Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / March 11, 2025 | Expresso - Anita Hurla

Transcript

March 11, 2025 | Expresso - Anita Hurla · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

0:01
SPEAKER_00: Good evening.
0:03
SPEAKER_00: I have never done this before.
0:06
SPEAKER_00: I did not know that about Jane.
0:08
SPEAKER_00: I was actually a paraeducator in special education for 18 years before I went to work at Little Lions.
0:15
SPEAKER_00: I worked with kids from gosh, grade school all the way through 21 throughout those years.
0:22
SPEAKER_00: If I read a lot from this, I apologize in advance because I'm really nervous.
0:27
unknown: Okay.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: When we were, we went to Washington, DC on the spiritual spiritual heritage tour last summer with AFR, and I had found a magnet that I hadn't originally put with this, but it was a verse at Psalm 28:7.
0:45
SPEAKER_00: The Lord is my strength and my shield.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: My heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
0:50
SPEAKER_00: My heart exalts, and with my song, I give him thanks.
0:55
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
0:57
SPEAKER_00: This is me and my mama.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: Um, my story begins on August 26, 1972.
1:07
SPEAKER_00: I was born at St.
1:08
SPEAKER_00: Francis Hospital here in Topeka.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: My parents were married until I was about one and a half years old when they divorced because of my dad's infidelity.
1:17
SPEAKER_00: After that, it was just my mom and I until she got remarried when I was about nine years old.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: But we'll talk more about that later.
1:24
SPEAKER_00: My mom was a hard-working, feisty lady.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: The best way to describe my mom is that she's like Roseanne Barr.
1:31
SPEAKER_00: If any of you ever watched the Roseanne show, that's my mom.
1:38
SPEAKER_00: For many years, she was the assistant chef at what used to be the Shawnee Country Club on 29th and Adams.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: She worked there until, sorry, she worked there early on my early grade school years.
1:49
SPEAKER_00: My mom, the head chef, and the other assistant chef were all asked to come to be the kitchen staff at what once was the Top of the Towers restaurant at the first national bank building in Topeka, Kansas.
1:59
SPEAKER_00: My mom worked a lot of hours and often had to work Sundays.
2:03
SPEAKER_00: From an early age, I went to a daycare center called Alibi Daycare, operated by a lady named Aggie Kears.
2:11
SPEAKER_00: I spent a lot of time with her outside of the center.
2:14
SPEAKER_00: She was like my second mom.
2:16
SPEAKER_00: She and her mom Granny loved me as if I was their own.
2:20
SPEAKER_00: If Aggie was taking care of me on Sundays, I would go to church with her.
2:24
SPEAKER_00: She was a black lady, so she went to an all-black church.
2:28
SPEAKER_00: I think about it sometimes.
2:29
SPEAKER_00: Michael Tate of the Newsboys would say the chocolate church, so I was like the little white girl in this whole chocolate, this whole church of African-American people.
2:41
SPEAKER_00: This was my only exposure to church because I did not grow up in a Christian home.
2:45
SPEAKER_00: As I got older, there were some days that I'd able to go to work with my mom.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: It was only usually for a few hours, but I always looked forward to it.
2:53
SPEAKER_00: When she worked at the country club, she would often bribe the lifeguards at the pool to let me hang out at the pool.
3:00
SPEAKER_00: It was only supposed to be for church or from I'm sorry, for country club members only, but they were always up for food.
3:08
SPEAKER_00: I remember when she worked at the top of the towers.
3:11
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I would go there with her.
3:13
SPEAKER_00: It was on the 16th floor, and it was just always super cool to be there and see all of Topeka as a little kid, just to see that out those windows.
3:21
SPEAKER_00: And at that time, KTPK was the radio station stationed at that building.
3:25
SPEAKER_00: And she got to know those guys pretty good.
3:27
SPEAKER_00: So sometimes they let me hang out with them.
3:29
SPEAKER_00: My mom always had away with people, and she did not know a stranger.
3:34
SPEAKER_00: My dad remarried after he and my mom divorced.
3:37
SPEAKER_00: One of the few memories of that time was my stepmom Melody being a part of my life.
3:43
SPEAKER_00: My parents didn't have arranged visits.
3:45
SPEAKER_00: It was whatever they could work out.
3:47
SPEAKER_00: I spent time with my dad and Melody, but it never seemed like it was often as often as I would like.
3:54
SPEAKER_00: Come to find out after talking with my stepmom as an adult.
4:01
SPEAKER_00: Sorry.
4:02
SPEAKER_00: Um, about when we would talk about things, she often would want me to be with her more, but he always had an excuse why they couldn't.
4:11
SPEAKER_00: Things drastically changed when I was about nine years old after my mom got remarried.
