The following program
discusses sensitive issues.
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Parents are
cautioned that some material
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may be too candid
for younger children.
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Hello and
welcome to Pure Choices.
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My name is Danielle Harrison,
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and I'm an associate
member of Coming Out Ministries.
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Today, I have
the great privilege
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and honor of interviewing
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my precious
mother Penny Harrison.
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Thank you for
joining us today, Mum.
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Thank you for having me.
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It's really a pleasure
and a privilege to be here.
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Amen, amen.
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You know, Mum, I believe that
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what we have to
share today is very dynamic
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and it's going to
be a great blessing
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to a lot of different people
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across the
board from both sides.
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So since we're
talking about sexual purity,
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I'm just interested, Mum,
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was there
sexual sin in your life
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and did it affect
you in your experience?
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Yes, there was
sexual sin in my life.
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My husband and I
both had sexual sin
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on both sides of our marriage.
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It destroyed our
marriage, it really did.
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After the divorce,
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I looked for love
in all the wrong places
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and continued
living in sexual sin.
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Okay.
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And I know that you are
married again after that.
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Did sexual sin play
a part in the dynamic
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between you and
your second husband?
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It did.
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I moved in with my
present-day husband
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before he was divorced.
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We lived in sexual
sin, and eventually,
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he was
incarcerated for sexual sin.
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It reached
through his whole life.
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Sure, sure.
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Okay, and I know
that there was...
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in that time,
there was a dynamic
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of you wanting to go to church
but something holding you back,
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and was that you sexual sin?
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Well, I really did
have a desire to go church.
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I felt left for the
first time in a long time.
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And I worked as a cashier,
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I would see people come
through the grocery store
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and they would be
coming from church,
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and I wanted that feeling again.
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And I would ask them, you know,
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"Where do you go to church?"
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And they would tell me all
about their church service,
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their song
service, their minister,
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how they loved him,
but they never invited me.
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And I really
wanted to go to church,
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but the one thing that
held me back from church was,
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I knew if I
started going to church
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and drew close to the Lord,
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that I would have to
deal with my sexual sin,
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and that's one thing that
really kept me out of church.
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You would have to deal with it.
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What do you mean by that?
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I cannot live in sexual sin
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and devote my life to the Lord.
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Okay, so you weren't ready to
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or willing to give it
up to make that commitment.
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I couldn't give up my sin, amen.
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Okay, okay.
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So your
present-day husband then...
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This was before
you were married,
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and you said he was
incarcerated for sexual sin,
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and what was that
like for you being,
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you know, in this situation,
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now he's gone and here you are,
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what was that like for you?
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I was devastated.
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I was very much
out of my element.
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I was in the city.
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And I'm a country girl.
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Let me just tell
you a little bit about
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where I came from. Sure.
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I grew up in a
small town in Illinois,
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and I didn't come from
a background of church.
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I was allowed to walk
around the corner to the church,
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and I went to
Sunday school a lot,
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I enjoyed vacation Bible school
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and the missionaries
that would come in to church,
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and that's how I got
acquainted with church
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and came to love the church.
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I was baptized at the age
of 10 and gave my life to Lord,
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but I never grew in the Lord
'cause I never read my Bible.
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I would go to youth functions,
roller skating parties,
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and vacation Bible
school, and prayer meetings,
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even went to nursing homes,
and minister to the elderly,
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I loved that,
singing with the old people
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and talking to them.
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I really enjoyed that,
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but I never was
grounded in the Lord,
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I didn't have a life that grew.
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Read my quarterly but
never reading the Bible.
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So after I found
myself devastated, my husband,
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my man at that time, we
weren't married until later,
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he was gone.
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I had nowhere to
turn. I was hopeless.
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And that's when I
turned to the Lord.
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I remember falling face down
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on the carpeting
in the living room
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and just
dedicating myself to God
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and telling Him that I
wanted a true relationship
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and I wanted to be
completely dedicated
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and submitted to Him.
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And that's when
I found a church,
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I had a guy at work,
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who had invited
me to church finally
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and started attending with him,
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going to Sunday school,
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and prayer meetings,
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and just doing
everything I could.
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I went and bought me a Bible
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and began reading
the Old Testament.
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Wow. And the New Testament.
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I started reading
as much as I could,
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and that made all the difference
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in drawing close to the Lord.
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Excellent.
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So do you believe that
the dynamic between you
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and who is now your husband
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did that change
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also as you were coming
closer to the Lord in that time?
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Yes, it really did.
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As he was incarcerated,
he gave his life to the Lord
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and he started
studying with a chaplain.
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And I stayed close to him,
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I had made a personal commitment
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to him in our sin,
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and I thought that
how could I dishonor
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that now that we
were both in the Lord
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and we knew each
other intimately.
