Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 620 | Rebroadcast - Faith Journey - Erika Klose

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620 | Rebroadcast - Faith Journey - Erika Klose · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Woman at the Well Ministries podcast.
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With Kimberly Miller, where we believe that every man, woman,
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boy, and girl must come to Jesus just like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
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Our highest priority is helping you experience the reality of God in your everyday life.
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Whether you're listening in our app, on your favorite podcast platform,
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are on our website at watwm.org.
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We invite you to sit down with us as we open the scriptures to learn more about
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who God is and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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In this episode of the Woman at the Well Ministries podcast,
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join Kim Miller and Erica Close as we give you an opportunity to know more about
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us and to learn why we do what we do.
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Hello, I am Kim Miller alongside Erica Close. Hello, everyone. And we are so excited.
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Last week in our Wednesday episode of 204, we were sharing my journey of faith.
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We just recently, as you can tell, since we are on episode 204.
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Crossed over our 200th episode for the podcast that we do, and we thought it
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was time to reintroduce you to who we were and to introduce you to how our ministry got its name.
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So last week, I shared my journey of faith, which was very heavily shaped and
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created and formed and fostered and managed by my family and the upbringing that I had.
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And today we have the opportunity to speak to Erica about her amazing faith journey.
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And her journey is different than my journey.
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Hers is more shaped by people who were in her life,
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and people who made a difference and who showed her who Jesus was,
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and I believe is a strong motivator and an inspiration for her to be the person she is,
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which is that light into the world that really seeks to have people to understand
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personally who Jesus is,
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and she gives everything she has to lay that foundation and clear that path
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for people to see Jesus in her and in those around her.
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So I am excited for you to hear this journey, and I am privileged to be in ministry with Erica Close.
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And we're going to let her do that. But first, I want to read to you.
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Isaiah 43, 10, and it says, Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord,
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and my servant whom I have chosen, that ye may know and believe me and understand that I am he.
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Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
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And Eric, I just want to say that you have thoroughly been a witness to me by
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the way you have lived your life.
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And the contrast of how we have come to this place where we are now with Jesus is very different.
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But Jesus brings amazing things together to do his work.
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And I am so glad that he has knit our hearts together like he did Jonathan and David's.
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So without further ado, I'd like for you to just begin to tell us how the Lord
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has brought you to where you are.
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Oh my goodness, it's such a big question, but I love that you went back to Isaiah
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43, 10, where it talks about knowing and believing and understanding.
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I love those words and what they mean about what it means to know who Jesus
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is and to really submit your life to Him.
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And, you know, we have had very different faith journeys, and it is amazing
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that we get to work together and sit in the same place.
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And I think that when we look out over a church or over a gathering of people
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who are already sold out to Jesus,
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I think that one of the most amazing things is that everyone's path to get there
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is so different and that God uses so many things to get people to Him.
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And it blows me away. So I think that there is tremendous value in sharing those stories.
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And, you know, my story, you know, I was, my story started, my faith journey
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started later in life. I was, I was actually raised in,
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in the church. I was raised in a Catholic church, and I lived in a family that
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went to church a lot, but I wouldn't
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say that we were necessarily the most faithful. And so I learned a lot.
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I learned a lot about Scripture, and I learned a lot about what had happened
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in the Old Testament and what had happened in the New Testament.
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And yet, now I know I still didn't have in any kind of relationship with Jesus.
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So I came from that background and I went to college.
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And when I was in college, I met all sorts of people from all over the world
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with all different backgrounds and faiths and everything.
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Wow, what different people I met. But I had someone in my dorm that I lived
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in who would talk to me about Jesus.
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And what she did, you know, with Jesus.
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And she one day was talking about going on a trip with some people.
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And she invited me along.
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And she said, but I don't know if you'd want to go because it's a bunch of Christians.
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And I remember looking at her and saying, well, I'm a Christian.
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And she just looked back at me and she said, are you? And I remember being so
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offended, so upset, because from what I understood at the time and what I knew
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at the time, I thought I was.
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And this was my freshman year in college. That was right before Christmas.
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And I went home and I was so blessed looking back now that I had other people
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in my life who had spoken to me about who Jesus really was and about the importance
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of having a personal relationship with Christ.
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And I remember that that year at, just after Christmas, I was home by myself
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and somebody had given me at some point a video.
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And it was a message with somebody preaching to sort of young people.
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And I watched it. I just had this draw to watch it by myself at home over Christmas break.
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And I watched it, and it was about finding God's will for your life.
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And at the very end of it, the person that was teaching talked about how we
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had to make that personal decision.
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And that person teaching spoke to his son, who was in the audience,
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and said, you know, I really pray that you join me in heaven one day after I get there.
