As you're well aware,
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we're living in
unprecedented times.
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Join us now for
Today special program.
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I want to spend my life
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Mending broken people
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I want to spend my life
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Removing pain
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Lord, let my words
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Heal a heart that hurts
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I want to spend my life
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Mending broken people
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I want to spend my life
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Mending broken people
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Hello.
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Welcome to another
3ABN Today program.
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We're so glad that
you have joined us today.
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Thank you for allowing us
to come into your living room
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or from wherever
you're watching this program.
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Maybe you're even
listening on 3ABN Radio,
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but you know what?
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You're part of our
family and it's so fun
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to spend this time with you.
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Many of you, we have
met maybe at a 3ABN rally
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or in the different travels
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when we're able to
travel before COVID
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or maybe when you
came to a 3ABN camp meeting
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or some other event.
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It's always a
blessing, but some of you
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that we've never met, but
we look forward to heaven.
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And we just wanna say,
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thank you for your faithfulness,
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for your prayers for 3ABN,
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for your financial
support for this ministry
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because of you and, of
course, the Lord Jesus Christ,
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this gospel of
the kingdom is going
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throughout the entire world,
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which is really an
incredible thought.
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I just received a
letter across my desk
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and someone was
just apologizing.
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And I said, "There's
no need to apologize."
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They said, "Our donation
is not very significant."
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I said, "That does not matter."
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You have felt
impressed to give that,
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God will take that money
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no matter the
size and multiply it.
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And it will make a difference
in someone else's life.
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So again, it's great
to be with you today.
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And today we have a
really fun program in store.
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We do.
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Sometimes on Today programs,
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we feature ministries and people
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who have gone
overseas to spread the gospel.
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Sometimes we
feature personal testimonies
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and today is a meet
one of the 3ABN family,
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actually two
because they are a couple.
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And we're so
excited about this program
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because it is a
personal testimony
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of how God brought
them out of darkness,
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literally spiritual darkness
into this marvelous light.
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And I'm speaking
of a wonderful couple
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that Greg and I personally love,
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and I had the privilege of
working with for many years.
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So this is Joe
and Nancy O'Brien,
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and we're just so
blessed and grateful
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and thankful to
have you on the set today
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and looking forward to
hearing your testimony.
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Thank you so
much for being here.
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Well, it's a
pleasure to be here.
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Thank you.
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How many years
have you been at 3ABN?
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Twenty two. Yeah.
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Twenty two years?
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Wow! Incredible.
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God's been good.
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Amen. Yes.
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Excellent. Yeah.
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I know Joe O'Brien is ourâ |
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He works in 3ABN
Pastoral department,
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but you didn't start there.
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We're gonna hear
some of your journey
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and how God brought you together
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and brought you
into this marvelous light
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into the truth of
Seventh-day Adventist Church
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and what you've done here.
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And.
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Nancy, we had the
opportunity to work together.
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I think it was 10
years at our local church.
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At the school. Yes, yes.
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And God brought you both here.
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And you were instrumental.
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You were a first
teacher and principal,
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so we're gonna unpack
some of that testimony.
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And then now Nancy
is the office manager
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for our Planned Giving
and Trust Services department,
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and also serves
as a trust officer.
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So we're so blessed
to have you both here.
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You know, I think what's fun
about these programs is that,
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you know, many people here
maybe talk to you on the phone,
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Nancy, 'cause you're
in Planned Giving now,
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and you're in the
Pastoral department.
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Let's call you Pastor Joe
from the Pastoral department,
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but it's great to
actually, some people maybe,
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if you've just
started watching 3ABN
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and you've talked
to them on the phone,
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you've never seen them before,
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but they have an
incredible testimony.
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And it's really about
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what God has done in their life.
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And they have made themselves
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available to the
Lord, Jesus Christ.
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And that's an inspiration.
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You know, all of
us have a testimony.
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All of us have a story.
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A lot of times we can
just sit back and say, well,
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that's them, it's not me.
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You know, I don't
know, but you know what?
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This should be an
inspiration to you too,
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because God has you here
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on this earth for a
reason and a purpose.
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And we know that God has,
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you may be doing great
things for God right now,
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but He has something
for you to do even today.
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But before we go more in
depth, we've got a scripture,
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some song, a song.
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Absolutely.
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The scripture I was thinking of
reminds me of their testimony,
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but really it's my testimony
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and hopefully it's
your testimony as well.
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This is 1 Peter 2:9.
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You probably
know this scripture,
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"But you are a
chosen generation,
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a royal
priesthood, a holy nation,
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His own special people."
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Why are we called
to be God's people
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that we would
proclaim the praises of Him
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who called us out of darkness
into this marvelous light.
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And that's what we're
gonna hear today is a testimony.
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A couple Joe and Nancy
O'Brien proclaiming the praises
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what God has done and
is doing in their lives
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and what He wants to do
in each one of our lives.
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So I'm so excited about that.
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And we have some music
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from another one
of the 3ABN family.
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This is Brother Tim Parton,
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and the song he'll be playing
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is "Lord I Lift
Your Name On High."
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Amen.
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Thank you, Mr. Tim Parton,
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maybe we should
call him Dr. Parton
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because he's such
an incredible musician.
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Thank you so much for
using your talents for the Lord
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and what an incredible song,
Lord, I lift Your name on high.
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And that's what we're
doing today, isn't it?
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Praising the Lord
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and what He has
done in all of our lives.
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But today,
especially Joe and Nancy O'Brien
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and they're gonna be
sharing their testimony,
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what God has done
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and is currently
doing in their life.
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And as we just
mentioned earlier,
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before the music,
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you all have been at 3ABN,
22 years, has it gone by fast?
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Yes.
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We all haven't changed,
you know, God's been good,
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you know, and you
all don't look any older.
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Maybe you've,
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maybe I don't know
how you feel, but...
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A lot older.
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Feel a lot older.
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I don't run as fast.
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You don't run as fast.
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Okay.
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But God still is using
you all in a mighty way.
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And thank you so
much for being vessels
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that God has been able
to pour through to us here.
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And if I can mention,
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before we dive
into their testimony,
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their story is that we
consider them mentors as well.
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When I came here, I was single.
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I came in 1999
and then of course
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I had known
Jill for a few years.
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And then I realized I couldn't
live my life without her.
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So we decided to get married.
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And that was in 2002,
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but this wonderful
couple Joe and Nancy O'Brien,
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they were leaders
in the Thompsonville
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Seventh-day Adventist Church.
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We were just young newbies.
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And they believed
in us and they gave us
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responsibilities in the
church and helped us grow
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and that friendship
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and that has just
been through the years.
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So thank you both so much
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for pouring into
our lives as well.
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It's been a great blessing.
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But share with us.
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Yeah, go ahead. Yeah.
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Let's jump into your testimony.
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We love you both very much
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and are grateful
as Greg mentioned,
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but let's maybe
start with you, Joe.
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Tell us a little bit
about your testimony,
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your search to know God?
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Okay.
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Well, first of all,
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we could write a book
and we're not going to.
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And so, I'm gonna
start with many years ago
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before I was an Adventist,
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I was looking for
God and I was a Christian
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and I just didn't know Him well.
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I just knew about Him.
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And so I attended
different churches
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and I would listen
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to their doctrines and teachings
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and go to the Bible
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and try to verify that
everything was biblical.
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And I would find that 5 or 10%
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of what they had to share
was often against the Bible.
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And then I would figure,
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well, now if there is
a God, He's got it right.
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And if He doesn't have it right,
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I don't need Him.
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I can make my own mistakes.
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So I'd move on
to another church.
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And this went on for 22 years.
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Oh, wow.
00:11:27.68\00:11:29.02
Twenty two years.
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So do you mean
different churches?
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You're talking like, not
in the same denomination,
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but you're actually looking
at different denominations?
00:11:33.15\00:11:34.49
Everything you can imagine.
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The Eastern philosophies,
all kinds of religious bodies,
00:11:36.12\00:11:40.23
I would study their doctrines.
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And for a while I
worked in a fire department
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and I had the evenings off
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and I could go to the
training director's office
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and close the door
while everybody else
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was playing basketball
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and watching TV
and playing cards.
00:11:52.71\00:11:54.21
And I just kind of
locked myself in there
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and go through the Word.
00:11:56.31\00:11:58.08
And after 22 years,
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I guess I remember
being tired and saying,
00:12:00.88\00:12:04.39
"Man, I'm not
gonna live long enough
00:12:04.42\00:12:07.39
to test every church.
00:12:07.42\00:12:10.29
And so I'm done."
00:12:10.33\00:12:12.99
And I told God that.
00:12:13.03\00:12:14.36
I prayed regular,
didn't know Him that well,
00:12:14.40\00:12:16.90
but I prayed regular.
00:12:16.93\00:12:18.27
And I said, "Lord, I'm tired.
00:12:18.30\00:12:19.80
I'm done 22 years, I'm through.
00:12:19.83\00:12:23.24
If you want me, You can have me,
00:12:23.27\00:12:25.07
but you'll have
to come and get me
00:12:25.11\00:12:26.68
because I'm done
looking for You."
00:12:26.71\00:12:29.94
And within a couple of weeks,
00:12:29.98\00:12:32.21
I had a fella at work,
00:12:32.25\00:12:34.62
hand me a little book
00:12:34.65\00:12:36.12
'cause the last church
I was in spoke in tongues.
00:12:36.15\00:12:38.49
And he wanted me to understand
00:12:38.52\00:12:39.92
that the letter
written in the Bible
00:12:39.95\00:12:42.79
was talking about
how that should be.
00:12:42.82\00:12:45.66
And so I read the book.
00:12:45.69\00:12:48.30
And then six months later,
00:12:50.27\00:12:51.93
I'm sitting at my table at home
00:12:51.97\00:12:55.10
and I'm looking
at the pile of books
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I'd been reading
from this gentleman.
00:12:57.11\00:12:58.51
He had fed me and fed
me and I counted the books.
00:12:58.54\00:13:01.24
And some of them were
just little pocket books.
00:13:01.28\00:13:03.28
But all together,
00:13:03.31\00:13:04.65
I had some thick
ones, couple inches.
00:13:04.68\00:13:06.41
So I mean, I looked
at the pile and counted
00:13:06.45\00:13:08.42
and there were
like 60 some books.
