Latest / Your Hope-Filled Perspective with Dr. Michelle Bengtson podcast / How to Rise from Life’s Wreckage and Reclaim Your Hope

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How to Rise from Life’s Wreckage and Reclaim Your Hope · Your Hope-Filled Perspective with Dr. Michelle Bengtson podcast

0:02
Speaker 1: Life audio.
0:04
Speaker 2: Have you ever wondered how you would respond if life
0:08
Speaker 2: completely unraveled in an instant? My guest today, Cheryl Ramstead,
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Speaker 2: knows that reality all too well. After surviving a catastrophic
0:17
Speaker 2: plane crash with less than a one percent chance of survival,
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Speaker 2: she could have easily given into despair. Instead, she chose
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Speaker 2: to rise, reclaiming her life, reinventing her future, and redefining
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Speaker 2: what it means to live with purpose. From the ashes
0:33
Speaker 2: of tragedy. Cheryl's story shines a powerful testimony of resilience, grit,
0:38
Speaker 2: and the sustaining grace of God. Welcome to your hope
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Speaker 2: filled perspective, where our goal is always to restore hope,
0:45
Speaker 2: renew minds, and empower listeners to live in your God
0:48
Speaker 2: given identity. I'm so thankful when you decide to spend
0:51
Speaker 2: a few minutes of your week with us today. We're
0:53
Speaker 2: going to be talking about how to find strength you
0:56
Speaker 2: didn't know you had when life knocks you down. We'll
0:59
Speaker 2: dive into that right after this brief word from our sponsor.
1:05
Speaker 2: Most of us will never experience the devastation of a
1:09
Speaker 2: plane crash, thankfully, but all of us face moments when
1:13
Speaker 2: life feels shattered beyond repair. Today on your hope filled perspective,
1:17
Speaker 2: I'm joined by Sheryl Ramstad, a woman who not only
1:20
Speaker 2: survived the unthinkable, but she's gone on to thrive with perseverance,
1:25
Speaker 2: faith encourage. She rebuilt her life, pursued new careers, climbed
1:29
Speaker 2: one of the world's highest mountains, and continues to inspire
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Speaker 2: others to press forward no matter the odds. Her journey
1:36
Speaker 2: is a living reminder that hope can rise from despair
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Speaker 2: and that our greatest challenges can become the very places
1:43
Speaker 2: God's strength shines the brightest. In this episode, we're going
1:47
Speaker 2: to be talking about how to find strength you didn't
1:50
Speaker 2: know you had when life knocks you down. Cheryl Ramstad
1:53
Speaker 2: is a burned survivor, former criminal trial attorney, and former
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Speaker 2: Minnesota Missioner of Corrections who re built her life after
2:01
Speaker 2: a devastating plane crash. Now a nurse practitioner with a
2:04
Speaker 2: doctorate in nursing, she brings a unique perspective to conversations
2:08
Speaker 2: about trauma, reinvention, and public service leadership. Above all, she
2:13
Speaker 2: treasures her role as a mother to three adult children
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Speaker 2: and grandmother to several littles. She resides in Minneapolis, with
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Speaker 2: her husband Lee, and she joins us today. Welcome Cheryl.
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Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Michelle. It's a joy to be
2:24
Speaker 1: with you today.
2:25
Speaker 2: I was so inspired by reading your book, Living Life
2:31
Speaker 2: Full Throttle. It seemed like every chapter we got to
2:35
Speaker 2: a new place of difficulty, of trial and your perseverance. Cheryl,
2:41
Speaker 2: you might not know this, but my oldest son is
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Speaker 2: a commercial pilot. But I will never forget his flight
2:47
Speaker 2: training days learning on the Cessna one seventy two, and
2:51
Speaker 2: I remember the day he was to take us first
2:53
Speaker 2: solo flight, but even more so the first time that
2:56
Speaker 2: I flew with him as my pilot. So I would
2:59
Speaker 2: love for you to tell me about that life changing
3:02
Speaker 2: moment you endure that changed the whole trajectory of your life,
3:05
Speaker 2: and what you remember about the event.
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Speaker 1: I'd be happy to do so, Michelle. And congratulations on
3:11
Speaker 1: your son because being that position, that's quite an honor
3:15
Speaker 1: for him, and I'm sure you're very proud of him.
3:17
Speaker 2: I am.
3:18
Speaker 1: I was at the time a federal prosecutor and really
3:23
Speaker 1: steep in my professional career as a trial lawyer, while
3:27
Speaker 1: at the same time, in my spare time, I was
3:29
Speaker 1: taking flying lessons to earn my private pilot's license. My
3:34
Speaker 1: husband had been a pilot since he was sixteen. We
3:37
Speaker 1: envisioned a life together where we would have our own
3:40
Speaker 1: plane take it on trips. He is the pilot and
3:43
Speaker 1: I as a co pilot. Well, the fourth of July
3:46
Speaker 1: weekend in nineteen seventy nine, we'd been at the lake
3:49
Speaker 1: with my folks. Came back that Saturday on the seventh
3:53
Speaker 1: of July nineteen seventy nine so I could have my
3:55
Speaker 1: first solo flight as a student pilot, which is the
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Speaker 1: right of passage for a first time student pilot. We
4:02
Speaker 1: got back and I was prepared. I had studied the manuals,
4:08
Speaker 1: I'd gone through the checklist. I discussed in detail with
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Speaker 1: my instructor that the flight pattern would be a rectangular one.
