfishness. Little by little, 00:11:13.809 --> 00:11:17.190 it was the little steps that breaks the marriage. 00:11:17.529 --> 00:11:21.309 It's those little foxes that really destroy the 00:11:21.309 --> 00:11:24.929 vineyard. things that I wanted for myself and 00:11:24.929 --> 00:11:28.289 I was thinking about me more than him. I wanted 00:11:28.289 --> 00:11:32.190 to be happy and I thought that pursuing this 00:11:32.190 --> 00:11:35.809 sinful activities were going to make me happier 00:11:35.809 --> 00:11:39.509 because I'm bored in my marriage, because it's 00:11:39.509 --> 00:11:41.850 the same old, same old, you know? And it was 00:11:41.850 --> 00:11:46.049 those little lies, Shelly and Josh, that really 00:11:46.049 --> 00:11:49.700 opened up the doors to the big stuff. And what's 00:11:49.700 --> 00:11:53.740 hard when you are in a leadership position, it's 00:11:53.740 --> 00:11:56.980 very hard to get help because you're the one 00:11:56.980 --> 00:11:58.779 who's supposed to be setting up the example. 00:11:58.940 --> 00:12:00.720 You're the one who's supposed to be leading. 00:12:00.980 --> 00:12:04.519 You're the one who knows better, right? And I'm 00:12:04.519 --> 00:12:07.820 so grateful, so, so grateful that there was a 00:12:07.820 --> 00:12:10.539 couple of people that we were able to reach to. 00:12:11.100 --> 00:12:13.860 And even though our hearts were hardened, even 00:12:13.860 --> 00:12:18.379 though our hearts were not in the best And you 00:12:18.379 --> 00:12:20.840 know what? It's so easy to talk about when somebody 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:23.320 else hurts you, but it's harder to talk when 00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:27.960 it's your own sin that's hurting you. It's so 00:12:27.960 --> 00:12:31.120 easy to give testimony of how God healed you 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:33.980 and helped you overcome this and that when somebody 00:12:33.980 --> 00:12:37.559 else sinned against you. But it's a lot more 00:12:37.559 --> 00:12:41.720 challenging. It's harder. I think it's humbling. 00:12:42.730 --> 00:12:47.029 to be able to say, no, it was my own sin, who 00:12:47.029 --> 00:12:50.490 put me in this position of affliction to the 00:12:50.490 --> 00:12:52.970 point that we were gonna get divorced. Can you 00:12:52.970 --> 00:12:57.909 imagine? We were going to get divorced. Wow. 00:12:59.080 --> 00:13:01.679 If you've been listening for a while, you know 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:04.539 we love sharing stories where God moves in unexpected 00:13:04.539 --> 00:13:07.559 ways. And lately, I've been hearing some powerful 00:13:07.559 --> 00:13:10.559 testimonies from people using the X39 Patch by 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:13.379 Lifewave. It's a little patch about the size 00:13:13.379 --> 00:13:16.179 of a quarter that uses light to support your 00:13:16.179 --> 00:13:19.399 body's natural processes. That's it. Nothing 00:13:19.399 --> 00:13:22.759 goes into your body. No drugs, no injections. 00:13:23.299 --> 00:13:26.059 It's backed by years of research and designed 00:13:26.059 --> 00:13:29.059 to promote general wellness. Now, I can't promise 00:13:29.059 --> 00:13:32.539 results, but what I can say is this. People I 00:13:32.539 --> 00:13:35.159 trust are using this patented technology, as 00:13:35.159 --> 00:13:38.899 well as myself. We're loving it and even building 00:13:38.899 --> 00:13:42.100 an income stream just by sharing it. So if you've 00:13:42.100 --> 00:13:43.960 been praying for something that aligns with your 00:13:43.960 --> 00:13:46.600 values, whether that's for your health or your 00:13:46.600 --> 00:13:49.740 finances, this might be worth exploring. Tap 00:13:49.740 --> 00:13:51.759 the link in our about section to learn more about 00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:58.600 X39. All of that. was very interesting but a 00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:01.039 lot of people think that Christians have it all 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:04.679 together and we're this perfect person and it's 00:14:04.679 --> 00:14:06.539 like no we're dealing with the same problems 00:14:06.539 --> 00:14:09.799 everyone is dealing with and to reach out to 00:14:09.799 --> 00:14:11.879 others it's hard to find like who do I reach 00:14:11.879 --> 00:14:14.899 out to you know where do I even start you know 00:14:14.899 --> 00:14:18.320 like what do I share and who's dealt with this 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:22.759 and it is hard. Because it is hard, you know, 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:25.320 it's like that imposter syndrome Like how could 00:14:25.320 --> 00:14:28.740 me this mess of a person help other people, you 00:14:28.740 --> 00:14:30.419 know after I've been through all these things 00:14:30.419 --> 00:14:33.399 and done all these things But God has that that 00:14:33.399 --> 00:14:38.840 power to transform anybody From a hot mess to 00:14:38.840 --> 00:14:41.120 someone who can lead by example and it's because 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:43.299 of those things that we've gone through that 00:14:43.299 --> 00:14:47.799 make us more I don't know powerful and our ability 00:14:47.799 --> 00:14:51.889 to help others I hear a couple of things in this 00:14:51.889 --> 00:14:54.710 and one is a story where Shelly and I were doing 00:14:54.710 --> 00:14:57.730 a corporate fast together We just her and I and 00:14:57.730 --> 00:15:00.350 she wanted to do four days and I just got off 00:15:00.350 --> 00:15:04.450 of a 40 -day fast Wow, and I was I was scoffing 00:15:04.450 --> 00:15:07.549 in my head, you know like four like that's nothing 00:15:07.549 --> 00:15:09.190 like what are you gonna get what kind of results 00:15:09.190 --> 00:15:12.600 are you gonna get with four days and I walked 00:15:12.600 --> 00:15:15.200 into the kitchen and I got instant revelation 00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:18.779 that from God, that four days is like 40 days 00:15:18.779 --> 00:15:20.940 for a married couple, because it's exponentially 00:15:20.940 --> 00:15:23.500 more powerful to have a spouse pray with you 00:15:23.500 --> 00:15:25.500 know that built in where two or more come in 00:15:25.500 --> 00:15:27.559 my name. And it's one of the reasons why the 00:15:27.559 --> 00:15:30.700 devil attacks marriages. So roughly why attacks 00:15:30.700 --> 00:15:33.019 that he's so tenacious about destroying marriage, 00:15:33.019 --> 00:15:35.799 because once he separates you, it's one on one. 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:39.179 But when it's both of you, it's 40 on one. And 00:15:39.179 --> 00:15:41.840 it's a lot harder for him to go after a platoon 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:43.940 size element than it is for him to go after a 00:15:43.940 --> 00:15:47.759 single individual like the sick fat calf that's 00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:49.500 cut off from the herd. It's a lot easier for 00:15:49.500 --> 00:15:51.159 him to pick on the outskirts than it is for him 00:15:51.159 --> 00:15:54.179 to dive right into the middle. And so, you know, 00:15:54.299 --> 00:15:55.519 we've gone through, you know, we've been married 00:15:55.519 --> 00:15:58.139 15 years, we've gone through many, many an attack. 