4:16
SPEAKER_00: Needless to say, I wasn't too happy about it.
4:19
SPEAKER_00: It had been just my mom and I for as long as I could remember.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: And I did not I did not want to share my mom with anyone.
4:25
SPEAKER_00: I certainly did not want to have a stepdad.
4:27
SPEAKER_00: Excuse me, I need a drink.
4:29
SPEAKER_00: Or apologize.
4:34
SPEAKER_00: Things drastically changed when I was about nine years old.
4:38
SPEAKER_00: After my mom got remarried, needless to say, I wasn't too happy about it.
4:41
SPEAKER_00: It had just been my mom and me for a long time, as I as long as I could remember.
4:45
SPEAKER_00: I didn't want to share my mom with anyone, and I certainly did not want a stepdad.
4:48
SPEAKER_00: We moved to Pura, Illinois, at the beginning of the summer before my fourth grade year and lived there for only a few months.
4:56
SPEAKER_00: Then we moved back to Topeka.
4:58
SPEAKER_00: I was excited to go back to my old school at Highland Park South and to see my friends again.
5:03
SPEAKER_00: If any of you know Randy Atherley, who goes to church here, he was my fourth grade teacher.
5:08
SPEAKER_00: It was his first year teaching.
5:13
SPEAKER_00: We moved the following summer and I started at Avondel East, my fifth grade year.
5:18
SPEAKER_00: My mom had my half-sister Antoinette in 1982.
5:23
SPEAKER_00: During my fifth grade year, my dad had come to pick me up to take me for a visit.
5:28
SPEAKER_00: We went to Showbiz Pizza Place, which is kind of like Chuck E.
5:31
SPEAKER_00: Cheese, but it was better.
5:33
SPEAKER_00: On our way there, he told me he had someone he wanted me to meet.
5:36
SPEAKER_00: When we got there, he introduced me, introduced me to a woman who was clearly very pregnant.
5:43
SPEAKER_00: I honestly did not know what to think of the situation.
5:46
SPEAKER_00: I remember her asking me questions, wanting to know me better, but I don't I don't remember talking much about why she was there.
5:53
SPEAKER_00: On the way home, he proceeded to tell me that he and Melody were getting a divorce and he and Lois were getting married.
6:00
SPEAKER_00: I don't remember how I felt in that moment.
6:02
SPEAKER_00: I do remember that my being able to trust anything he did or said had become very difficult.
6:10
SPEAKER_00: There were many times that he would make plans to pick me up for the weekend and show up late or not show up at all.
6:17
SPEAKER_00: This happened many times for visits, for school functions, and the moments in life that were very important to me.
6:25
SPEAKER_00: I'd always wanted to see the best of my dad because he was my dad.
6:29
SPEAKER_00: My mom never had a kind word to say about my dad.
6:34
SPEAKER_00: I would do or say something that reminded her of him, and he would she would tell me, You act just like your dad.
6:42
SPEAKER_00: So why did you say that?
6:44
SPEAKER_00: Or you look just like him when you say that, or do this or that.
6:48
SPEAKER_00: I knew it wasn't right, and it hurt a lot.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: Looking back, I think he had hurt her so much that she didn't want anything to remind her of him.
6:58
SPEAKER_00: I remember how sad I felt for Melody.
7:01
SPEAKER_00: She was a very sweet woman.
7:03
SPEAKER_00: She was very good to me and treated me like I was her own daughter.
7:06
SPEAKER_00: She did not have any children of her own.
7:09
SPEAKER_00: And when I graduated high school, she made sure she was there to support me.
7:14
SPEAKER_00: My dad and Lois married.
7:16
SPEAKER_00: I had my half-sister, Teresa Ann.
7:18
SPEAKER_00: My mom and my stepdad, I had my second half-sister, Cassandra.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: Both were born in 1983.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: In 1985, my half-brother Matthew was born.
7:28
SPEAKER_00: And I know that's all very confusing.
7:31
SPEAKER_00: Um, I desperately wanted to know what it felt like to truly feel the kind of love a girl gets from her daddy.
7:37
SPEAKER_00: I didn't struggle with alcohol or drugs as a teenager.
7:42
SPEAKER_00: My struggle was getting to be loved through relationships with guys.
7:49
SPEAKER_00: I would look for that love like a lot of girls do in relationships with the boys that she wasn't getting from her father.
7:58
SPEAKER_00: What I did know at the time, though, is I had a void in my heart that only love of God could feel, that I had a heavenly father that loves me more than my earthly father ever could.
8:11
SPEAKER_00: My mom and my stepdad divorced around my junior year of high school.
8:15
SPEAKER_00: Once again, because of my dad's unfaithful, stepdad's unfaithfulness to my mom.
