I want to spend my life 00:00:01.53\00:00:07.47 Mending broken people 00:00:07.50\00:00:12.47 I want to spend my life 00:00:12.51\00:00:18.68 Removing pain 00:00:18.71\00:00:23.69 Lord, let my words 00:00:23.72\00:00:29.92 Heal a heart that hurts 00:00:29.96\00:00:34.50 I want to spend my life 00:00:34.53\00:00:40.30 Mending broken people 00:00:40.34\00:00:45.67 I want to spend my life 00:00:45.71\00:00:51.21 Mending broken people. 00:00:51.25\00:00:55.45 Hello, and welcome once again to 3ABN Today. 00:01:07.76\00:01:11.43 We're having a wonderful day here at 3ABN 00:01:11.47\00:01:13.90 and we hope that yours is even better. 00:01:13.94\00:01:17.47 Just want to take this opportunity 00:01:17.51\00:01:19.21 to thank you so much for your continued prayers 00:01:19.24\00:01:22.81 and financial support of this ministry 00:01:22.84\00:01:24.95 because it is the mending broken heart channel. 00:01:24.98\00:01:30.32 And we're just so grateful 00:01:30.35\00:01:31.95 that God has given us this opportunity 00:01:31.99\00:01:34.42 to work with you as our partners, 00:01:34.46\00:01:36.46 to reach out and touch the lost, 00:01:36.49\00:01:38.46 and the suffering around the world. 00:01:38.49\00:01:40.60 I want to share a scripture with you 00:01:40.63\00:01:42.00 before I introduce my guest 00:01:42.03\00:01:43.63 and it is in Revelation 12:11, 00:01:43.67\00:01:47.24 and in this scripture 00:01:47.27\00:01:50.94 the Bible says, 00:01:50.97\00:01:52.57 "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb 00:01:52.61\00:01:55.74 and by the word of their testimony." 00:01:55.78\00:01:58.18 You know, there is nothing more powerful 00:01:58.21\00:02:02.08 than a personal testimony 00:02:02.12\00:02:04.79 and it brings God so much glory. 00:02:04.82\00:02:08.66 The woman that I want to introduce to you now, 00:02:08.69\00:02:10.96 I met what 10 years ago maybe? 00:02:10.99\00:02:14.60 It was around 2003. 00:02:14.63\00:02:16.73 2003, so, wow that's been even longer. 00:02:16.77\00:02:20.17 Rachel William Smith and, Rachel, 00:02:20.20\00:02:23.44 we're so glad that you're here. 00:02:23.47\00:02:25.17 We first met in Houston, Texas. 00:02:25.21\00:02:29.41 And when I heard your story, I was so blown away. 00:02:29.44\00:02:32.61 I told you, 00:02:32.65\00:02:33.98 you've got to write a book and you did. 00:02:34.02\00:02:38.52 But we're here today to talk about your story 00:02:38.55\00:02:41.49 and how it brings glory to God. 00:02:41.52\00:02:44.19 And how your story is affecting so many other people's life, 00:02:44.23\00:02:48.93 impacting their lives for the positive. 00:02:48.96\00:02:51.60 Thank you so much for being here today. 00:02:51.63\00:02:54.10 Thank you for having me, 00:02:54.14\00:02:55.47 I feel blessed to be here this morning. 00:02:55.50\00:02:56.87 Oh, yeah. 00:02:56.91\00:02:58.24 We are going to... 00:02:58.27\00:02:59.61 Before we get into this testimony though, 00:02:59.64\00:03:01.78 we want to have a little music. 00:03:01.81\00:03:03.35 You like music I know, 00:03:03.38\00:03:04.95 so who we have with us today singing 00:03:04.98\00:03:07.72 are Todd and Lisa Parrish 00:03:07.75\00:03:10.02 and they are going to sing for us 00:03:10.05\00:03:11.89 "One More Voice." 00:03:11.92\00:03:13.25 Listen to the singing 00:03:28.54\00:03:31.17 of the people of the Lord 00:03:31.21\00:03:34.74 Filling all the earth with songs of praise 00:03:34.78\00:03:41.18 For, by many millions now, the Savior is adored 00:03:41.22\00:03:47.82 I have also joined the song they raise! 00:03:47.86\00:03:54.30 One more voice to sing of Jesus 00:03:58.43\00:04:04.91 and his boundless love divine 00:04:04.94\00:04:11.31 One more voice to join in worship 00:04:11.35\00:04:16.99 One more voice it will be mine! 00:04:17.02\00:04:23.32 One more voice to speak His goodness 00:04:23.36\00:04:29.70 Tell of His rich gifts outpoured 00:04:29.73\00:04:36.34 Add my song to swell the chorus 00:04:36.37\00:04:42.81 One more voice Here's one more voice 00:04:42.84\00:04:49.18 One more voice 00:04:49.22\00:04:51.75 to praise the Lord! 00:04:51.79\00:04:57.69 Maybe just a few will hear the song of praise I sing 00:05:02.06\00:05:08.70 But, my friend, I'll sing it just the same 00:05:08.74\00:05:15.21 Daily and with gratitude I'll worship Christ my King 00:05:15.24\00:05:21.95 Wonderful and precious is His name! 00:05:21.98\00:05:28.69 One more voice to sing of Jesus 00:05:32.53\00:05:39.07 And his wondrous love divine 00:05:39.10\00:05:45.44 One more voice to join in worship 00:05:45.47\00:05:51.11 One more voice it will be mine 00:05:51.15\00:05:57.69 One more voice to speak His goodness 00:05:57.72\00:06:04.23 Tell of His rich gifts outpoured 00:06:04.26\00:06:10.80 Add my song to swell the chorus 00:06:10.83\00:06:17.31 One more voice Here's one more voice 00:06:17.34\00:06:23.78 One more voice 00:06:23.81\00:06:26.21 to praise the Lord! 00:06:26.25\00:06:32.25 One more voice to speak His goodness 00:06:36.89\00:06:43.33 Tell of His rich gifts outpoured 00:06:43.37\00:06:50.07 Add my song to swell the chorus 00:06:50.11\00:06:56.64 One more voice Here's one more voice 00:06:56.68\00:07:03.18 One more voice 00:07:03.22\00:07:05.69 to praise the Lord! 00:07:05.72\00:07:11.69 Well, amen and amen. 00:07:23.41\00:07:24.74 We were just sitting here 00:07:24.77\00:07:26.11 singing along with Lisa and Todd, 00:07:26.14\00:07:27.74 and we want to thank them so much for their dedication 00:07:27.78\00:07:31.58 and for dedicating their gifts to the glory of God. 00:07:31.61\00:07:35.45 Well, if you've joined us just a few moments late, 00:07:35.48\00:07:38.35 our special guest today is Rachel Williams Smith, 00:07:38.39\00:07:41.72 and boy, has she got a story to tell. 00:07:41.76\00:07:45.19 Let's just go back 00:07:45.23\00:07:47.06 and talk about your childhood. 00:07:47.10\00:07:50.83 You were brought up in a Christian home, 00:07:50.87\00:07:53.94 in a Seventh-day Adventist Christian home, 00:07:53.97\00:07:56.94 but somewhere along the line something happened 00:07:56.97\00:08:02.04 that instead of following independents 00:08:02.08\00:08:05.58 upon the Lord, 00:08:05.61\00:08:06.95 there was a little tweak and they kind of got, 00:08:06.98\00:08:10.79 I'll just say that was almost like a detour. 00:08:10.82\00:08:13.09 It was a harder path, let's put it that way. 00:08:13.12\00:08:15.86 Tell us about growing up? 00:08:15.89\00:08:17.73 Sure, I think my early life 00:08:17.76\00:08:20.93 as in from one to about five 00:08:20.96\00:08:23.16 was normal Seventh-day Adventist 00:08:23.20\00:08:25.60 growing up except my father was in the military. 00:08:25.63\00:08:27.74 So the first place I remember being is actually in Spain. 00:08:27.77\00:08:31.21 And then we came back to the Huntsville, Alabama area 00:08:31.24\00:08:35.14 and my brothers went to 00:08:35.18\00:08:37.28 the Adventist elementary school there, 00:08:37.31\00:08:39.71 and I was looking forward to being able to go as well. 00:08:39.75\00:08:43.02 But my parents have been doing a lot of reading 00:08:43.05\00:08:46.59 Bible, Spirit of Prophecy, health books, 00:08:46.62\00:08:49.19 and lot of writings by people 00:08:49.22\00:08:50.79 who were somewhat dissatisfied with the church. 00:08:50.83\00:08:53.70 And over time, over the months 00:08:53.73\00:08:56.87 that a curve path began passing 00:08:56.90\00:08:59.30 after about the time I turned six, I mean five, 00:08:59.33\00:09:03.30 a lot of changes began to come into our lives. 00:09:03.34\00:09:05.51 So the first thing was diet I think, you know, 00:09:05.54\00:09:09.54 and we actually went to 00:09:09.58\00:09:10.91 a better diet of things concerned. 00:09:10.95\00:09:12.95 So we were regular vegetarians, we basically turn vegan. 00:09:12.98\00:09:16.95 I don't remember if that term was around back then 00:09:16.99\00:09:19.05 but that's all we became and... 00:09:19.09\00:09:21.79 So the vegan means 00:09:21.82\00:09:23.16 that you are eating no animal products whatsoever, 00:09:23.19\00:09:25.16 so that gets rid of the eggs, milk etc. 00:09:25.19\00:09:27.13 Right. 00:09:27.16\00:09:28.50 And then we also let go off sugar 00:09:28.53\00:09:29.86 and things like that, 00:09:29.90\00:09:31.23 so I had already developed a certain taste, 00:09:31.27\00:09:34.44 you know, for how food should be 00:09:34.47\00:09:35.90 so when we went from the white fluffy biscuits 00:09:35.94\00:09:37.94 to the whole wheat biscuits, 00:09:37.97\00:09:40.44 I didn't love that and we went from eggs 00:09:40.48\00:09:42.48 to something that was supposed to replace eggs. 00:09:42.51\00:09:45.05 Eggs I didn't think it was replacement, 00:09:45.08\00:09:48.05 but it did make me healthier 00:09:48.08\00:09:50.55 because I used to get a lot of colds and flu, 00:09:50.59\00:09:53.12 you know, stuff like that so I got... 00:09:53.15\00:09:55.39 It improved my health. 00:09:55.42\00:09:57.79 So it was overall a good change. 