00:15:58.200 --> 00:15:59.820 And so we can relate to a lot of what you're 00:15:59.820 --> 00:16:02.580 saying we know. And the other part is when you 00:16:02.580 --> 00:16:04.440 hit that rock bottom, you know, that Christians 00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:09.269 also hit, there's a resource that we have that 00:16:09.269 --> 00:16:11.429 non Christians also have, but they refuse to 00:16:11.429 --> 00:16:15.149 use. And that's Jesus. We have Jesus on our side. 00:16:15.190 --> 00:16:17.070 They do too. They just don't acknowledge it. 00:16:17.070 --> 00:16:18.870 They won't accept it. They don't want to know 00:16:18.870 --> 00:16:20.450 that there's a God that loves them. Because as 00:16:20.450 --> 00:16:22.389 you said, it calls out their sin, it calls out 00:16:22.389 --> 00:16:25.769 what they're doing wrong. And so we have this 00:16:25.769 --> 00:16:27.870 resource that we can come and humbly say, Oh, 00:16:27.970 --> 00:16:31.590 Papa, I messed up. You know, Jesus, I don't know 00:16:31.590 --> 00:16:33.570 what's going on with me. I'm like a crazy person. 00:16:33.649 --> 00:16:35.899 Please help me. And this is something that other 00:16:35.899 --> 00:16:39.000 people just don't do. And yeah, we are we are 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:41.120 just as imperfect as the rest of the world, but 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:45.299 we have perfection to help us. Amen. Amen. And 00:16:45.299 --> 00:16:48.700 it's just so beautiful because Jesus became our 00:16:48.700 --> 00:16:52.299 lifeline. And what's remarkable is that he became 00:16:52.299 --> 00:16:56.539 our lifeline even when we were hesitant to hold 00:16:56.539 --> 00:17:00.659 on to it. Because when we were at the point of 00:17:00.659 --> 00:17:03.379 getting divorced, I was looking for attorneys. 00:17:03.460 --> 00:17:07.420 We were living in the U .S. already. And it was 00:17:07.420 --> 00:17:10.420 almost like in my imagination, I say sometimes 00:17:10.420 --> 00:17:14.019 you have to use your holy imagination. I was 00:17:14.019 --> 00:17:18.400 seeing Jesus as this lifeline wrapping around 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:25.000 my body, my wrists and holding me. And me almost 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:28.910 like letting go grip with my hands. and saying 00:17:28.910 --> 00:17:32.569 I can't I can't do this and maybe I don't even 00:17:32.569 --> 00:17:38.470 want to do it but if you live in me if you are 00:17:38.470 --> 00:17:44.009 truly my savior can you save me even when I don't 00:17:44.009 --> 00:17:48.549 want to and I know that's a crazy prayer but 00:17:48.549 --> 00:17:52.289 can I suggest that God allows sometimes space 00:17:52.289 --> 00:17:56.640 for crazy prayers? where you understand that 00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:59.980 your flesh is winning, but is the power of the 00:17:59.980 --> 00:18:03.000 Holy Spirit living in you who's saying, no, no, 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:08.859 no. I am your savior even in your worst. I chose 00:18:08.859 --> 00:18:13.119 to love you even when you were still sinning. 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:16.400 I'm not choosing to love you or to save you when 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:20.200 you're all cleaned up and just crying out to 00:18:20.200 --> 00:18:23.579 me with pretty prayers. And so for me, in that 00:18:23.579 --> 00:18:27.240 season, it was that. It was really messy. It 00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:30.640 was knowing the power, that power, Josh, that 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:33.500 you talk about, oh my goodness, you hit it on 00:18:33.500 --> 00:18:36.880 the nail, you know, because we had had before 00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:39.400 that, we were involved in marriage ministry. 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:44.000 And there was a lot of like even prophecies and 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:46.819 words of knowledge and a lot of things that spoke 00:18:46.819 --> 00:18:48.640 to our marriage about how the Lord was going 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:52.720 to use our marriage. And yet we are here in 2010, 00:18:53.059 --> 00:18:56.160 completely defeated, completely, you know, all 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:59.000 our dreams shattered. We were completely lost 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:03.799 because when you sin will never satisfy you. 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:08.339 Sin will always destroy you. And yet you cling 00:19:08.339 --> 00:19:12.460 to it as if that's the thing I need in order 00:19:12.460 --> 00:19:15.700 to be happy. Yes. Sin feels like freedom until 00:19:15.700 --> 00:19:21.180 you try to stop. Yes. Yes, absolutely, absolutely. 00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:25.119 So because of the Holy Spirit living in us, to 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:28.900 your point that what we have is Jesus, I think 00:19:28.900 --> 00:19:31.440 that was literally our lifeline even when we 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:34.400 didn't want to at times. And what was interesting 00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:36.799 is that for one day I would wake up and would 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:39.000 say, okay, yeah, I'm going to fight for our marriage 00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:40.849 and we're going to get through this. And then 00:19:40.849 --> 00:19:42.950 the next day I was like, no, that's it, we're 00:19:42.950 --> 00:19:45.329 done. And then my husband was experiencing the 00:19:45.329 --> 00:19:48.089 same thing. We were never on the same page. It 00:19:48.089 --> 00:19:51.390 was never a moment where we both were like, okay, 00:19:51.589 --> 00:19:54.150 we're gonna fight for this, right? Our hearts 00:19:54.150 --> 00:19:57.150 were hardened. And that's what happens when your 00:19:57.150 --> 00:20:01.750 heart is hardened. You want to defend yourself 00:20:01.750 --> 00:20:05.529 more than the marriage. You want to be right. 00:20:05.710 --> 00:20:09.089 You fight for your happiness, quote unquote, 00:20:09.250 --> 00:20:14.049 but you're digging a deeper hole. And so the 00:20:14.049 --> 00:20:18.630 fact that we had the knowledge of the truth was 00:20:18.630 --> 00:20:23.589 not saving us in the terms of our hearts were 00:20:23.589 --> 00:20:27.250 hardened. So we were not allowing the truth of 00:20:27.250 --> 00:20:31.470 the word of God to penetrate and do the life 00:20:31.470 --> 00:20:34.809 giving thing that it was going to do. We needed 00:20:34.809 --> 00:20:38.890 help from someone else and I think that it was 00:20:38.890 --> 00:20:41.809 just the Holy Spirit, His power who held us. 00:20:42.289 --> 00:20:45.710 It was His Consciousness at what time I was saying, 00:20:46.390 --> 00:20:48.690 I can't believe Lord that you brought us to this 00:20:48.690 --> 00:20:51.930 country to save my daughter's life because that's 00:20:51.930 --> 00:20:54.789 the reason we came here. And now her soul is 00:20:54.789 --> 00:20:56.910 going to be lost because now he's going to be 00:20:56.910 --> 00:20:59.990 one more of the statistics of divorced parents. 