4:16
Speaker 1: I'd go up and go in that rectangular pattern each
4:20
Speaker 1: time I'd come back to the airport and be given
4:23
Speaker 1: clearance to land, I'd touch down with the wheels. Then
4:26
Speaker 1: I'd take off right away again and take off a
4:28
Speaker 1: second time. On the third time of my touch and gos,
4:31
Speaker 1: I'd taxi into the airport, and then I would have
4:34
Speaker 1: satisfied the requirements of my first solo flight as a
4:38
Speaker 1: student pilot. Well, everything went flawlessly over the first During
4:41
Speaker 1: the first two touch and gos, I was flying over
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Speaker 1: downtown Saint Paul, the Mississippi River I ninety four, and
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Speaker 1: the State Capitol building. It was a busy weekend because
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Speaker 1: it was the fourth of July, but I was confident,
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Speaker 1: ready and prepared until the engine quit on my third
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Speaker 1: touch and go. After I had been cleared for landing,
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Speaker 1: I was, as I mentioned, in a position where there
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Speaker 1: were boats below with people on them. There were cars
5:09
Speaker 1: on the freeway. It was packed. It was a parking lot.
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Speaker 1: The State Capitol was an immovable building. I looked for clearing,
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Speaker 1: but there was no place to put the plane down.
5:18
Speaker 1: The plane dropped very quickly. I had about twenty seconds.
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Speaker 1: Quite frankly, I didn't think i'd live, but I didn't
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Speaker 1: want anyone to die with me. So on the way down,
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Speaker 1: the plane caught a power line, which ripped off the
5:34
Speaker 1: wing and sprayed the cockpit, causing the gas tank to
5:39
Speaker 1: explode and the cockpit to ignite in flames. It then
5:43
Speaker 1: came to an abrupt stop ten feet from a woman's
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Speaker 1: sunbathing in her backyard. When I felt the jolt and
5:50
Speaker 1: realized that I was in this burning inferno and had
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Speaker 1: to get out. I tried to unlatch the doors, but
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Speaker 1: they had jammed from the impact. I tried to get
6:01
Speaker 1: through the door that was on fire, throwing all my
6:04
Speaker 1: body weighted against it once twice, and the third time,
6:08
Speaker 1: miraculously it popped open and I was able to climb
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Speaker 1: out through the flames and get to the ground, where
6:15
Speaker 1: a man approached me who had lived in the neighborhood
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Speaker 1: and asked me if there were others in the plane,
6:21
Speaker 1: and I said no, it was my first solo And
6:23
Speaker 1: I said why did the engine quit? And he said
6:26
Speaker 1: I don't know the answer to that question, but he
6:28
Speaker 1: said I do know one thing. He said, you did
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Speaker 1: a darn good job of putting that crippled plane down
6:33
Speaker 1: without killing yourself and others in the neighborhood. He then
6:36
Speaker 1: helped me get across the street to a sidewalk in
6:39
Speaker 1: front of the Catholic church, Saint Vincent's Catholic Church, where
6:43
Speaker 1: I collapsed. A priest came out of the church and
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Speaker 1: gave me last writes before the rescue workers came and
6:50
Speaker 1: took me to a burns center, where I spent the
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Speaker 1: rest of that summer recovering from burns. I was burned
6:55
Speaker 1: over with second third degree burns over thirty seven percent
6:59
Speaker 1: of my I had been thinking that the hospital would
7:04
Speaker 1: be the end of my journey, but it wasn't. It
7:06
Speaker 1: was only the beginning. It was a year's long journey,
7:09
Speaker 1: seven major surgeries. As you mentioned, I was given a
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Speaker 1: one percent chance of surviving. The next thing I remembered
7:15
Speaker 1: after I got to the hospital was waking up in
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Speaker 1: the burn unit, in a hospital bed and looking over
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Speaker 1: and seeing my mother with the Bible in her lap.
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Speaker 1: She had been flown She had flown down to be
7:27
Speaker 1: there with me, and she said, Cheryl, you're a strong person.
7:32
Speaker 1: With God's help, will get through this. And both she
7:35
Speaker 1: and I knew that. Although others thought it was my
7:38
Speaker 1: first solo, the Lord was my co pilot. Thank you.
7:42
Speaker 2: I love that. Talk about that just a little bit,
7:45
Speaker 2: because Jil, I can only imagine doctors walking in and saying,
7:50
Speaker 2: you have less than a one percent chance of survival.
7:52
Speaker 2: So what role did faith and determination play in you
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Speaker 2: beating those odds?
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Speaker 1: It was everything. All faith was. My faith was what
8:02
Speaker 1: carried me through. When I was in the hospital, got
8:05
Speaker 1: a letter from then Governor al Qui and it said,
8:08
Speaker 1: I join your other friends in wishing you a recovery.
8:12
Speaker 1: The Lord must have more important things, must have more
8:15
Speaker 1: for you to do. And that really stuck in my mind,
8:18
Speaker 1: and from that point on I tried to follow what
8:21
Speaker 1: I felt the Lord was leading me to do. Into
8:23
Speaker 1: this very day, I've done some things that other people
8:26
Speaker 1: have questioned. They've wondered why I left the bench. I
8:29
Speaker 1: was a judge. I was appointed a judge at age
8:32
Speaker 1: thirty two or three years after my crash my Governor Qui,
8:36
Speaker 1: and I was on the bench for four years before
8:38
Speaker 1: I left the bench. And I think for every j
8:41
Speaker 1: for every governor, a judge is their legacy. So I
8:45
Speaker 1: was concerned that I not disappoint Governor Qui, but I
8:49
Speaker 1: felt led to leave the bench. And years later, when
8:53
Speaker 1: I was Commissioner of Corrections and was able to start
8:56
Speaker 1: the first faith based unit with Governor Qui, I looked
8:59
Speaker 1: down at a prison fellowship luncheon where he was sitting.