00:09:57.83\00:09:59.69 And then the next thing 00:09:59.73\00:10:01.23 where we actually traveling a lot, 00:10:01.26\00:10:02.70 going from place to place, 00:10:02.73\00:10:04.73 visiting with other people who had 00:10:04.77\00:10:06.53 properly you could say dissatisfaction with the church 00:10:06.57\00:10:09.70 and just learning from them. 00:10:09.74\00:10:11.97 The next thing that I remember though, 00:10:12.01\00:10:14.58 I remember the travels 00:10:14.61\00:10:15.94 but they were just what they were. 00:10:15.98\00:10:17.31 But the next thing was the dress. 00:10:17.35\00:10:20.88 I remember mom came into my room one day and she said, 00:10:20.92\00:10:23.72 you know, did you know that Jesus wears a dress, 00:10:23.75\00:10:25.55 oh, not a dress, 00:10:25.59\00:10:26.92 Jesus wears a garment down to the foot, 00:10:26.96\00:10:29.86 and she said, would you like to be like Jesus. 00:10:29.89\00:10:32.16 And so, of course, 00:10:32.19\00:10:33.80 I mean I wanted to be, I was six at this time, 00:10:33.83\00:10:35.86 of course I want to be like Jesus 00:10:35.90\00:10:37.23 so I said yes. 00:10:37.27\00:10:39.20 And also that where she showed me a quote 00:10:39.23\00:10:41.34 we should wear dresses two to three inches 00:10:41.37\00:10:42.97 from the floor. 00:10:43.00\00:10:44.34 So that was the next thing, 00:10:44.37\00:10:45.87 and I actually have a picture of me at six 00:10:45.91\00:10:48.54 with one of the first homemade long dresses 00:10:48.58\00:10:52.11 that my mom did for me. 00:10:52.15\00:10:53.48 And this quote was written back in the 1890s probably. 00:10:53.52\00:10:57.95 Right, exactly, exactly. 00:10:57.99\00:11:00.12 So, and... 00:11:00.16\00:11:02.16 At my first my mom sort of bore around whatever, 00:11:02.19\00:11:04.89 you know, like a extension on whatever clothes I had 00:11:04.93\00:11:07.66 and I thought that looked really tacky 00:11:07.70\00:11:09.06 and I told her that, 00:11:09.10\00:11:10.43 so she tried applying rickrack around it, 00:11:10.47\00:11:12.27 and I said that doesn't work so she end up making, 00:11:12.30\00:11:15.04 start making my clothes and I didn't know 00:11:15.07\00:11:16.91 but from then until I was, you know, nearly 17. 00:11:16.94\00:11:20.98 All my clothes were with the thing 00:11:21.01\00:11:22.54 she made pretty much. 00:11:22.58\00:11:25.18 But the next change is the one that really changed our lives. 00:11:25.21\00:11:29.25 And that was my father decided that we were not going, 00:11:29.28\00:11:33.32 he was not gonna return my brothers 00:11:33.36\00:11:34.96 to the elementary school 00:11:34.99\00:11:36.86 and he wasn't gonna allow me to start school. 00:11:36.89\00:11:39.13 So instead, he was gonna home-school us. 00:11:39.16\00:11:42.40 And I remember he brought three little wooden desks 00:11:42.43\00:11:44.27 and put them in the living room of our home. 00:11:44.30\00:11:46.94 We lived 19 OA Rideout Road, I still remember the address. 00:11:46.97\00:11:50.64 And there we are the first day of school 00:11:50.67\00:11:54.08 where I'm supposed to be 00:11:54.11\00:11:55.44 at what was elementary school at the time, 00:11:55.48\00:11:57.45 I'm supposed to be there 00:11:57.48\00:11:58.81 and instead I'm sitting in my living room 00:11:58.85\00:12:00.98 learning scriptures and passages 00:12:01.02\00:12:04.45 from the Ellen White writings, 00:12:04.49\00:12:06.65 and I was so sad 'cause I want to be with, 00:12:06.69\00:12:09.19 you know, with other kids at school. 00:12:09.22\00:12:11.49 But the reason why that was a big change 00:12:11.53\00:12:13.70 is because we ended up being reported, 00:12:13.73\00:12:15.83 someone reported us to the authorities and... 00:12:15.86\00:12:18.60 So was home schooling not... it was not legal. 00:12:18.63\00:12:22.07 It was not legal back. 00:12:22.10\00:12:23.44 Yeah, and this was prior 00:12:23.47\00:12:24.81 to when you have all of these options 00:12:24.84\00:12:26.37 for home schooling, joining with home school networks 00:12:26.41\00:12:28.81 and all of that kind of thing. 00:12:28.84\00:12:30.18 The parents can do now, this was not... 00:12:30.21\00:12:32.81 this before any of that was established. 00:12:32.85\00:12:34.65 So it wasn't structured, 00:12:34.68\00:12:36.05 it was kind of left up to your parents 00:12:36.08\00:12:37.99 to try to decide what to do and what to teach you. 00:12:38.02\00:12:40.36 They began trying to use books over the years 00:12:40.39\00:12:44.56 that home schooling happened 00:12:44.59\00:12:45.93 we used books from the Mennonites, 00:12:45.96\00:12:48.83 they have this Rod and Staff publishers company back then. 00:12:48.86\00:12:51.97 And we also tried some books from Wildwood 00:12:52.00\00:12:54.44 which is self supporting Seventh-day Adventist school. 00:12:54.47\00:12:56.81 They had a school we used some of the books from them. 00:12:56.84\00:13:00.34 And that's what we started out with I remember that, 00:13:00.38\00:13:02.98 trying to do some of their program. 00:13:03.01\00:13:05.71 And then after a while of course 00:13:05.75\00:13:07.62 as the time went on, 00:13:07.65\00:13:08.98 it was just kind of put a book in front of you 00:13:09.02\00:13:10.59 and you read or try to do some of the work. 00:13:10.62\00:13:13.69 So it evolved over the time, 00:13:13.72\00:13:15.86 but at the time when the home schooling happen, 00:13:15.89\00:13:18.83 what made it so significant 00:13:18.86\00:13:20.26 is that we got someone reported us 00:13:20.30\00:13:23.03 and the authorities came after us. 00:13:23.06\00:13:24.83 They threatened my parents 00:13:24.87\00:13:26.20 to either put us back in school 00:13:26.23\00:13:28.24 or they were gonna take us away, 00:13:28.27\00:13:29.60 and my father said, no, 00:13:29.64\00:13:30.97 I have another option 00:13:31.01\00:13:32.34 and he took us away out of society. 00:13:32.37\00:13:34.81 So that is what began 00:13:34.84\00:13:37.58 our flight out of society 00:13:37.61\00:13:41.52 as we would call it now, calling going off the grid. 00:13:41.55\00:13:45.59 So it happen its edges. Fled to the hills. 00:13:45.62\00:13:47.76 Yeah, we first went to Arkansas, 00:13:47.79\00:13:50.29 we were there for time 00:13:50.33\00:13:51.66 and then we ended up in Ardmore, Tennessee, 00:13:51.69\00:13:54.96 just on the Tennessee side I believe 00:13:55.00\00:13:57.40 or anyway right on the border of Tennessee and Alabama. 00:13:57.43\00:14:01.20 Stayed out there on a farm and then we ended up, 00:14:01.24\00:14:03.81 we were there for I don't know close to a year, 00:14:03.84\00:14:06.04 did some home schooling there with another family 00:14:06.07\00:14:08.78 and then we ended up 00:14:08.81\00:14:10.15 going to Monte Sano State Park in Huntsville, Alabama. 00:14:10.18\00:14:13.42 And we lived there in a bus for a year. 00:14:13.45\00:14:15.35 Wow. 00:14:15.38\00:14:16.72 Yeah, and so that was a very kind of nomadic life 00:14:16.75\00:14:20.69 and then from there my parents bought 50 acres 00:14:20.72\00:14:24.09 in Tennessee up on a hill 00:14:24.13\00:14:26.39 and it was very isolated, 00:14:26.43\00:14:27.76 there was no electricity, running water, 00:14:27.80\00:14:31.37 it was one rutted road that led you in and out. 00:14:31.40\00:14:33.64 So no indoor plumbing then. 00:14:33.67\00:14:35.04 No indoor plumbing, no media, no... 00:14:35.07\00:14:39.34 We could just stop with no. 00:14:39.37\00:14:42.28 It was a old house 00:14:42.31\00:14:43.75 and we eventually added addition on to the house 00:14:43.78\00:14:48.18 but we stayed initially in our bus, living in our bus, 00:14:48.22\00:14:50.32 it was a challenge getting the bus up on the hill. 00:14:50.35\00:14:52.95 Was able to do that and we're basically living 00:14:52.99\00:14:57.79 as if it were in the 19th century 00:14:57.83\00:15:00.20 because of how our lifestyle was set up. 00:15:00.23\00:15:02.86 We grew our own food, we made our own clothes, 00:15:02.90\00:15:05.83 we took care of own medical needs, 00:15:05.87\00:15:08.14 we had school at home, 00:15:08.17\00:15:10.21 we had church at home, 00:15:10.24\00:15:12.77 we tried to be as independent as possible. 00:15:12.81\00:15:15.14 So, for a young child, 00:15:15.18\00:15:18.21 it may have been more difficult for your brothers actually 00:15:18.25\00:15:20.52 because they knew a little bit more 00:15:20.55\00:15:22.95 but how did, did you feel content growing up, 00:15:22.98\00:15:26.05 did you feel 00:15:26.09\00:15:28.26 that there had to be something more 00:15:28.29\00:15:30.16 or did you feel isolated. 00:15:30.19\00:15:32.59 What were your feelings as a young child? 00:15:32.63\00:15:35.43 Well, when I was really small, 00:15:35.46\00:15:38.00 I think living in a bus 00:15:38.03\00:15:39.87 when we're living in the state park and stuff, 00:15:39.90\00:15:41.74 everyday I often was lonely, 00:15:41.77\00:15:43.74 you know, maybe sometimes bored 00:15:43.77\00:15:45.94 but I entertain myself very well. 00:15:45.97\00:15:49.64 Spend a lot of time in nature, 00:15:49.68\00:15:51.18 pursuing the micro things of nature like little ants 00:15:51.21\00:15:53.68 and watching them, 00:15:53.72\00:15:55.05 you know, birds and trees. 