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So I made a commitment to him
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and we talked to a
chaplain about getting married,
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I talked to my pastor
about getting married,
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whether it was
right in the Lord or not,
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and we all came
into an agreement
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and we were
married in the facility
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where he was at.
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Beautiful, very beautiful.
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So here you are,
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you're turning back to the Lord,
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you're making this
commitment to your husband,
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did you see any
other changes in your life
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not just in your
relationship with your husband
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but other
changes also in your life
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as you were coming
closer to the Lord?
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Yes, I did.
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Prayer became
very meaningful for me,
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and I was living
back here in Illinois,
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and my children were in
Washington with their daddy.
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So since I couldn't
reach out to my children,
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a mother always
prays for her children,
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I began praying
steadfastly for those.
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And at that time,
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I also started
praying for my mother.
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I was in transition
from where I had lived
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with my boyfriend, now husband,
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into Central
Illinois with my parents
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so that I could
find a place of my own
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and I had a job secured
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and I started
praying for my mother
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when I was living with him.
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And at that point,
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she was in a
really dark place too,
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an alcoholic and
lots of bad habits,
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but I started
praying for my mother,
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and I started
praying for Deidre.
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Deidre had a real
soft spot in my heart
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and I didn't know
why, but in the mornings,
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before I'd go to
work, I would sit down
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with my Bible and I would pray,
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I would pray very
concentrated prayers
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for Deidre and my mother.
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And Deidre is my sister.
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Yes, your sister Deidre. Yeah.
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And I would pray for those
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and I began to
see the Lord working.
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I don't know
why I prayed so hard
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and I would pray tearful prayers
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prayers that just made me weep,
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and God honored that.
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At some point, I came
into communication with Deidre
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and she told me that she
was seeing the boy next door
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and he was from
an Adventist family.
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And I was so surprised,
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I had prayed that God would send
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His people to Deidre
and he sent the Adventists,
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and it really surprised me
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'cause I didn't know
anything about the Adventists.
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I was a Baptist at that time.
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Sure, sure.
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And so now you have
seen some of the fruition
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of those prayers that you
prayed both for your mother
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and also now you
understand how God was answering
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your prayers also for Deidre
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not just in sending the
saints to her other ways.
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Can you share those things also?
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Yes, whenever Deidre...
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Excuse me, that's right, Deidre.
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Whenever Deidre
was to get married,
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in 2003,
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I went to the wedding
and I flew out to Washington.
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And that's when I saw the things
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that were going on
in your life, Danielle.
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I saw that you were
in a very dark place.
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I saw the
posters in your bedroom,
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some of the lyrics on your wall,
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and I understood why,
during the summer visits,
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that you had
rejected the efforts
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that I had made to try
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and talk to you about the Bible,
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I even tried to
present you with a Bible,
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but you shut me down.
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And now when I'm
coming out to your house
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and seeing your room,
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I understand why
there was demonology stuff
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all over your walls,
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lyrics of songs
that were so scary.
00:10:23.49\00:10:26.35
I happened to see your
My Space page at that time,
00:10:26.39\00:10:29.99
and it just made me weep.
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It was so full of
rock and roll pictures
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and just pictures
where you had stitches drawn
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all over your
face and your arms.
00:10:38.60\00:10:40.80
And that scares a
mother, it really does.
00:10:40.84\00:10:44.11
Yeah, so was it during that trip
00:10:44.14\00:10:47.91
that Deidre
shared her testimony,
00:10:47.94\00:10:49.58
and you learned
what she had been going
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through back in those times
00:10:52.15\00:10:53.52
when you were weeping
those prayers for her?
00:10:53.55\00:10:56.89
At that trip, no, not that trip.
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Was it later?
00:10:58.69\00:11:00.02
It was another
trip, yeah, after that.
00:11:00.06\00:11:02.32
I found out that
during those times of prayer,
00:11:02.36\00:11:05.43
where I would weep
and pray for Deidre,
00:11:05.46\00:11:08.20
that she had been
going through an abortion,
00:11:08.23\00:11:10.80
and she didn't
tell any of us about it.
00:11:10.83\00:11:12.87
She was all alone,
going through all of that,
00:11:12.90\00:11:14.74
but the Lord was with her
00:11:14.77\00:11:16.10
and He was pulling on your heart
00:11:16.14\00:11:17.91
to pray
earnestly for her, right?
00:11:17.94\00:11:19.31
Yes.
00:11:19.34\00:11:20.68
I think that's a
beautiful and encouraging thing.
00:11:20.71\00:11:22.64
You know, when the Lord
lays someone on our heart
00:11:22.68\00:11:24.81
and we pray, we
don't really realize
00:11:24.85\00:11:27.08
what we're moving
00:11:27.12\00:11:28.45
or what God is moving
through those prayers.