8:21
SPEAKER_00: My mom was left to raise four kids on her own, which honestly has seemed to be that way for quite a while.
8:28
SPEAKER_00: I always held a job through my high school years, and I worked to keep up my grades and also stay involved in school activities.
8:36
SPEAKER_00: I worked two full-time jobs the summer before my senior year to help my mom out to be able to help pay for things as well as things of my own.
8:46
SPEAKER_00: Martin, who is now my husband, and I started dating my junior year, September 1988.
8:53
SPEAKER_00: We met through my best friend Joanne.
8:56
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is where it gets complicated, who also happens to be Martin's niece.
9:02
SPEAKER_00: He is the youngest of 14 children.
9:06
SPEAKER_00: Um, his sister Lucille is the second oldest, who was Joanne's mom.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: It was always funny to see our classmates' expression on their face when I'd say, Oh, I'm dating Joanne's uncle.
9:17
SPEAKER_00: And they'd be like, Oh, that's kind of gross.
9:20
SPEAKER_00: But I'd have to explain that he's the youngest of 14.
9:23
SPEAKER_00: Um, he's only three and a half years older than I am.
9:26
SPEAKER_00: I went to Highland Park High School, so you know, at Highland Park, there were not families that size.
9:31
SPEAKER_00: So it was kind of interesting to see our friends' response when I would tell them, Oh, I'm dating Joanne's uncle.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: Um, Martin had been there for me through a lot of my family struggles and I went that I went through during high school.
9:45
SPEAKER_00: We dated for about seven months, and I broke off our relationships.
9:50
SPEAKER_00: After our breakup, I dated other people, but he did not.
9:55
SPEAKER_00: He had told my mom that he did not want to date anyone else because he still loved me and didn't want to be with anyone else, anybody else but me.
10:03
SPEAKER_00: He and my mom stayed in contact with each other and had a great relationship.
10:08
SPEAKER_00: Honestly, sometimes I felt like he and my mom had a better relationship than she and I did.
10:14
SPEAKER_00: Um after a period of nine months, I came to my senses and we got back together in January, my senior year in 1990.
10:24
SPEAKER_00: I enlisted in the Air National Guard my senior year.
10:28
SPEAKER_00: Following graduation, I went to basic training in San Antonio in July of 1990.
10:34
SPEAKER_00: When I got back in October, Martin proposed to me, and of course I said yes, and I was only 19 when we got married.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: Shortly after I got home from basic training and tech school, I went to visit my dad and Lois, which was my stepmom at that time.
10:50
SPEAKER_00: When I got to their house, my dad was at work.
10:54
SPEAKER_00: During our conversation, Lois had told me she had some things we needed to talk about.
11:00
SPEAKER_00: So she pulls out a newspaper clipping.
11:02
SPEAKER_00: Now if you remember years ago, like to put the wedding engagements in the or wedding license in the newspaper, um, she had a clipping that my dad had married another woman.
11:14
SPEAKER_00: So she he had married another woman while he was still married to my stepmom.
11:21
SPEAKER_00: Um neither my stepmom, Lois, or Karen knew about the other.
11:28
SPEAKER_00: It was as if my dad was living a double life.
11:31
SPEAKER_00: I was devastated.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: I felt lied, lied to, betrayed, and I was very hurt.
11:39
SPEAKER_00: Soon after everything came out, both my stepmom and Karen divorced him.
11:44
SPEAKER_00: My dad and I never really talked about this, or really any of the other times before when this had happened.
11:51
SPEAKER_00: He just moved on with our relationship as if everything was normal.
11:56
SPEAKER_00: When Martin and I got married, I had asked my mom to give me away at our wedding.
12:07
SPEAKER_00: Even though we had some rough times, she was the one who raised me.
12:11
SPEAKER_00: So I felt like she should have that honor.
12:13
SPEAKER_00: I was just very hurt from what my dad had done, but all the times that he had turned his back on me, I felt like that I just I was done and I couldn't, I couldn't anymore with that he should have that honor to do that.
12:32
SPEAKER_00: My mom gave me away to love in my life on October 19th, 1991.
12:37
SPEAKER_00: My mom met a wonderful man named Howard, and they married in May of 1992.
12:43
SPEAKER_00: I think the day she and Howard were married was probably the happiest I had seen my mom in a long time.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: So that's my that's my myself and my two sisters, and my mom, my two sisters, and my brother and I when I was in high school.
13:02
SPEAKER_00: And that's our high school time.
13:06
SPEAKER_00: That's me, my senior year as a cheerleader, and our prom and my lovely basic training picture.
13:15
SPEAKER_00: Gotta love those glasses.
13:19
SPEAKER_00: And this was our wedding.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: Um, the middle picture is my my stepdad.