00:15:55.08\00:15:57.42 My mom kept us really busy with learning about nature 00:15:57.45\00:16:00.42 and things like that. 00:16:00.46\00:16:02.06 So while I was lonely, 00:16:02.09\00:16:04.03 I usually wasn't bored and I knew 00:16:04.06\00:16:08.30 and then when we moved out on to the hill as we called it, 00:16:08.33\00:16:12.93 I felt the isolation, 00:16:12.97\00:16:14.90 but I don't think at that age, 00:16:14.94\00:16:16.57 by the time we moved out there I was nine 00:16:16.60\00:16:18.14 and actually have a picture of me 00:16:18.17\00:16:20.28 there when we first moved out about nine years old, 00:16:20.31\00:16:23.11 and to me it was the way life 00:16:23.14\00:16:28.08 was even though I knew 00:16:28.12\00:16:29.48 it wasn't normal life for other people. 00:16:29.52\00:16:31.55 It was normal life for us. 00:16:31.59\00:16:32.92 So in many ways, I mean, 00:16:32.95\00:16:35.32 you know, some people are sitting here listening 00:16:35.36\00:16:37.43 and thinking oh, this is idyllic, 00:16:37.46\00:16:39.46 you know, to think about you're living out in nature. 00:16:39.49\00:16:42.36 There were a lot of good things. 00:16:42.40\00:16:44.73 You know, we believe, I know a lot of people 00:16:44.77\00:16:46.94 who home school their children now, 00:16:46.97\00:16:48.44 and of course it has grown so much. 00:16:48.47\00:16:50.54 And home schooling can be very good 00:16:50.57\00:16:53.81 but for you all, 00:16:53.84\00:16:56.04 your parents took it to an extreme. 00:16:56.08\00:16:59.55 You were completely isolated from society. 00:16:59.58\00:17:03.28 Yeah, I don't think that was... 00:17:03.32\00:17:05.92 Sometimes things evolve 00:17:05.95\00:17:07.36 and I don't think that was the intent necessarily 00:17:07.39\00:17:10.43 but there was the whole idea of separation from the world, 00:17:10.46\00:17:15.16 because it all came down to two things, 00:17:15.20\00:17:17.13 you know, Jesus is coming, 00:17:17.17\00:17:18.50 there is a time of trouble preceding it, 00:17:18.53\00:17:20.34 we need to separate from the world 00:17:20.37\00:17:22.00 and prepare for Jesus coming. 00:17:22.04\00:17:23.44 Separation and preparation were the themes of what we did. 00:17:23.47\00:17:26.94 And so the further out you move, 00:17:26.98\00:17:29.04 the more isolated you are the better 00:17:29.08\00:17:31.01 because that separates you from worldly influence 00:17:31.05\00:17:33.72 and then if the setting is rugged, 00:17:33.75\00:17:37.12 if the situation is harsh 00:17:37.15\00:17:39.05 and probably need to mention some points, 00:17:39.09\00:17:41.56 some of the daily living conditions 00:17:41.59\00:17:43.09 especially during the heat of the summer 00:17:43.12\00:17:45.03 and the cold of the winter, 00:17:45.06\00:17:46.76 it could be very harsh, 00:17:46.80\00:17:48.13 but all of those things 00:17:48.16\00:17:49.50 then become a matter of preparation 00:17:49.53\00:17:52.03 for the time of trouble. 00:17:52.07\00:17:53.40 Because when the time of trouble comes, 00:17:53.44\00:17:54.77 you're not gonna have convenience anyway, 00:17:54.80\00:17:56.24 you know, so there was a logic to it. 00:17:56.27\00:17:59.01 It wasn't an intent to be extreme 00:17:59.04\00:18:02.18 but rather the evolution of circumstances 00:18:02.21\00:18:05.71 that can lead you there 00:18:05.75\00:18:07.22 and I think that can happen with a lot of people 00:18:07.25\00:18:09.58 except that for most people 00:18:09.62\00:18:11.25 it probably happens more conceptually 00:18:11.29\00:18:13.82 and not circumstantially. 00:18:13.86\00:18:15.59 Not many people are willing or able to make as clean 00:18:15.62\00:18:20.56 and thorough break as my parents did. 00:18:20.60\00:18:22.86 And in a sense I admire and respect that 00:18:22.90\00:18:25.83 because they just went all out for what they believed. 00:18:25.87\00:18:28.64 It doesn't change the fact that the extremeness of it has 00:18:28.67\00:18:32.21 its own impact which is not good, 00:18:32.24\00:18:35.31 but at the same time you can understand the motive. 00:18:35.34\00:18:38.25 You can understand what the objective was 00:18:38.28\00:18:40.55 in what they're doing. 00:18:40.58\00:18:41.92 Now, here is a question, 00:18:41.95\00:18:43.28 I hope it doesn't seem too personal 00:18:43.32\00:18:46.62 but with your parents, 00:18:46.65\00:18:49.12 did they teach you 00:18:49.16\00:18:51.86 to really have a personal intimate 00:18:51.89\00:18:54.70 relationship with the Lord, 00:18:54.73\00:18:57.17 was there is one of total dependence 00:18:57.20\00:18:59.13 upon the Lord 00:18:59.17\00:19:00.50 or they more the type who laid down the rules 00:19:00.54\00:19:05.44 that you know making salvation 00:19:05.47\00:19:10.71 and the interaction with God nothing more than rules. 00:19:10.75\00:19:14.62 Which way did they go? 00:19:14.65\00:19:16.32 I think that's a excellent question 00:19:16.35\00:19:18.15 and I think it leads to a principle that... 00:19:18.19\00:19:22.16 A lot of people tend not to understand 00:19:22.19\00:19:24.13 when we're dealing with balanced 00:19:24.16\00:19:25.49 and imbalanced religion. 00:19:25.53\00:19:27.26 The fact of the matter is what you focus on 00:19:27.30\00:19:30.00 and emphasize is more important 00:19:30.03\00:19:32.53 than whatever you say is more important. 00:19:32.57\00:19:35.54 So yes, we were encouraged 00:19:35.57\00:19:37.61 to have a personal relationship with Christ. 00:19:37.64\00:19:40.08 I remember my father's favorite verse was, 00:19:40.11\00:19:41.98 "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, 00:19:42.01\00:19:44.41 old things are passed away, 00:19:44.45\00:19:45.78 behold, all things are become new." 00:19:45.81\00:19:47.42 And he used to... 00:19:47.45\00:19:48.78 particularly he used to talk 00:19:48.82\00:19:50.15 about having a personal relationship 00:19:50.19\00:19:51.52 and my mother backed that up. 00:19:51.55\00:19:52.99 However, on a daily basis 00:19:53.02\00:19:56.39 what was emphasized and focused on 00:19:56.42\00:19:58.63 was so rule based. 00:19:58.66\00:20:00.90 So much about every detail of the law 00:20:00.93\00:20:06.17 that the effect was you didn't 00:20:06.20\00:20:11.14 focus on a personal relationship with Jesus. 00:20:11.17\00:20:13.38 You cannot emphasize and focus on two different things 00:20:13.41\00:20:16.21 at the same time. 00:20:16.24\00:20:17.78 And our lifestyle was all about, 00:20:17.81\00:20:20.08 you know, inches. 00:20:20.12\00:20:22.92 By this time we were wearing bonnets I should mention, 00:20:22.95\00:20:25.82 everything was... 00:20:25.85\00:20:28.29 And just to give the illustration 00:20:28.32\00:20:29.82 what I'm saying about the rules. 00:20:29.86\00:20:33.03 First it started with 1 Corinthians 11, 00:20:33.06\00:20:35.23 the way we read and interpreted that. 00:20:35.26\00:20:37.33 Paul actually speaks of it as a custom, 00:20:37.37\00:20:40.07 if you read through those verses at the end, 00:20:40.10\00:20:41.90 he kind of ends his discussion... 00:20:41.94\00:20:43.27 Well, go ahead and referring to those 00:20:43.30\00:20:44.64 who don't know what 1 Corinthians 11 is. 00:20:44.67\00:20:46.21 Yes, 1 Corinthians 11 00:20:46.24\00:20:47.58 talks about a woman covering her hair, 00:20:47.61\00:20:48.94 when she prays or prophesize in public. 00:20:48.98\00:20:51.51 And then of course the Bible says pray without ceasing. 00:20:51.55\00:20:55.45 So we combine those two verses, 00:20:55.48\00:20:57.72 basically women should always 00:20:57.75\00:20:59.09 keep her hair covered in public, 00:20:59.12\00:21:01.86 but if you read that passage 00:21:01.89\00:21:03.56 I think it ends around verse 10 or 11 00:21:03.59\00:21:05.33 from the one through about 10 or 11. 00:21:05.36\00:21:08.26 It emphasizes, he kind of ends it 00:21:08.30\00:21:10.93 with saying that he doesn't, there is no other custom. 00:21:10.97\00:21:14.70 He kind of ends the discussion with it, 00:21:14.74\00:21:16.71 putting in a category of a custom 00:21:16.74\00:21:18.57 but we took it as a law. 00:21:18.61\00:21:19.94 If it was written down as a law, 00:21:19.97\00:21:21.41 so why a bonnet will... 00:21:21.44\00:21:23.21 We read a quote in one of the Testimony volumes 00:21:23.24\00:21:26.08 that says the small bonnet exposing the face 00:21:26.11\00:21:29.58 and head show a lack of modesty. 00:21:29.62\00:21:31.55 We combined that with 1 Corinthians 11, 00:21:31.59\00:21:33.79 then what we have to do is wear the large product 00:21:33.82\00:21:36.62 so we basically wore bonnets 00:21:36.66\00:21:40.56 like Amish or like the Mennonites wear, 00:21:40.60\00:21:43.73 Amish wear, the large ones, 00:21:43.77\00:21:46.53 not the little cap in the back of your head. 00:21:46.57\00:21:48.74 And it came from the way 00:21:48.77\00:21:50.94 we would put scripture together, 00:21:50.97\00:21:52.77 interpret it and then all based it on, 00:21:52.81\00:21:57.51 it says it, then you do it, very literal, 00:21:57.55\00:22:01.38 very absolute interpretation of the Bible. 