00:11:28.48\00:11:31.15
Amen. And what about grandma,
00:11:31.19\00:11:33.76
did you see the Lord
answer your prayers for her?
00:11:33.79\00:11:37.26
Hallelujah, yes I did.
00:11:37.29\00:11:40.50
It happened 9/11,
00:11:40.53\00:11:43.40
when I saw my mother started
attending church with me.
00:11:43.43\00:11:47.50
I had never seen that before.
00:11:47.54\00:11:49.30
As a child, my mother
never took me to church
00:11:49.34\00:11:51.44
or went to church with me,
00:11:51.47\00:11:53.07
but she started
attending church with me,
00:11:53.11\00:11:55.54
and I saw my
mother attend regularly,
00:11:55.58\00:11:58.08
and I saw my
mother quit drinking.
00:11:58.11\00:12:00.45
And that was amazing to me
00:12:00.48\00:12:02.48
'cause she had
been drinking for years.
00:12:02.52\00:12:03.95
Wow. That was a
great change in her.
00:12:03.99\00:12:06.55
It's so encouraging
when we see the Lord
00:12:06.59\00:12:08.39
moving in response to
our prayers, isn't it?
00:12:08.42\00:12:11.03
Yeah, and that was in 2001.
00:12:11.06\00:12:13.29
And I was so thankful
00:12:13.33\00:12:14.96
that the Lord did
that for my mother
00:12:15.00\00:12:16.80
because she ended up
being diagnosed with cancer
00:12:16.83\00:12:20.24
in September of 2004
and died in January of 2005.
00:12:20.27\00:12:25.07
Wow, praise the Lord.
00:12:25.11\00:12:27.81
Amen. Amen.
00:12:27.84\00:12:29.18
Not that she died
00:12:29.21\00:12:30.55
but that she came to
Him before she did, right?
00:12:30.58\00:12:32.28
Yes. Amen.
00:12:32.31\00:12:33.65
So as you had come out
00:12:33.68\00:12:36.08
and you had seen
these things in my room
00:12:36.12\00:12:38.52
and you saw the
dark place that I was in,
00:12:38.55\00:12:40.46
that must have
been so hard for you
00:12:40.49\00:12:42.82
to see your child
going through that,
00:12:42.86\00:12:46.53
how did you deal
with that for me?
00:12:46.56\00:12:49.06
How did you respond?
00:12:49.10\00:12:51.07
The first thing
I thought of was,
00:12:51.10\00:12:52.57
"Why haven't I been
praying for Danielle
00:12:52.60\00:12:54.67
like I prayed for Deidre?"
00:12:54.70\00:12:56.77
And I started concentrating
my prayer for Danielle,
00:12:56.81\00:13:00.51
and I thought, "Lord,
how do I pray for Danielle?"
00:13:00.54\00:13:03.61
I can't just say,
"Lord, please bless my child,"
00:13:03.65\00:13:06.95
because
Danielle's in a dark place.
00:13:06.98\00:13:08.85
She's living in sexual
sin, she can't come to the Lord
00:13:08.88\00:13:14.49
whenever she is in the sin,
the sin has to be addressed,
00:13:14.52\00:13:20.66
the sin has to
be looked at as sin.
00:13:20.70\00:13:24.77
I said, "Lord,
convict her of her sin,
00:13:24.80\00:13:26.63
let her see her need for Christ,
00:13:26.67\00:13:29.77
and interrupt her life."
00:13:29.80\00:13:33.98
Amen, amen.
00:13:34.01\00:13:35.34
You wanted me to have
00:13:35.38\00:13:37.35
the scales fall off my
eyes so I could really see
00:13:37.38\00:13:40.15
the desperate
place that I was in.
00:13:40.18\00:13:42.18
You know, and I love
sharing that with people
00:13:42.22\00:13:45.19
that you prayed those
kind of prayers for me
00:13:45.22\00:13:48.52
because I think
it gives direction,
00:13:48.56\00:13:52.53
you know,
because I think sometimes
00:13:52.56\00:13:53.90
we just pray for people
to be blessed and have peace.
00:13:53.93\00:13:56.73
And that's not necessarily
always what they need.
00:13:56.77\00:13:59.73
They need to see
their need of a savior
00:13:59.77\00:14:02.40
and see the ugliness of
sin and really what it does.
00:14:02.44\00:14:05.61
Amen. I think that's powerful.
00:14:05.64\00:14:07.94
I appreciate you sharing that.
00:14:07.98\00:14:10.15
So I know also
that you are praying
00:14:10.18\00:14:15.48
that I would end up going
to South Dakota that summer.
00:14:15.52\00:14:20.52
And I know that that
was encouraging for you also
00:14:20.56\00:14:23.83
when I really
ended up going out there.