13:26
SPEAKER_00: He was not my stepdad at the time, but um, he was very much a part of my life.
13:31
SPEAKER_00: And then my mom and my sister Tony, Cassie, and then Matthew.
13:36
SPEAKER_00: And then the far right picture is Martin's mom and dad.
13:43
SPEAKER_00: Okay, sorry, I gotta get my place back again.
13:50
SPEAKER_00: Martin grew up in a very devout Catholic family.
13:53
SPEAKER_00: I joined the church and was baptized not long after we were married.
13:56
SPEAKER_00: Looking back, it was a way I could be closer to him and his family by being a part of his faith that was so important to them.
14:04
SPEAKER_00: Martin's family dynamics were so different than mine.
14:07
SPEAKER_00: He had a very tight-knit family.
14:09
SPEAKER_00: Being the youngest of 14, he had many nieces and nephews that were around the same age as him.
14:14
SPEAKER_00: They were more like brothers and sisters than nieces and nephews.
14:17
SPEAKER_00: His mom and dad never treated me like an in-law.
14:21
SPEAKER_00: I remember one time when we were first married, I called my mother-in-law, whose name is Laverne.
14:26
SPEAKER_00: I called her mom, and I apologized, like, oh, she might not like that.
14:30
SPEAKER_00: Um, she said she liked that I called her mom and it made her feel good.
14:34
SPEAKER_00: Her mom showed me a different kind of love that I had not felt before.
14:39
SPEAKER_00: We lived in Topeka for a short period of time after we were married.
14:43
SPEAKER_00: My small town guy wanted to move back to Paxaco.
14:46
SPEAKER_00: So we bought a house and moved back within our first year of marriage.
14:50
SPEAKER_00: And I forgot to reiterate that.
14:52
SPEAKER_00: Um so we were high school sweethearts, but he was three and a half years older than I was, so I guess legally it probably wasn't right.
15:02
SPEAKER_00: So I was in high school and he went to Manhattan Botech when we had met.
15:07
SPEAKER_00: Um so after we had moved back to Paxico, um, it didn't take long, and I started to get baby fever.
15:14
SPEAKER_00: Several of his nephews that were very close to him had gotten married around the same time we did, and they were starting their families.
15:22
SPEAKER_00: Um, in July 1993, I was found out I was pregnant, and after 24 hours of labor, our baby boy was Joshua, was born.
15:31
SPEAKER_00: He made his appearance on April 22nd, 1994.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: He was what I would call our 93 flood baby.
15:38
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if many of you remember the 93 flood, but he had a lot of friends that were about his age, that were 93 babies.
15:48
SPEAKER_00: That's him.
15:50
SPEAKER_00: Um that is his wife, Joni.
15:54
SPEAKER_00: They got married in 2020.
15:58
SPEAKER_00: We had our sweet little Alyssa on April 23rd, 1997.
16:03
SPEAKER_00: Life was going as well as I'm sorry, life was going as well as we could expect, getting adjusted to having two little ones.
16:11
SPEAKER_00: I stayed at home with the kids and had a small in-home daycare.
16:15
SPEAKER_00: And that's her.
16:19
SPEAKER_00: Um there were changes happening in Martin's life that I didn't quite understand.
16:25
SPEAKER_00: As I had mentioned, Martin grew up Catholic and had joined, I had joined the Catholic Church.
16:30
SPEAKER_00: Not too long after Alyssa was born.
16:32
SPEAKER_00: He seemed to be losing interest in going to church on Sundays.
16:35
SPEAKER_00: When I tried to talk to him about getting Alyssa baptized, he wasn't sure he wanted to move forward with that.
16:41
SPEAKER_00: In the Catholic faith, baptism is very important.
16:45
SPEAKER_00: They believe that you must be baptized as part of your salvation.
16:48
SPEAKER_00: What I did not know at the time was he was starting to question his Catholic faith.
16:53
SPEAKER_00: Martin had a coworker and friend, Jim Chance, who is John Chance's brother.
17:00
SPEAKER_00: Um they worked side by side at Topeka Metal Specialties.
17:05
SPEAKER_00: He was on fire for Christ.
17:07
SPEAKER_00: Jim had been witnessing to Martin for quite a long time.
17:11
SPEAKER_00: Jim went off and listened to the teachings and the news on Bot Radio Network.
17:17
SPEAKER_00: They would have discussions about Martin's Catholic faith and what he believed.
17:21
SPEAKER_00: One day Jim asked him, If you died today, would you go to heaven?
17:26
SPEAKER_00: Martin said, or had told me he had given Jim all the standard Catholic answers, that he kept all the sacraments and felt like he was overall a good person, and that he thought that he would go to heaven.
17:40
SPEAKER_00: Jim told him none of those things could get him to heaven.
