Pure Choices

How Did You Escape?

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Mike Carducci (Host), Laura Saladind

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Series Code: PC

Program Code: PC000045


00:01 The following program discusses sensitive issues.
00:03 Parents are cautioned that some material
00:05 may be too candid for younger children.
00:41 Hi, I'm Mike Carducci with Coming Out Ministries,
00:44 your host today on Pure Choices.
00:47 I have an incredible program ready for you today.
00:50 I've invited my sister to come
00:52 all the way from the Keys in Florida
00:54 to come and be my guest today.
00:57 Hi, Laura. Hi, Mike.
00:58 And welcome, welcome. Thank you.
01:00 So this is the, this is almost too personal.
01:03 I feel that there's way too much distance
01:05 between us Laura so if you'll excuse me,
01:07 I'm gonna go and sit by my sister.
01:15 Much better, yeah.
01:17 And, so Laura, the reason why I've invited you here
01:19 today is on, you know,
01:21 the Lord has really used you in a very miraculous way.
01:25 And I just want to kind of go through some of the stages
01:30 that we've gone through in our relationship.
01:32 You know, one of the things
01:33 that I remember hearing is the fact that,
01:36 you know, God puts different personalities
01:38 in every family to give us opportunities
01:41 to learn how to deal with different personalities.
01:44 And obviously you and I are, you know,
01:46 we look very similar but yet in many ways,
01:49 we're worlds apart in our, in the way our makeup is,
01:52 and even though we had very much the same history
01:55 and definitely, you know, share the same parents,
01:58 I think that God used you in a very miraculous way
02:02 to help call me out of the homosexual lifestyle.
02:06 And I didn't even realize
02:07 the impact of how much I appreciated
02:11 your steadfastness, and your faithfulness.
02:13 And even in your humanity,
02:15 and I'm sure that there were moments
02:16 when you were discouraged
02:18 but, but I believe that at the time
02:19 that I've been in that lifestyle for over 20 years,
02:22 addicted to sex and on and out of in
02:26 and out of relationships.
02:28 I believe that I was so sin sick
02:30 that I believed that I had lost any opportunity
02:33 to listen to the Holy Spirit.
02:35 But I believe that by your faithful prayers
02:37 and also the prayers of others that God heard that,
02:40 and I believe that He said, "I can still reach Mike.
02:44 I still, there's still some hope for Mike,
02:46 even though he's gone so far into this lifestyle".
02:49 And to me, that's the manifestation
02:52 of why I've asked you to be a part of this program.
02:54 Thank you. Yes, yes.
02:56 So, Laura, let's start off,
02:57 you know, with some of the early years.
02:59 I was seven years old,
03:00 I just gotten my two front teeth.
03:02 And we were running in the backyard.
03:03 I was it and I went to tag her
03:06 and for some reason just like a rabbit
03:08 she just stopped short and I ran right into her back
03:10 and I knocked my two front teeth out
03:12 and they were brand new I just gotten them.
03:14 And so my mother just pushed them
03:16 right up into my mouth.
03:17 They were hanging by a root
03:19 and anyway I still have them today
03:20 so there's so many different...
03:23 Blamed forever. That's right, that's right.
03:26 It was never my fault. No.
03:28 And so Laura and I are the middle children
03:30 of basically four, four kids.
03:33 I'm the only male in my family. We have an older sister.
03:36 I have an older sister.
03:37 And then Laura's under me,
03:38 and then we have a younger sister.
03:40 And, you know, a lot of times, Laura,
03:42 we were kind of lumped together
03:44 because we seemed to be more of the level-headed ones.
03:47 And you probably took the rides in that as well.
03:49 And then our other sisters, I remember,
03:52 we went to a theme park one time
03:54 and we had sat down with the map
03:56 and we decided everywhere we were gonna go,
03:58 and we used bowl of our tickets on that same day.
04:00 And our other two sisters went together
04:02 and they got so upset and angry at each other.
04:04 They lost each other, but we were,
04:06 we were well-planned out and we had it all organized.
04:08 In the second day, we actually got extra tickets
04:10 because we'd used all, all of our tickets that day.
