(bright music) 00:00:00.53\00:00:02.83 - Welcome everyone. 00:00:03.97\00:00:05.30 We're excited to share some country wisdom with you. 00:00:05.30\00:00:07.64 - King Solomon had a thing or two to say 00:00:07.64\00:00:09.74 about the path to wisdom. 00:00:09.74\00:00:11.54 In Proverbs four, he wrote, 00:00:11.54\00:00:13.71 "Let your eyes look directly forward 00:00:13.71\00:00:16.11 and your gaze be straight before you. 00:00:16.11\00:00:19.18 Keep straight the path of your feet 00:00:19.18\00:00:21.42 and all your ways will be sure." 00:00:21.42\00:00:23.79 - Join us now for Country Wisdom. 00:00:23.79\00:00:25.49 (bright music) 00:00:26.49\00:00:29.22 I've just gotta share with you directly. 00:00:35.63\00:00:37.73 I heard this young lady doing a sermon a while back, 00:00:37.73\00:00:41.00 the psychopath within. 00:00:41.00\00:00:43.64 Going what? The psychopath within. 00:00:43.64\00:00:46.01 So I looked around for a setting, a location. 00:00:46.01\00:00:48.58 I found this old broken down barn, broken down fences, 00:00:48.58\00:00:51.65 and it seemed Janice really apropos 00:00:51.65\00:00:53.92 to the first part of your story. 00:00:53.92\00:00:55.72 I've gotta hear. 00:00:55.72\00:00:57.19 - I like the young lady part. 00:00:57.19\00:00:58.85 You can introduce me like that anytime you want. 00:00:58.85\00:01:01.52 - Everyone, the emphasis. 00:01:01.52\00:01:02.62 - Not that they're gonna buy that. 00:01:02.62\00:01:04.09 Yes, it was a book I read that I was basing that on 00:01:06.86\00:01:10.87 and actually I think it was, "The Psychopath Inside." 00:01:10.87\00:01:13.60 A man who studied the brains. 00:01:13.60\00:01:16.77 He literally was studying the brains of serial killers 00:01:16.77\00:01:20.64 and doing MRI scans, seeing how they thought, 00:01:20.64\00:01:23.81 what was going on, recognizing areas of their brains 00:01:23.81\00:01:27.72 that did not light up the way normal people's brains do, 00:01:27.72\00:01:32.79 non serial killers. 00:01:33.46\00:01:35.09 And one day he was going through all of these 00:01:35.09\00:01:37.76 and he found one, 00:01:37.76\00:01:39.13 he got to where he could just see a brain scan and he knew 00:01:39.13\00:01:41.40 that's one of his test subjects 00:01:41.40\00:01:42.83 versus all of the control subjects. 00:01:42.83\00:01:44.90 People he worked with. 00:01:44.90\00:01:46.17 - Lighting up the synapses weren't fir 00:01:46.17\00:01:47.74 you can test the synapsis and nothing going across. 00:01:47.74\00:01:50.57 - And he saw one and he went, 00:01:51.64\00:01:53.51 "That's one of the psychopaths," but it wasn't labeled. 00:01:53.51\00:01:56.58 And he's really getting on his assistant going, 00:01:56.58\00:01:59.78 "Find out who's this is, it doesn't have a name on it." 00:01:59.78\00:02:02.72 Well, it to turned out it was his. 00:02:02.72\00:02:04.95 And he's going, "I'm not a serial killer." 00:02:04.95\00:02:07.92 But he began looking at ways of thinking 00:02:07.92\00:02:11.13 at his relationships and recognizing the tendencies he 00:02:11.13\00:02:14.83 had and then saying, "Well, if my brain is programmed 00:02:14.83\00:02:18.90 where I could just as easily 00:02:18.90\00:02:20.14 have been one of the psychopaths that I'm studying, 00:02:20.14\00:02:24.27 why am I not?" 00:02:24.27\00:02:26.34 And he realized part of it is the home he was raised in. 00:02:26.34\00:02:31.21 He was raised in a stable home. 00:02:31.21\00:02:33.88 He's going, "What if I hadn't had that stability? 00:02:33.88\00:02:37.12 Would I have ended up like them?" 00:02:37.12\00:02:39.35 And he was looking at the areas of your life 00:02:39.35\00:02:41.92 that can counteract the brain that you were born with. 00:02:41.92\00:02:46.43 And I've recognized that I knew my mother very well, 00:02:46.43\00:02:51.47 as you might imagine. 00:02:53.57\00:02:55.10 I grew up with her and I was programmed to be like her. 00:02:55.10\00:02:59.47 I'm sure in utero, it was happening 00:03:00.64\00:03:03.41 because she was always anxious. 00:03:03.41\00:03:05.65 She had anxiety and depression and she treated it all 00:03:05.65\00:03:09.38 with prescription drugs. 00:03:09.38\00:03:11.05 She had multiple doctors 00:03:11.05\00:03:13.09 who didn't know that the others existed 00:03:13.09\00:03:15.66 and always had a cupboard full of tranquilizers 00:03:15.66\00:03:20.73 and pain pills. 