00:22:01.42\00:22:05.49 And there is nothing wrong 00:22:05.52\00:22:06.86 with interpreting the scripture literally, 00:22:06.89\00:22:09.36 but I think that we always have to 00:22:09.39\00:22:12.13 allow a relationship with God, 00:22:12.16\00:22:14.53 a daily relationship with God to help us to understand 00:22:14.56\00:22:18.47 how our daily life should be worked out 00:22:18.50\00:22:20.57 and then what some of these things 00:22:20.60\00:22:22.17 should end up being for us. 00:22:22.20\00:22:23.54 Well, and you know, it's interesting 00:22:23.57\00:22:25.84 because imbalanced religion 00:22:25.87\00:22:28.88 will focus in on a handful of scriptures 00:22:28.91\00:22:32.68 to the exclusion of others 00:22:32.71\00:22:34.38 like where Christ said we are in the world 00:22:34.42\00:22:37.45 but not off the world, 00:22:37.49\00:22:38.82 so I can think of a dozen scriptures 00:22:38.85\00:22:41.92 that would say, okay, this was not necessary 00:22:41.96\00:22:44.79 to be so isolated away from the world, 00:22:44.83\00:22:47.33 and I mean there is always 00:22:47.36\00:22:51.07 when people are imbalanced, 00:22:51.10\00:22:52.43 they always have 00:22:52.47\00:22:54.54 just that handful of pit scriptures 00:22:54.57\00:22:56.71 that they are holding on to making rules as you said, 00:22:56.74\00:23:00.01 but what kind of effect... 00:23:00.04\00:23:03.81 Do you feel that how old were you 00:23:03.85\00:23:06.45 when you finally got off the hill, 00:23:06.48\00:23:08.58 let me ask that? 00:23:08.62\00:23:10.42 I was 16... 00:23:10.45\00:23:12.75 And what brought you off the hill? 00:23:12.79\00:23:14.79 So my father ended up leaving. 00:23:14.82\00:23:18.76 He left... 00:23:18.79\00:23:22.03 As in leaving the family. As in, right. 00:23:22.06\00:23:25.07 I found out just before he left that he was going. 00:23:25.10\00:23:30.11 He told me that he wouldn't be back, 00:23:30.14\00:23:32.21 I knew he was going. 00:23:32.24\00:23:33.58 He and my older brother 00:23:33.61\00:23:34.94 were going to Houston, Texas to build houses 00:23:34.98\00:23:37.25 so I knew that in that area, 00:23:37.28\00:23:39.81 but they were supposed to be gone 00:23:39.85\00:23:41.58 for few months and return 'cause we needed funds. 00:23:41.62\00:23:43.89 It was, you know, we were poor 00:23:43.92\00:23:45.75 and it was always a struggle to have money 00:23:45.79\00:23:48.62 and to be able to make it, 00:23:48.66\00:23:50.06 so I knew he was going 00:23:50.09\00:23:51.79 but it was just one of the normal, 00:23:51.83\00:23:53.96 you know, at that time becoming 00:23:54.00\00:23:55.93 increasingly more normal 00:23:55.96\00:23:57.30 for my father and brother to go, 00:23:57.33\00:23:58.67 find work come back. 00:23:58.70\00:24:00.74 But he told me he wasn't coming back 00:24:00.77\00:24:02.50 and he didn't explain why, it was... 00:24:02.54\00:24:05.54 I was shocked, I was confused. 00:24:05.57\00:24:08.64 My mother did not know. 00:24:08.68\00:24:11.58 I knew she didn't know because she went over to, 00:24:11.61\00:24:14.58 you know, kiss him goodbye 00:24:14.62\00:24:16.15 and then everything 00:24:16.18\00:24:17.95 that rolled out after that maybe, 00:24:17.99\00:24:19.45 you know, I can see the shock on her face, 00:24:19.49\00:24:21.12 the way he reacted to other things he said, 00:24:21.16\00:24:23.19 and that's the first time 00:24:23.22\00:24:24.56 she realized he wasn't coming back either. 00:24:24.59\00:24:28.10 People always ask me why and over the years 00:24:28.13\00:24:30.47 we did stay in contact over the years, 00:24:30.50\00:24:32.50 he never explained that but he said enough, 00:24:32.53\00:24:36.67 he said he thought that we would be okay, 00:24:36.71\00:24:38.94 and the way I understand it now, 00:24:38.97\00:24:41.78 it was probably a matter of Jesus didn't come 00:24:41.81\00:24:45.38 because we had a very clear timeline in our months. 00:24:45.41\00:24:49.78 So you were doing some dates. 00:24:49.82\00:24:51.15 Yeah, when we moved out there 00:24:51.19\00:24:53.22 that picture you saw was me at about nine, 00:24:53.25\00:24:55.92 and when we moved out there 00:24:55.96\00:24:57.29 I remember being taught that Jesus was gonna come 00:24:57.33\00:24:59.23 within the next five years. 00:24:59.26\00:25:01.93 We had clear dates. 00:25:01.96\00:25:03.30 So it was like what the people went through 00:25:03.33\00:25:05.40 during the great disappointment because that your father 00:25:05.43\00:25:08.70 made all of this radical changes 00:25:08.74\00:25:11.37 and he got out there and then it was like, okay. 00:25:11.41\00:25:14.78 See that's the problem with dates setting 00:25:14.81\00:25:16.54 because the Bible, Jesus Himself said 00:25:16.58\00:25:18.81 no one knows the date or the hour, 00:25:18.85\00:25:21.88 not even Him, only the Father in heaven. 00:25:21.92\00:25:24.89 True and we acknowledge that. 00:25:24.92\00:25:26.25 Nobody knows the day of the hour 00:25:26.29\00:25:27.62 but that doesn't mean 00:25:27.66\00:25:28.99 you can't know the month or year. 00:25:29.02\00:25:30.36 Yeah, okay. 00:25:30.39\00:25:31.73 So that's how we... 00:25:31.76\00:25:33.09 You know, so we know relatively when He is coming 00:25:33.13\00:25:35.76 as we wind up the prophecies, 00:25:35.80\00:25:37.57 as we look at the timeline, we can interpret this and know 00:25:37.60\00:25:40.17 that He is coming right within this time frame, 00:25:40.20\00:25:42.17 might be off by two or three years 00:25:42.20\00:25:43.57 but we know He is coming. 00:25:43.61\00:25:45.01 We don't know the day or the hour, 00:25:45.04\00:25:46.37 but we know and Jesus didn't come. 00:25:46.41\00:25:49.14 His children were getting older, 00:25:49.18\00:25:50.85 my father's children were getting older 00:25:50.88\00:25:52.21 as in I and my brothers. 00:25:52.25\00:25:54.02 And I think that my older brother was 19, 00:25:54.05\00:25:57.22 my oldest brother, the other one was 18, I was 16, 00:25:57.25\00:26:02.59 I think there was the sense of what next, 00:26:02.62\00:26:04.79 there was no plan B. 00:26:04.83\00:26:06.16 They actually went out all out with this 00:26:06.19\00:26:08.86 and then what do you do now, 00:26:08.90\00:26:10.50 and I'm not sure how it hooked up 00:26:10.53\00:26:12.97 with my father's inward thinking but... 00:26:13.00\00:26:16.47 What did your mother do 00:26:16.50\00:26:18.84 because certainly without your father 00:26:18.87\00:26:21.61 and your older brother 00:26:21.64\00:26:23.18 you could not sustain that lifestyle? 00:26:23.21\00:26:25.31 Right, everything was so manual. 00:26:25.35\00:26:27.25 If I were to just detail the process of just, 00:26:27.28\00:26:30.72 you know, being able to heat the house 00:26:30.75\00:26:32.09 is all of this work that involved, 00:26:32.12\00:26:33.76 you know, gathering, kindling and tearing a paper 00:26:33.79\00:26:35.99 and chopping wood and laying fires 00:26:36.02\00:26:38.56 in each of the rooms and, you know, same thing 00:26:38.59\00:26:40.66 if I mention just simple thing like 00:26:40.70\00:26:42.56 making being able to pour out glass of soya milk, 00:26:42.60\00:26:45.57 you know, the process was all manual, 00:26:45.60\00:26:47.27 everything you have to do, you know, 00:26:47.30\00:26:49.30 soak the beans overnight, grind them up, 00:26:49.34\00:26:52.34 milk out the milk 00:26:52.37\00:26:55.94 from the beans in a cheese cloth bag 00:26:55.98\00:26:58.55 and water, boil it on the stove, 00:26:58.58\00:27:00.52 but in order to do that 00:27:00.55\00:27:01.88 you have to have lit a fire and gather the wood 00:27:01.92\00:27:04.29 and done all the things for that, 00:27:04.32\00:27:05.72 and then when you finish doing that 00:27:05.75\00:27:07.79 and finally you boil it and it finally cools, 00:27:07.82\00:27:11.19 then you can't just go put 00:27:11.23\00:27:12.56 what's left over in the refrigerator 00:27:12.59\00:27:13.93 'cause there is no refrigerator, 00:27:13.96\00:27:15.30 you know, so you have to can it, 00:27:15.33\00:27:17.97 you know, that kind of thing 00:27:18.00\00:27:19.33 so there was everything was so manual 00:27:19.37\00:27:22.00 and know we couldn't sustain 00:27:22.04\00:27:23.91 this life without the help of my father and brothers. 00:27:23.94\00:27:28.94 So we actually wrote a lady who lived in Orting, Washington 00:27:28.98\00:27:33.38 and we asked if we could come out there. 