9:02
Speaker 1: I was speaking and I said, you know, Governor Qui,
9:06
Speaker 1: neither of us had any idea what the Lord had
9:09
Speaker 1: in mind for me when he called me to leave
9:11
Speaker 1: that bench. And I think, I hope you understand now
9:14
Speaker 1: why I had to do what I did. So that
9:18
Speaker 1: was just one example of following the Lord's lead and
9:22
Speaker 1: doing things that other people questioned. My remember my brother saying, Cheryl,
9:26
Speaker 1: why are you leaving the bench. It's a position many
9:29
Speaker 1: people try to get through their entire career, and here
9:32
Speaker 1: you are a young person who could serve your date
9:35
Speaker 1: and you serve the people with your judicial service. And
9:39
Speaker 1: I said, Jim, I can't explain it. I just feel
9:42
Speaker 1: led to do so. Similarly, when I was later in
9:45
Speaker 1: a position to run the prisons in Minnesota, and quite frankly,
9:50
Speaker 1: when the governor then Jesse Ventura, appointed me Commissioner of Corrections,
9:55
Speaker 1: I didn't know why I'd been selected for that position.
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Speaker 1: Never been a woman in all the years that the
10:02
Speaker 1: correction system had been in operation in Minnesota running the system,
10:07
Speaker 1: and there'd never been somebody from the outside, that is,
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Speaker 1: somebody who hadn't grown up as a prison worker, as
10:13
Speaker 1: a warden, or had some position where they were on
10:17
Speaker 1: the inside. And here I was coming from the outside.
10:20
Speaker 1: But again I felt led to take the position. Well,
10:23
Speaker 1: I knew at the time I took it that there
10:26
Speaker 1: was a faith based prison in Texas that George Bush
10:29
Speaker 1: had started. It's called Sugarland and it was the Carroll
10:32
Speaker 1: Vance Unit. So I set out to do research to
10:36
Speaker 1: see if it would be appropriate for Minnesota. And again
10:39
Speaker 1: I approached Governor Qui and I asked him if he
10:42
Speaker 1: would serve as chair of a faith based advisory committee
10:45
Speaker 1: to look into the feasibility of having a similar unit
10:49
Speaker 1: in Minnesota. Well, he said to me he was very
10:53
Speaker 1: dubious that it would ever happen with Jesse Ventura as
10:56
Speaker 1: their governor, because the governor had been on Jesse Ventura
11:00
Speaker 1: had been on record as saying religion was for the
11:03
Speaker 1: weak minded. But both Governor Quee and I decided to
11:07
Speaker 1: place it in God's hands and to go forward and
11:10
Speaker 1: do the best we could, and we left the rest
11:13
Speaker 1: to him. So we spent several months investigating. We went
11:18
Speaker 1: down to the Texas unit. We spent a weekend talking
11:21
Speaker 1: to inmates. We spent a weekend there talking to the
11:24
Speaker 1: warden and touring and going to the Bible classes. These
11:28
Speaker 1: fellows lived in a unit where they did their Bible
11:31
Speaker 1: studies together right where they lived. And we were very
11:35
Speaker 1: impressed by the people who said that God cracked their
11:38
Speaker 1: hearts open and changed them from hearts of stone to
11:41
Speaker 1: hearts of flesh. So when we came back, we still
11:44
Speaker 1: had this question of whether we'd be able to get
11:48
Speaker 1: the governor's approval to go ahead with a faith based
11:51
Speaker 1: unit in Minnesota because it had never been tried before,
11:54
Speaker 1: it was relatively new. There were only three units like
11:57
Speaker 1: it in the country. But again we went forward and
12:01
Speaker 1: we got the unions to come on board, which unions
12:05
Speaker 1: are opposed to any sort of change, and they were
12:08
Speaker 1: very concerned about that. But with meetings and discussion, we
12:12
Speaker 1: were able to get at least their acquiescence in the
12:15
Speaker 1: idea that they'd give it a try. Well, we still
12:18
Speaker 1: had Governor Ventura to convince, and I knew that if
12:23
Speaker 1: his staff was around him, this was a novel idea.
12:27
Speaker 1: I didn't think many of them were strong in their faith.
12:31
Speaker 1: So I knew I had to get him alone so
12:34
Speaker 1: that I could talk to him one on one without
12:36
Speaker 1: the influence of others. Because he was all about measurable results,
12:41
Speaker 1: and we had the evidence to show that a faith
12:44
Speaker 1: based prison could change lives and lead to reduced recidivism.
12:49
Speaker 1: So I wotted to figure out how I could do that.
12:52
Speaker 1: Because he always had his handlers around him, but we
12:56
Speaker 1: had a prison opening coming up in Rush City, Minnesota.
12:59
Speaker 1: We were taking a small plane to the prison opening,
13:03
Speaker 1: or at least I suggested that we take a small
13:05
Speaker 1: plane to the prison opening with just enough seats for
13:08
Speaker 1: my deputy commissioner, the pilot, the Governor, and myself, and
13:11
Speaker 1: I invited the Governor to go with us on that
13:14
Speaker 1: flight to Rush City so that I could have one
13:17
Speaker 1: on one conversation with him. The Lord was with us
13:20
Speaker 1: and that on that flight, and by the time we
13:23
Speaker 1: got to Rush City, he said, Cheryl, you've done your
13:26
Speaker 1: due diligence. He said, as long as it works and
13:29
Speaker 1: nobody's forced into it, it's voluntary, you can go ahead
13:32
Speaker 1: and try it. So that was the last obstacle to
13:36
Speaker 1: launching our faith based prison, and that was twenty four
13:39
Speaker 1: years ago and it's still in existence today. It's been amazing, Michelle,
13:44
Speaker 1: to see the change in people. I was at Governor
13:47
Speaker 1: Que's ninetieth birthday party and somebody came rushing over to me,
13:51
Speaker 1: an African American gentleman and dressed in a suit, very dapper,
13:55
Speaker 1: and commissioner Commissioner. Well, it had been quite a few
13:57
Speaker 1: years since i'd been Commissioner of Correction, so I could
14:00
Speaker 1: rather assume that he had been an inmate who had
14:03
Speaker 1: known me as the commissioner. So I greeted him and
14:07
Speaker 1: he said, Commissioner, I was in the first faith based class,
14:10
Speaker 1: he said, and I served twenty four years in prison
14:14
Speaker 1: and that got out, and I now own my own business.