00:03:22.03\00:03:23.60 And she just functioned like that. 00:03:23.60\00:03:25.90 - So everybody's writing scripts for her 00:03:25.90\00:03:27.67 on the same thing then. 00:03:27.67\00:03:29.17 - Yes. 00:03:29.17\00:03:30.51 And I was raised with that kind of thinking in the home, 00:03:30.51\00:03:35.21 but none of it showed outside the home. 00:03:36.28\00:03:38.55 I was a proper little liar 00:03:38.55\00:03:41.48 because you would never have talked about the whaling fight 00:03:41.48\00:03:46.55 that had happened the night before. 00:03:47.69\00:03:48.82 She and my dad would really get into it. 00:03:48.82\00:03:51.19 I've got a little scar up, thankfully, my bangs cover it. 00:03:52.53\00:03:56.50 Where in one fight, she had her hurled an egg beater 00:03:56.50\00:04:00.60 at my dad and her aim was off a little bit and it hit me. 00:04:00.60\00:04:04.54 I think I was about four. 00:04:04.54\00:04:05.91 The only good thing is that my scalp is split open, blood, 00:04:07.28\00:04:11.21 it was scalp bleeds. 00:04:11.21\00:04:12.61 But it ended the fight because they had to take me to the ER 00:04:12.61\00:04:15.12 and get stitches. 00:04:15.12\00:04:16.42 And by the time that was all over, 00:04:16.42\00:04:18.19 I think they'd forgotten what they were fighting about. 00:04:18.19\00:04:20.92 I remember one night, it was a Saturday night, 00:04:20.92\00:04:23.99 because I believe we were watching "Lawrence Welk." 00:04:23.99\00:04:26.73 That was my dad's favorite show when I was little girl. 00:04:26.73\00:04:30.00 And my mom just walked in and announced 00:04:30.00\00:04:32.67 that she had taken a whole bottle of whatever it was, 00:04:32.67\00:04:35.64 meprobamate, something like that. 00:04:35.64\00:04:37.61 And she just stood there, looking at my dad and said, 00:04:37.61\00:04:39.44 "What are you gonna do about?" 00:04:39.44\00:04:41.34 Basically it was up to him to prove, 00:04:41.34\00:04:44.45 did he love her enough to actually save her life? 00:04:44.45\00:04:48.02 And that wasn't the only time. 00:04:48.92\00:04:50.62 On a date in high school one time, 00:04:51.72\00:04:54.22 I'm pathologically punctual. 00:04:54.22\00:04:56.22 So when I told my mom I'll be home at 11, 00:04:56.22\00:04:58.63 she knew I would be home at 11 and I'm certain she timed it. 00:04:58.63\00:05:03.03 So when I came in, the first thing I did 00:05:03.03\00:05:05.67 was go back to her bedroom to tell her I was home. 00:05:05.67\00:05:09.27 And I had to come out and get my boyfriend 00:05:09.27\00:05:11.71 to carry my semiconscious mother to the hospital, 00:05:11.71\00:05:15.28 to have her stomach pumped because she had tried once 00:05:15.28\00:05:18.35 again. And at that time, my dad was dying of cancer. 00:05:20.15\00:05:23.55 I think I was a sophomore when he was diagnosed 00:05:24.89\00:05:27.96 and we had moved my grandmother in with us 00:05:27.96\00:05:30.69 because she was losing her mind. 00:05:30.69\00:05:32.53 My mom keeps trying to kill herself. 00:05:32.53\00:05:34.73 My dad's dying, but nobody outside the family 00:05:34.73\00:05:39.20 would've known what kind of chaos was going inside the home. 00:05:39.20\00:05:43.27 There was no stability there. 00:05:43.27\00:05:45.64 As a little girl, when I would walk home from school, 00:05:45.64\00:05:48.84 there was a certain corner, from Acacia Street onto Central, 00:05:48.84\00:05:53.01 where I could look down and I could see my house 00:05:53.01\00:05:55.88 and my stomach would nod up because it was, 00:05:56.99\00:05:59.22 which mother was gonna meet me at the door that day. 00:05:59.22\00:06:02.52 Was it gonna be a good day 00:06:02.52\00:06:04.09 or would it be one of her bad days? 00:06:04.09\00:06:05.93 - So there's trauma in your heart and mind 00:06:05.93\00:06:07.46 every single day of your life? 00:06:07.46\00:06:09.00 - Right, school was a refuge. 00:06:09.00\00:06:11.87 You look back on your life. 00:06:11.87\00:06:13.20 And I realize God always had a particular teacher 00:06:13.20\00:06:17.47 or the parents of friends, someone that I always had, 00:06:17.47\00:06:22.54 that was that bit of stability. 00:06:23.48\00:06:26.18 I always volunteered for things at school and at church. 00:06:27.45\00:06:31.32 I think a lot of that was to escape home. 00:06:32.42\00:06:34.69 - Wow, many of us can't even imagine that kinda home 00:06:36.32\00:06:40.73 and probably most can, unfortunately. 00:06:40.73\00:06:42.50 Today's most can. 00:06:42.50\00:06:43.83 - I think more than we would know. 00:06:43.83\00:06:45.50 - I had a good life that way, but this is amazing. 00:06:45.50\00:06:50.31 How long did this keep on? 00:06:50.31\00:06:51.67 - Well, dad died in my senior year of high school. 