00:27:33.42\00:27:35.42 She had been... 00:27:35.45\00:27:37.35 She was also in the lot of the reforms, 00:27:37.39\00:27:39.32 she had started wearing a bonnet too, 00:27:39.35\00:27:41.22 but she lived in a suburban neighborhood 00:27:41.26\00:27:43.49 and so not knowing where else to go, 00:27:43.53\00:27:45.83 we have to go somewhere, 00:27:45.86\00:27:47.20 it was like can we just come there 00:27:47.23\00:27:48.56 for a little bit and figure out 00:27:48.60\00:27:49.93 what to do, and she did welcome us, 00:27:49.96\00:27:54.17 she invited us to come, 00:27:54.20\00:27:55.77 so we end up taking a great HumBus 00:27:55.80\00:27:57.71 and traveling from Tennesee 00:27:57.74\00:27:59.97 all the way out to Orting, Washington, 00:28:00.01\00:28:02.24 it was like almost a three day bus trip and... 00:28:02.28\00:28:05.65 Well, that must have been just a wake up call, 00:28:05.68\00:28:08.45 just being around people on the bus. 00:28:08.48\00:28:10.62 It was, actually there was, 00:28:10.65\00:28:13.46 that I remember we had a six hour layover 00:28:13.49\00:28:15.56 in Chicago at night, 00:28:15.59\00:28:17.69 like we got there at night from midnight to 6 AM, 00:28:17.73\00:28:21.23 and this was the old bus terminal 00:28:21.26\00:28:23.83 that they had in Chicago 00:28:23.87\00:28:25.20 which was known for being irreputable place, 00:28:25.23\00:28:28.84 it was not a good place to be. 00:28:28.87\00:28:30.94 And I, actually a number of things 00:28:30.97\00:28:33.31 almost happened to me that night 00:28:33.34\00:28:34.68 because I didn't know what I was facing, 00:28:34.71\00:28:37.05 I didn't know what I was dealing with, 00:28:37.08\00:28:38.41 I didn't know how to interpret 00:28:38.45\00:28:39.78 the reactions and actions of people. 00:28:39.81\00:28:42.65 When we lived on the hill, 00:28:42.68\00:28:44.12 we would go, you know, into the community 00:28:44.15\00:28:47.16 we would go to various churches and visit sometimes, 00:28:47.19\00:28:50.83 so we had that contact but it wasn't daily contact. 00:28:50.86\00:28:53.73 I didn't have friends, 00:28:53.76\00:28:55.10 I didn't grow up around a lot of people 00:28:55.13\00:28:56.80 so a lot of... 00:28:56.83\00:28:58.17 Your social skills were... 00:28:58.20\00:29:01.20 being not just as far as being polite. 00:29:01.24\00:29:03.94 You know, people usually 00:29:03.97\00:29:05.31 when we think of social skills, it is... 00:29:05.34\00:29:08.31 that's a matter of interpretation 00:29:08.34\00:29:10.18 but it's not just about being polite or charming. 00:29:10.21\00:29:13.62 It's about discernment and knowing who to avoid 00:29:13.65\00:29:16.85 and being able to read people to some degree. 00:29:16.89\00:29:21.09 Yes, there was so much that happened, 00:29:21.12\00:29:22.62 I found out about some of it, 00:29:22.66\00:29:24.03 one lady on the bus actually befriended us 00:29:24.06\00:29:26.86 and told me the next day 00:29:26.90\00:29:28.26 how pick pocketer almost nabbed me, 00:29:28.30\00:29:33.47 I know there was a man that I realized, 00:29:33.50\00:29:36.04 I realized myself 00:29:36.07\00:29:37.41 he was actually trying to get me to go down 00:29:37.44\00:29:39.91 a certain hallway and I happened to notice 00:29:39.94\00:29:41.58 just before I turned down that hall 00:29:41.61\00:29:43.51 that there was nothing down that hall 00:29:43.55\00:29:45.28 except a exit sign and the door. 00:29:45.31\00:29:47.95 And I realized, you know, 00:29:47.98\00:29:49.45 I could tell there was something wrong 00:29:49.48\00:29:50.82 with this guy and so I escape past him, 00:29:50.85\00:29:53.89 ran to the ladies room and stayed there 00:29:53.92\00:29:55.99 until I could find the get away from him 00:29:56.02\00:29:57.79 and go back to my mother and after that... 00:29:57.83\00:29:59.89 When we lived on the hill, we did a lot of exploring. 00:29:59.93\00:30:02.43 We explored the woods and the... you know, 00:30:02.46\00:30:04.07 so exploring was something that I was used to. 00:30:04.10\00:30:06.63 So I was exploring the bus station, 00:30:06.67\00:30:09.60 but it wasn't the kind of place 00:30:09.64\00:30:11.31 where you could just do that and do it safely. 00:30:11.34\00:30:14.01 Especially not in the bonnet and in the long dress 00:30:14.04\00:30:15.98 like a billboard saying I am as green as... 00:30:16.01\00:30:19.41 Here I am this woman who don't like... 00:30:19.45\00:30:20.78 I don't know what I am doing, yeah. 00:30:20.82\00:30:23.82 So you end up 00:30:23.85\00:30:25.19 at this women's home in Washington. 00:30:25.22\00:30:27.72 How did you start going to school? 00:30:27.76\00:30:29.69 Were you still home schooled, what was the transition? 00:30:29.72\00:30:32.56 Um, when we arrived there, 00:30:32.59\00:30:34.73 I didn't know what I was gonna do 00:30:34.76\00:30:36.10 but one thing that had been happening in my life... 00:30:36.13\00:30:38.87 I had home schooled, had kind of evolved 00:30:38.90\00:30:41.60 into just being at home reading books, 00:30:41.64\00:30:43.87 even my brothers 00:30:43.91\00:30:45.94 weren't attending home school anymore. 00:30:45.97\00:30:48.31 And so I was just by myself and I couldn't learn. 00:30:48.34\00:30:51.38 So I had begun to really pray. 00:30:51.41\00:30:53.48 When I was, I just want to back up for a moment 00:30:53.52\00:30:55.15 and say when I was about 14, 00:30:55.18\00:30:57.05 I did accept Jesus 00:30:57.09\00:30:58.55 as my own personal individual savior. 00:30:58.59\00:31:01.09 It doesn't mean 00:31:01.12\00:31:02.46 that I wasn't confused by some of the legalistic black 00:31:02.49\00:31:06.03 and white thinking, I was, 00:31:06.06\00:31:07.86 but I did, the Lord found a way to reach me 00:31:07.90\00:31:12.03 and I surrendered my life to him. 00:31:12.07\00:31:14.24 And one of the things I began to do after that point, 00:31:14.27\00:31:17.61 um, there were things that happened 00:31:17.64\00:31:19.01 that made me question some times, 00:31:19.04\00:31:20.48 are we really... 00:31:20.51\00:31:22.68 Is this the way it's supposed to be. 00:31:22.71\00:31:24.21 Do you ever want to tell me something different God, 00:31:24.25\00:31:26.41 that kind of thing? 00:31:26.45\00:31:28.42 And so I began to pray to go to school, 00:31:28.45\00:31:31.19 two things, I want to learn and I wanted a safe place 00:31:31.22\00:31:34.52 to grow in my relationship with God 00:31:34.56\00:31:36.46 and know for myself what He wanted me to do. 00:31:36.49\00:31:38.86 And I knew I couldn't change at home. 00:31:38.89\00:31:40.80 I couldn't alter anything. 00:31:40.83\00:31:42.83 And so I began to pray about that, 00:31:42.86\00:31:45.03 and so when I knew that we were leaving, 00:31:45.07\00:31:48.54 I said to myself, 00:31:48.57\00:31:49.90 I'm not coming back until I go to school. 00:31:49.94\00:31:51.67 I just knew God would answer my prayer. 00:31:51.71\00:31:53.54 I didn't know how but I knew he was answering my prayer. 00:31:53.58\00:31:56.28 So when we got there, 00:31:56.31\00:31:58.98 when she picked us up at the bus station, 00:31:59.01\00:32:01.12 I asked her in the car 00:32:01.15\00:32:02.52 as soon as we got our luggage in the car, 00:32:02.55\00:32:04.35 I said to her, do you know some place 00:32:04.39\00:32:06.32 where I could go to school, 00:32:06.35\00:32:07.69 and I was explaining that I couldn't go to a regular 00:32:07.72\00:32:11.59 public school or even a regular Adventist Academy 00:32:11.63\00:32:14.56 because the difference between me and regular kids 00:32:14.60\00:32:17.63 were was just too great, but I said, 00:32:17.67\00:32:19.67 I heard of a school that is small 00:32:19.70\00:32:22.54 and is out in the country and they work on a farm 00:32:22.57\00:32:26.17 and they wear dresses 00:32:26.21\00:32:27.54 and I want to go to a place like that, and she said, 00:32:27.58\00:32:30.31 well, you left where those kind of places are, 00:32:30.35\00:32:33.21 there is one back in Tennessee. 00:32:33.25\00:32:34.98 I think it was Cave Springs 00:32:35.02\00:32:36.35 or something that used to exist at that time. 00:32:36.38\00:32:38.65 She said you left where those schools are, 00:32:38.69\00:32:41.36 there is nothing out here and I was like 00:32:41.39\00:32:43.32 oh, no, God I thought you were answering my prayer, 00:32:43.36\00:32:46.29 you know, I was... 00:32:46.33\00:32:48.13 But I just continued to pray, Lord, 00:32:48.16\00:32:50.03 please bless me with a place to go 00:32:50.07\00:32:51.53 and then she mentioned, well, there is someone, 00:32:51.57\00:32:53.44 there is a school in Canada. 00:32:53.47\00:32:56.50 she said, think it's called Fountainview 00:32:56.54\00:32:58.01 and I think they are kind of like that. 00:32:58.04\00:33:00.28 And she said, maybe there is a girl 00:33:00.31\00:33:02.48 that I know that will come to prayer meeting 00:33:02.51\00:33:03.95 on Wednesday night, 00:33:03.98\00:33:05.31 we can ask her about that. 00:33:05.35\00:33:06.68 So from that first Wednesday night 00:33:06.72\00:33:08.22 after I arrived in Washington I was on... 00:33:08.25\00:33:12.39 I mean that's what I was trying to do was find out 00:33:12.42\00:33:14.32 could I go to Fountainview 00:33:14.36\00:33:15.69 because I knew that had to be the place God prepare for me. 00:33:15.72\00:33:18.29 I knew it because I've been asking Him 00:33:18.33\00:33:19.89 and I knew He was answering my prayer. 00:33:19.93\00:33:22.03 There was just no other way I could have left home, 00:33:22.06\00:33:24.33 except for the circumstances 00:33:24.37\00:33:25.70 and I couldn't have controlled the circumstances, He did. 00:33:25.73\00:33:27.97 So I believe that He was opening the door 00:33:28.00\00:33:29.94 for me to go to school. 00:33:29.97\00:33:31.31 So did you go to Fountainview? 