04:11 Right, I think we took from Barb and Cathay.
04:13 That's right, that's right. We took theirs.
04:15 So, Laura, I just wanna give you
04:17 an opportunity for knowing me all those years,
04:21 especially in other programs we've talked about, you know,
04:25 cross-dressing that I was into,
04:27 we played with dolls a lot of times.
04:29 You know, I would, we would do the...
04:32 what you call it?
04:34 The, the things where we had,
04:35 we would dress up and that kind of stuff.
04:37 And you're a good sport but you weren't even into it
04:40 necessarily as much as I was.
04:41 No, no.
04:42 But when you found out I was gay,
04:44 what went through your mind?
04:48 I guess at first I was surprised that
04:51 I hadn't ever realized.
04:55 My husband had questioned whether you were or not?
04:58 And I said, "No. Why would you ask that?"
05:00 And he just kind of dropped it.
05:02 And I think everyone in the family knew
05:04 before I did.
05:06 We were sitting at grandma's table
05:07 and someone made the comment.
05:09 Well, that's just the difference
05:10 between apples and oranges.
05:13 For some reason that clued me in, and I said,
05:16 "Is Michael gay?"
05:18 And then everyone around the table just going,
05:20 "Oh, she didn't know?"
05:21 And I was hurt.
05:23 I was hurt that you didn't feel like
05:26 you could trust me with that.
05:28 Yeah, it's interesting, because I was listening to the enemy.
05:32 And one of the things when I had left the church,
05:36 you know, I wasn't the only one of our siblings that left also,
05:39 but you were the only one
05:41 that stayed in church the whole time.
05:43 And I believe that with the thought of telling you,
05:46 came with it also conviction about, you know,
05:49 how off-track my life had become compared to
05:51 how it professed to be earlier, and also what my goals
05:54 and objectives were in my own spiritual walk
05:57 with Jesus Christ.
05:58 And so at 20 years old,
06:00 when I walked out of church culture
06:01 and had washed my hands off God totally and sister said,
06:04 you know, this isn't working, I'm out of here.
06:06 I believe that the reason
06:08 that I didn't tell you all those years,
06:09 Laura, was because I really knew
06:12 that there was conviction in that.
06:13 And because you were still holding
06:15 the banner of Jesus Christ
06:16 and walking the walk as difficult and as personal
06:19 that's had may have been for you, to me,
06:22 it was an open rebuke, if you would,
06:24 even just the way that you lived.
06:26 And I think that it, that that was also the,
06:29 the wooing of the Holy Spirit, letting me know that
06:31 that things weren't right.
06:33 And so when you called me that day,
06:35 how easy was it to ask me if I was gay or not?
06:39 You know, Mike, I'm sorry. I don't remember that.
06:41 Oh, I do. Well, let me help you.
06:43 So on that day that you called, I remember being on a sofa
06:46 and I was just hanging out on the sofa.
06:48 And I remember, you said,
06:49 "Can I ask you something personal?"
06:51 And by then I knew what the question was.
06:53 And I remember consciously thinking to myself,
06:55 I'm not gonna make this easy.
06:58 And you said, "Well, it has to do with your attractions",
07:00 and I go, "What do you mean?"
07:01 And she goes "Well, you know, you know,
07:04 about your attractions, what you're,
07:06 you know, attracted to", and I go, "What is that?"
07:08 And eventually, you got around to it
07:10 and as unbearably uncomfortable as it may have been for you,
07:13 I felt satisfied that I made you say it
07:16 because I certainly didn't want to have
07:18 to admit it to you I believe.
07:19 Wow.
07:20 And so you finally told,
07:22 you know, said the word and I agreed with you.
07:23 And so I believe that
07:24 there was definitely some distance there.
07:26 And I believe that that's part of the persecution
07:28 that we as Christians endure because God says,
07:32 "Are you gonna follow me completely?"
07:34 And part of that is representing
07:36 what truth is and holding up with truth is.
07:39 And so, Laura, there was no doubt in my mind
07:41 that you loved me.
07:43 There was no doubt in my mind that
07:44 that you would be there for me if I ever needed you.
07:46 Good.