17:43
SPEAKER_00: That the only way is to trust the Lord Jesus as his Savior, that Christ paid it all on the cross when he died for our sins and rose again, and that is what saves us.
17:54
SPEAKER_00: Martin began to listen to radio pastors and was talking with other guys from work, some of whom were once Catholic but were now born-again believers.
18:02
SPEAKER_00: We did get Alyssa baptized in July 1997.
18:06
SPEAKER_00: What I did not know then was that Martin only did it was to keep peace with me and his family.
18:13
SPEAKER_00: On July 29th, 1997, Martin went to RJ Carr's Christian bookstore and got a Bible.
18:19
SPEAKER_00: He and Jim prayed.
18:22
SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry.
18:22
SPEAKER_00: Jim had prayed with Martin to receive Christ into his life as his savior.
18:26
SPEAKER_00: He came home and told me that he had gotten a Bible and accepted Christ.
18:30
SPEAKER_00: Keep in mind that at this point I did not know much about the journey he was on.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: But I also did not let him talk to me much about it.
18:39
SPEAKER_00: So to keep from upsetting me, I think he just kept it to himself.
18:44
SPEAKER_00: Now when we talk about it, he had shared that he really didn't know how to explain everything he was going through.
18:50
SPEAKER_00: He felt like everything he grew up believing was not true.
18:54
SPEAKER_00: I felt like he had turned his back on everything he was brought up on to believe, and in a way on his family.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: I thought if we just talked to the priest, that he could answer all his questions.
19:05
SPEAKER_00: Martin, sorry, all the questions Martin had, that he could make everything right, and that we would go back to how things were before.
19:15
SPEAKER_00: Well, he couldn't answer a lot of the questions he had.
19:18
SPEAKER_00: The priest's answer for many things was it's church tradition.
19:22
SPEAKER_00: Or he would have to do some research and get back with us.
19:26
SPEAKER_00: Martin was.
20:03
SPEAKER_00: We continued to go to the Catholic Church.
20:05
SPEAKER_00: Jim invited us to come to church with him at TBC several times, but we did not go.
20:10
SPEAKER_00: I knew he wanted to, but because of me not being ready and him not knowing how his family would respond, we went, I'm sorry, what to respond?
20:25
SPEAKER_00: We went somewhere if we went somewhere besides the Catholic Church, we did not go to TBC.
20:31
SPEAKER_00: Looking back to I'm sorry, Connie.
20:35
SPEAKER_00: Looking back, going to church with his family with the connection he had with them.
20:39
SPEAKER_00: It was something I did not have before, and I didn't want to risk losing that or risk losing the relationship with his parents.
20:48
SPEAKER_00: I think I looked back on it several times.
20:51
SPEAKER_00: This is kind of off track.
20:53
SPEAKER_00: Um I truly didn't, you know, I I did not want to lose that.
21:01
SPEAKER_00: I think that was also the scary part for me was I did not want to lose that relationship that I felt like I finally had, of I guess, a functional family of just a love that I never really had felt truly before.
21:18
SPEAKER_00: During the summer of 1998, we found out we were becoming a family of five.
21:22
SPEAKER_00: Rachel was our surprise baby.
21:25
SPEAKER_00: Having a baby so soon was not exactly part of my plan.
21:28
SPEAKER_00: I tend to be an overthinker, and I felt like I needed to be control of every aspect of my life.
21:35
SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm gonna show you a quick picture of Rachel.
21:40
SPEAKER_00: So one evening after Martin and I had gone to bed, I remember feeling so overwhelmed with everything.
21:48
SPEAKER_00: I was six months pregnant, which explains a lot.
21:53
SPEAKER_00: But it was more than the pregnancy emotions.
21:57
SPEAKER_00: I don't remember exact words Martin told me.
22:01
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure he was trying to make I'm sorry, he was trying to be as loving as he could to his very pregnant wife.
22:07
SPEAKER_00: But he told me that I needed to find peace in my life.
22:11
SPEAKER_00: And the only way to experience peace was to give my worries to Jesus and allow him to have control of everything.
22:19
SPEAKER_00: And he was right.
22:21
SPEAKER_00: I remember laying in bed with him, and I was just sobbing.
22:24
SPEAKER_00: It was that night, November 11, 1998, that I surrendered my life to Christ.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 11, 28 through 30.
22:34
SPEAKER_00: Come to me, all you are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
22:38
SPEAKER_00: Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble at heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light, says the Lord.
22:51
SPEAKER_00: Our little surprise blessing, Rachel, was born February 17th, 1999.
22:56
SPEAKER_00: When she was about one month old, we went to TBC for the first time.
23:00
SPEAKER_00: We could go to TPC for one Sunday, and then the Catholic Church for several Sundays after that.