00:33:31.34\00:33:34.74 Yeah, I just want to mention one thing though 00:33:34.78\00:33:36.81 because you asked me about 00:33:36.85\00:33:38.18 adjusting to the normal life. 00:33:38.21\00:33:43.08 The first week or two I was there, 00:33:43.12\00:33:45.75 I didn't want to go out the house, 00:33:45.79\00:33:47.29 I'm into this lady's house. 00:33:47.32\00:33:48.66 I didn't want to leave the house 00:33:48.69\00:33:50.83 because it was strange walking out and other, 00:33:50.86\00:33:54.16 there is houses around 00:33:54.20\00:33:55.53 and people could be looking out the window at me, 00:33:55.56\00:33:57.00 I mean, just be able to have somebody look at you 00:33:57.03\00:33:59.13 and you didn't provide for that, 00:33:59.17\00:34:04.07 or you didn't allow it is just happening, 00:34:04.11\00:34:06.27 that seem like a violation of privacy 00:34:06.31\00:34:08.14 and everything else. 00:34:08.18\00:34:09.51 It was something I wasn't used to 00:34:09.54\00:34:10.88 so I stayed in the indoors as much as possible 00:34:10.91\00:34:13.42 and she finally pushed me out one day 00:34:13.45\00:34:14.92 and told me go mow the lawn. 00:34:14.95\00:34:17.59 So then I'm trying to mow the lawn 00:34:17.62\00:34:19.65 and I look up and I see a car coming 00:34:19.69\00:34:22.56 and I flat, I bolted, 00:34:22.59\00:34:24.63 and hid behind the house, I mean, just... 00:34:24.66\00:34:26.09 You know, that's interesting 00:34:26.13\00:34:27.46 'cause I never have heard that before 00:34:27.50\00:34:29.76 and that makes so much sense. 00:34:29.80\00:34:32.93 That makes so much sense. 00:34:32.97\00:34:35.10 We could hear where we lived on the hill, 00:34:35.14\00:34:37.94 we could hear car as much as two miles away approaching. 00:34:37.97\00:34:42.31 We knew from the sound of the car 00:34:42.34\00:34:43.95 who would it be 00:34:43.98\00:34:45.31 if it was someone that frequented the hill. 00:34:45.35\00:34:46.98 We knew who it was and if it was a stranger, 00:34:47.02\00:34:49.98 we knew I mean they couldn't just see us anyway 00:34:50.02\00:34:52.32 from the road and if we were out, 00:34:52.35\00:34:54.82 sometimes we would be out exploring, we'd hide. 00:34:54.86\00:34:57.79 You know, you don't allow yourself 00:34:57.83\00:34:59.16 to be seen unless you choose to be seen. 00:34:59.19\00:35:01.36 So to have this car 00:35:01.40\00:35:02.73 just come driving behind causally, 00:35:02.76\00:35:05.50 that was terrifying and I ran 00:35:05.53\00:35:09.24 and I hid and then of course, 00:35:09.27\00:35:12.01 I looked and I don't see any cars coming 00:35:12.04\00:35:14.18 so I go back out. 00:35:14.21\00:35:15.54 Go back to pushing the lawn mower, 00:35:15.58\00:35:17.01 this was early once in the morning. 00:35:17.05\00:35:19.31 And that happened to glance of my shoulder 00:35:19.35\00:35:22.65 and I saw a car, 00:35:22.68\00:35:24.35 a glimpse of a car coming toward me from behind. 00:35:24.39\00:35:27.02 I ran and hid again behind the house. 00:35:27.06\00:35:30.66 Came back out, 00:35:30.69\00:35:32.03 went back to mowing the lawn 00:35:32.06\00:35:33.46 and I look up here is another car coming. 00:35:33.50\00:35:36.06 And my impulse was to run but at that moment 00:35:36.10\00:35:38.37 I realized I'll never get the lawn mowed 00:35:38.40\00:35:41.27 if I keep running. 00:35:41.30\00:35:42.64 So I didn't 00:35:42.67\00:35:44.01 and I called that my first big real adjustment. 00:35:44.04\00:35:46.44 So how long were you there before you went to school. 00:35:46.47\00:35:50.38 I think it was just a month or two, 00:35:50.41\00:35:53.52 I don't remember it wasn't long weeks, 00:35:53.55\00:35:55.68 not a long time. 00:35:55.72\00:35:57.05 I think it was just a matter of weeks, 00:35:57.09\00:35:58.42 it might have been four to six weeks. 00:35:58.45\00:36:01.49 And then I did get accepted to Fountainview, 00:36:01.52\00:36:03.59 and I actually have a picture, 00:36:03.63\00:36:04.96 one of the pictures I brought today, 00:36:04.99\00:36:06.33 I have a picture of me in my bonnet 00:36:06.36\00:36:08.06 and long dress holding a Bible in my hand, 00:36:08.10\00:36:10.47 and growing up in the hill 00:36:10.50\00:36:12.27 we didn't have a lot of pictures. 00:36:12.30\00:36:14.74 That was something we didn't, you know, photography, 00:36:14.77\00:36:18.37 all of that is like idolatry 00:36:18.41\00:36:19.74 when you're taking pictures of people. 00:36:19.77\00:36:21.91 Fortunately there were people who came up to visit us 00:36:21.94\00:36:24.25 and they took pictures so I have some. 00:36:24.28\00:36:27.52 This one I actually was the first picture 00:36:27.55\00:36:29.62 I think I went and sought for 00:36:29.65\00:36:31.05 because I had to have a picture for my application. 00:36:31.09\00:36:33.59 And there I am and I'm 16, going on 17, 00:36:33.62\00:36:37.56 and I want to make sure they knew I was a Christian 00:36:37.59\00:36:39.33 so I'm holding my Bible 00:36:39.36\00:36:42.56 and I got accepted to Fountainview. 00:36:42.60\00:36:44.53 So when you were there was... 00:36:44.57\00:36:47.87 Let me ask you this 00:36:47.90\00:36:49.24 because I know a little bit about her. 00:36:49.27\00:36:53.27 When did you find? 00:36:53.31\00:36:56.78 I was teaching once on righteousness by faith. 00:36:56.81\00:36:58.91 Let me go back up, 00:36:58.95\00:37:00.28 I was teaching on righteousness by faith, 00:37:00.32\00:37:03.08 and I was telling people 00:37:03.12\00:37:04.45 that as far as living a sanctified lifestyle, 00:37:04.49\00:37:07.02 you know, I could put my hair back in a bun, 00:37:07.06\00:37:10.03 scrub my face and wear long skirts, 00:37:10.06\00:37:12.36 and I can say that 00:37:12.39\00:37:13.73 because I always do 00:37:13.76\00:37:17.93 wear long skirts, 00:37:17.97\00:37:19.30 you know, I mean just by choice it's not, 00:37:19.33\00:37:22.07 this is not a statement of anything, 00:37:22.10\00:37:24.34 I just enjoy long skirts, 00:37:24.37\00:37:26.74 but I've told people, 00:37:26.78\00:37:29.71 you can clean yourself all up on the outside 00:37:29.74\00:37:32.01 but if you don't have that personal relationship, 00:37:32.05\00:37:34.58 that's not sanctification. 00:37:34.62\00:37:36.32 You know, it's from the inside, it's what God does. 00:37:36.35\00:37:39.15 And of course, the writings 00:37:39.19\00:37:41.62 to which you have referred date back 00:37:41.66\00:37:44.03 to the 19th century 00:37:44.06\00:37:46.19 and are to be taken or understood in that way, 00:37:46.23\00:37:51.13 I mean, because they also said 00:37:51.17\00:37:54.17 you're not to dress to set yourself out 00:37:54.20\00:37:57.01 so far apart in other words. 00:37:57.04\00:37:59.21 When did it hit you, how old were you 00:37:59.24\00:38:01.61 when you finally started realizing 00:38:01.64\00:38:04.11 that rules without relationship 00:38:04.15\00:38:08.55 isn't what it was all about 00:38:08.58\00:38:10.12 but that it was relationship, 00:38:10.15\00:38:11.89 it was depending on God, how old were you? 00:38:11.92\00:38:14.82 Well, it was actually a step by step process 00:38:14.86\00:38:16.89 for me to get there. 00:38:16.93\00:38:18.26 I was, you know, it wasn't that long ago, 00:38:18.29\00:38:23.50 a decade or so ago 00:38:23.53\00:38:24.87 before I really understood the rules versus relationship. 00:38:24.90\00:38:27.87 But what I had to be... 00:38:27.90\00:38:30.47 What I needed to break free 00:38:30.51\00:38:32.64 from was a totally rule based thinking 00:38:32.67\00:38:35.54 because when you have that mindset, 00:38:35.58\00:38:38.18 it's all about what is written to the... 00:38:38.21\00:38:40.32 You know, we used to say, 00:38:40.35\00:38:41.68 to the law and to the testimony: 00:38:41.72\00:38:43.05 if they speak not according to this word, 00:38:43.08\00:38:44.42 there is no light in them, and that is true, 00:38:44.45\00:38:46.52 and every jot, every twiddle 00:38:46.55\00:38:49.72 was what matter to us. 00:38:49.76\00:38:51.09 If it said it, it was black and white, 00:38:51.13\00:38:52.83 you do it and there was no degrees, 00:38:52.86\00:38:55.86 there was no degrees of anything. 00:38:55.90\00:38:57.43 It was all a matter of, um, you know, 00:38:57.47\00:39:01.24 to take off my bonnet 00:39:01.27\00:39:03.07 would be just as bad as to commit murder 00:39:03.10\00:39:06.34 or to act immorally or anything else. 00:39:06.37\00:39:08.74 There was no degree of anything and if offend in one point, 00:39:08.78\00:39:11.91 you're guilty of all. 00:39:11.95\00:39:13.38 So that type of thinking made it 00:39:13.42\00:39:15.18 so that unless I was living in that isolated lifestyle, 00:39:15.22\00:39:18.72 you know, in a setting that was prepared for us 00:39:18.75\00:39:21.22 to be able to function like this, 00:39:21.26\00:39:23.19 then you're giving up everything. 