00:13:08.45\00:13:11.65
You had read 60 some
books in six months trying to...
00:13:11.69\00:13:14.12
In six months.
00:13:14.16\00:13:15.49
That is incredible.
00:13:15.52\00:13:16.86
And then the little
light in the cartoons,
00:13:16.89\00:13:18.29
you see the
little light going on?
00:13:18.33\00:13:20.36
Well, a light went
on and the light wasâ |
00:13:20.40\00:13:25.87
And the light was,
00:13:25.90\00:13:28.57
I haven't found anything
00:13:28.60\00:13:30.81
in their doctrine
that's unbiblical.
00:13:30.84\00:13:33.64
Oh, wow.
00:13:33.68\00:13:35.14
The people may have troubles,
but the doctrine doesn't.
00:13:35.18\00:13:38.58
And he had always been
able to prove in other churches,
00:13:38.61\00:13:42.28
he had always found false...
00:13:42.32\00:13:44.12
So let me just get this right.
00:13:44.15\00:13:45.72
So for 22 years you had searched
00:13:45.75\00:13:47.89
from
denomination to denomination.
00:13:47.92\00:13:49.89
And every time
they're teaching something
00:13:49.92\00:13:52.19
didn't line up
with the Word of God.
00:13:52.23\00:13:53.56
Ninety percent,
00:13:53.60\00:13:54.93
ninety five percent
truth and that's fine.
00:13:54.96\00:13:56.30
It's necessary,
00:13:56.33\00:13:57.67
but there's
always like, like water.
00:13:57.70\00:13:59.40
If you have a
glass of beautiful,
00:13:59.43\00:14:01.37
wonderful life-giving
water and somebody puts
00:14:01.40\00:14:04.71
10% poison in it,
you got a problem.
00:14:04.74\00:14:08.81
That's not the God I want.
00:14:08.84\00:14:10.65
I want the perfect God.
00:14:10.68\00:14:12.05
And so after...
00:14:12.08\00:14:14.18
Then over this last six months,
00:14:14.22\00:14:15.98
you had read the 60 some books
00:14:16.02\00:14:17.39
and everything you read
there really seemed to line up
00:14:17.42\00:14:20.36
with the Word of God.
00:14:20.39\00:14:21.72
I was happy.
00:14:21.76\00:14:23.09
I was thinking,
the light went on,
00:14:23.12\00:14:24.46
I thought, is this the
church God wants me in?
00:14:24.49\00:14:28.66
And so I started going
to a Revelation seminar.
00:14:28.70\00:14:32.10
And...
00:14:32.13\00:14:33.47
How did you find out about that?
00:14:33.50\00:14:34.87
Well, it was advertised on
telephone poles and things.
00:14:34.90\00:14:38.21
So you saw like a poster
on a telephone pole and said,
00:14:38.24\00:14:40.58
that looks interesting.
00:14:40.61\00:14:41.94
And the year
before I had missed it.
00:14:41.98\00:14:43.68
I thought, oh, I'd love to learn
00:14:43.71\00:14:45.05
about Revelation and Daniel.
00:14:45.08\00:14:46.41
I really would.
00:14:46.45\00:14:47.78
And more than I knew, I mean,
00:14:47.82\00:14:49.15
my book Bible was
all marked up in there,
00:14:49.18\00:14:50.55
but I didn't
understand everything.
00:14:50.59\00:14:52.12
So that year I let it go.
00:14:52.15\00:14:54.36
But the next
year when I saw that
00:14:54.39\00:14:56.19
on the telephone
pole, I said, I'm going.
00:14:56.22\00:14:59.46
I've gotta find some
more stuff, truth, you know?
00:14:59.49\00:15:02.40
And so, I went
and during the time
00:15:02.43\00:15:04.67
that I was goingâ |
00:15:04.70\00:15:07.70
Isn't that when we met?
00:15:07.74\00:15:09.07
That's when we met.
00:15:09.10\00:15:10.44
So tell me, what were you doing
00:15:10.47\00:15:12.01
profession wise
at the time, Joe?
00:15:12.04\00:15:13.48
And where did you live then?
00:15:13.51\00:15:14.84
At that time I was
working for Georgia Pacific
00:15:14.88\00:15:17.91
and I had a pretty good job.
00:15:17.95\00:15:21.88
I was making good money, I
had five weeks paid vacation,
00:15:21.92\00:15:24.55
plus paid holidays
off, floating holidays.
00:15:24.59\00:15:27.29
It was a good
business, I was doing well.
00:15:27.32\00:15:31.49
And then I went roller skating.
00:15:31.53\00:15:33.93
And apparently you can
tell a story a little bit.
00:15:33.96\00:15:37.83
Go ahead, honey.
00:15:37.87\00:15:39.20
Yes.
00:15:39.23\00:15:40.57
In Minnesota,
the weather is bad,
00:15:40.60\00:15:42.04
you know, for like nine,
ten months out of the year.
00:15:42.07\00:15:44.87
So roller
skating is a big activity
00:15:44.91\00:15:47.58
because you get
lots of exercise.
00:15:47.61\00:15:49.14
Anyway, I was roller skating.
00:15:49.18\00:15:51.41
And I guess he, you saw me.
00:15:51.45\00:15:55.75
And when I sat down
to take my skates off
00:15:55.78\00:15:58.25
or whatever he
was, came on over.
00:15:58.29\00:16:00.22
You were with a Christian school
00:16:00.26\00:16:01.99
and you had your class there.
00:16:02.02\00:16:03.56
Right.
00:16:03.59\00:16:04.93
And I knew you were a Christian.
00:16:04.96\00:16:06.29
So I was kind of
watching you a little bit.
00:16:06.33\00:16:07.90
Go ahead. Yeah.
00:16:07.93\00:16:09.26
I was teaching
at a mission school
00:16:09.30\00:16:11.33
in Minnesota, an Indian mission,
00:16:11.37\00:16:13.50
American Indian mission school.
00:16:13.54\00:16:15.67
And so I took my kids there.
00:16:15.70\00:16:17.64
That was their reward
for being good behavior.
00:16:17.67\00:16:21.74
So we all went skating
00:16:21.78\00:16:23.18
and the school was run by monks.
00:16:23.21\00:16:25.65
And so one of the
head monk came with me
00:16:25.68\00:16:27.88
to help supervise and
while we were skating around,
00:16:27.92\00:16:33.56
I noticed he was
talking with the monk.
00:16:33.59\00:16:36.16
And then when we sat
down and take our skates off,
00:16:36.19\00:16:38.49
the monk leaned
over to me and said,
00:16:38.53\00:16:40.50
do you wanna meet this guy?
00:16:40.53\00:16:43.33
Well, he knew that I
was into Christianity.
00:16:43.37\00:16:45.43
Yeah. You were studying.
00:16:45.47\00:16:47.00
Yeah.
00:16:47.04\00:16:48.37
Well, I had heard
some of the conversation.
00:16:48.40\00:16:50.47
And so my first response was no.
00:16:50.51\00:16:53.41
Because I had heard,
00:16:53.44\00:16:54.81
I was a Catholic
and so I wanted to stay
00:16:54.84\00:16:58.88
with Catholic
people and I could hear
00:16:58.91\00:17:01.48
that he was questioning faith.
00:17:01.52\00:17:03.18
And so I thought, I
don't want to get involved.
00:17:03.22\00:17:06.49
You know, I know how easy it
is to fall in love with somebody
00:17:06.52\00:17:09.52
and wreck your
whole life, you know?
00:17:09.56\00:17:11.33
So I said, no, but
shortly after that,
00:17:11.36\00:17:14.66
I heard the Lord say to
me, well, I thought, you know,
00:17:14.70\00:17:18.77
Jesus wouldn't have said no.
00:17:18.80\00:17:20.64
So I leaned over.
00:17:20.67\00:17:22.00
And I said, okay.
00:17:22.04\00:17:23.77
So Joe asked me
if he could call me.
00:17:23.81\00:17:25.97
And I said, sure,
but just the talk.
00:17:26.01\00:17:29.24
Kinda set that in place.
00:17:29.28\00:17:30.61
Okay. Just the talk.
00:17:30.65\00:17:32.41
So can I ask
Nancy, just going back,
00:17:32.45\00:17:34.48
you were a teacher and
you said you were Catholic,
00:17:34.52\00:17:36.42
but were you satisfied
00:17:36.45\00:17:37.85
in your faith
journey up to that point?
00:17:37.89\00:17:39.65
Obviously Joe had
been searching for years,
00:17:39.69\00:17:41.52
but were you satisfied
00:17:41.56\00:17:42.89
or how did you feel
your faith journey was?
00:17:42.92\00:17:45.13
Okay.
00:17:45.16\00:17:46.49
I fell in love with
Jesus in my late 20s.
00:17:46.53\00:17:49.66
I had had some
difficulties with jobs
00:17:49.70\00:17:54.27
and 'cause back then
there was a surplus of teachers
00:17:54.30\00:17:56.50
and I was getting laid,
00:17:56.54\00:17:57.87
I had laid off
twice and the second time
00:17:57.91\00:17:59.24
I just went, oh Lord,
you know, what am I gonna do?
00:17:59.27\00:18:03.91
And a friend handed me a
book that was the scriptures.
00:18:03.95\00:18:09.62
It was a Jesus
people promise book,
00:18:09.65\00:18:11.59
something like that.
00:18:11.62\00:18:12.95
I started reading it
and I fell head over heels
00:18:12.99\00:18:17.19
in love with Jesus.
00:18:17.23\00:18:18.83
And so I wanted to
give Him my life then.
00:18:18.86\00:18:21.20
And so, I got into
the Catholic school system
00:18:21.23\00:18:24.63
and that's where I was teaching
00:18:24.67\00:18:26.00
because I wanted
to teach about Him.
00:18:26.03\00:18:27.54
I loved Him and I
wanted the kids to know Him.
00:18:27.57\00:18:29.94
And then I had always felt like,
00:18:29.97\00:18:33.54
well, Minnesota has
several Indian reservations.
00:18:33.58\00:18:36.08
And so I checked them out
00:18:36.11\00:18:37.51
and I found a mission
school in one of them.
00:18:37.55\00:18:39.81
So I applied there
and they took me in.
00:18:39.85\00:18:42.02
I was teaching there.