14:17
Speaker 1: I'm in construction. I'm married to this lovely woman who's
14:21
Speaker 1: in the Saint Paul Ballet Company. He said, my life
14:24
Speaker 1: has been good. And he said, I'm still carrying the
14:27
Speaker 1: Bible that you and l Que Governor Qui signed when
14:30
Speaker 1: you visited that prison and I was still behind bars.
14:34
Speaker 1: He said, it's just such a blessing that I had
14:37
Speaker 1: that opportunity. Well, it was really good to hear that
14:41
Speaker 1: his story was that changed his life. Today, I sit
14:45
Speaker 1: as a pro board member for Minnesota. I was appointed
14:48
Speaker 1: by our current governor to that position a little over
14:50
Speaker 1: a year ago. So I'm one of four people who
14:54
Speaker 1: decides when the people, when those were serving life sentences
14:58
Speaker 1: for heinous first degree murder crimes, are ready to be released.
15:03
Speaker 1: It's an onus responsibility to weigh the public safety with
15:07
Speaker 1: the reforms or rehabilitation that the inmates gone through. But
15:12
Speaker 1: time and again I hear from those inmates coming before
15:16
Speaker 1: us that they've gone through Prison Fellowship's program at prison
15:21
Speaker 1: and it really changed their lives, and they speak earnestly.
15:24
Speaker 1: They have mentors. They are prepared to go out into
15:28
Speaker 1: the community, participate in the church with the mentor at
15:31
Speaker 1: their side, and so it's been really gratifying. It's been
15:35
Speaker 1: twenty four years and it's still going strong and changing lives.
15:39
Speaker 2: Raise God. That is amazing. Friends. We're going to take
15:43
Speaker 2: a short break for a word from our sponsor, but
15:45
Speaker 2: I want you to stick with us because when we return,
15:48
Speaker 2: we're going to talk more about how to find strength
15:50
Speaker 2: you didn't know you had when life knocked you down.
15:53
Speaker 2: We'll be right back.
15:56
Speaker 1: Cheryl.
15:56
Speaker 2: In the days and months following that, what was the
16:01
Speaker 2: most difficult obstacle you faced? Was it physical, emotional or spiritual?
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Speaker 1: Spiritual certainly was not an obstacle, but it was a
16:09
Speaker 1: real avenue for hope. My family would gather before me,
16:15
Speaker 1: around me before each of my seven surgeries, and we'd
16:18
Speaker 1: all say the Lord's Prayer together, and that was a
16:22
Speaker 1: reassurance that I wasn't going into that operating room alone.
16:26
Speaker 1: But my fate was in the Lord's hands. My mother
16:30
Speaker 1: would pray constantly, I would have the Bible out and
16:34
Speaker 1: look for hope. I had friends like Governor Quee who
16:39
Speaker 1: stood by me. I didn't realize when they told us
16:42
Speaker 1: that I would be in the woods for two weeks
16:44
Speaker 1: that it meant I was on the life and death border,
16:47
Speaker 1: and they didn't know which way it would fall. But again,
16:50
Speaker 1: I knew that the Lord was with us, and I
16:52
Speaker 1: felt that things would work out. I had this abiding
16:56
Speaker 1: sense of peace, and at age twenty nine, I had
16:59
Speaker 1: a lot of left eye I wanted to do. I
17:00
Speaker 1: hadn't started my family. I was in the beginning of
17:04
Speaker 1: my career. I had just been training for a marathon.
17:08
Speaker 1: I had run a ten k the week before by accident.
17:12
Speaker 1: My parents had a photo of me running that race
17:15
Speaker 1: next to my bedstand. A nurse came in and saw it,
17:19
Speaker 1: and she said, Cheryl, in two years, you'll be running
17:22
Speaker 1: a marathon and I'll be there at the finish line
17:25
Speaker 1: to cheer you on. Well, at the time, I couldn't
17:27
Speaker 1: even stand up, Michelle, let alone think of running again,
17:31
Speaker 1: Let alone think of doing something I'd never envisioned, run
17:35
Speaker 1: a marathon. But with the Lord's help, and grace. A
17:39
Speaker 1: year and eleven months later I ran that marathon. I
17:42
Speaker 1: wore a bodysuit for two years. People would stop dead
17:46
Speaker 1: in their tracks and say, what happened to you? And
17:49
Speaker 1: was an opportunity to say, with the Lord's help and grace,
17:53
Speaker 1: I was able to survive an airplane crash. And so
17:56
Speaker 1: it became a source of my testimony that I wasn't
18:00
Speaker 1: flying alone. I wasn't flying solo, but the Lord was
18:03
Speaker 1: my co pilot and had been leading me through not
18:05
Speaker 1: only the very difficult times. I mean, burns are unlike
18:09
Speaker 1: anything I had ever imagined. I had burned myself on
18:13
Speaker 1: an iron, or burned myself taking a pan out of
18:15
Speaker 1: the oven, or but I had no idea that one
18:18
Speaker 1: could have their whole body covered with open sores. And
18:22
Speaker 1: my right hand was burned so badly that the doctor
18:26
Speaker 1: thought he'd have to amputate it. It was burned right
18:29
Speaker 1: down to the bone, and even now it's still not straight,
18:32
Speaker 1: it's still got wrinkles. But he decided, he said, to
18:36
Speaker 1: slap some skin on and see if it would hold,
18:38
Speaker 1: because he said he knew I was the trial lawyer,
18:41
Speaker 1: and lawyers liked to use their hands. Again thanks to
18:44
Speaker 1: the Lord, the skin stuck and I have the use
18:47
Speaker 1: of my right hand, and I'm just so grateful. And
18:50
Speaker 1: whenever I looked down at the wrinkles, I think, you know,
18:53
Speaker 1: the Lord saved my hand and saved my life, and
18:55
Speaker 1: I'm so grateful for being for every day I've had.