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And that exact moment was when I understood.
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You know, that verse in Isaiah says, you know, we want people to know and believe and understand.
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And, you know, when we make a decision for Christ, it's because there's a point
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for all of us when we know and we understand. And that point was when I understood.
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And it was an amazing point. And I understood. And he, in that video,
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he, you know, led a group of students through the sinner's prayer.
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And I prayed it in my living room by myself.
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But I knew that day that I was saved and that I understood.
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You were talking about how before you had been churched.
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And so you probably knew the right words to say and kind of the things to do.
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But could you just clarify for those of us who might be listening and know that
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there's something missing, but they've been in church their whole lives and
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people have, you know, spoke to them and,
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you know, they've said, I love Jesus, or they've said, I know Jesus is Lord,
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or I know he died for my sins, but yet have not placed your face in him.
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Can you just spend a moment telling us that difference between that time in
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that room when you heard that sinner's prayer,
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prayed that sinner's prayer, and truly committed your life to Him,
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as opposed to what was a couple decades of walking through.
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The church path. And certainly there's nothing wrong with going to church your whole life.
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I went that path and just had this experience earlier than you. But could you clarify?
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Because there might be some people saying, hey, is that me?
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You know, I don't really feel, I don't know what she's talking about,
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but I kind of walked that walk. So could you clarify that for us?
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Well, yeah, because, you know, I think they're, you know, and praise God,
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there are a lot of families that go to church every Sunday, you know,
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that have faithful church attendants, you know, that keep their kids, you know, in church.
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And I believe that is exactly what should happen.
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I mean, that's what we're supposed to do. We need to surround our families with the family of God.
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But church attendance and sitting and listening,
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and I was a very good kid in church,
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right I did all the right things I listened quietly
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I didn't make a distraction you know when you think of all the
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things in church sure you were better at church than I am
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you know I did all the right things you know and the reality is I had the experience
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of church I had the experience of all the things right of singing the songs
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and and worshiping and you know and even fellowshiping with church people,
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but I didn't know who God was.
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And, you know, there were a lot of, you know, a lot of reasons for that.
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But I knew of him. I knew of him. I knew about the scripture.
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I mean, I knew a lot of things about him. I just didn't know him.
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Right. I knew the accounts, you know, and, and I'll, I'll say,
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you know, and, and this is an important distinction. I believed that stuff.
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I believed that those things had happened, but I did not believe.
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Number one, that I needed a Savior because I thought I didn't need a Savior
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because I had done all the right things.
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Oh, my. I had been taken to church.
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I had done all the things. I had lived right.
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I was blessed to be a really good kid. I didn't have huge struggles in high
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school. I lived, you know, a very, what I would consider Christian path for
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which I'm very thankful for.
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But I didn't understand that even with all that, I still needed a Savior because
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I had never submitted my life to Him.
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And that was the point, that that was the change, is that I realized I never had submitted.
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I had done all the things. I had checked all the boxes. I looked correct and
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I was doing things right. But I had never submitted my life.
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And there was a point that I knew.
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And I will say, when somebody asks you point blank if you're a Christian like that, that was bold.
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And I am forever grateful for that person who asked me that. Me too.
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Because that's what I needed to hear. Right. I looked the part.
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I was doing the things right.
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And I needed somebody to challenge that in me.
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The why, not the what. The why, not the what. And I mean, that that day hurt.
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But praise be to God, that day turned into this day, you know,
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another day in this day to sit here.
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And, you know, the Lord, you know, the Lord showed up after that just in a,
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you know, an amazing way.
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I, you know, that was in January. That was like a Christmas. Right.
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So I went back to school and I didn't have I made that decision and I knew what that decision meant.
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And, you know, I went back to school. I think, you know, I think I owned a Bible. I guess I did.
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I mean, I went back to school and I, you know, went straight to Laura,
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Laura, you know, and told her and she just, you know, was so excited. Right. It was amazing.
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And I immediately started going to a Bible study with her.
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She met with she worked with a group that worked with young people in the area.
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And so their leaders got together and had a Bible study. And she just brought me along.
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It was at that point really the only place she knew to bring me.
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So she brought me and I was not in a position to lead at that point,
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but she brought me to a group of Christians that she had because that was all she needed.
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That was the right thing to do. So she brought me and she.
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It was a very humbling experience because I had read a lot of the scripture they were studying,
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but it did not impact my life the way it did when I started with studying and understanding.
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And everything just sort of exploded. but you
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know for when you think of the explosion
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of understanding that happens when you suddenly have
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the holy spirit in your life and you suddenly have
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the holy spirit that in you to lead and guide and direct you to reveal scripture
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to you and bring understanding you know it's it's an explosion and it's occasionally
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overwhelming and it's sometimes a lot but the lord was so precious You know,
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in the same way that I believe that the Lord placed you in your family.