00:18:42.05\00:18:43.39
And that's how I ended up
00:18:43.42\00:18:44.75
at the roller
skating rink with them.
00:18:44.79\00:18:46.12
But I thought I
had the true church.
00:18:46.15\00:18:49.42
There were a lot of
questions I had in the Bible.
00:18:49.46\00:18:51.63
'Cause I was reading the Bible
and I had a lot of questions
00:18:51.66\00:18:54.16
that I would ask,
00:18:54.20\00:18:55.90
but I was usually
told it's a mystery.
00:18:55.93\00:18:58.93
We won't understand it
00:18:58.97\00:19:00.30
until, you know,
till we're in heaven.
00:19:00.34\00:19:02.84
And I would question God.
00:19:02.87\00:19:05.67
I remember reading
the Ten Commandments
00:19:05.71\00:19:07.18
and saying, huh.
00:19:07.21\00:19:08.98
So was this only
for the Jewish people
00:19:09.01\00:19:11.11
'cause we don't keep
the seventh day anymore.
00:19:11.15\00:19:14.02
So I just brushed it off though.
00:19:14.05\00:19:15.68
I thought, yeah.
00:19:15.72\00:19:17.05
You know, 'cause I
really thought I had the truth.
00:19:17.09\00:19:20.52
Well, then as we
talked and he started
00:19:20.56\00:19:24.99
telling me
things he was learning
00:19:25.03\00:19:26.36
in the Revelation seminars.
00:19:26.39\00:19:28.13
I said, "That can't be right."
00:19:28.16\00:19:30.27
Yeah.
00:19:30.30\00:19:32.57
The traditions and the
truth, they rub a little bit.
00:19:32.60\00:19:36.30
Yeah.
00:19:36.34\00:19:37.67
And so, I asked Nancy if
she'd like to go to Perkins
00:19:37.71\00:19:41.08
and have a piece of
pie and talk a little bit.
00:19:41.11\00:19:44.05
Yeah.
00:19:44.08\00:19:45.41
And so, just the talk.
00:19:45.45\00:19:48.38
That's right.
00:19:48.42\00:19:49.75
You need to make that clear.
00:19:49.78\00:19:51.49
So when we went there,
00:19:51.52\00:19:52.85
we sat in the
booth and you know,
00:19:52.89\00:19:55.16
how you just sit
down and smiling.
00:19:55.19\00:19:57.09
And as I looked
across the booth at her,
00:19:57.13\00:19:59.93
she looked at me square
in the eye and she said,
00:19:59.96\00:20:03.83
I want you to know
00:20:03.87\00:20:05.20
that I consider
Jesus Christ my bridegroom.
00:20:05.23\00:20:08.77
Now that was her shield.
00:20:08.80\00:20:10.37
She'd probably used
that before on other fellows.
00:20:10.41\00:20:13.74
And they usually said,
"Oh, my mother would love you"
00:20:13.78\00:20:16.58
or they'd say,
"Well, you scare me."
00:20:16.61\00:20:20.32
So that's what she tells you.
00:20:20.35\00:20:21.95
Yeah. And what did you think?
00:20:21.98\00:20:23.39
Well, see, I had talked with God
00:20:23.42\00:20:25.99
in one of my prayers previously
00:20:26.02\00:20:27.66
that I'd seen a lot of
trouble with marriages.
00:20:27.69\00:20:31.63
My mom was divorced, you know,
00:20:31.66\00:20:32.99
married three times
and I thought, yeah, yeah.
00:20:33.03\00:20:35.46
Well, I'm not sure I
wanna go there, you know?
00:20:35.50\00:20:37.40
And, but if you
want me to be married,
00:20:37.43\00:20:40.30
I want Your will.
00:20:40.34\00:20:41.67
Your will is always correct.
00:20:41.70\00:20:43.04
So if it is your will,
00:20:43.07\00:20:44.67
that You would have
me married in the future.
00:20:44.71\00:20:48.54
It has to be a godly woman.
00:20:48.58\00:20:50.85
Has to be a godly woman
and You have to prove it.
00:20:50.88\00:20:56.02
I have to know
that You proved it,
00:20:56.05\00:20:58.15
that you okayed it.
00:20:58.19\00:21:01.06
So I put that
sheepskin out and it was,
00:21:01.09\00:21:04.83
she has to love
you more than me.
00:21:04.86\00:21:06.83
And when she looked
across that booth and said,
00:21:11.07\00:21:14.60
"I consider Jesus
Christ, my bridegroom."
00:21:14.64\00:21:17.54
That was your fleece
answered right there.
00:21:17.57\00:21:20.08
And for someone
else, it was a turnoff.
00:21:20.11\00:21:21.98
But for you, it was,
00:21:22.01\00:21:23.35
this is exactly the
woman God has for me.
00:21:23.38\00:21:24.95
Yeah.
00:21:24.98\00:21:26.31
Now this is where I
wanna say that after 22 years
00:21:26.35\00:21:29.08
of being a Christian
and studying the Word of God
00:21:29.12\00:21:31.69
and praying and paying tithe
00:21:31.72\00:21:33.82
and doing all
the Christian things,
00:21:33.86\00:21:36.96
this is where I was
catching up with Nancy.
00:21:36.99\00:21:40.96
Because she knew
Him better than I did.
00:21:41.00\00:21:44.33
And so...
00:21:44.37\00:21:47.74
I went home and I prayed a lot.
00:21:47.77\00:21:51.54
I mean, we were friends,
God and I, we talked a lot,
00:21:51.57\00:21:54.41
but I didn't hear much from Him.
00:21:54.44\00:21:55.78
It was always, His
voice was in the Bible.
00:21:55.81\00:21:58.08
And that was good enough.
00:21:58.11\00:21:59.45
I was happy with that.
00:21:59.48\00:22:00.82
But this is where they say,
00:22:00.85\00:22:02.18
sometimes they'll say
there's a still small voice.
00:22:02.22\00:22:05.25
Yeah.
00:22:05.29\00:22:07.22
Well, I said to Him in
prayer, she's too good for me.
00:22:07.26\00:22:11.59
It must be a
mistake. It's not right.
00:22:13.46\00:22:15.70
I mean, I just don't
belong with a woman like that.
00:22:15.73\00:22:20.90
And I heard a
still small voice say,
00:22:20.94\00:22:24.87
it wasn't audible,
00:22:24.91\00:22:26.44
but it wasn't me
talking or thinking
00:22:26.47\00:22:28.28
it was a voice that
said, who would you pick?
00:22:28.31\00:22:34.15
And I just
shifted gears and thought,
00:22:34.18\00:22:35.75
okay, let's see
in grammar school,
00:22:35.78\00:22:37.19
there were these
clowns and in junior high
00:22:37.22\00:22:39.15
and high
school, these bums were,
00:22:39.19\00:22:41.29
you know, such and such.
00:22:41.32\00:22:42.66
And then I went
into the fire department
00:22:42.69\00:22:44.79
and all the
different things I've done.
00:22:44.83\00:22:46.70
Real estate in
two different states.
00:22:46.73\00:22:48.53
I mean, I went
through all these people.
00:22:48.56\00:22:50.23
I knew all these men, I
even included my brother,
00:22:50.27\00:22:52.83
which was wouldn't
have worked, you know?
00:22:52.87\00:22:55.24
But anyway, I came to the
point where I answered and said,
00:22:55.27\00:23:00.01
the only way I could be
sure they treated her well
00:23:00.04\00:23:02.64
would be to be there
00:23:02.68\00:23:05.01
and make sure then be there.
00:23:05.05\00:23:10.59
Now I'm getting to know God.
00:23:10.62\00:23:12.99
I've heard a voice.
00:23:13.02\00:23:14.36
There is somebody out
there, there's somebody else.
00:23:14.39\00:23:18.69
And that was an
exciting and scary experience
00:23:18.73\00:23:23.73
because now I
knew what I chose to do
00:23:23.77\00:23:26.27
with my every
choice in life mattered.
00:23:26.30\00:23:29.50
Yes.
00:23:29.54\00:23:30.87
It wasn't just me
that it mattered too.
00:23:30.91\00:23:33.88
There was purpose in life.
00:23:33.91\00:23:37.68
So once you all
met, had pie there,
00:23:37.71\00:23:40.35
you said Perkins
at the restaurant,
00:23:40.38\00:23:42.18
and then you're realizing
your fleece is answered,
00:23:42.22\00:23:44.52
you know, her answer or question
00:23:44.55\00:23:45.89
or statement really to you.
00:23:45.92\00:23:47.92
So then what happened?
00:23:47.96\00:23:49.29
How long did the
relationship go on?
00:23:49.32\00:23:50.69
The friendship
turned into relationship
00:23:50.73\00:23:52.49
and then the
marriage, was it fast?
00:23:52.53\00:23:54.73
Did it happen pretty quickly?
00:23:54.76\00:23:56.20
We would visit.
00:23:56.23\00:23:57.57
And most of the visit
00:23:57.60\00:23:58.93
was all about the Bible is real.
00:23:58.97\00:24:02.47
She had a Jewish
newspaper, she got in the mail,
00:24:02.50\00:24:05.31
and I'd run over
there and read it.
00:24:05.34\00:24:06.68
Israeli newspaper.
00:24:06.71\00:24:08.08
Just, we just shared
God in every which way,
00:24:08.11\00:24:12.58
it was like a three strand rope.
00:24:12.61\00:24:15.55
And the Holy
Spirit was the superglue.
00:24:15.58\00:24:17.85
That was unusual because usually
00:24:17.89\00:24:19.22
when you hear people
like in a relationship
00:24:19.25\00:24:20.59
or dating, they're not
talking about the Bible
00:24:20.62\00:24:23.46
all the time and all
these spiritual things.
00:24:23.49\00:24:25.43
And that's unique.
00:24:25.46\00:24:26.80
But it seems like it
was exactly what God wanted
00:24:26.83\00:24:29.83
and had in store for you guys.
00:24:29.86\00:24:31.20
That's what bonded us.
00:24:31.23\00:24:32.73
Did it really?
00:24:32.77\00:24:34.37
When I was teaching in
the Catholic school system,
00:24:34.40\00:24:37.31
I had come to the point
where I had prayed and I said,
00:24:37.34\00:24:40.58
Lord, I'm still single.