00:14:23.86\00:14:26.49
And did you really sense
that it was going to make
00:14:26.53\00:14:30.87
a big impact in
my life like it did?
00:14:30.90\00:14:33.34
Were you hoping for
that or were you just hoping
00:14:33.37\00:14:36.64
that I would get
away from the situation
00:14:36.67\00:14:38.24
that I was in
for a little while?
00:14:38.27\00:14:40.24
Well, I knew if you
went to South Dakota,
00:14:40.28\00:14:42.18
that would be a
perfect opportunity
00:14:42.21\00:14:44.21
to separate you
from your boyfriend,
00:14:44.25\00:14:45.85
and I knew, from my experience,
00:14:45.88\00:14:48.82
that if you're living in sin,
it's hard to give up that sin
00:14:48.85\00:14:51.79
when you're living in it.
00:14:51.82\00:14:53.22
And I knew that if we could
00:14:53.25\00:14:54.79
get you out of that environment,
00:14:54.82\00:14:57.06
out of your boyfriend's house,
00:14:57.09\00:14:59.03
you would be more
likely to see the sin,
00:14:59.06\00:15:01.83
and I thought, "This
is a great opportunity
00:15:01.86\00:15:03.90
for Danielle to be able
to get away from her sin
00:15:03.93\00:15:08.40
and to be convicted
of what her life was
00:15:08.44\00:15:12.34
and to see what it
could be, living out there,
00:15:12.37\00:15:15.41
working out there with
the people that are there,
00:15:15.44\00:15:18.95
working in the earth."
00:15:18.98\00:15:21.12
I knew it was a
great opportunity for you
00:15:21.15\00:15:22.98
and I prayed for the
Lord to bring that about
00:15:23.02\00:15:25.65
so that you
could make that choice
00:15:25.69\00:15:27.32
and that you
would choose that avenue
00:15:27.36\00:15:29.86
because I knew the
choice was up to you.
00:15:29.89\00:15:33.13
How beautiful, how beautiful
that you shared that, Mom,
00:15:33.16\00:15:35.66
because really that is exactly
00:15:35.70\00:15:37.30
what happened while I was there.
00:15:37.33\00:15:39.43
I think that being away from
the environment that I was in,
00:15:39.47\00:15:44.47
I got to sober up a
little bit to the intoxification
00:15:44.51\00:15:49.21
that I was in in
that relationship,
00:15:49.24\00:15:52.28
and, you know, all the
things that you were hoping for,
00:15:52.31\00:15:55.28
that was what followed.
00:15:55.32\00:15:57.55
So, wow, I think
that's so very beautiful.
00:15:57.59\00:16:01.42
Now as you were praying for me,
00:16:01.46\00:16:04.19
Mom, did you just
pray by yourself for me
00:16:04.23\00:16:08.66
or did you get others involved?
00:16:08.70\00:16:10.53
No, like I said, I was
going to church regularly.
00:16:10.57\00:16:13.87
And every prayer
meeting that we had,
00:16:13.90\00:16:17.24
we would pray for Danielle.
00:16:17.27\00:16:18.61
I would bring
up, let people know
00:16:18.64\00:16:21.18
where Danielle was
at, what she was doing.
00:16:21.21\00:16:24.11
I would also talk to
my coworkers at work,
00:16:24.15\00:16:27.25
friends that I knew prayed,
00:16:27.28\00:16:28.98
and I would ask
them to pray for you
00:16:29.02\00:16:30.92
and tell them where you were at,
00:16:30.95\00:16:32.75
what you were doing,
what your needs were.
00:16:32.79\00:16:35.46
I would get as many
people involved as I could,
00:16:35.49\00:16:38.96
not just
coworkers but also friends.
00:16:38.99\00:16:41.53
Amen, amen.
00:16:41.56\00:16:43.00
So in this rich
prayer experience
00:16:43.03\00:16:45.47
that you're having
and sharing with others,
00:16:45.50\00:16:47.57
you must have felt like
00:16:47.60\00:16:49.04
your prayer life was
perfect and complete, right?
00:16:49.07\00:16:51.87
No, no, not at all.
00:16:51.91\00:16:54.31
A mother always
prays for a child,
00:16:54.34\00:16:56.08
but there were a lot of
times where I felt like,
00:16:56.11\00:16:58.61
I'm not praying enough.
00:16:58.65\00:17:00.02
I didn't pray enough yesterday,
00:17:00.05\00:17:01.68
I missed some prayer
yesterday, you know, sometimes,
00:17:01.72\00:17:04.85
"Oh, I haven't prayed
for Danielle yet today."
00:17:04.89\00:17:07.52
So yeah, we always need
to improve our prayer life
00:17:07.56\00:17:10.66
and we always feel that
00:17:10.69\00:17:12.03
we fall short
in our prayer life.