07:47 But the distance that started really growing was the fact
07:50 that I knew that, that we weren't equally yoked
07:54 and that my life was a constant rebuke to the life
07:57 that you were living.
07:58 Because I knew where that where I had been at one time
08:01 when I was where you were at,
08:03 and so that I think bridged the gap of that.
08:06 Can you tell the, the listeners a little bit about
08:09 how I treated you during those 20 years?
08:13 Well, it helped to be in Colorado.
08:15 I was in Colorado and you were in Florida.
08:17 And I had two young kids.
08:22 And I didn't know all that you were doing.
08:25 In fact, I knew a very little.
08:26 I...this last year,
08:28 listening to your testimonies here and there
08:30 and, and each time I hear it, I hear something different.
08:33 And I just my heartbreaks for the ugliness
08:39 you had to go through.
08:40 And I'm thankful that I didn't know everything
08:43 you're going through because I think
08:45 I would have really had a hard time having peace
08:49 that you were safe or, or that, you know,
08:52 God was gonna be able to reach you.
08:53 I had no idea of the depth that the homosexual life can go to.
08:58 Okay.
08:59 And I remember that, you know,
09:02 there were, there were few times
09:04 when you just out-and-out told me
09:06 I was crazy, or fanatic,
09:09 or I don't know the exact word,
09:14 but basically what,
09:18 when you can't be told anything like,
09:23 I can't think of that word.
09:24 What would that word be? Obstinate.
09:26 Stuck in the mud, or obstinate or, or, you know,
09:30 you thought I was unrealistic about life
09:32 and probably very unrealistic about what your life was like.
09:37 But there were a couple times you attacked me
09:40 in front of the children and that, that that was hard.
09:43 That was really hard.
09:44 In fact, one time we were in the car.
09:47 And you said the one word that you knew
09:49 would really, really upset me
09:52 with my children in the back seat.
09:54 And I didn't respond.
09:56 And we were, we were mad. We were having an argument.
10:00 And about half an hour later we made up.
10:03 And you said, you know, I was really surprised
10:05 when you didn't react to that word
10:07 I said, and I said, "What word?"
10:08 And you told me that word.
10:10 It was like I didn't even hear that word
10:13 and then I got really angry on you
10:16 because my children were in the car,
10:17 and I...that was one word
10:20 I definitely didn't want them to hear.
10:21 But I had to be guarded around you, I loved you,
10:24 and, and wanted the kids to know their uncle.
10:27 And thought of you as a wonderful person
10:30 to get to know but I couldn't allow the freedom for them
10:36 to get to know you real well
10:37 because I couldn't trust you to be respectful of me
10:41 or the children.
10:42 Sure. That was hard.
10:43 You know, setting up safeguards, of course,
10:45 to protect your children at all costs.
10:47 I totally understand and support you in that.
10:50 I know that my view of Christianity had
10:53 totally changed in the light of the path that I was walking.
10:57 I had to get to an understanding that,
10:59 that Christianity was for losers,
11:02 you know, and for people who weren't enlightened.
11:04 You know, I was listening to what the world was saying.
11:07 You know, and I had totally loosened up the reins
11:09 of what morality had taught me.
11:12 And in that, I felt that you were the one
11:14 that was in ignorance.
11:15 I thought that you were the one that was weak.
11:17 I thought you were the one
11:19 that really didn't have it all together
11:21 or enough information to really make a decision.
11:24 I remember, almost feeling like it was my job to educate you
11:28 about what life was really about.
11:31 And of course, that would come off
11:33 absolutely condescending
11:35 and I know that I treated you that way.
11:38 I remember, well, one of the questions
11:40 I want to ask you is,
11:42 so what was your opinion of homosexuality at the time,
11:45 when you found out that I was gay?
11:48 Before, before you personally? Yes.
11:51 I was worried that you had lost salvation.
11:55 And, I mean, as the years went by,
11:58 I get more worried that God couldn't reach you anymore.
12:01 Ah-ah. That was hard.
12:03 So what was your response then to your understanding,
12:07 now where did you get this understanding?
12:10 For what? I knew about homosexuality?
12:11 Yes.
12:15 All I knew basically was that men were having sex with men.