00:24:40.61\00:24:42.58
Do you want me to be a nun?
00:24:42.61\00:24:44.41
You know, I'm open to it.
00:24:44.45\00:24:45.91
Don't wanna be,
00:24:45.95\00:24:47.28
I'd rather be
married and have kids.
00:24:47.32\00:24:48.75
But if you want me to be a nun,
00:24:48.78\00:24:50.39
I wanted to do
whatever He wanted me to do.
00:24:50.42\00:24:53.56
I mean, He was my life, my joy.
00:24:53.59\00:24:56.26
So I wanted to do
what He wanted me to do.
00:24:56.29\00:24:58.89
And I had told Him I
said, if I'm to be married,
00:24:58.93\00:25:03.13
I want you to bring
the man into my life.
00:25:03.16\00:25:05.83
I'm not gonna go looking.
00:25:05.87\00:25:07.20
I want you to bring
him 'cause I wanna know,
00:25:07.24\00:25:08.84
I only want someone
who You have brought me.
00:25:08.87\00:25:12.34
And when I met Joe
and we got talking about
00:25:12.37\00:25:14.68
all this and I just
felt like he was a gift.
00:25:14.71\00:25:19.88
He is a gift from God.
00:25:19.91\00:25:22.18
And that this was
an answer to this.
00:25:22.22\00:25:23.85
He was like saying no, my dear,
00:25:23.89\00:25:28.02
this is the person I want
you to spend your life with.
00:25:28.06\00:25:31.83
And it was, yeah.
00:25:31.86\00:25:33.19
And then she'd look at
me and say, are you sure?
00:25:33.23\00:25:35.23
Wow.
00:25:38.27\00:25:39.60
So when did you start
00:25:39.63\00:25:40.97
discovering
Nancy say the Sabbath,
00:25:41.00\00:25:42.84
then the Ten Commandments?
00:25:42.87\00:25:44.34
Well, I was doing
that Revelation seminar
00:25:44.37\00:25:47.28
and I was working
swing shifts and things.
00:25:47.31\00:25:49.08
And so I couldn't
be there every night.
00:25:49.11\00:25:50.68
So I asked Nancy
if she would go sit in
00:25:50.71\00:25:52.98
and take notes for me.
00:25:53.01\00:25:54.35
At the Revelation seminar? Yeah.
00:25:54.38\00:25:55.88
Pick up the papers.
00:25:55.92\00:25:57.25
And what did you
think about that?
00:25:57.29\00:25:58.92
Were you excited
or like, Oh, I guess?
00:25:58.95\00:26:00.92
Well, it was, yeah, it
was a little bit leery.
00:26:00.96\00:26:03.26
I thought, well,
00:26:03.29\00:26:04.63
I kinda thought I could
find where they were wrong,
00:26:04.66\00:26:08.20
you know, but I didn't know
00:26:08.23\00:26:10.40
what these people would be like,
00:26:10.43\00:26:11.93
you know, they're different.
00:26:11.97\00:26:14.50
And, but they were so nice
and I really liked the pastor
00:26:14.54\00:26:18.84
that was presenting
the Revelation seminar.
00:26:18.87\00:26:22.18
So I mean, I learned
00:26:22.21\00:26:25.65
and everything I
heard and like I said,
00:26:25.68\00:26:27.65
my first impression
was this can't be right.
00:26:27.68\00:26:31.12
But you know,
00:26:31.15\00:26:32.49
everything is
back to the scripture.
00:26:32.52\00:26:34.56
And some of the very
scripture that I had questioned,
00:26:34.59\00:26:37.59
they were, I mean,
they had an answer for.
00:26:37.63\00:26:40.83
One of them being
00:26:40.86\00:26:42.46
this Sabbath wasn't
just for the Jewish people.
00:26:42.50\00:26:44.63
The Sabbath was for all of us.
00:26:44.67\00:26:47.94
And so some of the very things,
00:26:47.97\00:26:49.30
and I had questioned the
state of the dead as well,
00:26:49.34\00:26:52.01
because I did not want to
think that there was people
00:26:52.04\00:26:54.94
I'd loved in
hell because I mean,
00:26:54.98\00:26:57.41
I had lost
relatives and I thought,
00:26:57.45\00:27:00.85
God, I couldn't stand it.
00:27:00.88\00:27:02.35
If they were burning in
hell, I couldn't stand it.
00:27:02.38\00:27:05.55
And He brought John
3:16 clearly to mind,
00:27:05.59\00:27:10.16
that whoever
believeth shall not perish,
00:27:10.19\00:27:15.26
but have eternal life.
00:27:15.30\00:27:16.90
And it hit me shall not perish.
00:27:16.93\00:27:18.43
I said, Lord, does that mean
00:27:18.47\00:27:20.60
that they don't
burn in hell forever?
00:27:20.64\00:27:22.84
Does that mean they just perish?
00:27:22.87\00:27:25.11
I had a little peace about that.
00:27:25.14\00:27:27.18
And then when I was
taken to Revelation seminar
00:27:27.21\00:27:29.11
and they taught that, I
thought this place has truth.
00:27:29.14\00:27:34.25
Yeah.
00:27:34.28\00:27:35.62
And so then tell
us how your job ended?
00:27:35.65\00:27:39.39
Oh, well, after we met
00:27:39.42\00:27:43.63
and six months later we married,
00:27:43.66\00:27:45.66
of course, I had to, I
invited them to our wedding,
00:27:45.69\00:27:48.66
but the monks and the nuns,
00:27:48.70\00:27:52.20
but, of course they didn't come.
00:27:52.23\00:27:54.90
But some of them
were very supportive,
00:27:54.94\00:27:56.50
you know, and
stayed very friendly,
00:27:56.54\00:27:59.97
but they basically said,
well, when I was teaching,
00:28:00.01\00:28:03.78
then the
principal would come in.
00:28:03.81\00:28:05.31
The head, monk
would come in and sit
00:28:05.35\00:28:07.02
and see what I was teaching.
00:28:07.05\00:28:08.82
And when the scriptures
00:28:08.85\00:28:11.12
and the church's
teaching were different,
00:28:11.15\00:28:12.59
I would say,
00:28:12.62\00:28:13.99
now this is what
the church teaches,
00:28:14.02\00:28:15.86
but this is what the Bible says.
00:28:15.89\00:28:17.79
Oh, wow!
00:28:17.83\00:28:19.16
Yeah, how did that go over?
00:28:19.19\00:28:20.53
Oh, it didn't go over.
00:28:20.56\00:28:22.40
It would go over
with the kids, but...
00:28:22.43\00:28:23.90
Were you afraid
to do that or not?
00:28:23.93\00:28:25.27
No.
00:28:25.30\00:28:26.63
I felt like I needed toâ |
00:28:26.67\00:28:28.00
I needed to present the truth,
00:28:28.04\00:28:29.37
but because I was in a
Catholic mission school,
00:28:29.40\00:28:32.97
I wanted to present, you know,
00:28:33.01\00:28:34.64
this is what the
church's teaching,
00:28:34.68\00:28:36.28
but this is what the Bible says.
00:28:36.31\00:28:38.68
And so...
00:28:38.71\00:28:40.65
So did they call you in
like the principal's office?
00:28:40.68\00:28:42.78
I don't know what you call it
in the Catholic school, butâ |
00:28:42.82\00:28:44.95
Yeah.
00:28:44.99\00:28:47.32
I was, like I said,
it was a mission school.
00:28:47.36\00:28:49.19
It was a hard position to
fill and I did have a contract
00:28:49.22\00:28:52.16
and they couldn't
find anyone to replace me.
00:28:52.19\00:28:54.13
So I stayed until
the end of my that year.
00:28:54.16\00:28:58.83
I finished off that
year, but they, yeah,
00:28:58.87\00:29:01.27
they wrote up something
that I could never again teach
00:29:01.30\00:29:03.34
in a Catholic
school, which was fine.
00:29:03.37\00:29:07.18
'Cause I thought I
can't teach the difference.
00:29:07.21\00:29:11.41
I can't teach to
tradition and doctrines
00:29:11.45\00:29:14.12
that I didn't
agree with anymore.
00:29:14.15\00:29:15.48
So, but that was fine, but...
00:29:15.52\00:29:17.75
And all things worked for good.
00:29:17.79\00:29:19.25
That's right.
00:29:19.29\00:29:20.62
She went back to
school and took a few courses
00:29:20.66\00:29:23.49
in Adventist school
teaching and got certified.
00:29:23.53\00:29:27.63
That is awesome.
00:29:27.66\00:29:29.00
I've got my credentials.
00:29:29.03\00:29:30.37
We do wanna talk about
your time here at 3ABN.
00:29:30.40\00:29:31.93
So you met married six months.
00:29:31.97\00:29:34.64
And then when did
you become baptized?
00:29:34.67\00:29:36.60
When did you finally
decide, you know what?
00:29:36.64\00:29:38.77
We've got to make this decision.
00:29:38.81\00:29:41.14
Well, the important thing
about that moment is that weâ |
00:29:41.18\00:29:46.18
Matthew, is it 6: 33?
00:29:46.21\00:29:49.75
Says, "Seek first the kingdom."
00:29:49.78\00:29:51.65
So we got baptized first.
00:29:51.69\00:29:53.79
And then the next day we
got married, put God first.
00:29:53.82\00:29:59.36
Did you have any challenges,
Joe, with the Sabbath,
00:29:59.39\00:30:01.53
with your job
and situations there?
00:30:01.56\00:30:03.50
Oh, my goodness.
00:30:03.53\00:30:05.20
Oh, please help
me, Lord, with this.
00:30:05.23\00:30:09.07
I was working at a
place with swing shifts.
00:30:09.10\00:30:12.04
So every third week
I had to work a Sabbath
00:30:12.07\00:30:15.14
either the evening shift
after sundown or that Saturday.
00:30:15.18\00:30:19.55
And I went to
the boss and told him
00:30:19.58\00:30:24.29
that I wouldn't be able
to work Sabbaths anymore
00:30:24.32\00:30:28.69
because I joined this church
00:30:28.72\00:30:30.23
that kept the
fourth commandment.
00:30:30.26\00:30:33.53
And he kidded about it
being done away with and all.