18:58
Speaker 1: So when I was in the hospital, instead of asking
19:01
Speaker 1: why me, I would ask what next? And the Lord
19:05
Speaker 1: always had an answer for me, and that became my
19:09
Speaker 1: future question that I'd always ask what next? Lord, and
19:14
Speaker 1: I tried to follow his lead when I was later
19:17
Speaker 1: in life, when I was in my early sixties, I
19:20
Speaker 1: was sitting on the bench again. I'd gotten reappointed and
19:24
Speaker 1: I felt called. I felt this calling to help burn
19:27
Speaker 1: survivors because I had had this experience and I wanted
19:31
Speaker 1: them to know there was life after burns. So, one
19:35
Speaker 1: by one each semester, while I was sitting full time
19:38
Speaker 1: as a judge, I took prerequisites for a program at
19:41
Speaker 1: the University of Minnesota for nursing as his second career.
19:45
Speaker 1: Now this was a steep climb. My only science in
19:48
Speaker 1: college had been geology and it had been years before,
19:52
Speaker 1: so I had to start at ground zero with chemistry.
19:55
Speaker 1: Anatomy Informatics. I mean, I just went through every course,
20:00
Speaker 1: one each semester, and I did so thinking at first
20:04
Speaker 1: I was going to take it one step at a time,
20:06
Speaker 1: and if the Lord wanted me on this path, I
20:09
Speaker 1: would be able to see that and get the message. Well,
20:14
Speaker 1: each course I took, I was able to get an AA,
20:17
Speaker 1: I was able to make it to the final courses,
20:20
Speaker 1: and I had completed my prerequisites. And again I thought,
20:24
Speaker 1: I was, at age sixty two, is the University of
20:27
Speaker 1: Minnesota going to want to give one of these sixty
20:30
Speaker 1: four coveted spots where they have nine times as many
20:34
Speaker 1: applicants for the positions to somebody at my point in life,
20:38
Speaker 1: in my sixties. But I again trusted the Lord, and
20:41
Speaker 1: I thought, if it's meant to be, it'll work out.
20:44
Speaker 1: If not, I've done all of this preparation and it's
20:47
Speaker 1: kept my mind sharp. My mother had had Alzheimer's, and
20:51
Speaker 1: I thought, it's had that benefit, and if the Lord
20:53
Speaker 1: has more in store for me, I'll take that lead. Well,
20:57
Speaker 1: when I got my applicant, my application was accepted, I
21:01
Speaker 1: was shocked. Now I had done everything in quiet silence.
21:06
Speaker 1: I hadn't told anybody I was taking these prerequisites. Not
21:09
Speaker 1: even my family knew why that I was taking these prerequisites.
21:13
Speaker 1: I'd take them on my own time. I'd go in
21:15
Speaker 1: the study and you know, read the book the books,
21:18
Speaker 1: or I'd slip off to class early in the morning
21:21
Speaker 1: before I went on the bench. But it really forced
21:24
Speaker 1: my hand to get accepted and to follow the Lord's lead,
21:29
Speaker 1: because at that point there was a lot at stake.
21:32
Speaker 1: Nobody knew I was doing this. It was a program
21:36
Speaker 1: that meant I'd have to leave my judgeship go back
21:39
Speaker 1: to being a full time student, something I hadn't been
21:41
Speaker 1: for years. But I did that, and yet I did
21:44
Speaker 1: so without telling anybody, because I didn't know if other
21:48
Speaker 1: people would understand. And I wanted to just follow the
21:51
Speaker 1: Lord's lead and that was what was important to me.
21:53
Speaker 1: So I went through my master's in nursing program. Eighteen
21:59
Speaker 1: months later I was nurse and then went on and
22:02
Speaker 1: got my doctorate. So I spent five years in nurses training.
22:06
Speaker 1: And while I was in training, one of the most
22:08
Speaker 1: gratifying things was to be able to return to the
22:11
Speaker 1: very burn unit where I'd been a patient and to
22:13
Speaker 1: see how I could influence and help and pray for
22:19
Speaker 1: people who were in the shape that I had been in,
22:23
Speaker 1: where it seemed might have seemed hopeless, but give them
22:26
Speaker 1: a reason to hope. And it was. It was interesting
22:30
Speaker 1: because one of the things I did was I conducted
22:32
Speaker 1: a support group for burn survivors who had left the
22:36
Speaker 1: hospital and their family members. Well after one of our
22:41
Speaker 1: burned support meetings, a woman came up to me, the
22:43
Speaker 1: wife of somebody i'd been helping, and said, Cheryl, we
22:47
Speaker 1: know about your crash. Your plane almost hit our house.