00:39:23.22\00:39:25.16 And how to do you function 00:39:25.19\00:39:26.70 when you have to leave an environment like that. 00:39:26.73\00:39:29.70 You know that's why I wanted to go to place 00:39:29.73\00:39:31.10 where I can at least possibly transition, 00:39:31.13\00:39:33.44 but I didn't know 00:39:33.47\00:39:34.80 whether I could take off my bonnet or shorten my dress 00:39:34.84\00:39:36.87 or do anything other than 00:39:36.91\00:39:38.31 and we kept new moons and feast days as well. 00:39:38.34\00:39:40.44 So here I am taking off time from school 00:39:40.48\00:39:42.48 because this is the new moon or the feast day, 00:39:42.51\00:39:44.61 then I have to keep the Sabbath type thing, 00:39:44.65\00:39:46.82 so all of that was on the table like do I give up anything God, 00:39:46.85\00:39:51.75 and it was actually the principle of that school. 00:39:51.79\00:39:55.02 She had gone through an experience a year before 00:39:55.06\00:39:57.59 where she actually had shortened her dress 00:39:57.63\00:39:59.63 to just below the knee 00:39:59.66\00:40:01.26 and allow the girls at the school 00:40:01.30\00:40:02.80 to do the same thing. 00:40:02.83\00:40:04.20 And she understood well, 00:40:04.23\00:40:06.40 my challenge was self righteousness 00:40:06.43\00:40:08.37 and all base thinking and all that. 00:40:08.40\00:40:10.24 She was the one that was able to help me learn 00:40:10.27\00:40:12.41 something new which was principles. 00:40:12.44\00:40:15.18 Praise God. 00:40:15.21\00:40:16.54 And I had never understood 00:40:16.58\00:40:18.25 that there are broad underlying truths 00:40:18.28\00:40:21.98 that don't change. 00:40:22.02\00:40:23.35 Even though laws and rules that govern every day 00:40:23.39\00:40:25.95 can change with time and circumstance, 00:40:25.99\00:40:27.86 principles do not. 00:40:27.89\00:40:30.29 So we got to fast forward 00:40:30.33\00:40:32.23 'cause I just notice how much time we have. 00:40:32.26\00:40:35.93 You've written a book and I'm so glad that you have, 00:40:35.96\00:40:40.77 you got PhD now in communication. 00:40:40.80\00:40:44.01 You have written a book entitled Born Yesterday 00:40:44.04\00:40:47.38 and subtitle says the true story of a girl 00:40:47.41\00:40:50.48 born in the 20th century but raised in the 19th. 00:40:50.51\00:40:55.48 Why other than me telling you to do this. 00:40:55.52\00:41:00.52 For what purpose, or what did you hope to achieve 00:41:00.56\00:41:04.53 by writing the book? 00:41:04.56\00:41:06.66 That's an excellent question, um, 00:41:06.70\00:41:08.90 I think I knew for 00:41:08.93\00:41:11.27 from probably that 00:41:11.30\00:41:13.17 after I got to college and sometime after that 00:41:13.20\00:41:16.57 that I had a unseal story, 00:41:16.60\00:41:18.44 and I remember finally learning about Oprah Winfrey 00:41:18.47\00:41:21.94 and I thought, wow, this could, 00:41:21.98\00:41:23.65 you know, if I wrote her about my life, 00:41:23.68\00:41:25.78 maybe I could get on a show. 00:41:25.81\00:41:27.15 I remember actually thinking that. 00:41:27.18\00:41:28.52 And then I realized it dawned on me, actually I was about 30, 00:41:28.55\00:41:32.15 it wasn't when I was in college, it was later on. 00:41:32.19\00:41:34.16 I was about 30 when it first occurred to me, 00:41:34.19\00:41:35.96 maybe I should write Oprah Winfrey 00:41:35.99\00:41:37.59 see if I can get on her show, 00:41:37.63\00:41:38.96 and my motivation was I needed, 00:41:38.99\00:41:40.33 I was just trying to find someway to make some money. 00:41:40.36\00:41:42.93 Now you were married, were you not at this point? 00:41:42.96\00:41:44.97 I was divorced. 00:41:45.00\00:41:46.33 Married and divorced... 00:41:46.37\00:41:47.70 At what age did you marry? 00:41:47.74\00:41:49.07 I was 24 when I married. 00:41:49.10\00:41:50.54 And was he also a... 00:41:50.57\00:41:53.44 Did he have an imbalanced religion as well? 00:41:53.48\00:41:57.78 He had many challenges in his life 00:41:57.81\00:41:59.41 related to imbalance, um, 00:41:59.45\00:42:03.08 from my viewpoint, 00:42:03.12\00:42:04.52 he was not imbalance because of how I grew up 00:42:04.55\00:42:06.99 so anything was much more stable and normal than that. 00:42:07.02\00:42:09.72 But I think we all, 00:42:09.76\00:42:11.29 a lot of us struggle with extremes 00:42:11.33\00:42:14.03 and with things like that 00:42:14.06\00:42:16.10 and so he had a lot of things that he was struggling with 00:42:16.13\00:42:18.13 and I was in a position to understand that, 00:42:18.17\00:42:21.30 to see that, to help with that and the marriage did not last. 00:42:21.34\00:42:25.57 I was married for just four years on the book, 00:42:25.61\00:42:28.64 we were together for three 00:42:28.68\00:42:30.18 and I ended up being a single mom with two children. 00:42:30.21\00:42:33.52 And when I found myself single, I had a two and half month old, 00:42:33.55\00:42:37.59 and a two and half year old. 00:42:37.62\00:42:39.29 It was a rough time of life, and all of those things 00:42:39.32\00:42:42.16 that happened actually helped me to get to the place 00:42:42.19\00:42:44.06 where eventually relationship 00:42:44.09\00:42:46.70 based understanding was able to develop. 00:42:46.73\00:42:50.07 But it was through the pain and heartbreak of life 00:42:50.10\00:42:53.27 that I began to finally learn 00:42:53.30\00:42:54.87 because a law and a rule won't help you 00:42:54.90\00:42:57.07 and even a principle won't fix this for you. 00:42:57.11\00:42:59.57 You have to have relationship with Jesus to get through. 00:42:59.61\00:43:02.84 Let me ask you a question, Rachel? 00:43:02.88\00:43:05.15 Your book is filled with your story, 00:43:05.18\00:43:09.38 you're great storyteller, so these are, 00:43:09.42\00:43:11.22 it's your story of your life. 00:43:11.25\00:43:13.19 You share some principles and lessons along the way 00:43:13.22\00:43:17.13 but you don't explicate those. 00:43:17.16\00:43:19.26 It's not like... 00:43:19.29\00:43:22.53 Is that the reason why 00:43:22.56\00:43:24.50 is because it wasn't the principles, 00:43:24.53\00:43:28.17 or it wasn't the black and white 00:43:28.20\00:43:31.37 that got you through 00:43:31.41\00:43:32.74 but when you finally got to that point of knowing, 00:43:32.77\00:43:37.05 it's just a principle, is that what helped? 00:43:37.08\00:43:40.55 Um, first of all I wanted to... 00:43:40.58\00:43:44.02 One of the reasons why I wrote the book 00:43:44.05\00:43:45.52 was realizing that there are people 00:43:45.55\00:43:46.99 who have been wounded by bad religion, 00:43:47.02\00:43:48.89 extreme religion, too much religion. 00:43:48.92\00:43:50.83 Maybe they weren't taking an isolation 00:43:50.86\00:43:53.06 and kept away from people 00:43:53.09\00:43:54.53 and raise with some of the extremes 00:43:54.56\00:43:55.90 that I was raised with. 00:43:55.93\00:43:57.27 But the ideological extremes 00:43:57.30\00:44:00.17 can exist even in everyday normal life. 00:44:00.20\00:44:02.87 And I realize there are people 00:44:02.90\00:44:04.24 that have been wounded with religion in this way 00:44:04.27\00:44:07.31 and some of them have on a relational personal basis 00:44:07.34\00:44:12.01 turned away from God. 00:44:12.05\00:44:13.72 And I wanted in sharing my story for them to see, 00:44:13.75\00:44:16.82 be able to see the hand of God, 00:44:16.85\00:44:18.52 leading me through all of that 00:44:18.55\00:44:20.32 back to His heart 00:44:20.36\00:44:21.69 so that I could perceive His heart, 00:44:21.72\00:44:23.49 I can know His heart 00:44:23.53\00:44:24.89 and I could be a living testimony 00:44:24.93\00:44:27.83 of His goodness, of His grace. 00:44:27.86\00:44:29.43 So that was my motivation, actually I was saying earlier 00:44:29.46\00:44:31.97 that originally I wanted to just tell this novel story 00:44:32.00\00:44:34.60 but then I couldn't answer the question as to why. 00:44:34.64\00:44:36.87 I had no answer for and then what, 00:44:36.91\00:44:39.94 after I told the story and I decided 00:44:39.97\00:44:41.48 I would never do it until such time 00:44:41.51\00:44:43.91 as I could answer that question 00:44:43.95\00:44:45.28 and there was a greater purpose. 00:44:45.31\00:44:46.82 So finally overtime as I developed a relationship 00:44:46.85\00:44:52.55 based understanding and daily walk with the Lord, 00:44:52.59\00:44:56.79 it was through that He worked in my life 00:44:56.83\00:44:59.33 to write this story and now I have a purpose 00:44:59.36\00:45:01.80 that goes beyond just simply the novelty of sharing 00:45:01.83\00:45:04.83 an unusual background. 00:45:04.87\00:45:06.63 Did you find that it was more than cathartic 00:45:06.67\00:45:10.37 but that it was empowering to write the story. 00:45:10.41\00:45:14.34 Yes, it was. It was. 00:45:14.38\00:45:18.75 I really in a way that I couldn't have expected, 00:45:18.78\00:45:23.12 I had already dealt with an unusual background 00:45:23.15\00:45:26.15 when I was writing my doctoral dissertation. 