12:20 And I couldn't even try to figure out
12:22 what that was all about
12:24 'cause I just couldn't deal with that.
12:25 Right. But I knew.
12:30 What I mean is, where did you come up
12:32 with your understanding that
12:33 that homosexuals would lose salvation?
12:36 There's a verse in the Bible that talks about
12:40 fornicators and adulterers,
12:42 and you were definitely doing that because
12:43 you weren't in a married relationship either.
12:47 But then there's also a verse, it talks about,
12:50 it actually says, homosexuals.
12:53 I think, it's 1 Timothy some or, but I...
12:56 that was my understanding.
12:57 So from your Bible studies is where you came up with
13:01 the understanding that, that homosexuals
13:03 would not inherit the kingdom, right?
13:05 Right. Okay.
13:06 So that's what I'm trying to establish there.
13:07 Because again when I ended up giving my heart
13:10 back to the Lord, you know, imagine my shock
13:12 as I understood that that those verses
13:15 also had that same response for me is that
13:17 I, I recognized that by that behavior
13:19 I was also losing the kingdom from myself.
13:22 So, Laura, what did you decide to do
13:23 when you found out that my salvation was at risk?
13:27 Only thing I could do is pray for you.
13:29 Okay. So how did that come about?
13:32 I've always prayed for my family,
13:35 because I might not have been homosexual
13:37 but I still had problems.
13:39 And we all have had our problems.
13:41 And I want all of us to be in the kingdom together.
13:45 Right. So I didn't understand a lot.
13:48 And I wasn't around. I was in Colorado.
13:52 But there, you know, I could pray, I could pray.
13:55 But there were times just like just to get down again
13:59 and to pray again for you without seeing
14:02 any kind of change,
14:03 or any kind of inkling of a desire, you know,
14:07 to know God on any level.
14:10 Sometimes all I could do was pray for Cathy
14:13 to pray for you.
14:15 Now Cathy is our older sister and at the time that Laura
14:19 and Cathy were praying for me, I was in Florida,
14:22 Laura is in Colorado,
14:23 our other sister is in Florida also,
14:26 and my sister worked for me, not Laura, but Cathy.
14:29 And so every day, you know, working as a hairdresser,
14:32 and, you know, I was working in a very upscale place
14:34 and so my sister was my shampoo assistant.
14:37 And she'd sweep my hair.
14:38 And she scheduled my clients and, you know,
14:40 she was incredible.
14:42 And we worked side-by-side together
14:43 as a matter of fact there were other homosexuals
14:44 that I worked with.
14:46 I had clients that were homosexual
14:47 and I had a ton of clients that were heterosexual
14:50 that totally accepted my gay lifestyle.
14:52 I thought I had the world by the tail.
14:55 I had a boyfriend with, with big arms,
14:57 big blue eyes, and a big convertible Mercedes.
15:00 I thought I hit pay dirt.
15:01 I thought that I had become the ultimate
15:04 in what gay success, you know, should be.
15:07 And so here my sister who's working with me
15:09 side-by-side is praying with me in tandem
15:12 with my sister in Colorado.
15:14 So what was incredible is Laura had gone through
15:16 a lot of emotional issues within her own life.
15:20 And her husband had left her with two children.
15:23 And he had gone off.
15:25 He had an internet affair with an old girlfriend.
15:27 And during that time, you know, I wasn't,
15:32 I wasn't out of touch with what you were going through.
15:35 But I really thought that she got rid of some deadweight.
15:37 I was so happy to see him gone,
15:40 and then all of a sudden what happened, Laura,
15:41 is everything got pulled out from underneath you.
15:44 And what happened is you recognized that
15:46 you needed God in a much deeper way,
15:48 and what happened is I started to see this
15:50 transformation in your life.
15:52 And I saw you become lovely again.
15:55 I saw more confidence, I saw a power
15:58 and a strength I hadn't seen in years.
16:00 I saw this beautiful woman emerging again from
16:03 all of the insecurity from everything
16:05 that you were battling with,
16:06 you know, before your husband had left.
16:08 And I thought "Great, she's got it together now.
16:10 She's rid of the deadweight," and then all of a sudden
16:12 you called me one day and said,
16:14 "Bob and I are getting married again."