00:30:33.56\00:30:38.80
And I said, no, because God says
00:30:38.83\00:30:40.84
I am the same
yesterday, today and forever,
00:30:40.87\00:30:43.37
God says I change not.
00:30:43.41\00:30:45.31
God does not make mistakes.
00:30:45.34\00:30:48.11
Isaiah 66: 22-23 says,
00:30:48.14\00:30:51.78
"In the new earth,
00:30:51.81\00:30:53.21
we'll come together
and celebrate the Sabbath."
00:30:53.25\00:30:55.35
It's eternal.
00:30:55.38\00:30:57.35
And I said, "I have to keep it."
00:30:57.39\00:30:59.25
And he says,
"You'll never keep it here."
00:30:59.29\00:31:01.49
And that was the end of that.
00:31:01.52\00:31:02.86
So that was our, I
knew he was gonna say it,
00:31:02.89\00:31:05.19
but I had to go
through the steps.
00:31:05.23\00:31:07.63
So now that was accomplished.
00:31:07.66\00:31:09.00
So what I did was I started
00:31:09.03\00:31:10.37
using my vacation every Sabbath,
00:31:10.40\00:31:12.73
every third week, I
would use my vacation,
00:31:12.77\00:31:15.27
but I knew it wasn't gonna last,
00:31:15.30\00:31:17.51
wasn't gonna hold out.
00:31:17.54\00:31:18.87
That's right.
00:31:18.91\00:31:20.24
So I'm doing
this, now, all the guys,
00:31:20.28\00:31:21.61
this was a unionized place.
00:31:21.64\00:31:23.01
So the union
president and vice president,
00:31:23.04\00:31:25.65
they're all laughing at me
00:31:25.68\00:31:27.08
and the management's
all laughing at me saying,
00:31:27.12\00:31:29.55
"He's got trouble coming
00:31:29.58\00:31:30.92
and he's gonna run out
of vacation, you know."
00:31:30.95\00:31:32.69
Then what's gonna happen?
00:31:32.72\00:31:34.12
And so at one point theyâ |
00:31:34.16\00:31:37.79
I was a relief man
00:31:37.83\00:31:39.16
on a set of
saws for the Lehmann.
00:31:39.19\00:31:42.70
And every time that
he would take a day off,
00:31:42.73\00:31:45.27
I'd have to fill in for him.
00:31:45.30\00:31:46.63
So he started taking days off
on Friday nights, just for fun.
00:31:46.67\00:31:51.27
That's the
president of the union.
00:31:51.31\00:31:52.64
So anyway the first
time he scheduled me
00:31:52.67\00:31:57.41
to work for him...
00:31:57.45\00:32:01.72
we were making
4x8 sheets of board,
00:32:01.75\00:32:05.59
20 at a time.
00:32:05.62\00:32:07.36
So they'd fill these slots
00:32:07.39\00:32:09.22
and then this
gigantic hydraulic press
00:32:09.26\00:32:11.99
would squeeze
down and I don't know,
00:32:12.03\00:32:15.33
4,000 pounds of pressure
or something and all this.
00:32:15.36\00:32:18.33
And then it was
two stories high.
00:32:18.37\00:32:20.74
It was about three feet around.
00:32:20.77\00:32:23.20
And that Friday that
I was supposed to work,
00:32:23.24\00:32:26.81
I'm telling the Lord,
Lord, I don't wanna work.
00:32:26.84\00:32:29.88
You know that,
but what am I to do?
00:32:29.91\00:32:32.91
I have a family and I
have, they have a paycheck.
00:32:32.95\00:32:36.05
And so, I just don't
know how to handle this.
00:32:36.08\00:32:39.85
And so, He's a good loving God
that I didn't know real well.
00:32:39.89\00:32:43.73
I knew about Him,
but I didn't know.
00:32:43.76\00:32:46.63
He knew about me that much.
00:32:46.66\00:32:48.66
You know, He's a
busy guy, you know?
00:32:48.70\00:32:51.40
And so, Friday night at sundown
00:32:51.43\00:32:54.60
that huge hydraulic press
00:32:54.64\00:32:57.61
split its casing wide open
00:32:57.64\00:32:59.44
and the whole
place kept the Sabbath.
00:32:59.47\00:33:01.34
Oh, wow. So the
Lord worked a miracle.
00:33:01.38\00:33:05.18
Everyone had to be, well,
they had to shut down, right?
00:33:05.21\00:33:07.18
Yeah.
00:33:07.22\00:33:08.55
Well, this is when I realized
00:33:08.58\00:33:11.45
God is a kind
loving, caring, God.
00:33:11.49\00:33:14.62
Yeah.
00:33:14.66\00:33:15.99
He's a big God.
00:33:16.02\00:33:17.36
And He really did
impress me that time.
00:33:17.39\00:33:19.36
I knew that He lived.
00:33:19.39\00:33:22.43
And so I want to impress
00:33:22.46\00:33:24.10
our viewers that.
00:33:24.13\00:33:25.47
Yes. God is real.
00:33:25.50\00:33:27.50
Now I'm having trouble.
00:33:27.54\00:33:28.87
This isn't a perfect
Christian blessed life.
00:33:28.90\00:33:32.54
I'm going
through some struggles,
00:33:32.57\00:33:34.58
but I want you
to know He's there.
00:33:34.61\00:33:37.01
And if you need help...
00:33:37.05\00:33:40.62
miraculous things can happen.
00:33:40.65\00:33:42.48
And when they do, please,
00:33:42.52\00:33:44.12
don't write it off as good luck.
00:33:44.15\00:33:45.49
It's not good luck.
00:33:45.52\00:33:47.42
This is God loving you.
00:33:47.46\00:33:48.79
Amen. Okay.
00:33:48.82\00:33:50.59
Now, the next
time they scheduled me
00:33:50.63\00:33:52.49
to work a Friday night,
00:33:52.53\00:33:54.36
the president took a
night off to go to the bar room.
00:33:54.40\00:33:57.47
And the fella,
00:33:57.50\00:33:59.67
the boss upstairs has to
sign the little slip that says,
00:33:59.70\00:34:02.87
Joe will work for you
on Friday night at sundown,
00:34:02.90\00:34:05.94
ha-ha-ha, you know?
00:34:05.97\00:34:07.31
And so he's signing
these and enjoying it.
00:34:07.34\00:34:09.58
And that week
something strange happened.
00:34:09.61\00:34:13.45
A 400 horsepower
electric motor huge
00:34:16.48\00:34:20.26
burst into flame.
00:34:20.29\00:34:21.89
And that was grinding
up the trees coming in
00:34:21.92\00:34:24.33
to make these boards.
00:34:24.36\00:34:26.19
And so there was nothing
being ground on Wednesday.
00:34:26.23\00:34:30.77
That's when it blew
up was the Wednesday.
00:34:30.80\00:34:33.84
Wednesday it blew up. Okay.
00:34:33.87\00:34:35.20
So caught on
fire, blew up Wednesday?
00:34:35.24\00:34:37.37
And on Thursday, they
weren't making any board
00:34:37.41\00:34:39.54
because that break in the line
didn't have anything to press.
00:34:39.57\00:34:45.31
And so on
Friday unbeknown to me,
00:34:45.35\00:34:49.05
I'm trying to apologize to God
00:34:49.08\00:34:50.99
that I'm going
to work Friday night
00:34:51.02\00:34:53.09
and right at sundown
00:34:53.12\00:34:57.79
the boards that
were coming to me,
00:34:57.83\00:34:59.59
quit coming.
00:34:59.63\00:35:01.76
And I thought, Oh, that's right.
00:35:01.80\00:35:04.93
Two days ago,
the motor burned up
00:35:04.97\00:35:07.94
and didn't make the board
that didn't get here just now.
00:35:07.97\00:35:11.91
And I was so
excited and confused.
00:35:11.94\00:35:15.14
God's there.
00:35:15.18\00:35:16.51
He's loving me again
and saying, I got your back.
00:35:16.54\00:35:19.18
You're seeing
miracles happen before you...
00:35:19.21\00:35:20.78
Before they call I'll answer.
00:35:20.82\00:35:22.25
But it was like, I had,
00:35:22.28\00:35:24.09
I had asked him
when it happened,
00:35:24.12\00:35:26.19
Lord, why didn't
you do that on Friday?
00:35:26.22\00:35:29.62
And then I realized...
00:35:29.66\00:35:31.69
It took two days to
get down the assembly line.
00:35:31.73\00:35:33.66
The premonition was
that he's weaning me.
00:35:33.70\00:35:36.67
He saying, Joe, I'm not
going to do this forever.
00:35:36.70\00:35:39.67
I want you to stand on your feet
00:35:39.70\00:35:41.94
and keep My Sabbath, My
holy fourth commandment,
00:35:41.97\00:35:44.51
because you want
to and you trust me.
00:35:44.54\00:35:47.51
So I went outside
behind a semi-truck...
00:35:47.54\00:35:53.18
in a grassy field
00:35:56.18\00:35:58.69
and I kneel down
facing the sunset
00:35:58.72\00:36:00.99
as the Sabbath was beginning.
00:36:01.02\00:36:04.09
And I prayed a prayer
that I didn't understand
00:36:04.13\00:36:07.86
what would happen.
00:36:07.90\00:36:09.23
I said, Lord, I'm promising You
00:36:09.26\00:36:13.07
that I will never
work another Sabbath,
00:36:13.10\00:36:16.37
no matter what happens.
00:36:16.40\00:36:17.74
Wow. That's powerful.
00:36:17.77\00:36:19.11
It is.
00:36:19.14\00:36:20.48
If I lose my job, I lose it.
00:36:20.51\00:36:22.78
And that was it.
00:36:22.81\00:36:27.58
I went back up and on the Monday
00:36:27.62\00:36:31.59
I went back up to
the boss's office...
00:36:31.62\00:36:36.62
to tell him this is it.
00:36:36.66\00:36:38.66
I will not be here
anymore on Sabbaths.
00:36:38.69\00:36:42.50
And I knew I was
going to get fired.
00:36:42.53\00:36:45.87
And he said,
00:36:45.90\00:36:48.20
"I got a letter
here I wanna read you.
00:36:48.24\00:36:51.07
It's from your lawyer."
00:36:51.11\00:36:53.48
And I said, "I
don't have a lawyer."