00:06:54.28\00:06:57.18 Mom at that point, not long after 00:06:58.35\00:07:00.65 she sold the home, I'd grown up in, 00:07:00.65\00:07:04.09 moved into something smaller with my grandmother 00:07:04.09\00:07:06.25 who was still with us. 00:07:06.25\00:07:08.29 But at least I was off and independent at that point. 00:07:08.29\00:07:11.76 - You've got all these pills around. 00:07:11.76\00:07:13.50 You've got a terrible life. 00:07:13.50\00:07:14.56 Did you ever think of them? - Oh yes. 00:07:14.56\00:07:16.90 The genetic curse on my mother's side, 00:07:18.23\00:07:20.20 'cause not only my mom but her father also had issues 00:07:20.20\00:07:24.51 with depression and anxiety. 00:07:24.51\00:07:26.41 And I know from stories, so I know it came from her side. 00:07:27.78\00:07:31.41 I was a teenager and I was in my mother's dressing room. 00:07:32.75\00:07:36.65 When you're a teenager, 00:07:38.95\00:07:40.06 things that nowadays you might just go, 00:07:40.06\00:07:42.36 that's not even gonna bother you next week. 00:07:43.49\00:07:45.43 I think I hadn't done well on a test 00:07:45.43\00:07:47.40 and there was a boy that I was desperately in love with 00:07:47.40\00:07:50.53 who wouldn't even look at me that day, 00:07:50.53\00:07:52.77 something along those lines. 00:07:52.77\00:07:54.70 But I remember distinctly standing in front of the 00:07:54.70\00:07:59.24 cupboard where she kept all of her Darvan and meprobamate 00:07:59.24\00:08:02.44 and a number of other things, all kinds of bottles. 00:08:02.44\00:08:07.08 She got them wholesale using my dad's medical license. 00:08:07.08\00:08:10.69 - So she was a felon also in reality. 00:08:13.56\00:08:15.76 - Things were looser back then. 00:08:16.99\00:08:18.59 But I was standing there trying to figure out, 00:08:19.69\00:08:22.53 I was wondering, well, how much, what combination, 00:08:22.53\00:08:25.43 what would it take to just make the pain go away? 00:08:25.43\00:08:28.64 And I think a lot of people, 00:08:29.84\00:08:31.17 there's been a horrible rise in suicide 00:08:31.17\00:08:34.61 and a lot of those poor people, they're not thinking, 00:08:34.61\00:08:38.01 I'm going to kill and show everyone. 00:08:39.15\00:08:42.28 It's in that moment, you can't see beyond the blackness 00:08:42.28\00:08:45.82 that you're enveloped in. 00:08:45.82\00:08:47.76 And I just wanted the pain to go away. 00:08:47.76\00:08:51.03 And to this day, I don't know why I shut the doors. 00:08:51.03\00:08:55.96 Now I'm pretty sure it was my angel. 00:08:57.03\00:09:00.50 I don't recall consciously deciding, 00:09:00.50\00:09:02.57 "No Janice, you can't do that." 00:09:02.57\00:09:04.57 But I didn't. 00:09:05.71\00:09:07.01 Nowadays you have so many teen suicides 00:09:07.01\00:09:11.11 and I realize how easily I could have been one. 00:09:11.11\00:09:13.72 But there was always a thread, 00:09:15.12\00:09:16.79 sometimes no more than a thread of the Lord being there. 00:09:16.79\00:09:21.86 Now I don't have a Damascus road conversion experience. 00:09:23.26\00:09:25.56 In fact, I think one of the first times I was ever asked 00:09:25.56\00:09:29.60 to give my testimony. 00:09:29.60\00:09:31.07 I did what I do too often. 00:09:32.43\00:09:33.80 I said yes and then panicked later, 00:09:33.80\00:09:36.77 because I'm thinking, what can I say? 00:09:36.77\00:09:38.07 What kind of testimony? 00:09:38.07\00:09:39.11 What do I have? 00:09:39.11\00:09:40.18 I even called my daughter and I said, 00:09:40.18\00:09:42.28 "I have to give my testimony tomorrow morning. 00:09:42.28\00:09:44.55 What am I gonna say? 00:09:44.55\00:09:45.38 I'm so vanilla. 00:09:45.38\00:09:46.18 Our family is just so vanilla." 00:09:46.18\00:09:48.62 And she laughed. 00:09:48.62\00:09:50.95 Our daughter is Ethiopian. 00:09:50.95\00:09:52.75 You gotta keep this visual in mind. 00:09:52.75\00:09:54.82 And she said, "Vanilla?" 00:09:54.82\00:09:57.93 She goes, "Mom, at the very least, 00:09:57.93\00:09:59.83 our family is chocolate ripple." 00:09:59.83\00:10:01.80 (both laughing) 00:10:01.80\00:10:05.03 Maybe we're not as bland as I think. 00:10:05.03\00:10:08.30 - But I've heard you say many times 00:10:08.30\00:10:09.97 that I don't have much of a testimony. 00:10:09.97\00:10:12.01 And I'm sitting here listening to this, 00:10:12.01\00:10:13.44 that you had trauma. 00:10:13.44\00:10:15.38 I mean your old, early life, it was just one mix of trauma. 