Rhonda’s life was anything but peaceful.  As a child she didn’t have a father or a stable home.  She experienced ongoing sexual abuse and neglect until she was finally removed from her home.  Her childhood experiences led her to poor choices as a young adult, numerous abortions and physical abuse.  It wasn’t until she saw the terror in her young son’s eyes that the Light of the World finally broke through the darkness and she cried out to Jesus.  He rescued her that day and put her feet on solid ground. 

Rhonda has lived off the Word of God ever since.  It is the very breath she breathes and His supernatural joy radiates through her eyes.  She has used her experiences to reach out to others still in the darkness by teaching women’s Bible studies and leading abortion recovery groups. 

She has also written several books and Bible studies as an overflow of her experience with our great God and His overwhelming love.  You can find them here:

Becoming Ewe: A Woman’s Journey through Psalm 23 

Beloved Bride: What if it's time for the Bride to make herself ready and that Bride is YOU?
 Available as both a book and a Bible Study 

**The enemy has been hard at work to stop this story from getting to you.  Thank you for your patience with the minor audio difficulties in this episode.  I’m confident you’ll be blessed to hear her story!  

Verses mentioned in this episode: 

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live”
Deuteronomy 30:19 ESV

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We were finally expecting our second baby.  Jackson’s pregnancy proved to be the most challenging on my body, but his delivery changed us forever.  Sometimes what we want and what we beg God for is not in our best interest.  In this instance, His answer of “no” was the most loving and powerful gift He could have given us.
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Jessica was raised in Texas and walked through so many difficulties before she ever reached adulthood: abuse, death of her siblings and foster care.  Her story is one of brokenness, pain and a big ole mess.  The Lord taught her how to bring the broken pieces into the light and He has faithfully restored great beauty from the ashes.

Verses mentioned in this episode: 

“For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
Genesis 41:52

"Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery!
Replace the evil years with good."
Psalm 90:15 NLT

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Erin was raised in a Christian home and up until her mid-30s, she lived a “pretty good life.”  She claims that one of her strengths is positivity and up until that point she “had been able to “positivity” my way through things.”

It wasn’t until her family faced a lengthy health crisis that she started to question what she’d always believed about God. 

At a conference, she heard Jen Wilkin make a statement that rocked her world. “We cannot be content being curators of other people’s opinions about a book we can’t be bothered to read ourselves.”

These questions drove her to the Bible in search of Truth.  The search transformed her and birthed a new hunger for God’s Word.  She has since spent her days helping other women discover and be confident in the Truth by teaching them how to study the Bible on their own. 

When the pandemic hit, women reached out to her for Bible teaching and community.  She never thought online Bible study would work, but it has flourished and Feasting on Truth was born.   Most recently she released a new book that shares her story and helps others overcome their obstacles in studying the Word. 

Our conversation is rich with stories, tips, wisdom, encouragement and we even dip into buzz words like desconstruction, false teachers and cancel culture. 

Erin has been instrumental in the last few years to help and encourage me to lean into the Holy Spirit’s teaching to discover Truth for myself.  I will never be the same, and I am forever grateful. 

You can find more information about Erin's teaching, journals and her new book here:
Web: Feasting on Truth
You Tube: Erin H Warren
Podcast: Feasting on Truth
 
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We left Knoxville, Tennessee and pulled into Saraland, Alabama right on time for Nathan to start work and start school.  We didn’t want to be there, but were convinced these were the Lord’s plans.  Once we arrived, He echoed His instructions to Joshua, “possess the land.”  This meant, “I need you to be here.  I need you to be all in at this place and this time.  Make this your home and love the people that are right around you. Don’t look back to the past or worry about the future, but live fully in this moment.” 

Thirteen years later, I cannot believe how many times God has brought me back to this concept.  Man, He sure knows what He’s doing!  

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Lydia grew up in a single-parent home.  Her Grandma took her to church from time to time, but nothing really stuck.  While she was in college, she was invited to a Bible study.  With the lure of promised snacks, she decided to go.  She spent years hearing the Gospel and asking hard questions, but she continued to faithfully show up each week.  God had given her a mentor who patiently walked the long path with her.

After she finally decided to trust Jesus as her Savior, she walked through a season of tragedy and loss and it challenged her new, fragile faith.  She stuck with Jesus and found that His presence is more than enough.  Today she is thriving and is full of joy as she shares the love of Jesus at her workplace, within her family and as she faithfully serves her local church.
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Lisa and Stephen grew up together and later got married.  When their two boys were toddlers in June 2012, and things were going really well, the first cancer diagnosis came in.  Stephen said, “We’re about to figure out if we truly believe what we say we believe.”

In the beginning, Lisa said she “tried to keep praise music going, so my focus would be on Him and not all the bad stuff going on. I truly think that’s how we got through it.  We focused on God and who He is and not on our situation.”