00:36:53.51\00:36:54.84
Had you engaged the lawyer?
00:36:54.88\00:36:56.21
I don't have a lawyer.
00:36:56.24\00:36:57.65
And he says,
"It's from your lawyer
00:36:57.68\00:36:59.61
in Nebraska.
00:36:59.65\00:37:01.98
Just shut up and listen."
00:37:02.02\00:37:03.72
So I shut it up.
00:37:03.75\00:37:05.75
And you didn't know
anything about a lawyer?
00:37:05.79\00:37:07.56
No.
00:37:07.59\00:37:08.92
What did it say?
00:37:08.96\00:37:10.29
It said that based
on the Bill of Rights
00:37:10.33\00:37:13.60
in the Constitution,
00:37:13.63\00:37:14.96
and I think it
was like section one,
00:37:15.00\00:37:20.97
something, one section seven,
00:37:21.00\00:37:24.11
the company has to accommodate
00:37:24.14\00:37:26.51
an employee for
their religious beliefs.
00:37:26.54\00:37:30.98
And because you allow men
to take off to go deer hunting,
00:37:31.01\00:37:35.32
because you allow men
00:37:35.35\00:37:36.69
to go to
championship bowling matches,
00:37:36.72\00:37:40.42
because you allow men to go off
00:37:40.46\00:37:43.22
to play softball championships.
00:37:43.26\00:37:46.06
You have set a
precedent that your function
00:37:46.09\00:37:48.86
is capable of
allowing people off.
00:37:48.90\00:37:51.77
You have to allow
him the same right
00:37:51.80\00:37:54.20
for his religious belief.
00:37:54.24\00:37:56.30
And I didn't
know it at the time,
00:37:56.34\00:37:57.71
but my name is Joe O'Brien.
00:37:57.74\00:37:59.97
Well, I'm the heading
of this group of lawyers.
00:38:00.01\00:38:02.91
One of them was an O'Brien.
00:38:02.94\00:38:05.41
I don't know how
that fit into his brain,
00:38:05.45\00:38:07.18
but it was like, okay.
00:38:07.22\00:38:09.78
He says, "You can have
your Sabbaths off from now on,
00:38:09.82\00:38:13.86
but don't let me catch
you at the golf course."
00:38:13.89\00:38:16.99
And I said, "Dick where I'll be,
00:38:17.03\00:38:18.56
you're welcome to come."
00:38:18.59\00:38:20.06
I'm at church.
00:38:20.10\00:38:21.43
Yeah. Wow.
00:38:21.46\00:38:22.96
So that was that episode.
00:38:23.00\00:38:25.63
Andâ | Go ahead.
00:38:25.67\00:38:27.00
I was gonna ask you, Nancy.
00:38:27.04\00:38:28.37
So you're married at this point,
00:38:28.40\00:38:29.74
what's going through your
mind because you're seeing
00:38:29.77\00:38:31.11
your husband here,
but this is a big deal.
00:38:31.14\00:38:32.47
This is a
paycheck for your family.
00:38:32.51\00:38:33.98
And you see that struggle,
00:38:34.01\00:38:35.34
what's going through
your mind at this time.
00:38:35.38\00:38:36.71
Well, I knew the Lord
would take care of us.
00:38:36.75\00:38:40.75
And I mean, they
were treating him
00:38:40.78\00:38:44.59
very abusively too.
00:38:44.62\00:38:45.95
And so I felt too that,
00:38:45.99\00:38:47.99
you know, we've
got to make a stand
00:38:48.02\00:38:49.56
and I was really,
really proud and happy
00:38:49.59\00:38:51.53
that he made that stand.
00:38:51.56\00:38:52.99
And I knew somehow, I mean,
00:38:53.03\00:38:57.40
you know, you
hear all the stories,
00:38:57.43\00:38:59.67
testimonies of people
where God takes care of you.
00:38:59.70\00:39:01.50
And I just felt positive
that we didn't have to worry.
00:39:01.54\00:39:07.71
Now the average life
would have said you idiot.
00:39:07.74\00:39:13.82
And that was her faith.
00:39:13.85\00:39:18.29
I don't know either,
Jill, but she was a godly woman.
00:39:18.32\00:39:21.42
Let's make a stand.
00:39:21.46\00:39:22.79
She was trusting in God.
00:39:22.82\00:39:24.16
I had learned to be
like her to trust God.
00:39:24.19\00:39:26.29
It's beautiful.
00:39:26.33\00:39:27.66
And we were on a
venture together.
00:39:27.70\00:39:30.60
And so...
00:39:30.63\00:39:31.97
All about getting
to know God, isn't it?
00:39:32.00\00:39:33.84
Yes. And you're testing Him.
00:39:33.87\00:39:35.80
He was working miracles for you.
00:39:35.84\00:39:37.24
You were talking
about maybe your faith
00:39:37.27\00:39:38.61
wasn't quite as strong,
00:39:38.64\00:39:39.97
but it was all
part of that process.
00:39:40.01\00:39:41.34
But you knew that God
wanted you to make a stand
00:39:41.38\00:39:43.41
and you did,
and He came through.
00:39:43.45\00:39:45.75
And when that letter came,
00:39:45.78\00:39:47.12
it was just one more
time that I realized,
00:39:47.15\00:39:49.65
and this is for our viewers,
00:39:49.68\00:39:51.72
when you're
going through blazes,
00:39:51.75\00:39:53.99
don't say there's no God.
00:39:54.02\00:39:55.89
He's there.
00:39:55.92\00:39:57.29
And He's got the
reins and when He needs to,
00:39:57.33\00:40:01.26
He'll use them.
00:40:01.30\00:40:02.76
And so, love your God.
00:40:02.80\00:40:05.73
Now what
happened next was abusive.
00:40:05.77\00:40:08.64
Yes.
00:40:08.67\00:40:10.97
The workplace was
abusive. Oh, yeah.
00:40:11.01\00:40:12.71
They wanted to
get rid of me so bad.
00:40:12.74\00:40:14.84
They were trying
to get him to quit.
00:40:14.88\00:40:16.21
Yeah. Yup. Right.
00:40:16.24\00:40:17.98
So inevitably they let me go.
00:40:18.01\00:40:20.38
Now, there was no reason for it.
00:40:20.42\00:40:23.39
The job was there
00:40:23.42\00:40:24.75
and they had to struggle
to get somebody to work at
00:40:24.79\00:40:26.49
while they were
finding somebody else
00:40:26.52\00:40:27.92
or hiring a new guy.
00:40:27.96\00:40:29.29
So it wasn't like I was
really doing anything wrong.
00:40:29.32\00:40:31.89
And that's why I being a
union member at that time,
00:40:31.93\00:40:36.90
I asked for an arbitrator.
00:40:36.93\00:40:38.73
I said, this isn't right.
00:40:38.77\00:40:40.10
It's not fair and
it's going to show up
00:40:40.14\00:40:41.74
and we talk it over
before an arbitrator.
00:40:41.77\00:40:44.07
So I want an arbitrator.
00:40:44.11\00:40:45.44
And so they set that all up.
00:40:45.47\00:40:47.48
Now, remember that
the company is against me,
00:40:47.51\00:40:49.61
the union is against me.
00:40:49.64\00:40:51.81
And they all have
lawyers and stuff.
00:40:51.85\00:40:54.18
And I'm alone. I have nobody.
00:40:54.22\00:40:55.75
I'm just going to talk,
00:40:55.78\00:40:57.12
tell the arbitrator
the truth and trust God.
00:40:57.15\00:40:59.85
And so, as we went in
the door to the building
00:40:59.89\00:41:02.16
where we're gonna sit and
talk, one of the union members,
00:41:02.19\00:41:06.29
I don't know if he
was a vice president
00:41:06.33\00:41:07.96
or secretary,
treasurer or something.
00:41:08.00\00:41:09.56
He was a friend of mine.
00:41:09.60\00:41:10.93
We were friends.
00:41:10.97\00:41:12.97
We walked in the
door together and he says,
00:41:13.00\00:41:15.67
"how does it feel, Joe?
00:41:15.70\00:41:17.31
Lion's three Christian zero."
00:41:17.34\00:41:21.04
So I just remembered that.
00:41:21.08\00:41:22.51
I thought, yeah, you're right.
00:41:22.54\00:41:23.88
I mean, he was
right. It was the truth.
00:41:23.91\00:41:25.41
So we went in, we
talked, I told my story.
00:41:25.45\00:41:28.25
They told their story,
the union told their story.
00:41:28.28\00:41:30.79
The arbitrator
took the management
00:41:30.82\00:41:32.49
into a separate room.
00:41:32.52\00:41:33.92
They talked for 45
minutes and they came out
00:41:33.96\00:41:37.56
and the arbitrator said,
"You will have your job back.
00:41:37.59\00:41:41.76
You will have all
of your benefits back.
00:41:41.80\00:41:44.77
Everything will be as it was."
00:41:44.80\00:41:47.20
Wow!
00:41:47.24\00:41:48.57
And I was...
Including your Sabbaths off.
00:41:48.60\00:41:50.54
Yes. Wow.
00:41:50.57\00:41:51.91
Continue as it was
00:41:51.94\00:41:53.27
because that letter
say I had that right.
00:41:53.31\00:41:54.71
So it was going to be
exactly the same as it was.
00:41:54.74\00:41:56.75
So now we're
walking out the door
00:41:56.78\00:41:59.65
and per chance I look over
00:41:59.68\00:42:01.02
and here's that
friend of mine again.
00:42:01.05\00:42:03.08
And I looked at
him and it's like,
00:42:03.12\00:42:05.25
the still small
voice is one thing,
00:42:05.29\00:42:08.06
but God also uses
his Bible to speak to us.
00:42:08.09\00:42:10.93
And he also uses premonitions,
which are thoughts.
00:42:10.96\00:42:14.63
Now Satan can give you thoughts,
00:42:14.66\00:42:17.63
but the Holy
Spirit gives you thoughts.
00:42:17.67\00:42:19.77
And those are what
we call premonitions.
00:42:19.80\00:42:21.74
As I'm going out the door
00:42:21.77\00:42:23.10
and I look over
and see my friend,
00:42:23.14\00:42:24.71
the premonition
that came to me was
00:42:24.74\00:42:27.81
did you know that
God in one is a majority?