00:21:00.349 --> 00:21:03.450 and now our marriage is gonna be lost. I can't 00:21:03.450 --> 00:21:07.150 believe this is gonna happen. And in the sweet 00:21:07.150 --> 00:21:09.630 voice of the Holy Spirit, he told me, because 00:21:09.630 --> 00:21:12.869 I'm a very straightforward person, I don't understand 00:21:12.869 --> 00:21:15.970 run arounds. I need to hear like straightforward 00:21:15.970 --> 00:21:19.089 messages, like even in my, you know, day -to 00:21:19.089 --> 00:21:22.250 -day relationships. And so I heard his voice 00:21:22.250 --> 00:21:26.970 saying, it's not me doing this to you. It's your 00:21:26.970 --> 00:21:30.930 heart that is like a stone. And I was outside 00:21:30.930 --> 00:21:34.430 in my garden. I literally saw like a big boulder 00:21:34.430 --> 00:21:37.990 in the gardens. And I thought to myself, that's 00:21:37.990 --> 00:21:41.190 my heart right now. It's like this big boulder 00:21:41.190 --> 00:21:45.210 that is not allowing anything new to grow from 00:21:45.210 --> 00:21:48.130 the ground. It's keeping everything underneath 00:21:48.130 --> 00:21:53.069 dead. And it was that little moment of illumination, 00:21:53.269 --> 00:21:56.210 of revelation, of rescue from the Holy Spirit. 00:21:56.680 --> 00:21:59.660 where I picked up the phone and instead of calling 00:21:59.660 --> 00:22:02.299 the attorney that I was trying to talk to, I 00:22:02.299 --> 00:22:05.619 called this mentor that I hadn't spoken to her 00:22:05.619 --> 00:22:09.299 for years. And I started crying and I said, you 00:22:09.299 --> 00:22:11.279 know, my husband and I are going to get divorced 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:13.559 and I don't know why, but I just wanted to let 00:22:13.559 --> 00:22:16.180 you know. And she knew us since we were teenagers. 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:20.240 And she started crying and she started praying 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:23.079 for us and she offered us Biblical counseling. 00:22:23.700 --> 00:22:27.440 And that's what started everything. That's where 00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:31.420 we started turning the corner. She suggested 00:22:31.420 --> 00:22:34.279 that my husband would speak to her husband. And 00:22:34.279 --> 00:22:36.460 when I first suggested it to my husband, I think 00:22:36.460 --> 00:22:39.400 I even suggested it with a wrong attitude. I 00:22:39.400 --> 00:22:41.940 think it was like, you know, because you're wrong 00:22:41.940 --> 00:22:47.099 and you need to talk to somebody. Telling you 00:22:47.099 --> 00:22:48.980 you're the problem and you're like, you're also 00:22:48.980 --> 00:22:53.509 the problem, buddy. Yeah, yeah. So it wasn't 00:22:53.509 --> 00:22:58.349 even pretty, you know? It was like that. But 00:22:58.349 --> 00:23:01.529 it was those moments of life giving from Holy 00:23:01.529 --> 00:23:05.750 Spirit, from Him just really rescuing us in our 00:23:05.750 --> 00:23:10.150 worst moments. Where I don't know, He inclined 00:23:10.150 --> 00:23:12.509 His heart and my husband, I think it was the 00:23:12.509 --> 00:23:15.130 counselor, our friend, they're our friends now, 00:23:16.089 --> 00:23:18.170 that He called him and my husband decided to 00:23:18.170 --> 00:23:21.099 pick up the phone. And we started having counseling 00:23:21.099 --> 00:23:24.099 separately because we couldn't even agree together 00:23:24.099 --> 00:23:27.299 to have counseling. Again, we knew so much Bible 00:23:27.299 --> 00:23:31.279 that it would become a battle of Bible verses, 00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:36.839 you know, just to defend your position and to 00:23:36.839 --> 00:23:41.019 justify yourself and justify your sin. And so 00:23:41.019 --> 00:23:44.900 how important it is to not weaponize scripture, 00:23:45.240 --> 00:23:48.859 to not weaponize knowledge. to not weaponize 00:23:48.859 --> 00:23:52.539 that. Whenever we turn it into a self thing, 00:23:52.839 --> 00:23:55.839 to a self -centered thing, that's where we should 00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:59.279 know we're off. It's no longer about him. It's 00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:02.940 no longer about his kingdom. And so, yeah, go 00:24:02.940 --> 00:24:05.119 ahead. I was just gonna say, you know, there's 00:24:05.119 --> 00:24:07.220 two ways to study the Bible, and I just learned 00:24:07.220 --> 00:24:10.099 this the other day. There's a method called exegesis 00:24:10.099 --> 00:24:12.680 and a method called eisegesis. And the method 00:24:12.680 --> 00:24:15.799 of exegesis is you study the Bible to understand 00:24:15.799 --> 00:24:18.930 it. Which is what you should do as a pastor as 00:24:18.930 --> 00:24:22.450 a as a parishioner as a regular Christian But 00:24:22.450 --> 00:24:25.069 I said Jesus is you use a Bible passage to support 00:24:25.069 --> 00:24:28.130 your own ideology You'll see it often uses an 00:24:28.130 --> 00:24:30.470 attack, but you also see it used by the church 00:24:30.470 --> 00:24:32.849 You know when they have a belief system that 00:24:32.849 --> 00:24:35.029 so -and -so should be excluded or so -and -so 00:24:35.029 --> 00:24:37.670 It says such -and -such and they're just quoting 00:24:37.670 --> 00:24:40.210 a Bible passage out of context to support their 00:24:40.210 --> 00:24:43.259 ideology. It is a very dangerous a way to perceive 00:24:43.259 --> 00:24:46.440 it. And, you know, you were mentioning how you 00:24:46.440 --> 00:24:48.940 were, you know, reading it and trying to get 00:24:48.940 --> 00:24:51.319 meaning out of it. And that's differently than 00:24:51.319 --> 00:24:54.859 trying to understand it. Correct. Correct. And 00:24:54.859 --> 00:24:57.079 it's so dangerous, especially when your heart 00:24:57.079 --> 00:24:59.640 is hardened. Right. Especially when you're not 00:24:59.640 --> 00:25:04.700 humble enough to be taught and corrected and 00:25:04.700 --> 00:25:09.740 encouraged by his word. And so that's how cults 00:25:09.740 --> 00:25:13.099 are made. Right? When they instead of doing proper 00:25:13.099 --> 00:25:16.519 exegesis, they just take Bible verses out of 00:25:16.519 --> 00:25:20.599 context and they form a whole new religion, a 00:25:20.599 --> 00:25:23.359 whole new cult out of it and they use it for 00:25:23.359 --> 00:25:26.859 their own personal advantage and their own personal 00:25:26.859 --> 00:25:30.119 gain and to oppress others. And so it's very 00:25:30.119 --> 00:25:33.339 easy to see it in a cultish type of way. It's 00:25:33.339 --> 00:25:36.519 harder when it's about your own heart and your 00:25:36.519 --> 00:25:40.940 own relationships. But we can do the same thing 00:25:40.940 --> 00:25:45.740 as Christians, you know, we run the risk to do 00:25:45.740 --> 00:25:48.339 the same thing. And that's why to me it's so 00:25:48.339 --> 00:25:50.980 important to understand the value of community, 00:25:51.700 --> 00:25:55.240 the value of mature Christians that can speak 00:25:55.240 --> 00:25:58.039 into your life and show you what's already there 00:25:58.039 --> 00:26:01.480 in scripture, but that you have maybe a blind 00:26:01.480 --> 00:26:04.200 spot. You're so set on your ways, especially 00:26:04.200 --> 00:26:06.359 in a marriage relationship, for instance, right? 