22:51
Speaker 1: We lived in that neighborhood, and we our house shook
22:55
Speaker 1: when your plane was coming down and it crashed right
22:57
Speaker 1: across from our church. I was it crashed at four
23:01
Speaker 1: oh four. The woman said, I was going to the
23:04
Speaker 1: five o'clock mass. She said. We rushed out. We saw
23:07
Speaker 1: our priest giving you last writes, and we prayed right
23:09
Speaker 1: along with him. There were ways in which the message
23:13
Speaker 1: to me was that the Lord was with me, and
23:16
Speaker 1: that I had followed the right path in doing that.
23:19
Speaker 1: So I would encourage others to let go and let God.
23:24
Speaker 1: It's so much so reassuring to know that our fate
23:30
Speaker 1: is in his hands. And there were times when I
23:33
Speaker 1: was really not sure if I'd make it or not.
23:36
Speaker 1: There was a time that they came in and one
23:39
Speaker 1: of the big fears with burn survivors burn patients is
23:42
Speaker 1: that they'll get pneumonia and then die from that. Well,
23:45
Speaker 1: this person came in, a student doctor, a resident, and said, Cheryl,
23:51
Speaker 1: you might you might have dodged a bullet, but you're
23:54
Speaker 1: about to meet your maker. He said, we think you've
23:57
Speaker 1: got pneumonia. Well I took a but there were several
24:01
Speaker 1: hours between that and the time I would see any
24:04
Speaker 1: family member, and I was quite shook. But I took
24:08
Speaker 1: my Bible out, and by the time my family came,
24:11
Speaker 1: I was content that if it was meant to be,
24:13
Speaker 1: it would happen, and if not, the Lord would be
24:16
Speaker 1: with me. And fortunately it turned out that that medical
24:20
Speaker 1: student resident didn't know what he was talking about. He
24:23
Speaker 1: didn't know how to read the X ray. So my
24:25
Speaker 1: mother went out and found the head of the burn unit,
24:29
Speaker 1: the head surgeon, and he told her she doesn't have pneumonia.
24:33
Speaker 1: But you know, it was times like that when I
24:36
Speaker 1: had no place to turn other than to the Bible,
24:39
Speaker 1: into praying and to following the Lord's lead.
24:43
Speaker 2: Many people would have given up. Cheryl, What kept you
24:47
Speaker 2: moving forward instead of succumbing to despair. I'm thinking about
24:51
Speaker 2: our listeners and our viewers who are going through difficult
24:55
Speaker 2: circumstances right now. How did you hold onto your hope
24:58
Speaker 2: during that process?
25:00
Speaker 1: Well, I knew I wasn't in it alone. I reached
25:03
Speaker 1: out to others, in particular, people who I knew had faith,
25:08
Speaker 1: and would ask them what's next. They wouldn't have the answers.
25:13
Speaker 1: But then I'd ask the Lord, and I'd see a
25:16
Speaker 1: path that made no sense to me at the time,
25:19
Speaker 1: but that I felt called to follow. And I can't
25:24
Speaker 1: explain that calling Michelle other than to say it was
25:27
Speaker 1: a still small voice inside of me that said I've
25:29
Speaker 1: got it, Like the Governor said, I've got more important
25:32
Speaker 1: things for you to do, Cheryl. And so I would
25:36
Speaker 1: give the give others the advice that when it's bigger
25:40
Speaker 1: than you, when your recovery is bigger than you, when
25:44
Speaker 1: your life is out of control, when you feel like
25:47
Speaker 1: you just don't have a place to turn, turn your
25:50
Speaker 1: attention to the Lord and read your Bible and ask
25:56
Speaker 1: for the Lord's help, ask him to walk beside you.
25:59
Speaker 1: Surround yourself with people who are faithful, who can help
26:03
Speaker 1: you in those times of doubt. Who can lift you
26:06
Speaker 1: out and encourage you? And that's what got.
26:09
Speaker 2: Me through Such wise advice from someone who's been there. Friend,
26:15
Speaker 2: We're going to take a real short break for a
26:16
Speaker 2: word from our sponsor, but I want you to stick
26:18
Speaker 2: with us. As we wrap up this episode, We're going
26:20
Speaker 2: to ask Cheryl to share a hope filled perspective about
26:23
Speaker 2: how to find your strength when life knocks you down.
26:26
Speaker 2: We'll be right back, Cheryl. I'm curious, what did you
26:31
Speaker 2: discover about yourself that you didn't know before the plane crash.