00:42:27.84\00:42:30.58
Amen. That's right.
00:42:30.61\00:42:32.01
Amen.
00:42:32.05\00:42:33.38
He worked another miracle.
00:42:33.42\00:42:34.88
That's one of those
times you're not talking.
00:42:34.92\00:42:37.55
The Holy Spirit is with us.
00:42:37.59\00:42:39.92
And he gives you what
you need when you need it.
00:42:39.95\00:42:43.93
And so I went back to
work for a while and we hadâ |
00:42:43.96\00:42:50.27
I was walking
through the building one day
00:42:50.30\00:42:52.47
and here comes an electrician.
00:42:52.50\00:42:54.70
And I asked the electrician.
00:42:54.74\00:42:56.17
I said, "Whatever happened
00:42:56.20\00:42:58.57
with that 400
horsepower electric motor
00:42:58.61\00:43:00.94
that burst into flame."
00:43:00.98\00:43:03.55
He says, "That's
an interesting story."
00:43:03.58\00:43:07.65
He said, "We
packed it up on a truck,
00:43:07.68\00:43:10.45
send it to the iron range,
00:43:10.49\00:43:11.82
where they work
on those big engines,
00:43:11.85\00:43:13.66
those motors.
00:43:13.69\00:43:15.02
And he said,
00:43:15.06\00:43:16.39
they took the
hood off and everything
00:43:16.42\00:43:17.89
and blew it out with air.
00:43:17.93\00:43:19.26
And they cleaned
it up a little bit.
00:43:19.29\00:43:22.36
And it worked,
00:43:22.40\00:43:23.90
there was
nothing wrong with it."
00:43:23.93\00:43:25.77
They put the hood
back on, send it back.
00:43:25.80\00:43:27.84
And we put it back online.
00:43:27.87\00:43:29.20
It's working now.
00:43:29.24\00:43:31.37
And I said, I was
praying for a miracle
00:43:31.41\00:43:33.84
when that blew up.
00:43:33.88\00:43:35.88
And this guy
admitted he was an atheist.
00:43:35.91\00:43:38.31
And he said, "Well,
you got your miracle."
00:43:38.35\00:43:40.65
Wow!
00:43:40.68\00:43:42.02
What a testimony for him too.
00:43:42.05\00:43:43.75
So time has gone by quickly.
00:43:43.79\00:43:45.49
So as we think about them,
00:43:45.52\00:43:47.56
this is just growing
your Christian experience,
00:43:47.59\00:43:49.79
your faith in God, what
He is doing in your life.
00:43:49.82\00:43:52.83
You come here to 3ABN.
00:43:52.86\00:43:54.23
Tell us quickly about
that call coming to 3ABN.
00:43:54.26\00:43:57.50
How did that take place?
00:43:57.53\00:43:58.87
You wanna me to tell.
00:43:58.90\00:44:00.24
Well, it's you. Okay.
00:44:00.27\00:44:01.60
Both, yeah. Yeah.
00:44:01.64\00:44:02.97
Our local church up northâ |
00:44:03.00\00:44:05.81
You were in Minnesota?
00:44:05.84\00:44:07.18
Yeah.
00:44:07.21\00:44:08.54
I was the Personal
Ministry's director
00:44:08.58\00:44:09.91
and I wanted to get
3ABN downlink in our town.
00:44:09.94\00:44:13.48
And so I have strumming them
and getting the troops together
00:44:13.52\00:44:16.42
and we saved
money and saved money.
00:44:16.45\00:44:18.05
We had 20, a little over $20,000
00:44:18.09\00:44:20.09
in an account to
get a downlink fixed up
00:44:20.12\00:44:22.99
and we only needed
to get a FCC license.
00:44:23.02\00:44:26.19
And so I kept calling 3ABN.
00:44:26.23\00:44:28.50
Is the window open for
applying for a license yet?
00:44:28.53\00:44:31.90
No, no.
00:44:31.93\00:44:33.27
It was never open. Okay.
00:44:33.30\00:44:34.64
And so the last call I
made, I said "Oh, by the way,
00:44:34.67\00:44:37.77
do you have any
jobs down there?"
00:44:37.81\00:44:40.71
Now this was real quick.
00:44:40.74\00:44:42.08
Before that I said to
the Lord, one day I said,
00:44:42.11\00:44:43.85
"Lord, I really don't
enjoy working for the world.
00:44:43.88\00:44:47.62
I would rather
be working for You,
00:44:47.65\00:44:49.42
but I don't
know what I could do.
00:44:49.45\00:44:51.12
You know, just
so if You want me,
00:44:51.15\00:44:52.49
I want You to
know You can have me."
00:44:52.52\00:44:54.36
Then I asked on the phone,
00:44:54.39\00:44:55.92
the next time I
talked down here,
00:44:55.96\00:44:57.76
what would you do
you have any jobs?
00:44:57.79\00:45:00.06
And the answer
was, "What do you do?"
00:45:00.10\00:45:05.70
And I thought
about, Oh my goodness,
00:45:05.73\00:45:07.97
engineering, telephone traffic,
00:45:08.00\00:45:09.34
after college two
real estate licenses,
00:45:09.37\00:45:11.97
barber's license, fireman.
00:45:12.01\00:45:14.54
Oh, my goodness, fireman.
00:45:14.58\00:45:15.91
I said," Whatever you want,
00:45:15.94\00:45:17.78
whatever you need is what I do."
00:45:17.81\00:45:20.12
That's a great answer.
00:45:20.15\00:45:21.48
I love it.
00:45:21.52\00:45:22.95
And then what does your wife do?
00:45:22.98\00:45:25.12
And I said, "Well,
00:45:25.15\00:45:27.06
she's an ex
Catholic school teacher
00:45:27.09\00:45:29.42
that got her Adventist
school teaching credentials
00:45:29.46\00:45:34.46
and is teaching part-time
in an Adventist school."
00:45:34.50\00:45:37.47
And they said,
"Well, get your resumes,
00:45:37.50\00:45:38.93
come down here and we'll talk."
00:45:38.97\00:45:40.94
So we came down and
talked and they hired us both
00:45:40.97\00:45:44.14
because they wanted a school.
00:45:44.17\00:45:45.94
And I remember
Matthew 3:16 or 6:33
00:45:45.97\00:45:51.05
"Seek first the kingdom."
00:45:51.08\00:45:52.58
And that's what
the employees do.
00:45:52.61\00:45:55.05
Seek His righteousness.
00:45:55.08\00:45:56.42
We try to do right,
that's what the employees do.
00:45:56.45\00:45:58.42
And the promise was,
00:45:58.45\00:45:59.79
all these other things
will be added unto you.
00:45:59.82\00:46:01.66
And that includes a
school for your children.
00:46:01.69\00:46:04.03
And I said, "God's
gonna give them a school
00:46:04.06\00:46:06.66
with or without us.
00:46:06.70\00:46:08.46
And I said, "We'll do it."
00:46:08.50\00:46:10.07
And they wanted a
school. I said, "We'll do it."
00:46:10.10\00:46:11.87
'Cause I knew if we
didn't somebody else would.
00:46:11.90\00:46:14.87
So we came down
with our resumes.
00:46:14.90\00:46:16.40
They hired both of us.
00:46:16.44\00:46:17.77
And Nancy was
gonna start a school.
00:46:17.81\00:46:20.51
And they said, "We're
selling so many dishes so fast.
00:46:20.54\00:46:23.01
The eight footers are no more.
00:46:23.04\00:46:24.38
Now they're three
footers and 18 inch ones.
00:46:24.41\00:46:26.68
And they're going
out our door so fast.
00:46:26.72\00:46:28.35
We need help."
00:46:28.38\00:46:29.72
This was in '99, 1999. Yes.
00:46:29.75\00:46:31.09
1999.
00:46:31.12\00:46:32.45
So we were just stacking
dishes in their boxes and wires
00:46:32.49\00:46:35.06
and stuff and pack
them and stack them up.
00:46:35.09\00:46:36.93
And the UPS trucks
were coming out here
00:46:36.96\00:46:39.16
a couple of times a day.
00:46:39.19\00:46:40.66
And when it rained,
00:46:40.70\00:46:42.03
it was fun because we had
to bring them back inside.
00:46:42.06\00:46:43.67
That's right.
00:46:43.70\00:46:45.03
We didn't have any room,
00:46:45.07\00:46:46.40
but so that went on for a while
00:46:46.43\00:46:47.77
and then somebody who would
00:46:47.80\00:46:51.64
walk into
accounting behind me every day,
00:46:51.67\00:46:55.11
time and again, was
listening to me on the phone,
00:46:55.14\00:46:57.38
explaining to
people how to put these in
00:46:57.41\00:46:58.98
and fine tune them and
get the satellite lined up.
00:46:59.01\00:47:01.95
And we'd end up talking
about religion and the Bible.
00:47:01.98\00:47:05.09
And I knew a lot ofâ |
00:47:05.12\00:47:06.45
I knew the Adventist
doctrine pretty well by then,
00:47:06.49\00:47:08.72
after all that studying.
00:47:08.76\00:47:10.09
Yeah. Lots of studying.
00:47:10.13\00:47:11.46
They said, "We need you
in the pastoral department."
00:47:11.49\00:47:14.60
So that was the
end of my job there.
00:47:14.63\00:47:15.96
I went to the
pastoral department
00:47:16.00\00:47:17.33
and that was, I've
been there for ever since.
00:47:17.37\00:47:19.50
And what an incredible job there
00:47:19.53\00:47:20.87
that you are doing
and have done there.
00:47:20.90\00:47:22.57
Thank you so much.
00:47:22.60\00:47:23.94
So, Nancy, for you, when
you come into the school,
00:47:23.97\00:47:25.67
it's the $1 school.
00:47:25.71\00:47:27.08
They didn't have
$1, that was good.
00:47:27.11\00:47:28.44
Yes.
00:47:28.48\00:47:29.81
For a Thompsonville
Seventh-day Adventist School
00:47:29.84\00:47:31.18
and Christian School.
00:47:31.21\00:47:32.55
And you were the
principal, first teacher.
00:47:32.58\00:47:34.82
Yeah. The only teacher.
00:47:34.85\00:47:36.18
The only teacher.
They had to build it first.
00:47:36.22\00:47:38.09
Yeah.