00:26:06.440 --> 00:26:09.980 When we get into a moment of, I'm fighting for 00:26:09.980 --> 00:26:12.920 my own side that you have to cross over to this 00:26:12.920 --> 00:26:15.160 side and agree with me and tell me I'm right. 00:26:15.259 --> 00:26:17.180 And you acknowledge that you're wrong, right? 00:26:17.240 --> 00:26:20.160 Because it's not enough for us to hear that you're 00:26:20.160 --> 00:26:23.019 right. You want the other person to say, I am 00:26:23.019 --> 00:26:25.319 wrong, you are right. And we almost want them 00:26:25.319 --> 00:26:31.299 to say, I bow down to your righteousness. But 00:26:31.299 --> 00:26:34.420 how beautiful it is when there's a community, 00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:37.480 when there's, I'm so grateful. I don't even know. 00:26:37.619 --> 00:26:40.579 I can't literally remember. How is it possible 00:26:40.579 --> 00:26:42.720 that after so many years not talking to this 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:46.200 person, I thought about that person. I'm sure 00:26:46.200 --> 00:26:49.380 it was Holy Spirit. And to just reach out to 00:26:49.380 --> 00:26:52.079 her, you know, because we also reach out. I also 00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:54.240 reach out to another couple that were in marriage 00:26:54.240 --> 00:26:57.400 ministry. And all I got from her was like, I'm 00:26:57.400 --> 00:27:01.200 so sorry. Like, oh, you know, like, okay, you're 00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:04.079 gonna divorce, I'm so sorry. And I was so discouraged 00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:08.299 by that. And I don't know, God was just so merciful, 00:27:08.579 --> 00:27:13.000 so gracious. It took us about maybe a year and 00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:17.039 a half, close to two years. to fully recover, 00:27:17.119 --> 00:27:19.880 if I can call it like that. However, our lives 00:27:19.880 --> 00:27:23.599 change forever. There are things that now we 00:27:23.599 --> 00:27:26.519 protect our marriage in ways that we didn't know 00:27:26.519 --> 00:27:31.539 we needed to protect. We took resolutions and 00:27:31.539 --> 00:27:36.420 decisions of how to really treat our marriage 00:27:36.420 --> 00:27:41.819 as a sacred thing, a sacred gift from God and 00:27:41.819 --> 00:27:46.230 understand the depth of covenant. covenant relationship 00:27:46.230 --> 00:27:49.230 and how God is the one who holds our covenant 00:27:49.230 --> 00:27:52.710 together and so we had to take practical steps 00:27:52.710 --> 00:27:55.750 right practical things so there are spiritual 00:27:55.750 --> 00:27:58.650 decisions that we made like we try to pray together 00:27:58.650 --> 00:28:01.670 we study the Bible together we don't do it super 00:28:01.670 --> 00:28:04.029 often and we're not like great are doing it every 00:28:04.029 --> 00:28:06.410 day but we we understand the power that Josh 00:28:06.410 --> 00:28:09.349 was talking about in the beginning And it's true. 00:28:10.170 --> 00:28:12.410 We practically speaking, for instance, we let 00:28:12.410 --> 00:28:15.069 go of passwords, so we don't have passwords. 00:28:15.390 --> 00:28:17.289 His phone doesn't have a password that I don't 00:28:17.289 --> 00:28:18.950 know. My phone doesn't have a password that he 00:28:18.950 --> 00:28:21.809 doesn't know. Same thing with our emails. And 00:28:21.809 --> 00:28:24.710 several things, right? Decisions for quite a 00:28:24.710 --> 00:28:28.819 while. My job included traveling. And so I stopped 00:28:28.819 --> 00:28:33.619 traveling and things that we decided to do, but 00:28:33.619 --> 00:28:38.759 rooted in the truth of God, covenantal relationship 00:28:38.759 --> 00:28:41.740 and marriage, how beautiful and sacred his gift 00:28:41.740 --> 00:28:46.480 is, not in rules and regulations that, oh, now 00:28:46.480 --> 00:28:49.700 I have to follow this, no. God had to change 00:28:49.700 --> 00:28:54.420 our hearts first before we could make any practical 00:28:55.540 --> 00:28:59.599 changes to protect their marriage. This reminds 00:28:59.599 --> 00:29:02.720 me of a couple things I learned early on in the 00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:06.039 marriage. You are on the same team. You're not 00:29:06.039 --> 00:29:08.680 fighting each other. You are fighting evil entities 00:29:08.680 --> 00:29:12.160 coming against your marriage. And another thing 00:29:12.160 --> 00:29:15.980 was choose your heart because if there are kids 00:29:15.980 --> 00:29:18.259 involved and there's divorce, you're going to 00:29:18.259 --> 00:29:22.460 have to have separate holidays, travel arrangements, 00:29:22.779 --> 00:29:26.140 living arrangements. You know, that's a lot of 00:29:26.140 --> 00:29:30.180 work and that is hard. And if you're staying 00:29:30.180 --> 00:29:34.640 together, then the hard could be working on the 00:29:34.640 --> 00:29:38.119 marriage and fighting the enemy and bringing 00:29:38.119 --> 00:29:41.900 God into it to heal it. And so choose your hard 00:29:41.900 --> 00:29:45.910 and remember you're on the same team. Yes, yes. 00:29:46.130 --> 00:29:47.869 And from time to time, it's hard to remember 00:29:47.869 --> 00:29:52.130 that. But prayer really helps us because when 00:29:52.130 --> 00:29:55.630 we pray together and He's able to hear my heart 00:29:55.630 --> 00:29:58.529 as I'm pouring out to the Lord, and I'm able 00:29:58.529 --> 00:30:02.130 to hear His heart as He's pouring out to the 00:30:02.130 --> 00:30:06.650 Lord, that does something so powerful to my brain 00:30:06.650 --> 00:30:09.470 and my heart where I can say, oh yeah, we're 00:30:09.470 --> 00:30:13.180 on the same team. We were not destined to be 00:30:13.180 --> 00:30:17.099 against each other, you know, and that really, 00:30:17.099 --> 00:30:19.779 really helps me to get out of the funk whenever 00:30:19.779 --> 00:30:22.359 I want to go back to a certain form. By the grace 00:30:22.359 --> 00:30:25.480 of God, never again we had struggled with the 00:30:25.480 --> 00:30:28.240 things we struggled at that time. One of the 00:30:28.240 --> 00:30:31.000 decisions we made was to take the word divorce 00:30:31.000 --> 00:30:35.279 out of our vocabulary. And I had to train my 00:30:35.279 --> 00:30:37.400 brain. I literally had to train my brain because 00:30:37.400 --> 00:30:40.960 I come from my parents divorced, and then they 00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:43.599 remarried to different spouses, and then they 00:30:43.599 --> 00:30:46.660 divorced again. So I come from, you know, divorce, 00:30:46.819 --> 00:30:49.880 it was a commonality, right, in my lineage and 00:30:49.880 --> 00:30:55.220 my heritage. I had to train my brain with the 00:30:55.220 --> 00:30:57.819 power of the Holy Spirit and say no, I'm going 00:30:57.819 --> 00:31:00.920 to, whenever we have issues and problems, I'm 00:31:00.920 --> 00:31:04.460 going to choose to not think about the word divorce. 