23:06
SPEAKER_00: This went on for about a year.
23:08
SPEAKER_00: During that year, we slowly began attending TBC more than attending our home church.
23:15
SPEAKER_00: Rachel had not been baptized, and Martin's parents would ask us from time to time when we were going to have her baptized.
23:22
SPEAKER_00: We knew his family had to be suspicious of something, but they never come right out and ask.
23:28
SPEAKER_00: We knew we had to talk to his parents about why we were no longer going to the Catholic Church.
23:35
SPEAKER_00: Martin always had a very close relationship with his parents, so this was going to be a very difficult conversation.
23:42
SPEAKER_00: In May 1999, Martin's mom had called and asked if they could take to the kids what's called the May Crowning.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know how many of you are familiar with some of the things of the Catholic faith, but the May Crowning is a tradition that involves the crowning of the Statue of Mary with like a crown of flowers.
24:00
SPEAKER_00: This is to honor her as the queen of heaven and the mother of God.
24:04
SPEAKER_00: After that, I told Martin he really needed to talk to his parents about everything we had been going through.
24:10
SPEAKER_00: He prayed about what to say and how to say it.
24:13
SPEAKER_00: He loved his parents so much and wanted to share the truth with them, but didn't want to jeopardize his relationship with them.
24:20
SPEAKER_00: And as I'm reading this, I probably should preface with a lot of his family thought I was the one who led him away from the from the church, but it was not.
24:31
SPEAKER_00: It was, you know, he had made that decision first.
24:42
unknown: Okay.
24:43
SPEAKER_00: He prayed about what to say and how to say it.
24:45
SPEAKER_00: He loved his parents so much and he did not want to sh that he wanted to share the truth with them, but didn't want to jeopardize his relationship with them.
24:52
SPEAKER_00: He spent quite a few hours visiting with his parents about all the changes in his life.
24:56
SPEAKER_00: I know this was not easy for Martin, and he honestly didn't know what to expect after their time together.
25:02
SPEAKER_00: His parents were never mad at us for leaving the church.
25:05
SPEAKER_00: They were just very saddened.
25:07
SPEAKER_00: Martin had an aunt and uncle whose children had gone to the Jehovah's Witness religion.
25:14
SPEAKER_00: And after that, they never saw their grandchildren.
25:18
SPEAKER_00: And that was his mom and dad's biggest fear that we were going to take our children away from them.
25:24
SPEAKER_00: And our kids, they had a very close relationship with their grandparents.
25:27
SPEAKER_00: We live a mile up the road from them.
25:30
SPEAKER_00: So they were very, very close to them.
25:33
SPEAKER_00: There was some tension between us and some of his siblings for a while.
25:37
SPEAKER_00: We knew all we could do was pray and trust that God would open their eyes to the truth and that we need to live our lives in a way that would be honoring to Christ.
25:47
SPEAKER_00: When our kids were young, I was learning about Jesus and the Bible with them.
25:52
SPEAKER_00: It was as new for me as it was for them.
25:55
SPEAKER_00: I remember we would listen to the Christian Bible CDs and scripture verse CDs in the vehicle that you know they have for kids.
26:06
SPEAKER_00: We would go to Sandy.
26:08
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you guys remember Sandy Balaka, and she always has a little lending library in her Sunday school class.
26:14
SPEAKER_00: So we would always check out like the Veggie Tales and the Hide Them in Your Heart and Adventures in Odyssey.
26:22
SPEAKER_00: I think that was one of our absolute favorites.
26:24
SPEAKER_00: But especially with the Steve Green, that helped me to learn scripture along with the kids because it was just it was to music.
26:33
SPEAKER_00: And it's for me, it still is the easiest for me to memorize, is with music.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: Um I was so hungry for anything that would help me to raise our children to love Jesus and for the things that would help me in my walk with God and to be a better, to be the wife and mom that the Lord wanted me to be.
26:58
SPEAKER_00: Martin and I started to get more involved in TBC.
27:01
SPEAKER_00: We started to just attend the Home Builder Sunday School class, which had blessed us with so many wonderful friendships, which I see some of those ladies here.
27:10
SPEAKER_00: Um I started to attend Bible studies, which had helped me grow in my faith and helped me learn more about God and his word.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: I had the privilege to serve in Pioneer Girls with Sandy and Ruth, Ruth Maynor.
27:26
SPEAKER_00: Um that was a lot of fun.
27:30
SPEAKER_00: I really enjoyed that.
27:32
SPEAKER_00: And Martin helped Ken with Pioneer Boys.
27:34
SPEAKER_00: When Joyce Keyes led the third and fourth grade Sunday school class, I had the honor of being able to help her in that class.