16:16 Do you even remember what I said to you?
16:17 'Cause I remember what I said. No.
16:19 I said, "You'd be better off with an axe murderer."
16:21 I go, "You know all about this guy."
16:23 I go, "He's gonna do it to you again" you know,
16:26 "if you let him back in".
16:27 And, you know, some reason you still invited me
16:31 to come to the wedding.
16:32 And I wanna apologize again
16:35 for all the condescending comments
16:38 and I hope that you can forgive me
16:40 because again, the influence that I was under.
16:43 It wasn't who, it wasn't how I should've treated you.
16:48 And it wasn't, it wasn't...
16:50 it was my decision to say those things
16:53 but the influence totally wasn't in a, in a,
16:56 in a god-loving or god-fearing situation.
16:58 And I hope that you've been able to work that past for me.
17:01 Of course, of course, that was few years ago.
17:03 All right, so I go to the wedding.
17:04 And hotshot Mike here I am, sexual addict and I had,
17:08 I had got my hotel room.
17:10 I got a car. I was ready.
17:11 I was gonna go out on my boyfriend.
17:13 And I was gonna go out to the bars at night
17:15 and get laid the day before the wedding.
17:18 So on Sabbath, I'm in church, and you asked me
17:20 to take pictures of Bob's baptism.
17:22 And I don't know why I felt like
17:23 throwing the camera in the water,
17:24 personally, but I sat there and in comes your husband,
17:28 in comes Bob, and he comes into the water,
17:31 and he comes forward, and I'm thinking,
17:33 "What's he doing?
17:34 What's that jerk doing?"
17:36 And he came forward
17:37 and he picked up the microphone,
17:39 and he started to confess his sins,
17:41 right there in front of the church
17:43 that he had left.
17:44 And he started to confess what he'd done.
17:46 He asked for their forgiveness. And I was in shock.
17:50 I knew that wasn't, I knew that wasn't my brother-in-law
17:53 that I'd known for 12 years before.
17:55 And then he asked not only for them to forgive him
17:58 but he also said, "I want to make it right with God today,
18:02 so I can make it right to Laura tomorrow".
18:05 I was sitting there in church culture,
18:07 one of the rare times,
18:08 and tears are streaming down my face.
18:10 I was actually in the presence of the Holy Spirit.
18:14 And all those years Lord of your praying
18:17 and my family members praying for me,
18:18 this was the moment
18:20 when the Holy Spirit said, "It's time.
18:22 It's time."
18:23 And you know what?
18:25 I was forever changed from that moment.
18:26 It was a process that night I went back to my hotel room.
18:30 I couldn't take my shower, I couldn't go out to the bars,
18:32 I couldn't watch TV, I couldn't go to sleep.
18:35 I was like Jacob wrestling with Jesus Christ in that room
18:38 that whole night.
18:39 I was totally and uncontrollably disturbed
18:42 by what I had experienced that day.
18:44 And the next day after the wedding
18:46 when I left and went back home,
18:49 my boyfriend didn't know what hit me.
18:51 You know, within a week or two, my sister in Florida invited me
18:54 to an evangelistic series which I went to.
18:58 And three months later,
18:59 I'm a baptized member in the Adventist Church,
19:02 and the night before I got baptized
19:04 my sister Cathy said, "What are you gonna do
19:06 about your boyfriend?"
19:08 And I said, "Nothing," I go, "I'm gay.
19:09 This is who I am."
19:10 And I said, "The only thing I know is that Jesus loves me
19:14 for who I am."
19:15 And that night when I gave my heart to the Lord,
19:18 the pastor was making the final call.
19:20 And he had been very patient with us.
19:23 And he said, "For some of you tonight,"
19:25 he said, "this will be the last opportunity
19:27 that the Holy Spirit will have to reach you again."
19:29 He said, "Some of you tonight will walk out that door
19:32 and never have another opportunity
19:34 to accept his invitation again."
19:36 And I knew that was me.
19:37 And I bowed my head and I said, "Lord, I can't go up there,
19:41 I just can't go up there, I'm not worthy to go up there."