00:31:05.279 --> 00:31:08.559 I'm going to choose to think about how God wants 00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:12.420 to help me change, you know, find the solution. 00:31:12.920 --> 00:31:15.380 What does he want to change in me? How am I supposed 00:31:15.380 --> 00:31:18.140 to grow in this, right? Choose in what you're 00:31:18.140 --> 00:31:21.660 going to think and choose what vocabulary you're 00:31:21.660 --> 00:31:24.440 going to take out of, you know, your brain. And 00:31:24.440 --> 00:31:28.480 so, by the grace of God, it's been over 15 years. 00:31:28.730 --> 00:31:32.109 We are involved in marriage ministry again. He 00:31:32.109 --> 00:31:35.750 rescued us in ways that we never imagined, right, 00:31:35.750 --> 00:31:38.470 that he would. Because for a time we thought, 00:31:38.470 --> 00:31:43.029 okay, ministry is over. You know, we were too 00:31:43.029 --> 00:31:46.789 damaged to serve the Lord. So we just become 00:31:46.789 --> 00:31:49.950 a regular Sunday attendee and, you know, and 00:31:49.950 --> 00:31:52.829 give our tithing offerings and that's that. But 00:31:52.829 --> 00:31:57.130 it's so awesome when God chooses differently. 00:31:57.720 --> 00:32:01.839 and it's humbling and it's just it just makes 00:32:01.839 --> 00:32:05.500 you stand in awe of your savior you know and 00:32:05.500 --> 00:32:10.720 say wow you are choosing me to be your instrument 00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:13.859 in your hands and it's it's been just gorgeous 00:32:14.700 --> 00:32:17.039 You already know we only talk about things here 00:32:17.039 --> 00:32:19.539 that align with our values. 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It's simple, 00:32:46.839 --> 00:32:49.259 it's honest, and it's working for a lot of people. 00:32:49.839 --> 00:32:51.720 So if you've been looking for a wellness company 00:32:51.720 --> 00:32:54.200 that reflects your values and fits your lifestyle, 00:32:54.920 --> 00:32:57.299 this might be the nudge you need. Tap the link 00:32:57.299 --> 00:32:59.640 in our About section and explore LiveGood for 00:32:59.640 --> 00:33:05.279 yourself. By the grace of God, we are part of 00:33:05.279 --> 00:33:08.299 a ministry that is called Missionaries to Marriages 00:33:08.299 --> 00:33:12.480 and this ministry is focused on bringing this 00:33:12.480 --> 00:33:15.240 marriage course to all the parts of the world, 00:33:15.400 --> 00:33:19.130 especially those where they cannot afford. to 00:33:19.130 --> 00:33:22.410 purchase nothing, right? And so we have trained 00:33:22.410 --> 00:33:26.230 couples. Our last training was in five different 00:33:26.230 --> 00:33:29.369 countries. We train pastors and we train because 00:33:29.369 --> 00:33:31.809 what we want to do through this ministry, we 00:33:31.809 --> 00:33:34.369 are part of it. There is Joe and Stephanie are 00:33:34.369 --> 00:33:37.410 the leaders. We want to put them in their hands, 00:33:37.490 --> 00:33:40.210 in the hands of the pastors and train them for 00:33:40.210 --> 00:33:43.490 them to cultivate it within their communities 00:33:43.490 --> 00:33:46.980 and their churches. So you have you know this 00:33:46.980 --> 00:33:50.559 marriage course in Pakistan and in the mountains 00:33:50.559 --> 00:33:55.359 of Argentina and in Cuba and you know from time 00:33:55.359 --> 00:33:57.700 to time when we do training we also share our 00:33:57.700 --> 00:34:00.980 testimony and I start crying but because I'm 00:34:00.980 --> 00:34:04.700 so I don't have any other words to say but in 00:34:04.700 --> 00:34:11.090 awe of saying God how is it possible that you 00:34:11.090 --> 00:34:15.489 still choose us and that you still want us and 00:34:15.489 --> 00:34:19.750 that you still love us and that you still bring 00:34:19.750 --> 00:34:24.750 your worth forth through us and it's just gratitude 00:34:24.750 --> 00:34:30.030 and such an encouragement to not want to go back. 00:34:30.789 --> 00:34:34.369 I see I look back at that period of our time 00:34:34.369 --> 00:34:38.750 with our lives with such funk and sin and ugliness 00:34:38.750 --> 00:34:42.769 and And I'm like, no, I don't want that anymore. 00:34:43.250 --> 00:34:45.210 Now, again, not to say that we don't have to 00:34:45.210 --> 00:34:48.110 stay vigilant because I believe in that. I believe 00:34:48.110 --> 00:34:51.110 you have to guard your heart. I believe you have 00:34:51.110 --> 00:34:55.269 to stay, you know, fighting against the enemy 00:34:55.269 --> 00:34:57.690 because he's going to try to come back around. 00:34:57.789 --> 00:34:59.349 You know, you close the front door and he's going 00:34:59.349 --> 00:35:01.630 to try to walk through the back door or the doggy 00:35:01.630 --> 00:35:07.420 door. But experiencing the goodness of God and 00:35:07.420 --> 00:35:10.400 how he's able to turn your mess into your message. 00:35:10.519 --> 00:35:14.119 I'm going to use a cliche right now. Your painting 00:35:14.119 --> 00:35:18.019 to purpose is just so beautiful that it also 00:35:18.019 --> 00:35:20.300 gives you the strength to say, I don't want to 00:35:20.300 --> 00:35:23.739 go back to that. I really don't. This is beautiful. 00:35:23.860 --> 00:35:27.880 This is awesome. It amazes me that you knew the 00:35:27.880 --> 00:35:33.079 word and all those examples of You're like, I'm 00:35:33.079 --> 00:35:35.719 not good enough to be used by God, but then he 00:35:35.719 --> 00:35:39.940 used murderers, prostitutes, all the likes. And 00:35:39.940 --> 00:35:42.300 they also felt the same exact thing, like God 00:35:42.300 --> 00:35:46.119 can't use me, you know. And it's just a testimony 00:35:46.119 --> 00:35:50.400 that he can use anybody who's willing and able 00:35:50.400 --> 00:35:56.360 to walk in the way he guides us. Amen. Do you 00:35:56.360 --> 00:35:58.780 have any other tips? I know you mentioned that 00:35:58.780 --> 00:36:01.199 you guys were praying together. and then you 00:36:01.199 --> 00:36:04.300 did some counseling. Anything else that you would 00:36:04.300 --> 00:36:07.460 advise people that want to restore their marriage? 