26:36
Speaker 1: Before the plane crash, I was ambitious. It was all
26:40
Speaker 1: about my career, become the head of a number of organizations,
26:45
Speaker 1: the Young Lawyers Section, Women Lawyers, and my career was
26:50
Speaker 1: really on the rise. All of a sudden, none of
26:53
Speaker 1: that made any difference. It didn't matter. But what mattered
26:58
Speaker 1: wasn't why me? But what next? What was the Lord's
27:02
Speaker 1: plan for me next? It wasn't about bouncing back, It
27:06
Speaker 1: was about forging forward, turning survival into service. And so
27:12
Speaker 1: I became. After I got my nursing degree, I gave
27:15
Speaker 1: of myself to medical mission work. I went to a
27:19
Speaker 1: number of countries. One thing I was able to do
27:22
Speaker 1: is I went to Peru and worked at the Peruvian
27:25
Speaker 1: Unit for Children Burn Unit and Lima, Peru for Children,
27:29
Speaker 1: and I saw there that these children didn't have compression
27:33
Speaker 1: garments like I'd had the opportunity to have, which made
27:37
Speaker 1: it so that my skin most places was able to
27:40
Speaker 1: be flat after the graphs that I'd had. And again,
27:44
Speaker 1: you know, with the Lord's help, I set out to
27:47
Speaker 1: try to bring what was standard of care in the
27:51
Speaker 1: United States from the nineteen seventies to Peru in the
27:55
Speaker 1: twenty fifteen to twenty twenty timeframe. I approached people, I
28:01
Speaker 1: came back and I went to manufacturers of compression garments
28:05
Speaker 1: and the doors opened so that I was able to
28:08
Speaker 1: get patterns, I was able to get material, I was
28:11
Speaker 1: able to get there buy in to helping the people
28:14
Speaker 1: in Peru, and the people in Peru bought two at
28:19
Speaker 1: the hospital, the auxiliary bought two industrial sewing machines, and
28:23
Speaker 1: now every pediatric burn patient in that burn unit leaves
28:29
Speaker 1: the hospital with two pairs of compression garments. Again, the
28:33
Speaker 1: Lord was behind that there was there would be no
28:35
Speaker 1: way that I would have been able to do that
28:37
Speaker 1: on my own, and just following his leads, and seeing
28:41
Speaker 1: the opportunity led me to do something that's benefited countless
28:45
Speaker 1: number of children sins.
28:47
Speaker 2: And that's what impressed me so much reading your book,
28:51
Speaker 2: Living Life Full Throttle, is that time after time after time,
28:56
Speaker 2: it seemed like you encountered what in the natural we
29:00
Speaker 2: would consider impossible, and yet we could see through your
29:05
Speaker 2: story that the God of the impossible stepped in to
29:09
Speaker 2: do what only he could do. Cheryl, my listeners know
29:12
Speaker 2: that I've written a book Sacred Scars, resting in God's
29:16
Speaker 2: promise that your past is not wasted. And your story
29:19
Speaker 2: begs the question, because you have lived with both the
29:23
Speaker 2: physical scars from the burns as well as emotional scars,
29:27
Speaker 2: how have you embraced your scars as part of your
29:31
Speaker 2: story rather than as setbacks.
29:35
Speaker 1: I've It's turned my life into one of purpose, Michelle.
29:38
Speaker 1: It's given me direction. I focused on service over survival,
29:43
Speaker 1: tried to encourage others, and that's that's been my goal.
29:47
Speaker 1: So when I climb Mount Kilimanjaro, yes, I was challenged
29:51
Speaker 1: by the fact that it was the highest mountain in
29:53
Speaker 1: Africa nineteen two hundred and forty three feet, but I
29:56
Speaker 1: was raising money for books for Africa it's an organization
30:00
Speaker 1: that provides books to children that don't have them in Africa,
30:03
Speaker 1: and we were taking the one millionth book to give
30:06
Speaker 1: to Tanzania at the at the top when we'd after
30:10
Speaker 1: we'd climbed the mountain for four days, five days. I
30:13
Speaker 1: didn't know if i'd have the ability to do that.
30:16
Speaker 1: I didn't know if i'd get sick, and route half
30:19
Speaker 1: of our group did. But with the Lord's help, I
30:22
Speaker 1: was able to get to the top, and it showed
30:24
Speaker 1: me a lot of opportunity to rely on the Lord.
30:28
Speaker 1: I'd look down and there'd be these deep crevices below me,
30:32
Speaker 1: and I don't like heights, which sounds was Pilot's licensed
30:36
Speaker 1: to the flying lessons. I'd look down and or the
30:41
Speaker 1: dirt beneath my feet would start to move, And again
30:45
Speaker 1: I just prayed, prayed hard, and the Lord was there.
30:50
Speaker 1: And just as he'd saved my life at the time
30:53
Speaker 1: of the crash, just as he'd saved me while my
30:56
Speaker 1: recovery took place, just as he'd placed me in a
30:59
Speaker 1: position to be able to start the first faith based
31:02
Speaker 1: unit in the country, he was there with me, and
31:05
Speaker 1: I now rely totally on him for that question of
31:11
Speaker 1: what next.
31:12
Speaker 2: Cheryl, as we wrap up this episode, and I'm thinking
31:15
Speaker 2: about our listeners and viewers who might right now feel
31:18
Speaker 2: like they're in the most impossible of situation if they're
31:22
Speaker 2: resonating with our conversation, what hope filled encouragement would you
31:28
Speaker 2: want to give those who were walking through their own
31:30
Speaker 2: plane crash type moment?
31:33
Speaker 1: Well, Michelle, the reason I wrote this book wasn't to
31:36
Speaker 1: make money. It wasn't to become a published author, but
31:39
Speaker 1: it was to give people who face setbacks, who are
31:42
Speaker 1: feeling like they're at rock bottom, hope. And I would
31:47
Speaker 1: encourage them to read Living Life, Full Thritle, Surviving Somebody Serving,
31:54
Speaker 1: because I think that it at least people who have
31:57
Speaker 1: read it tell me time and again it's an iniration.
32:01
Speaker 1: It's because it's been life changing for many, and I
32:05
Speaker 1: would urge them to take heart and turn their faith. Oh,
32:11
Speaker 1: turn to their faith and rely heavily on the Lord
32:14
Speaker 1: for their future, to ask not why me, but what next?
32:19
Speaker 2: Yes, Frends, I hope you hear that. I think it's
32:22
Speaker 2: our natural tendency as humans when we encounter unimaginable circumstances
32:28
Speaker 2: to wonder why me, Joe best? Why but the interesting
32:32
Speaker 2: thing is. God never answered that question, but approaching those
32:36
Speaker 2: situations and asking the Lord what next? Takes our focus
32:40
Speaker 2: off of ourselves and puts it back onto the one
32:44
Speaker 2: who can make all the difference. It takes our focus
32:47
Speaker 2: off the problem and puts it back on the problem solver.