19:43 You know, "My life is a train wreck,"
19:45 and I said, "I give you my heart
19:47 but I cannot go up there".
19:49 And my next conscious thought is that
19:50 I was standing in front
19:52 and our sister was standing beside me
19:53 and tears were just coming down her face
19:55 and I said, "Why are you here?"
19:57 and she said, "Because you are."
19:59 And that was the first conscious moment
20:00 that I realized that I was up in front
20:03 and I believe that two angels marched me up front
20:06 the moment that I said, "Lord, I just give you my heart,
20:09 but I couldn't do it."
20:10 That was all He needed and He began
20:12 this transformation.
20:13 So, Laura, I really wanna talk a little bit about
20:16 what was your response when Cathy called you and said,
20:19 "Mike's getting baptized tomorrow."
20:21 What went through your mind?
20:23 I thought, oh, that's great!
20:24 All those prayers she answered...
20:26 All those prayers she prayed finally being answered.
20:29 I couldn't.
20:30 I don't know, Michael, I've never been very confident
20:34 that my prayers were the ones that got you there
20:36 because I felt like I wasn't faithful.
20:40 I felt like I'd given up on you too many times.
20:43 And, yeah, I got back to it.
20:46 Because the only strength we have,
20:48 the only chance for change is through God.
20:52 And if I stopped praying and I didn't continue to pray,
20:56 I was basically not given you any kind of chance at all
21:01 and I couldn't live with that either.
21:03 I remember...
21:04 Oh, go ahead.
21:06 Being afraid to talk to you
21:07 because I didn't want to ever give you the impression
21:13 that I didn't love you.
21:14 And yeah, I could never give you the impression
21:16 that I condone what you were doing either.
21:19 Because I had to be faithful to God's word
21:21 and I didn't feel like I could do that.
21:23 But I never wanted you to doubt how much you meant to me,
21:26 and how much I loved you.
21:28 I wanna tell you how you affirmed me
21:30 during that time.
21:32 When I was out of the church,
21:33 you would still bring your children.
21:34 And you would stay in my,
21:36 you know, condo there in Florida.
21:38 And you would stay as long as a month
21:40 and what was so beautiful
21:41 is you never made judgments about my friends.
21:43 You know, you never held back your kids
21:46 from being near me.
21:48 I was absolutely enthralled with your children
21:50 and loved being with them.
21:52 And what was amazing is that you affirmed me
21:55 by not treating me like an outcast.
21:57 And the same with Cathy, she always invited me
21:59 and my boyfriends over for holiday meals.
22:01 I never had a clue
22:03 that Cathy didn't have the same understanding
22:06 that I did about homosexuality.
22:08 You know, her kindness, her tenderness,
22:10 the way that she poured out herself to my boyfriends,
22:12 even our sister Barb,
22:14 she had never met one of my boyfriends
22:15 and invited him to dinner when he was in Cleveland, Ohio.
22:18 So, you know, the support was there
22:21 and I believe that as a testimony
22:24 of the power of Jesus Christ
22:26 that we are to be God with skin on.
22:28 And like the woman at the well, Jesus didn't judge her.
22:31 He told her what the truth was about
22:33 what was going on with her.
22:34 But she didn't ever feel any rejection or judgment.
22:40 What she responded to was the love of Jesus
22:43 that day at the well.
22:44 And so, you know, I understand more now
22:47 from the other side
22:48 but at that time you were still being a faithful witness
22:51 by not compromising the standard
22:53 but lavish, the lavishing me with that love,
22:56 pouring that out to me,
22:57 and allowing me to see my family,
23:00 and to still be in touch with my family
23:01 because again that was what God was using to pull me out.
23:06 Laura, I want you to tell them about what we talked about
23:09 earlier today about,
23:11 when you knew that God was very personal
23:14 and real to you?
23:17 Oh!
23:20 Cathy and I were praying for another family member.
23:23 And it was, it was major,
23:26 there was some major danger going on.
23:28 And we weren't sure how the Lord wanted us to pray
23:32 and it was two or three days of intense "What do we do?
23:36 How do we, how do we help her?"
23:38 And I remembered that the Lord had spoken to Cathy
23:42 and she was telling me.
23:44 I was in Colorado, and she was in Florida.