One day she claimed Philippians 4: 6-7.
“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

She prayed about their situation and was frustrated that her heart still felt heavy.  She read it again and realized she’d missed an important step…“with thanksgiving.”

She said, “Once I turned to God and listed so many things that I was thankful for, my perspective changed a lot and He took the anxiety away and the fear away.”

For parents going through treatment, Lisa advises to try to include your child in the process.  In fact, she’s written a book to help parents tell young children about a cancer diagnosis.  I can only imagine how helpful it would be to have an experienced friend help you find the words for that discussion. 

Her book, When (fill in the blank) is sick, shares valuable information such as what is cancer, how to be a helper, things this time can be used for, and how to focus on the Lord instead of our problems.

You can find it on Amazon here.

This interview was recorded in May 2021.  At the time of publishing in November 2022, Lisa is happy to report that Stephen is nearly 7 years cancer free!  All praise to our great God! 

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Welcome back to Season 3! 

There are some amazing stories coming down the road and I hope they will bring you great encouragement of the Lord’s faithfulness! 

At the outset of this season, I want to make sure we’re all on the same page.  I know there are many notions and ideas about “God” and I want to be clear to share my heart and the Truth from His Word, the Bible.

When you listen to stories on this podcast, the God these women have encountered is the One True God.  He is the Creator of all things, the God of Abraham.  He is perfect in all His ways.  He is so perfect that nothing corrupt can come near Him.  We, as mankind, are corrupt.  We are all guilty of lying, or jealousy, or greed or selfishness.  The Bible calls these things sin and they separate us from this perfect God.  So now we have a problem.  The Bible teaches us that the consequence for sin is separation from Him and if we are still in that state when our body dies, we will remain separated for all of eternity in a real place, called Hell.

If God is perfect and we are not, and we can’t do enough “good things” to pay for our sin, then the solution must come from outside of us. It must come from the Creator, Himself.  So, God left His throne in Heaven and became a man, just like us.  His name was Jesus, but he never sinned like we do.  Therefore, He chose to take your sin and my sin and pay the penalty in our place by dying on the cross.  Three days later He rose back to life, proving He has full authority over sin and death and to forgive our sins. 

If anyone would admit they are a sinner, and believe Jesus has done this work on their behalf and choose to make Jesus their personal King, then they can be restored back to the Father.  We can have a relationship with the Creator of the Universe.  We can talk to Him and He can talk to us.  He can lead us, teach us and transform us to become more like Jesus.

Of course, this episode goes into a bit more detail, but if you’d like to talk more about this, please reach out via email or social media.

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Scripture references:

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
Romans 3:23

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 6:23

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8

“That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
Romans 10:9

"For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
Romans 10:13

More great info here: What is the Gospel?
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Make sure to check out our sister podcast:
Common People, Uncommon Marriage 

God had given us clear instructions: quit your job, live in the flip house, go to school and work in a church.  We were in awe of this calling, but the practical logistics soon proved to be daunting.  

How would we sell our Tennessee house in a recession?  How could we afford a moving truck?  What kind of income would we have in Mobile?  Could we afford health insurance?   How would we pay for college tuition with zero savings? 

These mountains seemed impossible and led me to many nights on my face, pleading with God for a bread crumb, some kind of reminder that He hadn’t forgotten us and that He had all of the details planned out.  Of course, He showed up bigger and better than we ever imagined…and just in time, too. 

About this time in our story, the Lord prompted me to start writing out our story.  You can find those entries at sothattheywillknowthatiamgod.blogspot.com.  I recommend started at the very beginning and working your way forward to keep it in story form.   Of course, many of these stories will appear here on the podcast in time.  

Our new sister podcast, Uncommon Marriage, will be launching soon!  Stay tuned to social media or sign up for email notifications below to catch the big release. 

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Amanda met her husband doing hut to hut evangelism in Peru.  Her dream was to take the message of the gospel to people who had never heard the name of Jesus.  His dream was to share Jesus with Muslim people groups.  The Lord beautifully orchestrated a place where they could do both.  

When they arrived in East Africa, Amanda encountered fear in a new way.  There was suddenly paralyzing anxiety that had not existed before.  Worry and panic attacks began to plague her.  

What if something happened to her?  What if something happened to her husband?  What if something happened to their kids?  

The Lord met her in this battle and taught her how to turn to His Word for peace.  He taught her to change “what if” to “even if.”  He taught her how to surrender all things, even her life, into His trustworthy hands.  

These lessons would prove invaluable as war came to their village.  Over the course of several years there were numerous attacks.  Each time, the Lord’s protective hand was present.  She was able to maintain her peace and seek refuge in the Lord, even as bullets flew outside her door.  

Amanda’s story is proof that our God is with us.  While we will face struggles, He will never leave us.  He is a strong tower that cannot be moved.  

She mentions that the Lord will often give her a song to help her process the events in her life.  Many of these songs have been published here on Sound Cloud.


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