32:50
Speaker 2: So if you feel like you're going through an impossible
32:54
Speaker 2: situation right now, I just want you to take a
32:56
Speaker 2: flu from Cheryl's story time and a time and time again.
33:01
Speaker 2: Throughout her life, She's been in situations when she could
33:04
Speaker 2: have asked why me, But by focusing her attention and
33:07
Speaker 2: getting her hope from the God of all hope, she
33:11
Speaker 2: made it through, and so can you. Cheryl. Thank you
33:14
Speaker 2: for sharing of your testimony of what not just what
33:17
Speaker 2: you've been through, but how God showed up and was
33:21
Speaker 2: good and faithful to do the impossible in and through you.
33:26
Speaker 1: He had the glory. That's my message, ma, he get
33:30
Speaker 1: the glory that he is entitled too because it's not
33:33
Speaker 1: about what I did, but it was about what He
33:36
Speaker 1: has done in my life.
33:38
Speaker 2: Praise God for that. Friends, I hope that there was
33:40
Speaker 2: something in today's episode with Cheryl that has encouraged you,
33:43
Speaker 2: has renewed your hope and has caused you to think
33:46
Speaker 2: about how you will find the strength that you didn't
33:49
Speaker 2: know you had to face the impossible. If you know
33:51
Speaker 2: someone who's going through a difficult circumstance, consider sharing this
33:55
Speaker 2: episode with them to provide a biblically based hope field perspective.
33:59
Speaker 2: Thank you, Cheryl for being with us friends. I look
34:01
Speaker 2: forward to being with you again for another episode of
34:04
Speaker 2: your hope filled perspective next week. You know, until then,
34:07
Speaker 2: it's my prayer for you that you have a hope
34:10
Speaker 2: filled week.
34:12
Speaker 3: Job frustrations, difficult relationships, fluctuating health, emotional upheaval. When life
34:19
Speaker 3: conspires to drag us down with all of its troubles,
34:22
Speaker 3: it can be hard to keep our spirits top. Doctor
34:25
Speaker 3: Michelle Bankson's nose severely ill admired the depression. She desperately
34:30
Speaker 3: needed something to cling to. She needed a reason to
34:34
Speaker 3: get out of bed each day. She needed strength to
34:37
Speaker 3: hold on face each day. That's when she decided to
34:41
Speaker 3: stand on God's promises that despite her circumstances, every day
34:47
Speaker 3: was still a good day for a good day. Mostly
34:51
Speaker 3: award winning author, international speaker, media resource for mental health
34:56
Speaker 3: in podcast hosts, doctor Michelle Bankson has released her new book,
35:00
Speaker 3: Today Is Going to Be a Good Day, ninety promises
35:04
Speaker 3: from God to start your day off right. In this
35:07
Speaker 3: uplifting devotional, Doctor Bankson helps you make each day a
35:11
Speaker 3: good day, no matter what is going on in your life.
35:14
Speaker 3: Each reading includes scripture, reflection, prayer, and a recommended playlist
35:19
Speaker 3: song designed to help you live out Philippians four eight. Finally,
35:24
Speaker 3: Brothers and Sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever
35:29
Speaker 3: is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable,
35:34
Speaker 3: if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things
35:38
Speaker 3: because our thoughts determine our beliefs. Our beliefs determine our attitudes,
35:42
Speaker 3: and our attitudes determine our behaviors. This is a beautiful
35:46
Speaker 3: book that will make the perfect gift for birthdays, anniversaries,
35:51
Speaker 3: mothers or Father's Day, Valentine's Day, or for anyone on
35:55
Speaker 3: your gift list who is going through a difficult time
35:58
Speaker 3: and needs a daily reminder that despite our circumstances, today
36:02
Speaker 3: can still be a good day. Today is Going to
36:04
Speaker 3: Be a Good Day is available wherever books are sold.
36:08
Speaker 3: When you pick one up for yourself, consider getting one
36:11
Speaker 3: to gift to a friend or loved one too fail.
36:14
Speaker 4: Thank you for it, Thank you for joining doctor Banks
36:20
Speaker 4: and to your hope build perspective. We hope you are
36:23
Speaker 4: encouraged by her authenticity, vulnerability, and biblical truths. If you
36:28
Speaker 4: enjoy today's conversation, when you take a moment right now,
36:32
Speaker 4: open up your podcast app and look for the subscribe
36:35
Speaker 4: button right next to our podcast profile image. We think
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Speaker 4: this podcast is best enjoyed with friends, so tell a
36:41
Speaker 4: friend and click share and in your podcast app and
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Speaker 4: send a friend our link to share Hope with them.
36:47
Speaker 4: If you have a comment, question, or suggest a topic
36:49
Speaker 4: for a future show, reach out to our staff at
36:52
Speaker 4: info at Hope Prevails dot org for additional resources. Information
36:57
Speaker 4: about doctor Bankson's books where free downloads. To contact her
37:01
Speaker 4: to speak at your next event, please visit doctor Mishelby
37:05
Speaker 4: dot com. Until next time, May you have a hope filledweek.
37:12
Speaker 2: I'd like to take just a second to thank the
37:15
Speaker 2: team at Life Audio for their partnership with us on
37:18
Speaker 2: this podcast. If you go to lifeaudio dot com, you'll
37:21
Speaker 2: find dozens of other faith centered podcasts in their network.
37:25
Speaker 2: They've got shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.