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Right, and you had all these people that supported you, I had people.
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Right. Like, I had Laura, Becky, Christina, Tanya, and Lynn.
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You know, I can, you know, those are all people.
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Because God wishes that none should come, should perish, but that all should
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come to repentance. And so he gives us what we need, but we have to recognize it and do it.
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What an amazing story. So he brought me, so he put all those people around me
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and those were, you know, the people that, you know, I learned to be a Christian
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with and I learned what it meant to be a Christian and,
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you know, learned how to walk the Christian life, you know, and,
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you know, I learned what I could learn at the time, right, with what I had. That was college for me.
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And then, you know, as I was praying about today, you know, right after college
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for me, you know, so I had, say, three and a half intense years of,
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like, biblical training alongside college. In college.
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In college, right? That's something right there. You went to college and found
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Jesus. I did. I went to college and found Jesus.
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And right after the college was when I lost my dad. and I,
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I think, you know, as I look back now, I see that all of college prepared me
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for that because I learned in college that I could pray.
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I learned that I could trust.
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You know, I learned the importance of someone explaining the gospel to someone.
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And as I was thinking about today I realized just
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how much of the story of my dad is part of the my story because right after
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college I went to graduate school and the day I started graduate school was
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the day I found out my dad was sick and I immediately you know my dad was not saved I knew it.
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And I had been praying, you know, for him, obviously, but clearly the prayers
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changed because he had a terminal diagnosis.
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And I started to try and be that person and try and talk to him.
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And it was like a roadblock every time. It was such a challenging time.
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And the Lord really impressed upon my heart that I needed to pray for the man
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that was going to share the gospel with my dad.
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And I prayed that prayer for six months. And I would talk to him a little bit,
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but it did not, it just didn't work.
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And I prayed and I prayed for my dad. I prayed for all the things.
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I prayed for his healing and I prayed for his salvation. And I prayed for the
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man that would be able to explain the gospel to my dad in the way my dad could hear it.
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And at the very end of my dad's life, three days before he died,
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that man showed up. Praise the Lord.
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That man showed up in the hospital and he looked at me and he said,
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I don't know where you are with Jesus.
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This was the weirdest thing. And I looked at him and I said,
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we're on good terms. Why are you here? I mean, what a statement to say.
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We're on good terms. And he said, I'm here to share the gospel with your dad.
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And my dad wasn't awake at the time. And so he promised to come back. And he came back.
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And I wasn't even there. I was downstairs visiting with an old friend.
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I was downstairs for like an hour of a day.
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And that was when he came back. Because the appointment to share Jesus with
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my dad wasn't mine. It was for that man.
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Right? So Don had to be the man. And Don was.
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And Don shared the gospel with my dad, and then Don and his wife shared that with me.
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And it was the greatest gift that could ever be given. But when I think back
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now, you know, there are so many gifts of that.
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I mean, clearly the promise of being able to see my dad again,
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because he died two days after that.
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Clearly that promise is a tremendous gift.
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But in that, you know, I also learned, you know, the Lord answers prayers.
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The Lord tells us what to pray. You know, we may not be the person that is going
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to reach the person we love the most.
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We may not, not everything that needs done is our job, but we can still have
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a part in praying for whosoever job it is.
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Amen. What an amazing thing.
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I am just so overwhelmed as I—and I know this account, obviously—but as I see
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how not only did you learn those things,
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but, Erica, your life is completely an example of trying to be the one that
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somebody else may have prayed for to spread the gospel.
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You don't miss an opportunity, and you seek out opportunities,
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and you are so focused on creating people an environment where they know how
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to share Jesus, because you fully understand that you may only get one chance,
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and that may be the answer to somebody's prayer to give the gospel to somebody else.
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And I just want to say that I know that God certainly used that time.
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To mold you into the evangelist that you are right now.
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And you know, God, he makes beautiful things out of broken pieces and things
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that the devil meant for hurt and harm, he will create something amazing from.
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And that tremendously difficult situation that you went through has certainly
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spurred the evangelist we see today.
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And I praise him for that and all who had that opportunity.
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Could you tell us a little bit about your study? Like you, you're very studious
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and very academically minded.
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And if you could just give us a little insight into how, I mean,
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I'm sure those formative years you did learn perhaps the Bible more historically and fact-based.
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But let's kind of shift into how that has changed over time.
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Well, absolutely. And I think, you know, as that changed and as I,
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you know, got older and I think, you know, that that opportunity,
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you know, that the event with my dad, I think, very much sealed.
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Sealed things for me. Like I saw that and that was a huge gift.