00:36:08.820 --> 00:36:12.699 Choose to humble yourself. If you can start by 00:36:12.699 --> 00:36:16.199 choosing to humble yourself, and that means if 00:36:16.199 --> 00:36:22.840 you choose to be okay with not being the one 00:36:22.840 --> 00:36:27.199 that is completely right in the room. Choose 00:36:27.199 --> 00:36:32.119 to say, There are things I have to learn and 00:36:32.119 --> 00:36:36.860 my spouse is not completely wrong because I think 00:36:36.860 --> 00:36:40.719 that it starts by those little things where I 00:36:40.719 --> 00:36:44.300 stand firm in what I want, how I want it, the 00:36:44.300 --> 00:36:47.340 desires of what the things that I want start 00:36:47.340 --> 00:36:51.539 consuming me. They start taking precedent over 00:36:51.539 --> 00:36:55.860 my relationship. The Bible says that we should 00:36:55.860 --> 00:36:59.119 value others more than ourselves. And if you 00:36:59.119 --> 00:37:01.519 think about it, when we start fighting, even 00:37:01.519 --> 00:37:05.239 in the smallest things, we start choosing ourselves 00:37:05.239 --> 00:37:10.099 before the other person. We value ourselves more, 00:37:10.219 --> 00:37:14.460 our opinion more, us being right, us wanting 00:37:14.460 --> 00:37:20.159 this, us more than our spouse. And that's the 00:37:20.159 --> 00:37:22.300 reason why, when Paul is teaching this, I think 00:37:22.300 --> 00:37:24.780 it's in Ephesians, he's giving the example of 00:37:24.780 --> 00:37:28.300 Jesus and saying, no, you valuing others more 00:37:28.300 --> 00:37:32.059 than yourself should look like Jesus. When he, 00:37:32.059 --> 00:37:37.099 being God, chose to stop being God and came to 00:37:37.099 --> 00:37:40.179 us as a human being, that's how much you should 00:37:40.179 --> 00:37:43.460 value the other person more than yourself. I 00:37:43.460 --> 00:37:46.380 think that we can start by making a decision 00:37:46.380 --> 00:37:49.619 because When we get into entanglements in marriage, 00:37:49.960 --> 00:37:54.579 we get so caught up by our feelings or many times 00:37:54.579 --> 00:37:57.280 men get so caught up by their reasoning, their 00:37:57.280 --> 00:38:02.380 logic. So we can get caught by logic or feelings. 00:38:03.059 --> 00:38:07.519 But if we can use this beautiful thing that is 00:38:07.519 --> 00:38:11.639 volition, that is choice that God gave us. He 00:38:11.639 --> 00:38:14.980 didn't give that to any other living creature. 00:38:15.739 --> 00:38:20.460 He gave human beings volition, choice. And you 00:38:20.460 --> 00:38:24.420 can choose, regardless of how you feel, that 00:38:24.420 --> 00:38:27.900 you're gonna value your spouse more and therefore 00:38:27.900 --> 00:38:31.960 you're gonna create the space for asking for 00:38:31.960 --> 00:38:36.940 help or prayer or having a conversation or creating 00:38:36.940 --> 00:38:40.780 space for a solution. But it's so hard to create 00:38:40.780 --> 00:38:44.239 a space for solution when we are not valuing 00:38:44.239 --> 00:38:47.860 our spouse more. And the only way that I have 00:38:47.860 --> 00:38:51.679 found that that is possible is by humbling ourselves 00:38:51.679 --> 00:38:55.300 and saying, you know, there might be something 00:38:55.300 --> 00:38:59.079 I'm not seeing. Let me humble myself. Let me 00:38:59.079 --> 00:39:03.670 think about myself. less, not less in terms of 00:39:03.670 --> 00:39:07.429 diminishing myself, but in quantity of time. 00:39:08.570 --> 00:39:12.010 And let me think about my spouse more and value 00:39:12.010 --> 00:39:16.329 her or her more and make space for whatever it 00:39:16.329 --> 00:39:21.670 is that we need to grow. Mm -hmm. That reminds 00:39:21.670 --> 00:39:25.670 me of this one book I bought and I've been going 00:39:25.670 --> 00:39:28.630 through ever since. It's called Pray for Him. 00:39:29.050 --> 00:39:33.769 And one of the prayers is, help me love him like 00:39:33.769 --> 00:39:40.730 you love him, Lord. Because he knows the person 00:39:40.730 --> 00:39:44.250 he was meant to be, and I don't, but help me 00:39:44.250 --> 00:39:48.110 see it and treat him like that, like he's supposed 00:39:48.110 --> 00:39:52.789 to be treated. Yeah. Yeah. Back in that time, 00:39:52.829 --> 00:39:55.869 years ago, I did this devotional for wives, praying 00:39:55.869 --> 00:39:57.590 wives, right? Because then you say, pray for 00:39:57.590 --> 00:39:59.909 your husband or in the case of the husbands, 00:40:00.070 --> 00:40:02.829 pray for your wife. But what do you pray? And 00:40:02.829 --> 00:40:06.250 that, I think that matters. Because I do believe 00:40:06.250 --> 00:40:08.750 that sometimes we can do very selfish prayers. 00:40:09.769 --> 00:40:12.010 And at least I, maybe I'm the only one, I don't 00:40:12.010 --> 00:40:16.190 know. But I was a very selfish prayer. I was 00:40:16.190 --> 00:40:20.329 like, God changed him. God, make him see how 00:40:20.329 --> 00:40:23.929 this is wrong. God, can you help him see how 00:40:23.929 --> 00:40:26.389 what I'm telling him to do is right and we should 00:40:26.389 --> 00:40:29.090 do it because I know that you're telling me to 00:40:29.090 --> 00:40:32.289 do this and he's opposing it, so can you please 00:40:32.289 --> 00:40:35.190 change him and tell him, right? So most of my 00:40:35.190 --> 00:40:39.570 prayers were like that. I mean, God glorifies 00:40:39.570 --> 00:40:42.269 himself, even with the selfish prayers, right? 00:40:43.599 --> 00:40:48.079 I did this study about a praying wife and I love 00:40:48.079 --> 00:40:50.860 the four things out of the whole thing that I 00:40:50.860 --> 00:40:53.139 kept with me and I actually wrote it in the back 00:40:53.139 --> 00:40:56.480 of my Bible. Four things to pray for your husband. 00:40:57.280 --> 00:41:00.659 And it had nothing to do with me and what I wanted. 00:41:01.420 --> 00:41:04.980 And one, the first one was to pray for him that 00:41:04.980 --> 00:41:09.599 he would love Christ more every day. Number two, 00:41:09.860 --> 00:41:12.780 it was to pray for his problems, that God will 00:41:12.780 --> 00:41:16.480 help them with his problems. Many times it's 00:41:16.480 --> 00:41:18.800 possible that husbands don't share about their 00:41:18.800 --> 00:41:20.679 problems and their concerns and their worries 00:41:20.679 --> 00:41:23.519 because they like to protect us and they want 00:41:23.519 --> 00:41:27.539 to spare us, right? Or maybe sometimes they are 00:41:27.539 --> 00:41:30.119 not very good verbalizing what's going on in 00:41:30.119 --> 00:41:32.260 their minds, you know, or they're so logical 00:41:32.260 --> 00:41:34.659 that they said it in two words and that was it 00:41:34.659 --> 00:41:37.719 and we didn't catch it because we were expecting 00:41:37.719 --> 00:41:40.969 the... emotional charge of the problem, and they 00:41:40.969 --> 00:41:43.050 said it in two words, and for us, that was not 00:41:43.050 --> 00:41:44.869 a problem because he didn't have the emotional 00:41:44.869 --> 00:41:48.809 charge, right? So to pray for their problems 00:41:48.809 --> 00:41:53.150 and that God will help them lean into their Savior 00:41:53.150 --> 00:41:56.469 to resolve their issues and their problems, even 00:41:56.469 --> 00:41:58.269 the ones that don't verbalize or communicate 00:41:58.269 --> 00:42:01.880 with us. The third one, it was to grow in their 00:42:01.880 --> 00:42:05.960 love for us as a spouse and protect them in their 00:42:05.960 --> 00:42:08.559 covenant relationship as a marriage to protect 00:42:08.559 --> 00:42:11.780 their sexual life. And that was the fourth one, 00:42:11.840 --> 00:42:14.820 to protect their sexual and emotional life in 00:42:14.820 --> 00:42:17.980 ways that we might not be able to see or understand. 