27:42
SPEAKER_00: I learned so much from her and so many other amazing women.
27:46
SPEAKER_00: Um Joyce is just a gym.
27:49
SPEAKER_00: She's a wonderful woman and a great teacher.
27:54
SPEAKER_00: It had been 26 years since I had received Christ.
27:57
SPEAKER_00: It has been 26 years since I've received Christ into my life.
28:00
SPEAKER_00: As a young believer, I had the misconception that things would always be smooth.
28:04
SPEAKER_00: I don't know where I got that idea, because it certainly wasn't from Jim Congdon.
28:09
SPEAKER_00: I guess after becoming a Christian, I guess after becoming a Christian, I thought things would kind of fix itself.
28:16
SPEAKER_00: That idea could not be further from the truth.
28:19
SPEAKER_00: We went through a lot of trials early on as new believers.
28:23
SPEAKER_00: When Rachel was one, she spent her first, well, she spent her first birthday in the hospital with pneumonia.
28:30
SPEAKER_00: She was very sick and was there for about a week.
28:33
SPEAKER_00: Martin had went through several job layoffs and the years, through the years, which had kind of caused a lot of financial strain.
28:42
SPEAKER_00: In October of Josh's fifth grade year, he was very sick.
28:46
SPEAKER_00: He had been throwing up for several days.
28:49
SPEAKER_00: He had to be admitted to the hospital.
28:51
SPEAKER_00: This was on a Wednesday.
28:53
SPEAKER_00: Throwing up did not get better, and he had started having mobility issues.
28:57
SPEAKER_00: After many tests, they found his white blood cell count was extremely elevated.
29:01
SPEAKER_00: His white blood cells were attacking the cerebellum of his brain.
29:06
SPEAKER_00: And what they explained to us is the cerebellum of your brain is kind of shaped like a virus.
29:10
SPEAKER_00: Um, so the white blood cells were going after it like it was a virus.
29:14
SPEAKER_00: Um he would always say he felt like he was on a roller coaster.
29:17
SPEAKER_00: This did they had a they diagnosed it with an acute cerebral ataxia, which causes loss of coordination and balance.
29:27
SPEAKER_00: When they told us the diagnosis, they said there really wasn't anything they could do.
29:31
SPEAKER_00: Though it would just have to be better with time.
29:34
SPEAKER_00: It could take days or weeks or months before it would be better.
29:39
SPEAKER_00: That weekend, Pastor Jim had come up to the hospital.
29:42
SPEAKER_00: He prayed over Josh and our family.
29:44
SPEAKER_00: By the end of the weekend, the throwing up had stopped.
29:47
SPEAKER_00: PT and OPT began to work with him.
29:50
SPEAKER_00: On Tuesday, that following Tuesday, therapy had told us we may need to go home with basically redoing our home with bars in the bathroom for the toilet and the tub and whatever we needed for him to function at home.
30:06
SPEAKER_00: I was pretty much a mess.
30:09
SPEAKER_00: Receiving this news, along with not knowing how long Josh would be sick, hit me very hard.
30:16
SPEAKER_00: After I was told all this information, God sent Doug Will through the doors of the hospital.
30:22
SPEAKER_00: He prayed with me and told me there were many that were praying for healing for Josh.
30:27
SPEAKER_00: I remember feeling such peace that had come over me.
30:31
SPEAKER_00: Isaiah 41, 10 says, Do not be so do not fear, for I am with you.
30:36
SPEAKER_00: Do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
30:38
SPEAKER_00: I will strengthen you and help you.
30:40
SPEAKER_00: I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
30:42
SPEAKER_00: I knew God was telling me that there was nothing I could do to control the outcome or any part of the situation, which we've already talked about is an issue for me at times.
30:52
SPEAKER_00: He wanted me to let go and give him complete control and trust in him.
30:56
SPEAKER_00: We went home on Friday that week.
30:58
SPEAKER_00: He had been in the hospital for a week and two days.
31:01
SPEAKER_00: We had to get a wheelchair for him at home.
31:04
SPEAKER_00: We had no idea how long this was going to take until he could be back to his normal self.
31:11
SPEAKER_00: We did know that there was a lot of praying happening for our boy because by Sunday his sisters were pushing him around in his wheelchair outside while he was shooting baskets.
31:20
SPEAKER_00: And by Tuesday, he was back in school.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: The only explanation for his recovery was the prayers of so many for him and God's healing hands upon him.
31:33
SPEAKER_00: In spring of 2009, Martin had been laid off from his job.
31:38
SPEAKER_00: His dad and two of his brothers were running the family farm.
31:42
SPEAKER_00: His dad was still doing things on the farm, just not as much as he used to.
31:47
SPEAKER_00: Um, his mom was 45 when she had him.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: So, and he's my husband at that time.