00:10:15.38\00:10:18.78 - It was, but at the time, that's what I knew. 00:10:20.18\00:10:22.68 It's not until you really look at other families and you go, 00:10:24.09\00:10:27.36 oh, in other families, mom doesn't disappear 00:10:27.36\00:10:31.43 for a few weeks. 00:10:31.43\00:10:32.56 And later you find out, usually from my sister, 00:10:32.56\00:10:35.13 I don't know how Bonnie always knew what was happening. 00:10:35.13\00:10:37.87 She was older than I was. 00:10:37.87\00:10:39.37 And it was kind of, well, sooner or later, 00:10:39.37\00:10:41.34 Bonnie will tell me what's going on. 00:10:41.34\00:10:43.54 And you would find out now we would call it rehab. 00:10:43.54\00:10:47.51 But back then it was, dad would put mom in a sanitarium, 00:10:47.51\00:10:51.45 is what they called it, to dry out. 00:10:51.45\00:10:54.25 And then when she came home for a while, 00:10:54.25\00:10:57.22 it would be wonderful. 00:10:57.22\00:10:58.82 My mother was intelligent. 00:10:58.82\00:11:00.92 She was, you think I have a sense of humor, 00:11:00.92\00:11:03.56 my mom could be hysterical. 00:11:03.56\00:11:05.83 She was so witty. 00:11:05.83\00:11:07.76 And she would be a real person for a long time. 00:11:07.76\00:11:11.50 But then she didn't have the anchor of the Lord. 00:11:11.50\00:11:16.20 She could quote scripture better than I can ever hope to. 00:11:16.20\00:11:19.61 I'm always going, what's that text about this? 00:11:20.71\00:11:24.18 And then finally someone will save me 00:11:24.18\00:11:25.55 and say, "That's this." 00:11:25.55\00:11:27.58 I can't remember what those texts are. 00:11:28.62\00:11:31.62 Mom could quote it, but it never went beyond her head. 00:11:31.62\00:11:35.16 She never actually knew God. 00:11:36.09\00:11:39.06 And I might not be able to remember my favorite text. 00:11:40.56\00:11:44.40 I can quote it, but I can't remember what book and chapter, 00:11:44.40\00:11:47.34 but I can't get out of bed in the morning 00:11:48.80\00:11:51.57 without the Lord there. 00:11:51.57\00:11:52.87 That is the solid foundation. 00:11:53.98\00:11:56.34 The rest of the world can be shaking and falling apart, 00:11:56.34\00:11:59.38 but there's a part of the world, right under my feet 00:11:59.38\00:12:01.92 that isn't moving. 00:12:01.92\00:12:03.22 - So this lady who really didn't have much of a testimony 00:12:03.22\00:12:07.12 and your words, really does have an amazing testimony of God 00:12:07.12\00:12:12.19 leading in your life 00:12:13.06\00:12:14.60 and saving you probably from suicide too. 00:12:14.60\00:12:16.70 - Yes. 00:12:16.70\00:12:17.97 It's just been so incremental that you don't notice. 00:12:17.97\00:12:22.44 It's not like Paul. 00:12:24.01\00:12:25.34 I mean, you don't get more dramatic than Paul 00:12:25.34\00:12:28.24 getting knocked off his donkey. 00:12:28.24\00:12:30.31 He's blinded and yet he knows somehow 00:12:30.31\00:12:32.95 that's God talking to me. 00:12:32.95\00:12:34.68 And he is not the same person afterwards. 00:12:34.68\00:12:37.45 I don't have a moment that I can go back to 00:12:38.59\00:12:41.02 and say, "Here, this is when I was converted." 00:12:41.02\00:12:44.46 It's been that gradual process 00:12:44.46\00:12:46.76 where you actually have to look back and you have to say 00:12:46.76\00:12:50.77 anyone who knew me when I was an adolescent, 00:12:50.77\00:12:54.00 they would never have predicted, 00:12:55.14\00:12:56.77 Janice is gonna grow up to be a pillar of the church, 00:12:58.27\00:13:01.61 to be someone that other people 00:13:01.61\00:13:03.88 would actually want to listen to, happily married, 00:13:03.88\00:13:07.22 knowing the Lord. 00:13:07.22\00:13:08.52 That's where she's headed. 00:13:08.52\00:13:09.98 - So somewhere there was a psychopath inside, 00:13:09.98\00:13:13.29 but God began altering your DNA. 00:13:13.29\00:13:16.19 - He certainly did. 00:13:16.19\00:13:17.23 - I couldn't help, but think of Jeremiah chapter 29:11. 00:13:18.79\00:13:22.46 Lord says, "For I know the thoughts 00:13:22.46\00:13:24.10 that I think towards you, saith the Lord, 00:13:24.10\00:13:27.17 thoughts of peace, and not of evil, 00:13:27.17\00:13:29.27 to give you an expected end." 00:13:29.27\00:13:32.44 God has an expected end for you. 00:13:32.44\00:13:34.11 He has expected end for everybody, doesn't he? 00:13:34.11\00:13:36.54 - Yes, he does. 00:13:36.54\00:13:37.91 - I just praise God that you're here with me today. 00:13:37.91\00:13:39.35 And God began working on you in amazing ways. 00:13:39.35\00:13:43.45 We're gonna hear more of that part of it in the moment. 