00:17:12.06\00:17:13.43
But the main thing is,
00:17:13.46\00:17:15.03
when somebody crosses your mind,
00:17:15.06\00:17:17.00
that's when you need
to say a prayer for them.
00:17:17.03\00:17:18.70
Amen.
00:17:18.73\00:17:20.07
Wherever you are,
whatever you're doing.
00:17:20.10\00:17:22.07
So even in the
richest prayer experiences,
00:17:22.10\00:17:24.54
we can sometimes
be hard on ourselves,
00:17:24.57\00:17:27.64
we can sometimes
beat ourselves up
00:17:27.68\00:17:30.35
that we're not praying enough,
00:17:30.38\00:17:31.85
and we have to
trust that God is moving
00:17:31.88\00:17:33.55
and honoring our prayers despite
00:17:33.58\00:17:35.38
maybe those
feelings that can come in.
00:17:35.42\00:17:38.02
Amen. Amen, amen.
00:17:38.05\00:17:39.69
So, you know, Mom, I
think it's so amazing
00:17:39.72\00:17:45.06
and profound the way
that you prayed for me.
00:17:45.09\00:17:48.96
And, you know, as I'm
stepping into the faith
00:17:49.00\00:17:53.70
and joining the
Seventh-day Adventist church
00:17:53.74\00:17:56.40
and becoming on
fire for the Lord
00:17:56.44\00:17:59.54
and excited about the truths
00:17:59.57\00:18:02.28
that I was
learning in the Bible,
00:18:02.31\00:18:04.28
I wanted you to have the joy
00:18:04.31\00:18:08.58
of some of those truths as well,
00:18:08.62\00:18:10.25
especially the Sabbath.
00:18:10.29\00:18:12.05
And I started to
pray for you more,
00:18:12.09\00:18:14.92
and I really...
00:18:14.96\00:18:17.46
I really wanted you to come
to know the joy of the Sabbath.
00:18:17.49\00:18:19.59
That was specifically something
that I prayed a lot for.
00:18:19.63\00:18:22.93
And as I was praying
00:18:22.96\00:18:27.24
these prayers more consistently,
00:18:27.27\00:18:29.57
like you talked about
trying to pray every single day.
00:18:29.60\00:18:31.77
That's what I was,
that's what I really committed
00:18:31.81\00:18:33.98
to was praying
for you every day.
00:18:34.01\00:18:35.74
And as I started to pray
for you more consistently,
00:18:35.78\00:18:37.71
I started to feel convicted
00:18:37.75\00:18:39.65
to appeal to you
about the Sabbath.
00:18:39.68\00:18:42.22
And that was challenging for me
00:18:42.25\00:18:44.59
because you had
always been gentle
00:18:44.62\00:18:46.89
and prayerful and patient.
00:18:46.92\00:18:49.79
You hadn't stepped up
and tried to talk to me
00:18:49.82\00:18:53.19
about spiritual
things, you know.
00:18:53.23\00:18:54.56
And I just
wanted to be prayerful
00:18:54.60\00:18:55.93
and gentle for you as well.
00:18:55.96\00:18:58.30
So I was
intimidated by that conviction.
00:18:58.33\00:19:02.97
And I just prayed and I said,
00:19:03.00\00:19:04.34
"Okay, Lord, if you want
me to talk to Mom about this,
00:19:04.37\00:19:07.14
then you're going to
have to open up the doors
00:19:07.18\00:19:09.71
and give me the words."
00:19:09.74\00:19:11.48
And that was exactly
what He did as you well know,
00:19:11.51\00:19:16.12
He opened the doors for me
00:19:16.15\00:19:17.49
to have a little
speaking tour that summer.
00:19:17.52\00:19:20.56
And I went to South Dakota
00:19:20.59\00:19:21.92
and spoke in a few
different places there
00:19:21.96\00:19:23.46
and also in Illinois
00:19:23.49\00:19:25.03
and spoke at a few different
churches near your home.
00:19:25.06\00:19:28.26
And you came every time.
00:19:28.30\00:19:29.96
That was when I really learned
the manner of the prayers
00:19:30.00\00:19:33.20
that you had been praying for me
00:19:33.23\00:19:35.34
when someone walked
up to me or us, and said,
00:19:35.37\00:19:37.91
"It must have been so
hard for you to watch Danielle
00:19:37.94\00:19:40.81
go through all of these things."
00:19:40.84\00:19:42.18
And you said, "Yes, it was.
00:19:42.21\00:19:43.55
But I just kept
praying and I was praying
00:19:43.58\00:19:45.48
this and this and this for her."
00:19:45.51\00:19:46.88
That was when I
learned of really
00:19:46.92\00:19:49.32
what you were praying,
and you came every time.