23:45 Over the phone, she said, tell Laura,
23:48 such-and such and she started to say
23:50 and I said "Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait.
23:52 God said tell Laura?"
23:54 She said, "Yeah, let me..." I said, "Wait, no."
23:58 He said my name?
24:01 She said, "Yeah, let me tell you..."
24:03 I said, wait, I could not get the past the idea
24:06 that God had said my name.
24:08 It took me a few, a few moments
24:11 to get to where I could even focus on what
24:14 we were so intense about just few minutes earlier.
24:19 It just blew me away that God knew my name.
24:22 And all day long, I was just in this euphoria like
24:26 I can't believe the Master of the universe,
24:29 the Creator of everything,
24:31 this little speck of a person down here,
24:33 He knows my name.
24:36 And the next day Cathy and I were on the phone again.
24:39 That's right.
24:40 And she said, "Lord told me to tell you something else,
24:44 He said tell Laura, yes.
24:46 I know her name."
24:48 That's really...You know, what it reminds me of,
24:50 Laura, is in our family
24:51 we suffered under extreme
24:56 neglect not physical abuse so much,
24:59 but definitely emotional abuse.
25:01 Our parents divorced when we were young.
25:03 You know, our dad went.
25:05 You know, he had four wives
25:07 before he passed away five years ago.
25:09 Our mother went off the deepened
25:11 and she had a history of abuse as well from her father,
25:14 sexual abuse, and you know, she went off the deepened,
25:17 you know, having many partners
25:18 and, and we lived through that.
25:20 Then our family was ripped apart
25:21 when, when our sister left us, and then when I left, and then,
25:24 you know, we were just always so split and so, Laura,
25:27 you were always like the lost child.
25:29 You were, you were the one that never made a riff,
25:31 you were the one that that excelled in school.
25:34 And it was very easy for you constantly wanting the approval
25:37 and affection of your mother and father.
25:39 You, you've always been the toucher.
25:41 You know, you love to hold hands,
25:43 you love to touch, you know, family members
25:45 and people that you love.
25:46 And so that wasn't gratifying for you being in a situation
25:52 where you were just left alone.
25:54 And you never cried for attention, as a matter of fact.
25:56 Mom said that out of all the babies,
25:59 you were the best 'cause you never cried
26:00 unless you were hungry or wet.
26:01 And so I believe that God knew just how lost you were
26:08 and how many times that you were the one that
26:11 that never got anything because you weren't loud
26:13 and you didn't demand it,
26:14 and you didn't scratch and fight and claw for it.
26:17 And so how amazing that was to me
26:19 that God was so personal that He wants to tell you Himself
26:23 that He knows your name.
26:25 Anyway, so now,
26:27 since then it's been an incredible journey.
26:30 And what would you say to anyone out there
26:33 who has a loved one, a brother, a sister
26:36 who is in the gay lifestyle?
26:38 And there's absolutely no hope,
26:39 and, and even if they have totally turned their back
26:42 on their family,
26:43 and they're totally out of the family,
26:44 or out of the way, what advice would you give to someone
26:48 who's desperate for their brother, sister,
26:51 a husband, or wife,
26:53 or any family member that maybe in this lifestyle?
26:57 You have to keep praying.
27:00 And when you don't feel like praying,
27:01 tell the Lord you don't feel like praying
27:03 but that you don't want your brother,
27:05 your sister, your cousin to be left all alone
27:09 in the devil's hands.
27:10 You can't allow that 'cause if you're not praying,
27:13 then they're unguarded.
27:16 And it's not supposed to be a burden of a prayer.
27:20 I would like to say another thing is you cannot,
27:24 you cannot turn your back on the word of God
27:28 and lower the standards to say "That's okay."
27:32 You know, I can, I can live with that
27:36 because you have to stand firm otherwise
27:39 when they do come to the Lord,
27:40 how are they gonna know that that it's wrong?
27:44 Or you have, you have to show that love
27:47 but you can not deny
27:52 what God is asking all of us to do.
27:54 Yeah. Thank you for joining us at Pure Choices.
27:57 Thank you, Laura. Thank you.


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Revised 2017-05-25