00:45:26.19\00:45:29.22 I found out that I could use it 00:45:29.26\00:45:30.59 as a basis for research unbelievably, 00:45:30.63\00:45:33.29 and so I actually did a study 00:45:33.33\00:45:35.40 on adjusting from isolated religious culture 00:45:35.43\00:45:38.87 to the mainstream culture 00:45:38.90\00:45:40.87 and that process, 00:45:40.90\00:45:42.24 I wrote a lot of some of the narratives, 00:45:42.27\00:45:44.47 um, that ended in my book, in my dissertation, 00:45:44.51\00:45:47.78 and that process was very cathartic, 00:45:47.81\00:45:49.81 but what happened when I wrote my book 00:45:49.84\00:45:52.05 was something I could not have expected, 00:45:52.08\00:45:53.75 it was something beyond catharsis, 00:45:53.78\00:45:55.55 I had already gone through that. 00:45:55.58\00:45:57.55 What I had always perceived about my life 00:45:57.59\00:46:00.12 is that it was a collection of individual, 00:46:00.16\00:46:05.49 unattached, broken interrupted pieces. 00:46:05.53\00:46:09.06 And I actually was going to name the book 00:46:09.10\00:46:10.90 originally something like the patch work 00:46:10.93\00:46:13.54 and I wasn't sure it would be patch work quilt 00:46:13.57\00:46:15.17 or patch work stories, 00:46:15.20\00:46:17.11 and the original version of the book 00:46:17.14\00:46:18.57 actually starts out saying 00:46:18.61\00:46:20.14 that my life is a collection of unrelated pieces. 00:46:20.18\00:46:24.58 That's what I started out writing. 00:46:24.61\00:46:27.52 It was not until as everyday as I would write, 00:46:27.55\00:46:31.85 I would ask God to please show me what to write 00:46:31.89\00:46:33.96 and I will work to this process of weaving out 00:46:33.99\00:46:36.56 one tale or another, 00:46:36.59\00:46:37.93 it was a lot of individual pieces 00:46:37.96\00:46:40.73 and then began to put it together 00:46:40.76\00:46:42.26 with rough chronological, you know, order to it. 00:46:42.30\00:46:46.60 It was actually not until I was writing the last chapter 00:46:46.63\00:46:50.41 that it all really began to come together 00:46:50.44\00:46:54.08 and I realize that my life had a plot, 00:46:54.11\00:46:57.11 like it had been planned and that was amazing to me. 00:46:57.15\00:47:00.55 Praise God. 00:47:00.58\00:47:01.92 That was something I could not have realize 00:47:01.95\00:47:05.52 what happened or predicted or anything 00:47:05.55\00:47:07.62 and that was my surprise 00:47:07.66\00:47:08.99 as I began to finish up this book, 00:47:09.02\00:47:12.33 and I actually had to go back 00:47:12.36\00:47:13.70 and write about some low points, 00:47:13.73\00:47:15.16 and once I did that and I was almost to the last... 00:47:15.20\00:47:17.73 I was at the last chapter but couldn't finish it 00:47:17.77\00:47:20.27 and I had to go back, a friend of mine encouraged me 00:47:20.30\00:47:22.20 to go back and write about some of the low points, 00:47:22.24\00:47:24.01 write about some of the things 00:47:24.04\00:47:25.54 that I really would have preferred 00:47:25.57\00:47:27.38 not to put in there but he told me, you know, what, 00:47:27.41\00:47:29.91 no one can appreciate the Joseph 00:47:29.94\00:47:31.98 ascended to the palace 00:47:32.01\00:47:33.62 unless they understand he came from the pit. 00:47:33.65\00:47:36.08 Unless they know about the prison, 00:47:36.12\00:47:37.89 they can't understand, you know, 00:47:37.92\00:47:40.16 the glory of him getting to the second command in Egypt, 00:47:40.19\00:47:43.83 and realizing that's something God had done. 00:47:43.86\00:47:46.43 You've got to share where God has brought you from 00:47:46.46\00:47:48.60 and the experiences in life that have happened 00:47:48.63\00:47:51.17 that have hurt and disappointed and where you failed 00:47:51.20\00:47:54.90 and if you do that, God will bless you, 00:47:54.94\00:47:57.47 and his first blessing as soon as I did that, 00:47:57.51\00:47:59.84 as I went to finish the last chapter, 00:47:59.87\00:48:02.24 it began to all fall together in my head 00:48:02.28\00:48:04.85 and I realize that my life had a plot to it. 00:48:04.88\00:48:07.75 Not just a collection of things. 00:48:07.78\00:48:09.88 Okay so you have... 00:48:09.92\00:48:13.76 You're married, you have two children 00:48:13.79\00:48:16.69 when you are first married, your husband has two children. 00:48:16.73\00:48:19.59 So you are the mother of four children, 00:48:19.63\00:48:21.23 you've actually worked and received your doctorate, 00:48:21.26\00:48:25.63 God has taken you to amazing places 00:48:25.67\00:48:28.37 but you say in the book that the story continues, 00:48:28.40\00:48:32.87 what's happened to you since you wrote the book 00:48:32.91\00:48:35.71 and the title of the book is Born Yesterday. 00:48:35.74\00:48:37.95 What's happened to you since, Rachel? 00:48:37.98\00:48:40.98 Well, most recently about it almost a year ago now, 00:48:41.02\00:48:44.69 in January I had a sun onset of blindness 00:48:44.72\00:48:47.82 and then challenges with walking 00:48:47.86\00:48:49.39 and so I recovered from that, 00:48:49.42\00:48:51.63 it turns out I have multiple sclerosis. 00:48:51.66\00:48:52.99 Oh, bless you. 00:48:53.03\00:48:54.36 And as far as I'm concerned what that's about 00:48:54.40\00:48:56.06 is teaching me that my strength. 00:48:56.10\00:48:58.97 I can't depend on it but God's strength is there. 00:48:59.00\00:49:01.80 His strength is made perfect in my weakness 00:49:01.84\00:49:03.71 and that's what He is teaching me everyday. 00:49:03.74\00:49:05.21 Amen. 00:49:05.24\00:49:06.57 And I know that we're out, nearly out of times 00:49:06.61\00:49:08.38 but I do know there is a lot more things going on, 00:49:08.41\00:49:10.65 so I think we can expect another wonderful book 00:49:10.68\00:49:13.45 from you sometime in the near feature. 00:49:13.48\00:49:15.65 What we would like to do Rachel brought a trailer on her book, 00:49:15.68\00:49:19.92 we'd like to show that to you just now. 00:49:19.95\00:49:24.49 If my life were a movie, 00:49:24.53\00:49:27.73 no one would believe it. 00:49:27.76\00:49:29.16 When I was just six years old, 00:49:38.77\00:49:41.34 my parents began to separate 00:49:41.38\00:49:43.78 from society as they follow 00:49:43.81\00:49:45.71 their every increasingly strict religious views. 00:49:45.75\00:49:50.69 We ended up living on 50 acres in Tennessee 00:49:50.72\00:49:54.46 on abandoned hilltop in an old house. 00:49:54.49\00:49:57.49 Isolated from other people and without electricity, 00:49:57.53\00:50:02.43 running water, television, telephones. 00:50:02.46\00:50:05.77 When my brother was horribly burnt in a gasoline fire, 00:50:05.80\00:50:10.01 we didn't take him to the hospital, 00:50:10.04\00:50:11.74 we handled all of our own problems at home. 00:50:11.77\00:50:15.44 I was home schooled, we grew our own food, 00:50:15.48\00:50:18.01 we made our own clothes 00:50:18.05\00:50:20.12 and we lived in this way 00:50:20.15\00:50:22.25 while we waited for the world to come to an end. 00:50:22.28\00:50:27.56 When I was 16, 00:50:27.59\00:50:29.39 I found myself forced to live in a world 00:50:29.42\00:50:31.33 that I was not prepared to living. 00:50:31.36\00:50:33.53 I ran from passing cars, when I was asked to mow a lawn, 00:50:33.56\00:50:38.23 I did know anything about shampoo and conditioner, 00:50:38.27\00:50:42.10 or how to strand my hair 00:50:42.14\00:50:43.97 when I finally took off the bonnet, 00:50:44.01\00:50:46.21 and I struggled with school 00:50:46.24\00:50:48.14 and with regular socio-cultural norms. 00:50:48.18\00:50:51.75 And I didn't know a lot about guys, 00:50:51.78\00:50:54.22 so I ended up marrying the first man that I dated 00:50:54.25\00:50:58.15 and when that was shattered on the rocks of divorce, 00:50:58.19\00:51:01.06 I went through heartache, confusion, pain 00:51:01.09\00:51:05.96 and to wonder if I had been abandoned by God 00:51:05.99\00:51:10.37 but He never abandoned me. 00:51:10.40\00:51:12.50 Born Yesterday is a testimony 00:51:21.81\00:51:24.01 of God's faithful restorative loving care 00:51:24.05\00:51:27.32 and what I hope for when you read this book, 00:51:27.35\00:51:29.92 I hope you find in its pages a testimony, 00:51:29.95\00:51:33.96 the story that will inspire you to discover in your own life 00:51:33.99\00:51:38.03 how God always is working together for your good, 00:51:38.06\00:51:43.13 to make you whole, to restore and to heal you. 00:51:43.16\00:51:47.80 It's a marvelous book 00:52:01.48\00:52:02.82 and I know you'll enjoy reading it. 00:52:02.85\00:52:04.35 Rachel also come out to churches and speaks. 00:52:04.39\00:52:06.92 If you'd like to get in touch with her, 00:52:06.96\00:52:09.22 here is the information. 00:52:09.26\00:52:10.63 If you would like to know 00:52:13.86\00:52:15.20 how to get a copy of the book Born Yesterday, 00:52:15.23\00:52:18.37 or if you'd like to contact Rachel, 00:52:18.40\00:52:20.74 you can do so by writing Rachel William Smith, 00:52:20.77\00:52:24.41 PO Box 134, Berrien Springs, Michigan 49104. 00:52:24.44\00:52:30.11 That's Rachel William Smith, 00:52:30.15\00:52:32.31 PO Box 134, 00:52:32.35\00:52:34.78 Berrien Springs, Michigan 49104. 00:52:34.82\00:52:38.45 You may also call 269-588-0671. 00:52:38.49\00:52:44.99 That's 269-588-0671. 00:52:45.03\00:52:49.50 Or order the book online at RachelWilliamsSmith.com. 00:52:49.53\00:52:54.27 That's RachelWilliamsSmith.com. 00:52:54.30\00:52:57.31