00:19:49.35\00:19:52.85
And I remember one
church in particular, you said,
00:19:52.89\00:19:55.96
"I like this church. I
could go to this church."
00:19:55.99\00:19:58.99
And you didn't
just say that once,
00:19:59.03\00:20:00.36
you said it more than once
while we were at the church
00:20:00.40\00:20:04.43
and more than once again
during the week after that.
00:20:04.47\00:20:07.34
And I thought this really
must be the Lord opening up
00:20:07.37\00:20:09.70
the doors for me
to talk to her about,
00:20:09.74\00:20:12.47
you know, attending
the Adventist church
00:20:12.51\00:20:14.28
and talk to her
about the Sabbath.
00:20:14.31\00:20:16.48
So on the last week,
00:20:16.51\00:20:19.38
the last Sabbath
that I was there,
00:20:19.41\00:20:21.78
you had to work, and I thought,
00:20:21.82\00:20:23.82
I'll talk to you
before you go to work
00:20:23.85\00:20:27.16
and just appeal to you then.
00:20:27.19\00:20:29.39
And I thought maybe you would go
00:20:29.42\00:20:30.76
to your shift manager, whatever,
00:20:30.79\00:20:32.69
and talk to them about
getting the Sabbath off.
00:20:32.73\00:20:35.40
But it didn't
work out that morning.
00:20:35.43\00:20:37.73
The timing wasn't
right, and we didn't end up
00:20:37.77\00:20:39.83
talking that
morning, did we, Mom?
00:20:39.87\00:20:41.20
Nope.
00:20:41.24\00:20:42.87
And I believe that that
was God's divine interjection.
00:20:42.90\00:20:48.21
And at the time,
as I was sitting there
00:20:48.24\00:20:49.58
and you walked out
the door to go to work,
00:20:49.61\00:20:50.95
I thought "Lord,
what just happened?"
00:20:50.98\00:20:52.75
I thought we were going
to have this conversation
00:20:52.78\00:20:54.55
and at first, I was a little bit
00:20:54.58\00:20:57.39
discouraged by that,
00:20:57.42\00:20:58.89
but it's a beautiful
thing because I decided,
00:20:58.92\00:21:03.49
in that moment,
that I was going to say,
00:21:03.53\00:21:04.86
"No, Lord. I'm going
to trust your timing.
00:21:04.89\00:21:06.53
I told you to
open the door." Amen.
00:21:06.56\00:21:08.36
And I had peace
about that, and I went
00:21:08.40\00:21:10.23
and had a beautiful Sabbath day
00:21:10.27\00:21:11.73
in fellowship with the church
00:21:11.77\00:21:13.74
there in your hometown,
and I talked with your husband
00:21:13.77\00:21:16.64
for a few hours in the afternoon
00:21:16.67\00:21:18.37
about what I had heard at church
00:21:18.41\00:21:20.61
and, you know, it was
just a beautiful Sabbath.
00:21:20.64\00:21:23.14
And when you got home,
00:21:23.18\00:21:25.71
we started to watch
some little videos, right?
00:21:25.75\00:21:30.19
And we watched
some stuff on creation.
00:21:30.22\00:21:35.09
And as we were watching
these little videos on creation
00:21:35.12\00:21:37.96
then the Sabbath
was coming to a close,
00:21:37.99\00:21:40.20
I realized that
this was the moment
00:21:40.23\00:21:43.23
because thoughts
started coming into my mind
00:21:43.26\00:21:44.93
of what I could say to you
and how I could appeal to you
00:21:44.97\00:21:47.44
and how I could come
into this conversation.
00:21:47.47\00:21:49.30
I knew God was
giving me the words.
00:21:49.34\00:21:51.74
And so I said, "Okay, well,
00:21:51.77\00:21:53.11
the Sabbath is
coming to a close.
00:21:53.14\00:21:54.54
So you know, maybe we
can have a little worship
00:21:54.58\00:21:56.91
and so let's pray to
open up the worship,"
00:21:56.95\00:21:59.58
'cause I didn't want to appeal
to you without praying first.
00:21:59.61\00:22:03.99
So I prayed and you had
left some things on my Facebook,
00:22:04.02\00:22:09.89
you know, just
saying "Happy Sabbath,"
00:22:09.92\00:22:11.49
and stuff like that
over the last couple years.
00:22:11.53\00:22:14.33
So I just said,
"Mom, you refer to Saturday
00:22:14.36\00:22:18.00
as the Sabbath, do you
believe that it's the Sabbath?"
00:22:18.03\00:22:21.60
And what did you say?
00:22:21.64\00:22:23.00
I do. I believe
it is God's Sabbath.
00:22:23.04\00:22:25.54
Right, and then I asked you,
00:22:25.57\00:22:27.91
"Do you just think
that God doesn't want us
00:22:27.94\00:22:30.75
to keep it anymore, right?"