00:13:43.45\00:13:45.35 - Yes, because I can tell you one person 00:13:45.35\00:13:47.62 who for certain made that change in me. 00:13:47.62\00:13:51.53 - Hey Janice, how are you doing? 00:13:52.86\00:13:54.83 - Hey, you were wrote another book. 00:13:54.83\00:13:56.63 - I did, I had a burden on my heart 00:13:56.63\00:13:58.37 and God helped me get it done. 00:13:58.37\00:14:00.30 - So, "The Plan of Love," what's it about? 00:14:00.30\00:14:04.11 - Well, it's really about God and eternity. 00:14:04.11\00:14:06.78 Saw everything that was going to happen here. 00:14:06.78\00:14:09.38 And his amazing love He says, 00:14:09.38\00:14:11.91 "I'm gonna take care of the problems. 00:14:11.91\00:14:13.52 I'm gonna take care of the situation by giving my own 00:14:13.52\00:14:17.12 life." He did all that, but we've been lied to so much. 00:14:17.12\00:14:20.26 We don't see what God has planned for us, 00:14:20.26\00:14:22.42 what God is doing for us. 00:14:22.42\00:14:24.63 Matter of fact, the angel came down to Mary and said, 00:14:24.63\00:14:27.66 "You shall call his name Jesus 00:14:27.66\00:14:29.23 for he shall save his people from their sin." 00:14:29.23\00:14:32.13 Notice it wasn't in, but from. 00:14:32.13\00:14:34.54 - Where can people get the book? 00:14:34.54\00:14:36.17 - Hey, I'm glad you asked. 00:14:36.17\00:14:37.71 Folks if you'd like your own personal copy, 00:14:37.71\00:14:39.64 log on to TalkingDonkeyInternational.org. 00:14:39.64\00:14:42.34 And please, if you would send us a donation of $12- 00:14:42.34\00:14:44.41 - Or more. - Or more. 00:14:45.28\00:14:47.08 And we'll get you the book 00:14:47.08\00:14:48.38 and I'll be happy to sign it for you too. 00:14:48.38\00:14:50.25 Thank you so much. 00:14:50.25\00:14:51.35 Janice I love the continuation of those verses 00:14:54.06\00:14:57.03 in Jeremiah 29. 00:14:57.03\00:14:58.79 "Then shall ye call upon me, says the Lord, 00:14:58.79\00:15:01.56 ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 00:15:01.56\00:15:04.97 Ye shall seek me and find me, when you search for me 00:15:04.97\00:15:07.90 with all of your heart. 00:15:07.90\00:15:09.70 And I will be found of you." 00:15:09.70\00:15:12.04 - I love that too, because I don't even know 00:15:13.68\00:15:18.75 at what point I began really seeking him with all my heart. 00:15:20.12\00:15:23.45 I know how important he is now. 00:15:23.45\00:15:25.35 And I know that one person that he put in my life, 00:15:26.92\00:15:29.69 because he often is guiding you not with, 00:15:29.69\00:15:34.36 angelic heavenly angels, but people in your life 00:15:35.46\00:15:39.63 that I think he puts there on purpose 00:15:39.63\00:15:42.00 if you'll open your eyes and notice them. 00:15:42.00\00:15:44.44 And after one of the worst times in my life, 00:15:44.44\00:15:48.31 when my dad finally died of cancer on April Fool's Day, 00:15:48.31\00:15:52.31 you would think now what? 00:15:54.45\00:15:56.99 And I was thinking that too. 00:15:56.99\00:15:58.59 And purely out of desperation, 00:15:58.59\00:16:00.79 I applied to work at a Christian summer camp. 00:16:00.79\00:16:03.96 Mind you, I did not like kids. 00:16:03.96\00:16:06.33 I had never babysat in my life. 00:16:06.33\00:16:08.36 I never wanted children. 00:16:08.36\00:16:10.60 And so to go and work at a summer camp, 00:16:10.60\00:16:12.80 which is kind of filled with kids, 00:16:12.80\00:16:15.50 but I knew that I could get a scholarship 00:16:15.50\00:16:17.71 and I needed that scholarship. 00:16:17.71\00:16:19.74 So I applied to work there 00:16:19.74\00:16:21.61 and Steve was the boy's director, assistant director, 00:16:21.61\00:16:26.51 something like that. 00:16:26.51\00:16:27.32 He did all the scheduling. 00:16:27.32\00:16:29.12 And if you had any discipline problems with your cabin, 00:16:29.12\00:16:32.45 or if any staff needed a talking to, it was Steve. 00:16:32.45\00:16:36.19 And so I had gone in, when I got the job and I had said, 00:16:36.19\00:16:41.23 Look, I will be a counselor if you get really desperate, 00:16:42.63\00:16:45.97 but otherwise I'll do anything else. 00:16:45.97\00:16:48.20 I would work in the kitchen, I'd do maintenance. 00:16:48.20\00:16:50.91 But they discovered fairly quickly that I like people. 00:16:50.91\00:16:54.41 I've got good people skills 00:16:54.41\00:16:55.94 and a good command of the English language, 00:16:55.94\00:16:59.41 sounded really nice on the phone. 