00:47:38.12\00:47:39.45
So tell us quickly
then you coming here
00:47:39.49\00:47:40.82
and taking that on.
00:47:40.86\00:47:42.19
Okay.
00:47:42.22\00:47:43.56
Well, because I
had been teaching
00:47:43.59\00:47:44.93
in an Adventist school,
00:47:44.96\00:47:46.29
I knew that I needed
to contact the conference,
00:47:46.33\00:47:49.70
the Illinois
Conference here and find out
00:47:49.73\00:47:51.37
what books were they using.
00:47:51.40\00:47:53.20
So I bought the same books
00:47:53.23\00:47:54.57
that they were using
in the Adventist schools.
00:47:54.60\00:47:57.01
And, you know, it was first time
00:47:57.04\00:47:59.64
ever to order things like desks
and tables and bulletin boards
00:47:59.67\00:48:04.11
and chalkboards and whatever.
00:48:04.15\00:48:05.81
And I got toâ |
00:48:05.85\00:48:07.18
Excuse me, I got to
order the playground.
00:48:07.22\00:48:08.72
Yeah, right. Yay.
00:48:08.75\00:48:10.89
Research that I
visited a lot of schools
00:48:10.92\00:48:13.12
researching them...
00:48:13.15\00:48:15.16
And so, yeah, we put it together
00:48:15.19\00:48:16.96
opened the school in
end of August of '99.
00:48:16.99\00:48:20.60
Was it really? Yeah.
00:48:20.63\00:48:21.96
You came in the spring of '99?
00:48:22.00\00:48:24.03
Yeah. In May. In May.
00:48:24.07\00:48:25.53
So it was just that
summer that the building
00:48:25.57\00:48:27.54
was constructed for the school,
00:48:27.57\00:48:29.00
with the gym and the school?
00:48:29.04\00:48:30.37
Yeah. The gym
wasn't totally done.
00:48:30.41\00:48:32.81
But the school part was,
and so we started school.
00:48:32.84\00:48:36.24
And I mean,
00:48:36.28\00:48:37.61
it was the best
teaching job ever.
00:48:37.65\00:48:40.08
Had the best kids ever.
00:48:40.12\00:48:41.95
We hired Jill Morikone
to be our music teacher.
00:48:41.98\00:48:46.59
And that's where you
worked together for what?
00:48:46.62\00:48:48.06
Ten years? Oh, 10 years.
00:48:48.09\00:48:49.42
And I loved my time there.
00:48:49.46\00:48:50.79
Nancy's so good with the kids.
00:48:50.83\00:48:52.16
She just, you know, you
have such a heart for them.
00:48:52.19\00:48:54.00
And, yeah, those were your kids.
00:48:54.03\00:48:55.90
Piano teacher,
00:48:55.93\00:48:57.27
taught them to play
the chimes for Christmas.
00:48:57.30\00:48:58.63
We did chimes, we did choir,
00:48:58.67\00:49:00.60
we did it on these programs.
00:49:00.64\00:49:01.97
Absolutely.
00:49:02.00\00:49:03.34
Joe was the school board
chair for many years and just...
00:49:03.37\00:49:07.14
And the
conference school board chair
00:49:07.18\00:49:09.04
for 12 years.
00:49:09.08\00:49:10.58
And I want to mention this too,
00:49:10.61\00:49:11.95
'cause we haven't
mentioned Kalie, your daughter,
00:49:11.98\00:49:13.31
she was one of
your first students.
00:49:13.35\00:49:14.68
Yes.
00:49:14.72\00:49:16.05
She was a fourth grader
00:49:16.08\00:49:17.42
when we opened
school and there was...
00:49:17.45\00:49:18.79
Jonathan Babb was one
of our first students.
00:49:18.82\00:49:20.46
He works here now as a what?
00:49:20.49\00:49:21.82
He's ourâ |
00:49:21.86\00:49:23.19
He's our office systems manager
00:49:23.22\00:49:25.26
and online
store manager as well.
00:49:25.29\00:49:27.80
Yeah.
00:49:27.83\00:49:29.16
There's quite a few
students working here
00:49:29.20\00:49:32.13
after they graduated.
00:49:32.17\00:49:33.50
Yeah.
00:49:33.54\00:49:34.87
So with distinction.
00:49:34.90\00:49:36.71
And how did you
transition to the trust?
00:49:36.74\00:49:39.31
The process of that?
Well, when I got to...
00:49:39.34\00:49:41.38
Planned Giving
and Trust Services.
00:49:41.41\00:49:42.74
Right.
00:49:42.78\00:49:44.11
After I taught for 14 years
00:49:44.15\00:49:45.48
and I just felt like I
was kind of burning out,
00:49:45.51\00:49:48.48
it's, you know, when
you're multi grade teacher
00:49:48.52\00:49:51.62
and principal,
it's a heavy load.
00:49:51.65\00:49:54.22
And so I just
felt like, you know,
00:49:54.26\00:49:56.42
when I first started
this, I was 14 years younger.
00:49:56.46\00:49:59.93
It seemed to be easier.
00:49:59.96\00:50:01.70
So I thought
maybe a younger teacher
00:50:01.73\00:50:03.06
would be better.
00:50:03.10\00:50:04.43
So I prayed and I asked the Lord
00:50:04.47\00:50:07.40
'cause we have to
let conference in January
00:50:07.44\00:50:09.97
and I prayed and I said,
00:50:10.01\00:50:11.34
"Lord could you provide a job
00:50:11.37\00:50:13.51
that I know I'm
gonna get in January.
00:50:13.54\00:50:15.54
And so I can resign."
00:50:15.58\00:50:17.08
'Cause then I know
that it's Your will,
00:50:17.11\00:50:19.55
but I can't start it until July.
00:50:19.58\00:50:21.98
And the Lord worked it out.
00:50:22.02\00:50:23.35
I mean, it was just like,
00:50:23.39\00:50:24.95
I was offered the
trust job in January
00:50:24.99\00:50:28.52
and it didn't start till July.
00:50:28.56\00:50:30.66
Yeah.
00:50:30.69\00:50:32.03
Isn't that neat
how the Lord works?
00:50:32.06\00:50:34.00
I think the key is,
00:50:34.03\00:50:35.36
and your testimony is
just evidence of that.
00:50:35.40\00:50:37.27
It's just making
yourself willing.
00:50:37.30\00:50:38.63
Yes.
00:50:38.67\00:50:40.00
Spiritual things have to
be spiritually discerned.
00:50:40.04\00:50:41.64
So when you see something happen
00:50:41.67\00:50:43.20
and you think it's good luck,
00:50:43.24\00:50:44.57
remember that's the
love of God in your life.
00:50:44.61\00:50:46.78
He's there.
00:50:46.81\00:50:48.14
Amen. Yeah.
00:50:48.18\00:50:49.51
And be willing to do
daily what He wants us to do.
00:50:49.54\00:50:52.25
You know, I felt
like when I was teaching,
00:50:52.28\00:50:54.62
I felt like I was
teaching in His school
00:50:54.65\00:50:57.65
and I was teaching
the kids about Him.
00:50:57.69\00:50:59.42
And I loved working
with the kids there,
00:50:59.45\00:51:02.96
but then you get to the
point where I just felt like,
00:51:02.99\00:51:04.56
you know, Lord, I felt like,
00:51:04.59\00:51:06.16
I think you're telling
me it's time I can leave,
00:51:06.19\00:51:08.76
but I don't wanna leave
unless it's okay with You.
00:51:08.80\00:51:11.30
So I think, you know,
as long as we do that,
00:51:11.33\00:51:13.47
always seek His
will and not our own.
00:51:13.50\00:51:16.20
Amen.
00:51:16.24\00:51:17.57
Well, we're
almost out of time here.
00:51:17.61\00:51:18.94
We're gonna go to the news break
00:51:18.97\00:51:20.31
in just a moment,
but tell us about Kalie
00:51:20.34\00:51:21.68
and she grew up and got married
00:51:21.71\00:51:23.55
and what she's doing
now, your daughter Kalie?
00:51:23.58\00:51:24.91
Oh wow. Yeah.
00:51:24.95\00:51:26.28
She's in
international rescue and relief.
00:51:26.31\00:51:28.48
It was their major.
00:51:28.52\00:51:29.85
And she's actually
the program director now
00:51:29.88\00:51:31.39
for that at Union College.
00:51:31.42\00:51:33.59
She and her
husband are professors
00:51:33.62\00:51:35.96
or assistant
professors teaching the classes.
00:51:35.99\00:51:38.46
And right now
they're up in Alaska.
00:51:38.49\00:51:40.86
They've spent,
00:51:40.90\00:51:42.23
went out for the whole semester.
00:51:42.26\00:51:44.00
And they did things
like avalanche rescue
00:51:44.03\00:51:47.37
and glacier
travel and crevice rescue
00:51:47.40\00:51:52.37
and their kids are learning
all of this, how to survive.
00:51:52.41\00:51:56.08
They did the
snowshoeing how to survive
00:51:56.11\00:51:58.58
in a cold environment
00:51:58.61\00:52:01.05
when there's no
electricity, no running water.
00:52:01.08\00:52:05.75
No firewood. Yeah. No fire.
00:52:05.79\00:52:07.69
But how do youâ |
00:52:07.72\00:52:09.06
What do you do with
people that you come upon
00:52:09.09\00:52:10.53
that have hypothermia?
00:52:10.56\00:52:12.36
You know, how
do you treat these?
00:52:12.39\00:52:13.73
So they've been
training them on all that.
00:52:13.76\00:52:16.63
Amen. It's amazing.
00:52:16.67\00:52:18.00
Yeah.
00:52:18.03\00:52:19.37
I can't believe
our time is almost gone
00:52:19.40\00:52:20.74
and we're gonna go to
a news break right now.
00:52:20.77\00:52:22.20
And then we'll be back
with some closing thoughts
00:52:22.24\00:52:24.11
from Joe and Nancy,
00:52:24.14\00:52:25.47
but I hope that you
have been encouraged
00:52:25.51\00:52:26.88
seeing what God
has done in their lives
00:52:26.91\00:52:29.68
and what God wants to
do and can do in yours.
00:52:29.71\00:52:33.38
We'll be right back. Amen.
00:52:33.42\00:52:35.35