00:42:18.489 --> 00:42:23.250 And so I took for a while, you know, this seriously 00:42:23.250 --> 00:42:26.670 to start praying for him in ways that had nothing 00:42:26.670 --> 00:42:30.030 to do with me, but that had everything to do 00:42:30.030 --> 00:42:33.610 with him and his relationship with the Lord. 00:42:34.889 --> 00:42:38.110 And it was so beautiful. I actually, I was trying 00:42:38.110 --> 00:42:40.170 to remember without opening my Bible. I just 00:42:40.170 --> 00:42:43.530 opened my Bible and I'm reading it. Oh, I think 00:42:43.530 --> 00:42:46.750 one of them is, I've appealed to God in prayer 00:42:46.750 --> 00:42:50.869 to help my husband succeed in his work. How many 00:42:50.869 --> 00:42:54.150 times you ask him to say, do God grant him success 00:42:54.150 --> 00:42:57.710 in his work, in the work of his hands, you know? 00:42:58.090 --> 00:43:00.730 And that was life changing for me. It helped 00:43:00.730 --> 00:43:04.230 me value my husband and get out of my little 00:43:04.230 --> 00:43:07.869 circle of selfishness and self -centeredness 00:43:07.869 --> 00:43:10.429 and thinking just about me and how I wanted my 00:43:10.429 --> 00:43:13.369 husband to make me happy. And the result of that 00:43:13.369 --> 00:43:17.070 has been so beautiful because at the same time, 00:43:17.130 --> 00:43:19.630 my husband was praying, you know, and now we 00:43:19.630 --> 00:43:23.369 serve each other. Now we end up making each other 00:43:23.369 --> 00:43:27.670 happy, but by not demanding from each other. 00:43:27.980 --> 00:43:30.739 And I think that's another thing. Once you stop 00:43:30.739 --> 00:43:35.500 demanding, you start enjoying the gift that God 00:43:35.500 --> 00:43:39.480 has given to you with your spouse. It's a funny 00:43:39.480 --> 00:43:42.739 thing you mentioned. You went from prayers, change 00:43:42.739 --> 00:43:46.099 him Lord, to pray for him. And the cover of the 00:43:46.099 --> 00:43:49.260 book has changed him with the change crossed 00:43:49.260 --> 00:43:54.099 out, and it has pray for him. And so yeah, when 00:43:54.099 --> 00:43:58.599 you shift your perspective and... It changes 00:43:58.599 --> 00:44:01.920 things. It reminds me of the brother, you know, 00:44:02.099 --> 00:44:04.659 that had the speck in his eye. And God says, 00:44:04.800 --> 00:44:06.539 you got to take the log out of your eye first, 00:44:06.599 --> 00:44:09.219 right? We need to do a reflection of ourself 00:44:09.219 --> 00:44:12.260 before we can truly see what flaws are in someone 00:44:12.260 --> 00:44:15.239 else. If we can't see the flaw in our life, we 00:44:15.239 --> 00:44:17.559 have no business speaking on someone else's. 00:44:17.780 --> 00:44:20.780 Correct. And that requires humbleness, really. 00:44:21.619 --> 00:44:25.099 That's the theme. It's almost like God created 00:44:25.099 --> 00:44:30.000 us to be humble. And we refuse to it and we run 00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.300 the other way Right down from the garden, you 00:44:34.300 --> 00:44:38.300 know, the the entirety of our life has been running 00:44:38.300 --> 00:44:41.039 from humbleness and making ourselves our own 00:44:41.039 --> 00:44:45.260 gods Correct. Correct. Yeah and not understanding 00:44:45.260 --> 00:44:50.239 how much that destroys Yeah, one thing that I've 00:44:50.239 --> 00:44:54.039 been asking our guests to share is did you have 00:44:54.039 --> 00:44:57.579 a Bible verse that anchored you through the years. 00:44:58.599 --> 00:45:02.679 Wow, I do have a lot of them. I think my most 00:45:02.679 --> 00:45:08.300 recent is Psalm 90, 14. I think it's 90, 14. 00:45:08.679 --> 00:45:12.820 It says, let the meditation of my heart and the 00:45:12.820 --> 00:45:16.440 words of my mouth be pleasing to you, Lord, my 00:45:16.440 --> 00:45:21.150 rock and my Redeemer. And this is because I was 00:45:21.150 --> 00:45:25.710 very quick to talk and very slow to listen. And 00:45:25.710 --> 00:45:29.349 my husband is a very quiet man. So part of that 00:45:29.349 --> 00:45:35.150 restoration included me learning how to please 00:45:35.150 --> 00:45:40.090 God, not to bite my tongue so I appease my husband, 00:45:40.110 --> 00:45:42.730 because I think that's the wrong motive. If I 00:45:42.730 --> 00:45:45.630 want to bite my tongue to appease my husband, 00:45:45.949 --> 00:45:49.079 I'm doing it for the wrong reasons. But when 00:45:49.079 --> 00:45:52.599 I understood that the meditation of my heart 00:45:52.599 --> 00:45:55.679 will be connected to the words that my mouth 00:45:55.679 --> 00:45:59.420 speak and the motive should be that I please 00:45:59.420 --> 00:46:03.719 my Lord, then everything changes. And why should 00:46:03.719 --> 00:46:08.179 I please him? Because he is my rock and he's 00:46:08.179 --> 00:46:11.559 my redeemer. He's the one who rescues me. So 00:46:11.559 --> 00:46:16.550 he is worthy. that I change what I think, what 00:46:16.550 --> 00:46:20.489 I think of, what I meditate on, what I talk, 00:46:20.590 --> 00:46:23.469 how I communicate to my husband and the rest 00:46:23.469 --> 00:46:27.730 of the people, and anchors me in saying, I do 00:46:27.730 --> 00:46:30.650 it because he is my rock. He is the one sustaining 00:46:30.650 --> 00:46:34.869 me every day. And he is the one rescuing me. 00:46:34.889 --> 00:46:38.849 So of course it's worth it. Of course the hard 00:46:38.849 --> 00:46:43.360 work that it comes with talkers like me. It's 00:46:43.360 --> 00:46:48.480 worth it. So that's one of my favorites. Thank 00:46:48.480 --> 00:46:51.260 you for sharing that. And thank you for sharing 00:46:51.260 --> 00:46:54.340 and being vulnerable and sharing all that you 00:46:54.340 --> 00:46:59.039 went through. And I hope it was powerful to our 00:46:59.039 --> 00:47:01.599 listeners. Yes. Thank you for being humble with 00:47:01.599 --> 00:47:08.909 us. It seems to be the theme of our show. We're 00:47:08.909 --> 00:47:13.230 practicing. And, you know, in all honesty, we 00:47:13.230 --> 00:47:15.389 know that the enemy is not involved in everything 00:47:15.389 --> 00:47:17.769 that happens to us. We know that we have to pay 00:47:17.769 --> 00:47:20.449 consequences for our bad decisions. But there 00:47:20.449 --> 00:47:23.590 is no doubt that he also does attack us. And 00:47:23.590 --> 00:47:26.409 he also hates marriage. He hates children. And, 00:47:26.429 --> 00:47:29.909 you know, we need to really reflect on ourselves 00:47:29.909 --> 00:47:31.869 to see, you know, maybe I'm not the problem. 00:47:32.010 --> 00:47:33.869 Maybe my spouse is not the problem either. Maybe 00:47:33.869 --> 00:47:36.710 it is an external attack. And this is something 00:47:36.710 --> 00:47:38.949 that we can find out through prayer through self 00:47:38.949 --> 00:47:41.670 reflection through humility, as you've discovered. 00:47:42.519 --> 00:47:45.840 Correct, correct. And just to clarify Psalm 19, 00:47:45.880 --> 00:47:50.679 verse 14, but yes, correct. You know, it's so 00:47:50.679 --> 00:47:53.639 good to say, okay, is my heart a breeding ground 00:47:53.639 --> 00:47:57.380 for Holy Spirit to be operating or it's an open 00:47:57.380 --> 00:47:59.780 door for the enemy to come attack us, right? 