00:16:59.41\00:17:01.55 - English major. - Yes. 00:17:01.55\00:17:03.32 And so I often worked in the office 00:17:03.32\00:17:06.49 and his desk was in the same room. 00:17:06.49\00:17:09.22 Well, he was always so responsible, so businesslike, 00:17:09.22\00:17:12.86 focused on what needed to be done. 00:17:12.86\00:17:15.10 And I thought he's a really nice guy, 00:17:15.10\00:17:17.97 but he's kind of buttoned down. 00:17:17.97\00:17:20.67 And he thought she's a really nice girl really smart. 00:17:20.67\00:17:25.54 - Wait, wait, wait for the younger audience, 00:17:25.54\00:17:26.71 you've gotta explain button down. 00:17:26.71\00:17:28.61 - Collars that always had little buttons 00:17:29.68\00:17:31.81 to keep the collar down and in place. 00:17:31.81\00:17:34.18 And Steve was always- - Prim and proper. 00:17:34.18\00:17:37.29 - Yes, proper, yes. 00:17:37.29\00:17:39.42 Business like responsible, Uber responsible. 00:17:39.42\00:17:43.46 And he recognized that I'm intelligent. 00:17:43.46\00:17:47.03 I'm fun to be around, 00:17:47.03\00:17:49.10 but literally too crazy to ever really date. 00:17:49.10\00:17:52.90 That's not what he was looking for. 00:17:52.90\00:17:54.57 He was headed to medical school. 00:17:54.57\00:17:56.14 He didn't even want a relationship. 00:17:56.14\00:17:58.01 - This was the psychopath inside. 00:17:58.01\00:18:00.28 - Well, he was getting little glimpses of her, yes. 00:18:00.28\00:18:02.84 But over months, not only working together all summer, 00:18:04.58\00:18:08.58 but we went to the same college. 00:18:08.58\00:18:11.42 He was a senior chemistry major. 00:18:11.42\00:18:13.02 I was a freshman English major, 00:18:13.02\00:18:15.09 literally opposite sides of the campus. 00:18:15.09\00:18:17.43 And yet weirdly we kept running into each other. 00:18:17.43\00:18:21.10 And sometimes God has to put something in front of you 00:18:21.10\00:18:25.87 and keep saying "Here, here. 00:18:25.87\00:18:28.27 Did you notice what I'm trying to give you here?" 00:18:28.27\00:18:31.01 And you finally stop and think, 00:18:31.01\00:18:33.98 he's not like anyone I've ever dated before, 00:18:33.98\00:18:36.88 but that's not such a bad thing. 00:18:38.08\00:18:40.22 And he had these qualities. 00:18:40.22\00:18:43.22 There was no one that didn't respect Steve, 00:18:43.22\00:18:46.15 that didn't recognize he's a good guy, 00:18:46.15\00:18:49.52 a genuinely good guy. 00:18:49.52\00:18:51.83 And an actual adult male. 00:18:51.83\00:18:55.10 - Was God trying to drop an anchor in your life, is that? 00:18:56.46\00:18:58.40 - I think so. 00:18:58.40\00:18:59.93 I have no idea why God inflicted me on him. 00:18:59.93\00:19:03.57 That would be another story. 00:19:03.57\00:19:04.84 And his mother trust me was horrified 00:19:04.84\00:19:07.28 when he brought me home. 00:19:07.28\00:19:08.54 But somehow it has worked. 00:19:09.64\00:19:11.71 And he is just a perfect partner for me. 00:19:11.71\00:19:16.79 He kind of keeps me from bouncing all over 00:19:17.89\00:19:21.36 and from getting way out of line. 00:19:21.36\00:19:25.09 He is a dedicated Christian. 00:19:25.89\00:19:28.76 When I walk into the kitchen in the mornings, 00:19:29.83\00:19:32.37 every morning there he is with his Bible. 00:19:32.37\00:19:34.60 I am hit or miss with that 00:19:35.80\00:19:38.24 because I don't have the discipline he has, 00:19:38.24\00:19:40.84 but he generally doesn't walk out of the house 00:19:40.84\00:19:43.11 without having spent some time with the Lord. 00:19:43.11\00:19:45.75 And that's how he has put up with me 00:19:45.75\00:19:46.95 a lot of these many years. 00:19:46.95\00:19:48.88 But he's also provide the guidance. 00:19:49.88\00:19:51.62 He has literally given me the stability, 00:19:53.89\00:19:57.73 the anchor to let me bloom. 00:19:57.73\00:20:01.30 And my mom didn't have that. 00:20:01.30\00:20:03.77 Maybe if she had had a better partner, 00:20:03.77\00:20:06.37 someone who was connected to the Lord. 00:20:06.37\00:20:08.80 My dad, the only time I know that he said the word, God, 00:20:08.80\00:20:13.31 it was followed by expletive that you shouldn't repeat. 00:20:13.31\00:20:18.38 I didn't grow up with my parents taking me to church. 00:20:20.42\00:20:24.05 It was my grandmother who lived next door. 00:20:24.05\00:20:27.22 So never underestimate the power of a godly grandmother. 00:20:27.22\00:20:30.59 But at this point in my life, when I met him, 00:20:32.29\00:20:34.40 my grandmother, we had had to move her in with us 00:20:34.40\00:20:37.90 because she kept accidentally setting her house on fire. 00:20:37.90\00:20:40.67 So God put this godly man right in my path. 00:20:42.20\00:20:47.18 And I eventually wised up and paid attention. 