00:22:30.78\00:22:33.62
Right. And what did you say?
00:22:33.65\00:22:35.48
No, I think He
wants us to keep it.
00:22:35.52\00:22:37.42
Yeah.
00:22:37.45\00:22:38.99
And then I asked,
"Well, do you just think that
00:22:39.02\00:22:41.56
it doesn't matter what
day you keep as the Sabbath?"
00:22:41.59\00:22:45.26
No, I've been feeling more
and more convicted about that.
00:22:45.29\00:22:49.66
The more I read my Bible,
00:22:49.70\00:22:51.70
the more I
learned about the Lord,
00:22:51.73\00:22:53.70
the more he taught me about it.
00:22:53.74\00:22:55.84
And Danielle and
Deidre never missed a time
00:22:55.87\00:22:58.44
to explain to me and tell me
00:22:58.47\00:23:00.88
more about the
Sabbath all the time.
00:23:00.91\00:23:03.35
Matt was very relentless
about teaching me things.
00:23:03.38\00:23:06.28
Deidre's husband Matt, yes.
00:23:06.31\00:23:09.18
He loves to share.
00:23:09.22\00:23:10.72
You know, and I think
that was when I really realized
00:23:10.75\00:23:14.26
how much God was leading
me into that conversation
00:23:14.29\00:23:16.59
because I could have never known
00:23:16.62\00:23:17.96
that you had been feeling
convicted about it but he did.
00:23:17.99\00:23:20.40
Amen. He did.
00:23:20.43\00:23:21.76
And so we ended up
just talking together
00:23:21.80\00:23:24.30
for almost three hours.
00:23:24.33\00:23:25.70
We studied the Bible together.
00:23:25.73\00:23:27.90
And that was a
really beautiful time.
00:23:27.94\00:23:31.47
I remember that,
00:23:31.51\00:23:35.44
at one point in
the conversation,
00:23:35.48\00:23:36.91
you turned to
David, and do you remember
00:23:36.95\00:23:39.68
what you said to him, Mom?
00:23:39.71\00:23:41.38
Yes, I do.
00:23:41.42\00:23:42.75
I said, "I don't
know what kind of choice
00:23:42.78\00:23:44.92
you're going to make,
00:23:44.95\00:23:46.29
but I hope that
you will start keeping
00:23:46.32\00:23:48.19
the Sabbath with me."
00:23:48.22\00:23:49.76
Amen. And I'm
still praying for that.
00:23:49.79\00:23:51.76
Amen, amen.
00:23:51.79\00:23:53.36
So when you said that, you know,
00:23:53.40\00:23:56.16
asked him if he was going
00:23:56.20\00:23:57.53
to start keeping
the Sabbath with you,
00:23:57.57\00:23:59.30
I knew that you were going
to start keeping the Sabbath.
00:23:59.33\00:24:03.67
And you did, you did,
you took the steps forward
00:24:03.71\00:24:06.61
to get the time off.
00:24:06.64\00:24:08.61
I remember when we started
talking about the Sabbath,
00:24:08.64\00:24:12.41
you started sharing
with me some of the things
00:24:12.45\00:24:15.58
that were holding you
back from keeping the Sabbath.
00:24:15.62\00:24:18.49
Can you share with me
exactly what those things were?
00:24:18.52\00:24:21.46
Do you remember what you said?
00:24:21.49\00:24:23.73
I remember the
biggest point was my work.
00:24:23.76\00:24:26.80
I work in retail,
00:24:26.83\00:24:28.50
and that's the
busiest time for retail.
00:24:28.53\00:24:30.53
Sure. And at that time...
00:24:30.57\00:24:31.97
I had approved
Sundays off to go to worship.
00:24:32.00\00:24:35.40
So I had to go in and say,
00:24:35.44\00:24:38.44
"I need to
change my worship days."
00:24:38.47\00:24:41.94
And that was a little
bit intimidating for me,
00:24:41.98\00:24:44.95
but I took the step forward
00:24:44.98\00:24:47.28
and I did it and
they honored it right off.
00:24:47.32\00:24:50.75
They
understood, they honored it,
00:24:50.79\00:24:52.89
and I felt truly
blessed because a lot of times
00:24:52.92\00:24:56.62
there is a lot of confrontation.
00:24:56.66\00:24:59.49
But God made it
come through for me.
00:24:59.53\00:25:01.76
So you were
humbled and he was honored.
00:25:01.80\00:25:03.83
Amen. That's beautiful.
00:25:03.87\00:25:06.10
And another thing I remember
00:25:06.13\00:25:07.57
you sharing with me was
that you said, you know,
00:25:07.60\00:25:10.41
"I really love my church family,
00:25:10.44\00:25:12.41
and it would be hard."