31:55
SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to think how old he would have been.
32:00
SPEAKER_00: In a nutshell, his dad was getting older.
32:03
SPEAKER_00: Um, his dad was still doing things on the farm, but not as much as he used to.
32:06
SPEAKER_00: His dad asked Martin if he could work for them for the summer.
32:10
SPEAKER_00: He told Martin we would he would make sure we were taken care of.
32:14
SPEAKER_00: We may not have always had what we wanted, but we always had what we needed.
32:18
SPEAKER_00: Martin being laid off was not easy, and at that time I did not see God's plan in at all.
32:23
SPEAKER_00: When you're in the valley, it can be hard to see what God's plan is.
32:28
SPEAKER_00: During that summer, his dad's health started to decline.
32:33
SPEAKER_00: He passed away that fall, and after his dad's passing, I began to understand God's plan and why he allowed Martin to be laid off.
32:41
SPEAKER_00: If Martin had not lost his job, he would not have had that time with his dad and his brothers every day.
32:47
SPEAKER_00: His dad would often comment at mealtime how much it meant to have his boys with him every day.
32:54
SPEAKER_00: It can be hard to see God working in the midst of trials, but so many times when we are on the other side, we can see God's plan through it all.
33:02
SPEAKER_00: His ways are truly greater than ours.
33:05
SPEAKER_00: Uh, Martin has 10 sisters, and there's four boys.
33:09
SPEAKER_00: Um, his two middle brothers farmed with his dad.
33:13
SPEAKER_00: Um, one of his brothers, who is the his other brother, is the thirdborn.
33:16
SPEAKER_00: He had polio as a baby.
33:18
SPEAKER_00: Um, he was a mechanic for many, many years, but he would that summer, I think almost every day mom would fix lunch for Martin and his brothers.
33:28
SPEAKER_00: And it was just special that he could have that time with his dad.
33:33
SPEAKER_00: Since that time, we have lost my stepdad Howard from cancer in 2012, my sister Tony in 2014, Martin's mom in January 2020, and my mom in February of 2020.
33:46
SPEAKER_00: My mom's loss was especially difficult after I helped care for her during the final five years of her life in the midst of her declining health.
33:55
SPEAKER_00: In between our mom's passing, our oldest Josh got married to his sweetheart, Joni Weber, on February 15, 2020.
34:05
SPEAKER_00: Oh, sorry, there's more pictures.
34:07
SPEAKER_00: My kids put this together for me.
34:10
SPEAKER_00: So there's my sweet babies.
34:12
SPEAKER_00: Um, so this is the wedding.
34:15
SPEAKER_00: Um so Rachel is on the far right, Alyssa, second from the right, Joni, Josh, myself, and Martin.
34:29
SPEAKER_00: Sorry.
34:31
SPEAKER_00: In between our mom's passing, our oldest Josh got married to his sweetheart, Joni Weber, on February 15, 2020.
34:37
SPEAKER_00: It was a bittersweet time, celebrating their new life together, while also grieving the loss of his grandmother, who he was especially close to.
34:46
SPEAKER_00: Through the trials we have faced as a family over the years, there have also been many moments of joy and hope.
34:52
SPEAKER_00: One of the greatest joys was becoming grandparents.
34:55
SPEAKER_00: Josh and Joni have Megan, who is four, and Braxton, who is two.
35:00
SPEAKER_00: They farm in Oakley, Kansas.
35:03
SPEAKER_00: So they're in the tractor with their daddy on the far left.
35:10
SPEAKER_00: Being a grandma has been so much fun, has brought a whole new life and a whole new light into our lives.
35:18
SPEAKER_00: Our daughter, Alyssa, is a nurse at Midland Hospice House, and Rachel is a veterinary nurse at Fur Family Vet Clinic in Manhattan.
35:26
SPEAKER_00: God has taught me many things through the years.
35:29
SPEAKER_00: He has taught me that he loves me more than any earthly father can, that I need to trust in him and give him control in all areas of my life.
35:39
SPEAKER_00: I find I have to do this daily, sometimes hourly.
35:44
SPEAKER_00: Lastly, I've learned that he will supply all my needs.
35:46
SPEAKER_00: It won't be all my wants, but it will maybe it will be what I need.
35:51
SPEAKER_00: I am a work in progress, and I want to continue to be the clay that the potter can use for his glory.
35:58
SPEAKER_00: That was really long.
36:00
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, Connie.
36:07
SPEAKER_00: I was talking to my girls, and there's like so much more.
36:14
SPEAKER_00: My friends in high school would say, Girl, you should be on Oprah, Winfrey.
36:19
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, right?
36:21
SPEAKER_00: So thank you.
36:22
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for putting up with my rambling.