00:20:48.41\00:20:50.95 - So, He really used Steve to begin speaking to you, 00:20:50.95\00:20:54.22 to draw you out of that old mindset, 00:20:54.22\00:20:57.49 that old direction in life. 00:20:57.49\00:20:58.35 - Right, right. 00:20:58.35\00:20:59.89 When you are partnering with someone who has genuine faith, 00:20:59.89\00:21:04.73 it can't help but rub off. 00:21:05.53\00:21:07.03 And I had faith, but it was tiny. 00:21:07.03\00:21:11.93 It was there, but it needed to be breathed on, 00:21:11.93\00:21:15.84 give it some oxygen. 00:21:15.84\00:21:17.37 And that's one thing that he has provided 00:21:19.01\00:21:20.81 for the whole family too, 00:21:20.81\00:21:22.24 because our kids feel the same way. 00:21:22.24\00:21:24.98 One of our sons one and time said, 00:21:26.08\00:21:28.08 "When dad prays, you actually know he means it. 00:21:29.38\00:21:32.89 He's not just going through the motions." 00:21:33.99\00:21:35.92 So he is had that effect on the kids too, 00:21:35.92\00:21:38.69 of growing up with a godly father. 00:21:38.69\00:21:41.50 - Now you came out of what I would call 00:21:41.50\00:21:43.83 really kind of a living hell in your life. 00:21:43.83\00:21:48.04 Tell me though what it was like in this growing process. 00:21:49.47\00:21:51.97 How did you see changes in your life 00:21:51.97\00:21:54.24 and how did God really come into your life 00:21:54.24\00:21:57.75 to where you are today? 00:21:57.75\00:21:59.65 - Well, another big life changing experience 00:21:59.65\00:22:02.85 was having our first child, Colin. 00:22:02.85\00:22:06.39 - Remember I said I didn't like kids. 00:22:07.49\00:22:09.19 I never babysat, I didn't want children. 00:22:09.19\00:22:11.63 I was terrified because I knew that children ruin your life. 00:22:11.63\00:22:15.96 And I knew it because my mother was always telling us that. 00:22:15.96\00:22:19.20 She could have been something, 00:22:19.20\00:22:20.54 but she got married and had children. 00:22:20.54\00:22:22.94 I don't know how many times she flat out told me 00:22:24.27\00:22:27.48 I was no daughter of hers 00:22:27.48\00:22:29.31 because I wasn't meeting her expectations. 00:22:29.31\00:22:32.38 And I was terrified. 00:22:34.12\00:22:35.62 And after Colin, I had a period of, 00:22:35.62\00:22:39.72 you hear about postpartum blues, it was postpartum black. 00:22:39.72\00:22:43.46 In fact, Steve, when I finally admitted to him 00:22:43.46\00:22:47.76 that I'm not doing as well as you think I'm doing, 00:22:47.76\00:22:51.37 he was in his surgery residency. 00:22:51.37\00:22:53.27 He was hardly ever home. 00:22:53.27\00:22:54.77 And when he was, I'm a good enough actress, I could fake it 00:22:54.77\00:22:57.71 for the 12 hours, he might be home. 00:22:57.71\00:23:00.24 And finally, when I realized the suicidal thoughts 00:23:01.54\00:23:05.45 were seeming to make sense, 00:23:05.45\00:23:08.12 they were starting to sound reasonable. 00:23:08.12\00:23:10.45 And I thought I can't do that to the baby though. 00:23:10.45\00:23:14.52 I didn't love the baby. 00:23:14.52\00:23:16.16 I was going through emotions like a robot 00:23:16.16\00:23:19.29 as if you'd handed me an infant and said, 00:23:19.29\00:23:21.00 "Here, could you take care of this for a while? 00:23:21.00\00:23:23.63 But I was so afraid of Colin 00:23:23.63\00:23:26.70 because I thought he's gonna grow up and hate me 00:23:26.70\00:23:30.41 the way I hate my mother. 00:23:30.41\00:23:31.77 My brother, my sister and I, 00:23:32.97\00:23:34.34 we all got to the point where we just cut mom off. 00:23:34.34\00:23:37.41 Absolutely no relationship. 00:23:37.41\00:23:38.98 And I was terrified that- 00:23:38.98\00:23:41.38 How could I possibly be a mom what I didn't know how to be? 00:23:41.38\00:23:45.19 But I also hadn't reckoned with the love God gives you. 00:23:46.79\00:23:51.13 And I think that is when I really began to experience 00:23:51.13\00:23:54.30 what God feels for me. 00:23:54.30\00:23:55.50 And boy does that make a difference? 00:23:56.73\00:23:59.47 - Wow, so that was really kind of a time in your life 00:23:59.47\00:24:03.61 when God then impacted your life. 00:24:03.61\00:24:06.84 - When you realize, I began to know 00:24:07.91\00:24:10.88 that Steve would do anything for me 00:24:10.88\00:24:13.21 and with Colin, it was like, 00:24:13.21\00:24:14.78 well, I know I'd do anything for him. 00:24:14.78\00:24:17.29 Once I got over the depression, it was like, 00:24:17.29\00:24:20.42 nobody could take that baby from me now. 00:24:20.42\00:24:22.49 I would give my life. 00:24:22.49\00:24:23.93 And you realize that is how God looks at me. 00:24:23.93\00:24:27.60 - Wow. 00:24:28.73\00:24:30.20 Janice. I just really appreciate you sharing this story. 