About the restory show

Last summer God birthed the concept of restory in me. You can read about that process here. Or click the short video below to get a better idea:

re-story from Mary DeMuth on Vimeo.

I prayed a lot about what would be next, moving from "living uncaged" to learning about and encouraging others to embrace a brand new story. This resonated through me as I considered a podcast. I dreamed of having people on the podcast who shared jaw-dropping stories, who exemplified faithfulness, sacrifice, humbleness, along with a big heart for Jesus. I wanted to see turnaround stories, where God had intersected a life, and that life was no longer the same.

So I prayed.

And God answered. He brought people to me. He reminded me of others who had amazing, life-altering stories. Instead of fretting about what to say or who to invite, this podcasting process has become something entirely different. God has made it sweet and nearly effortless. I cannot wait to share with you all these amazing interviews.

And today's restory show with Bethany? It'll change your perspective and influence your own re-storying process.

How Our Stories Intersected

I sat next to Bethany Kaczmarek at a fiction writers conference last fall. She shared the kind of story that caused the room and the commotion to melt away. I sat there, tears streaming down my cheeks, so grateful for her story, so humbled that she entrusted it to me.

About Bethany's Story

Bethany Kaczmarek is a talented writer and editor. But her story came from several years before when she was a missionary, a mom of a newborn in a foreign land. And her baby son was dying.

The following brings home some of the deeper lessons Bethany learned. You can read the whole story here (part one) and here (part two).

In a pile on the floor, I whispered, “Where are You, God? Why don’t You answer? Why don’t You offer any comfort? I’m cut off from everyone else, and now—even You are silent.”

Nothing.

In that moment, I had to figure out whether or not I believed He was genuinely there. I thumbed through Linda Dillow’s book Calm My Anxious Heart, and I read this: God’s Word is truer than anything we will ever feel or any circumstance we’ll ever face.

His Word. I made myself remember the things I’d read and memorized when things were trite and happy.

Matthew 28:20 “…and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Joshua 1:9 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

Psalm 116:1-2 “I love the LORD because He hears my prayers and answers them. Because He bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I breathe.”

Matthew 14:27 “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

None of those verses promised safety. None of them promised wish-granting and healing-the-way-I-wanted-healing.

All of them promised Him. I may not have felt Him there, but those verses were His grace to me in those dark moments.

His name is Immanuel. God with us. God with me. I knew—if nothing else—I believed that. I could take Him at His Word.

So that night, I knelt on the floor at the foot of the bed where my little man slept, and I offered God my son’s life.