00:25:12.44\00:25:14.08
Amen. "Hard to
miss out on them."
00:25:14.11\00:25:18.08
And I encouraged you that
00:25:18.11\00:25:20.15
you might have to make an effort
00:25:20.18\00:25:22.42
to continue that
friendship with them
00:25:22.45\00:25:24.85
because you wouldn't see
them just every week at church,
00:25:24.89\00:25:27.72
but, you know, if
they were true friends,
00:25:27.76\00:25:29.52
then you wouldn't lose them
00:25:29.56\00:25:31.53
just because you weren't
going to the church there.
00:25:31.56\00:25:33.70
So I think that's a
blessing because I think that
00:25:33.73\00:25:36.83
these are common things
00:25:36.87\00:25:38.27
that hold people
back from making changes,
00:25:38.30\00:25:41.60
not just on
keeping the Sabbath...
00:25:41.64\00:25:43.10
But, you know,
there's little things
00:25:43.14\00:25:44.47
that the enemy gets
us caught up looking at,
00:25:44.51\00:25:46.94
over here, what about this,
00:25:46.98\00:25:48.64
what about that, instead of
you know trusting in the Lord.
00:25:48.68\00:25:52.38
So as you started
to keep the Sabbath,
00:25:52.41\00:25:58.15
you really drove
into a study of the Word
00:25:58.19\00:26:01.42
and you started
to come in harmony
00:26:01.46\00:26:03.63
with a lot of the
other Bible truths as well.
00:26:03.66\00:26:06.16
I remember
talking to you on Skype
00:26:06.19\00:26:09.50
and noticing that you weren't
00:26:09.53\00:26:10.87
really wearing
any jewelry anymore,
00:26:10.90\00:26:12.47
and little by
little, eventually, one day,
00:26:12.50\00:26:15.60
you called me and
you expressed to me
00:26:15.64\00:26:19.21
that you were
considering being re-baptized.
00:26:19.24\00:26:22.54
And why did you
make that decision, Mom?
00:26:22.58\00:26:26.31
Well, even though I
was baptized as a child,
00:26:26.35\00:26:29.68
I had lived in sin since then.
00:26:29.72\00:26:32.39
And I had come into
a new truth afterwards,
00:26:32.42\00:26:35.76
and I wanted to
make a concentrated
00:26:35.79\00:26:40.40
dedication to the Lord.
00:26:40.43\00:26:41.76
I wanted to be truly
submitted, committed,
00:26:41.80\00:26:43.70
and devoted to the Lord.
00:26:43.73\00:26:46.13
And I talked to
my church family,
00:26:46.17\00:26:48.30
my new church family, about it,
00:26:48.34\00:26:50.21
and they responded
00:26:50.24\00:26:52.24
with cheers of
hurrays and hallelujahs.
00:26:52.27\00:26:55.54
So I knew that it was approved.
00:26:55.58\00:26:57.31
Excellent, excellent.
00:26:57.35\00:26:58.88
You know, it's beautiful to me,
00:26:58.91\00:27:01.35
Mom, to see how you
started in an intentional
00:27:01.38\00:27:05.75
and consistent prayer experience
00:27:05.79\00:27:07.69
for your mother,
for your daughter,
00:27:07.72\00:27:10.56
for both your daughters,
00:27:10.59\00:27:11.96
and how He heard those prayers
00:27:11.99\00:27:13.33
and honored those
prayers, and then He brought me
00:27:13.36\00:27:15.83
into an earnest
prayer experience for you,
00:27:15.86\00:27:19.33
and how it brought it
around, you know, for all of us.
00:27:19.37\00:27:25.44
The prayers made
such a huge difference
00:27:25.47\00:27:27.04
in each one of our lives,
00:27:27.08\00:27:28.41
and so we'll have to
keep praying for David,
00:27:28.44\00:27:30.85
for my dad, and for my brother.
00:27:30.88\00:27:33.35
Amen. And we
will keep doing that.
00:27:33.38\00:27:35.32
We've just got a
few seconds here, Mom,
00:27:35.35\00:27:37.22
is there anything
else you want to share?
00:27:37.25\00:27:38.99
Keep praying.
00:27:39.02\00:27:40.36
Pray, pray, pray, and
know that it's not us,
00:27:40.39\00:27:43.32
it's not the power
that we put into the prayer.
00:27:43.36\00:27:46.16
It's the power of
the one that we pray to.
00:27:46.19\00:27:49.43
That's where the
power and majesty is.
00:27:49.46\00:27:51.30
Amen, amen. Isn't
He a beautiful God?
00:27:51.33\00:27:53.44
God is great.
00:27:53.47\00:27:54.84
Thank you for joining
us today on Pure Choices.
00:27:54.87\00:27:56.97
May God bless you.
00:27:57.01\00:27:58.47