00:24:30.20\00:24:32.83 I know probably a little tough for you. 00:24:32.83\00:24:34.54 I can see it in your face. 00:24:34.54\00:24:36.57 - You kept saying, "We need to do your story." 00:24:37.67\00:24:39.51 And I kept saying, "No, no we don't." 00:24:39.51\00:24:41.51 - Well, thank you so much. 00:24:42.44\00:24:43.91 - Thank you. 00:24:43.91\00:24:44.81 (lighting thudding) 00:24:47.45\00:24:50.52 There's a storm coming. 00:24:59.56\00:25:01.20 That means any minute now 00:25:02.90\00:25:05.30 my grandchildren will start appearing, 00:25:05.30\00:25:08.27 the little ones first, 00:25:08.27\00:25:10.21 but the older ones won't be far behind, 00:25:10.21\00:25:12.77 all of them scrambling for the safety of grandma's lap. 00:25:12.77\00:25:17.85 They know their grandmother isn't afraid of any storm. 00:25:19.21\00:25:21.85 And soon one of them is bound to ask to hear it again. 00:25:23.15\00:25:26.69 The story of the great storm. 00:25:26.69\00:25:30.03 How God decided to rid his world of evil, 00:25:30.03\00:25:33.50 how he decided to send the rain, 00:25:34.66\00:25:37.27 and how he asked Grandpa Noah to build a boat. 00:25:38.53\00:25:42.70 (upbeat music) 00:25:42.70\00:25:45.44 - Hey Janice, how are you doing? 00:25:51.25\00:25:53.15 - Hey, you wrote another book. 00:25:53.15\00:25:54.95 - I did, I had a burden on my heart 00:25:54.95\00:25:56.69 and God helped me get it done. 00:25:56.69\00:25:58.69 - So, "The Plan of Love," what's it about? 00:25:58.69\00:26:02.56 - Well, it's really about God in eternity 00:26:02.56\00:26:05.19 saw everything that was going to happen here. 00:26:05.19\00:26:07.76 And his amazing love he says, 00:26:07.76\00:26:10.30 "I'm gonna take care of the problems. 00:26:10.30\00:26:11.90 I'm gonna take care of the situation by giving my own 00:26:11.90\00:26:15.50 life." He did all that, but we've been lied to so much. 00:26:15.50\00:26:18.67 We don't see what God has planned for us, 00:26:18.67\00:26:20.81 what God is doing for us. 00:26:20.81\00:26:23.01 Matter of fact, the angel came down to marry and said, 00:26:23.01\00:26:26.11 "You shall call his name Jesus 00:26:26.11\00:26:27.68 for he shall save his people from their sin." 00:26:27.68\00:26:30.55 Notice it wasn't in, but from. 00:26:30.55\00:26:32.95 - Where can people get the book? 00:26:32.95\00:26:34.62 - Hey, I'm glad you asked, 00:26:34.62\00:26:36.16 Folks, if you'd like your own personal copy, 00:26:36.16\00:26:38.09 log on to TalkingDonkeyInternational.org 00:26:38.09\00:26:40.76 And please, if you would send us a donation of 12 dollars- 00:26:40.76\00:26:43.73 - Or more. - Or more. 00:26:43.73\00:26:45.50 And we'll get you the book 00:26:45.50\00:26:46.80 and I'll be happy to sign it for you too. 00:26:46.80\00:26:48.67 Thank you so much. 00:26:48.67\00:26:49.74 (gentle music) 00:26:52.44\00:26:55.18 It's exciting to me because I look at what God did 00:26:56.95\00:26:59.95 for this young woman who heard a cry to him, 00:26:59.95\00:27:03.32 He came man answered the call. 00:27:03.32\00:27:05.32 - He certainly did. 00:27:05.32\00:27:06.42 He always answers your call. - He does. 00:27:06.42\00:27:08.22 - Even if you're barely calling, 00:27:08.22\00:27:11.19 it's just a little squeak inside. 00:27:11.19\00:27:13.43 And I know that there's someone out there. 00:27:13.43\00:27:15.30 You might be one who is calling out because you recognize 00:27:15.30\00:27:19.73 maybe you've never felt loved. 00:27:19.73\00:27:21.40 Maybe you don't feel like you are lovable. 00:27:21.40\00:27:24.21 And certainly you don't know how to genuinely love. 00:27:24.21\00:27:28.28 That was me. 00:27:28.28\00:27:29.64 And the best decision I ever made was to ask God to come in 00:27:29.64\00:27:34.12 and begin to change that, to fill those holes, 00:27:34.12\00:27:37.19 to start repairing the brokenness inside 00:27:37.19\00:27:40.92 so that I had something to actually give. 00:27:40.92\00:27:44.76 Make that decision today if you haven't already. 00:27:44.76\00:27:47.66 (gentle music) 00:27:47.66\00:27:50.37 - Thank you for watching. 00:27:58.24\00:27:59.61 Join us again for another exciting Country Wisdom. 00:27:59.61\00:28:01.44 - See you next time. 00:28:01.44\00:28:02.54