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You know, I'm not going to say that my faith journey was completely simple after
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that, right? Because there was life. A whole lot of life has happened since then.
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But, you know, as I then grew, I mean, you know, if I think in a lot of ways,
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that was probably like, kind of like, you know, graduation in some aspect for me, right?
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One of those times where you mark, you've learned something and then you go.
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And, you know, Sometimes we go really well, sometimes we don't.
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But as I then moved on very much into adulthood with Jesus, I sought out people again.
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And the Lord placed people in my path.
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I was moving cities. I was moving jobs.
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For those of you that are listening that are in that situation,
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It's a challenge to find a new church.
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It's a challenge to go somewhere on your own. You know, there's a lot there,
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but the Lord provided people, you know, and in that next, you know,
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five, six, seven years of my life,
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you know, the Lord provided, you know, a group of people, you know,
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I praise God for, you know, Tammy, Rachel, Allison, Kathy.
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I praise God for Bettina. I praise God for these people that he put in my life
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at the time to study with and to learn with.
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Because that's the thing, right? We don't ever...
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Learn everything and then walk on. The Christian life is a life of learning.
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It's a life of understanding.
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I mean, it's amazing what we learn when we study on our own.
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It's amazing what we learn when we study with other people.
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In that time, all those people that I just mentioned, those are people that I got to study with.
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Those were people that I spent time in study with.
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Those are the people that kept me accountable to my Christian life,
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that checked in on me, you know, that were the people that checked my life to make sure it was right.
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So as I studied and I learned to study, I had people that checked me.
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But times change and life changed and I had to move away from that group of
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people. But when I moved away from that group of people, the Lord,
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praise God, moved me to a whole other group, right?
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He moved me. He moved me here.
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And that move was a call. That move was a call to this ministry.
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That move was a call to a career change. That move was a call to so many things.
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But that move brought me to more people. That move brought me to friendship
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with you. It brought me to friendship with Beth.
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It brought me to people that I could change and serve with.
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That group brought me to your mom, who taught me amazing things about studying
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God's Word, who walked through the Scripture with me.
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That group brought me to people who taught me how to study.
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Who taught me what it meant to live. You know, there's always more to learn.
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I think that the greatest mistake that we can make.
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Is to ever think we have this figured out, is to ever think that we understand it all.
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You know, that scripture, back to Isaiah 43, 10, that we might know and believe
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and understand, understanding is a process because understanding comes with submission.
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Understanding comes with submitting your life to the will of God.
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You know, that video that I watched that explained it to me was about finding
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God's will for your life, right?
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That's what it's all about. All those years, life changes, different cities,
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different jobs, different places, all those things, different people,
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different circles of friendship, different groups of people to study with, different situations.
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All of that required greater and greater and greater submission,
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which brings greater and greater and greater understanding.
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You know, how has my study life changed?
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It's just gotten deeper because I've just submitted more.
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And the more we submit and trust him to lead and guide and direct us and believe
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that what he wants for our life is best, believe that he cares about the decisions,
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believe that he cares about the decisions for what job we do,
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that he believes about the decisions we make where we stop on the way home, where we go to dinner,
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who we have dinner with, when we believe that he has that.
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Much of a, that He cares that much about the intricacies of our life,
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then we can be confident and know who He is and know Him.
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We know Him when we submit to Him.
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Erica, thank you so much for sharing this time with us and letting us have an
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insight into the journey that God has brought you through.
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My heart is singing. I know that God has blessed me and my family by bringing you into it,
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and we are grateful that He has chosen to put us together in this ministry of
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Woman at the Well Ministries,
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but never have I seen so much of.
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My mom's influence on you than when you said it matters who you have dinner with.
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It matters where you stop to shop, because that was certainly my mom and dad's mantra.
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Every move, every step should be filtered through the will of God.
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So I am grateful for God's blessings on our family.
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I am so grateful for the people in your life that have shaped you.
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And I'm so thankful for the lesson that you have shown all of us today.
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And that is that we are integral parts in building the kingdom of God.
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And your life is a bright shining light as we're told to be.
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Thank you so much for sharing that with us. Thank you guys for joining us in
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this podcast of Women at the Well Ministries.
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And it is our hope that you are more inclined to read and listen and study the
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word of God because you spent time with us as is our hope and our goal in every podcast.
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But we are hoping that you can see Christ in us through the things that you've
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learned about each of us.
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And our next Wednesday podcast will be how we got together in Woman at the Well Ministries.
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So here is us saying to you, we love you.
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Thank you for being part of our lives and part of our ministry.
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Remember you are loved. Jesus loves you.
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Thank you for joining us for today's podcast. You can find quotes and scripture
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references from this episode in the show notes.
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We pray today's message has been a blessing.
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