00:47:59.840 --> 00:48:02.579 Am I giving him rope? If the answer is no, I'm 00:48:02.579 --> 00:48:05.920 not giving him rope, then yeah, we can be united 00:48:05.920 --> 00:48:12.820 as one force and have him back off, right? I'm 00:48:12.820 --> 00:48:15.639 remembering now when these counselors were ministering 00:48:15.639 --> 00:48:19.219 to us, at one point the wife told me, she said, 00:48:19.219 --> 00:48:22.940 you have to stand. and fight for your marriage. 00:48:22.980 --> 00:48:25.599 At this point, I was already repented. I had 00:48:25.599 --> 00:48:28.420 repented and I had done a lot of work and my 00:48:28.420 --> 00:48:31.699 husband too, but we still couldn't connect. So 00:48:31.699 --> 00:48:35.059 she said, I think now the enemy wants to keep 00:48:35.059 --> 00:48:37.900 you guys down, right? Like you're doing the hard 00:48:37.900 --> 00:48:40.579 work and he's kind of like saying, no, no, no, 00:48:40.579 --> 00:48:42.300 I'm not going to let you go. And I literally 00:48:42.300 --> 00:48:44.099 remember again, this is going to sound crazy, 00:48:44.099 --> 00:48:46.420 but I stood in the middle of my living room. 00:48:46.880 --> 00:48:49.679 My husband was at work. I put some worship music 00:48:49.679 --> 00:48:52.170 out loud. so the neighbors couldn't hear me. 00:48:52.530 --> 00:48:56.809 And I started speaking out loud with a strong 00:48:56.809 --> 00:49:01.989 voice, angry, and saying, you and me are going 00:49:01.989 --> 00:49:04.050 to back off in Jesus' name, and you're going 00:49:04.050 --> 00:49:08.070 to take your paws off our marriage. And I was 00:49:08.070 --> 00:49:12.929 angry. And I literally felt this hatred against 00:49:12.929 --> 00:49:16.179 the enemy. And I was like, you're going to back 00:49:16.179 --> 00:49:18.480 off. You're going to take your pulse off. You're 00:49:18.480 --> 00:49:20.559 not going to take us and you're not going to 00:49:20.559 --> 00:49:24.360 take our descendants in Jesus name. And it was 00:49:24.360 --> 00:49:29.280 like a not an outward battle. It was out loud. 00:49:29.780 --> 00:49:32.739 I was using my hands, my facial gestures. You 00:49:32.739 --> 00:49:36.360 know what I mean? I was engaged with body, soul, 00:49:36.559 --> 00:49:42.320 mind because he cannot read my mind. And I have 00:49:42.320 --> 00:49:46.400 to really understand how the enemy of my soul 00:49:46.400 --> 00:49:51.219 really hates us. And so I'm not going to caress 00:49:51.219 --> 00:49:53.920 him and say, hey, would you please leave us alone? 00:49:55.780 --> 00:49:58.179 When it's battle, it's battle. And you tell him 00:49:58.179 --> 00:50:01.579 back off. But I knew at that time, as you mentioned, 00:50:01.780 --> 00:50:04.360 Shelly, that we had a different kind of authority. 00:50:05.150 --> 00:50:09.110 to fight him off because we had repented and 00:50:09.110 --> 00:50:11.909 we had done the work in our hearts that Holy 00:50:11.909 --> 00:50:14.889 Spirit wanted to do with us. So that was a whole 00:50:14.889 --> 00:50:17.630 completely new level of authority against our 00:50:17.630 --> 00:50:21.170 enemy. That reminds me of Confronting the Thief. 00:50:21.449 --> 00:50:25.869 It's a book by Jane Hammond, and she did an episode 00:50:25.869 --> 00:50:29.590 with Gennily on Java with Jen's podcast. Take 00:50:29.590 --> 00:50:31.889 back what the enemy stole and declare divine 00:50:31.889 --> 00:50:35.880 recovery over your heart, family, and life. and 00:50:35.880 --> 00:50:40.219 she goes over how to declare and take authority 00:50:40.219 --> 00:50:43.159 over the thief. You can experience full restoration, 00:50:43.739 --> 00:50:46.659 and you just declare. It's at least like going 00:50:46.659 --> 00:50:49.559 to court. If you've had stuff taken from you, 00:50:49.760 --> 00:50:53.920 you can take it to court, and then in Jesus' 00:50:54.159 --> 00:50:59.679 world, you can request back what was taken, but 00:50:59.679 --> 00:51:05.559 then you get seven -fold restoration. you can 00:51:05.559 --> 00:51:09.139 make those declarations and take back what's 00:51:09.139 --> 00:51:13.059 rightfully yours. Amen. Amen. Well, thank you 00:51:13.059 --> 00:51:15.800 so much for being with us. I love this conversation, 00:51:15.960 --> 00:51:19.039 May. And I'm glad that you are our first guest 00:51:19.039 --> 00:51:24.280 from the podcast community. Thank you so much 00:51:24.280 --> 00:51:27.280 for inviting me, guys. Thank you. It was a pleasure 00:51:27.280 --> 00:51:29.500 to have you. And thank you for being open and 00:51:29.500 --> 00:51:32.199 humble and vulnerable. Thank you so much for 00:51:32.199 --> 00:51:34.940 sharing your story, which I hope can encourage 00:51:34.940 --> 00:51:38.219 others. You know, we mentioned earlier about 00:51:38.219 --> 00:51:40.460 how we fall in like a dark place and it's hard 00:51:40.460 --> 00:51:42.960 to get out. And, you know, a lot of people don't 00:51:42.960 --> 00:51:45.920 know Christians go there. But God uses that, 00:51:46.059 --> 00:51:47.860 right? So that when we see others in that hole, 00:51:47.900 --> 00:51:49.820 we can say, hey, I know the way out because I've 00:51:49.820 --> 00:51:55.139 been here before. Mm hmm. Amen. Amen. Thanks 00:51:55.139 --> 00:51:58.340 for tuning in to today's episode. Listen, let's 00:51:58.340 --> 00:52:01.340 stay connected. Come follow us on all the socials 00:52:01.340 --> 00:52:03.320 at God's Goodness Podcast, where you can find 00:52:03.320 --> 00:52:05.739 the latest and say, hey, it's a really great 00:52:05.739 --> 00:52:08.460 way to stay in touch. Many of you have asked 00:52:08.460 --> 00:52:11.420 how you can support the show. You can make donations 00:52:11.420 --> 00:52:13.380 through any of the links in the About section 00:52:13.380 --> 00:52:16.599 or, of course, by praying for us, as well as 00:52:16.599 --> 00:52:19.260 sharing, rating, and reviewing on social media 00:52:19.260 --> 00:52:22.699 and iTunes. Your heartfelt feedback always reminds 00:52:22.699 --> 00:52:25.579 us why we do this. Until next time, remember, 00:52:25.800 --> 00:52:28.539 God is always working, miracles are real, and 00:52:28.539 --> 00:52:30.659 your breakthrough could be just around the corner. 00:52:31.260 --> 00:52:33.980 Keep believing, keep expecting, and don't forget 00:52:33.980 --> 00:52:36.199 to share this with someone who needs hope today. 00:52:36.760 --> 00:52:55.300 We'll talk to you next week. You can make donations 00:52:55.300 --> 00:52:57.300 through any of the links in the About section, 00:52:57.760 --> 00:53:00.820 or of course by praying for us, as well as sharing, 00:53:01.139 --> 00:53:03.739 rating, and reviewing on social media and iTunes. 00:53:04.519 --> 00:53:07.019 Your heartfelt feedback always reminds us why 00:53:07.019 --> 00:53:10.300 we do this. Until next time, remember God is 00:53:10.300 --> 00:53:13.019 always working, miracles are real, and your breakthrough 00:53:13.019 --> 00:53:15.800 could be just around the corner. Keep believing, 00:53:16.139 --> 00:53:18.500 keep expecting, and don't forget to share this 00:53:18.500 --> 00:53:20.980 with someone who needs help today. We'll talk 00:53:20.980 --> 00:53:24.730 to you next week. you