Participants:
Series Code: UBR
Program Code: UBR210007S
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00:01 Stay tuned to meet a couple who overcame adversity
00:03 and was determined to do God's will, no matter the cost. 00:06 My name is Jason Bradley, 00:08 and you're watching Urban Report. 00:32 Hello and welcome to Urban Report, 00:34 my guest today are Ian and Angela Vandervalk, 00:37 and they are a huge part of our 3ABN production team. 00:41 Welcome to Urban Report, Ian and Angela. 00:44 Thank you, Jason. Thank you for having us. 00:45 Thanks for having us. 00:47 Yeah, my pleasure. 00:48 It's great to have you guys here since you've been at 3ABN, 00:51 I've had the opportunity to get to know you 00:53 a little bit better 00:55 and also taste some delicious food. 00:57 That's right. Yeah. 00:59 But while doing so, 01:01 I got to hear your powerful testimony. 01:05 And I want to start 01:06 with a little bit of your background, 01:08 your upbringing with both of you. 01:10 So how were you raised? 01:12 Let's start with you, Ian. You go. 01:13 No, go ahead. All right. 01:15 Well, I grew up in an Irish Catholic home. 01:17 Okay. 01:18 You know, I went to Catholic schools 01:20 my whole life from pre-K 01:21 all the way through high school. 01:23 The family that I was in though, 01:24 we weren't very spiritual. 01:26 You know, we just kind of went to church on 01:27 what was deemed the important days 01:29 like Christmas and Easter and things of that nature. 01:31 But we never really sat down as a family or read the Bible 01:35 or anything like that, it was just, 01:37 you know, my mom worked in the Catholic school 01:38 so I went to Catholic schools and... 01:40 Got you. 01:41 Yup. Got you. 01:42 So you didn't have the firm spiritual foundation? 01:44 No, there was really no foundation 01:45 even in being raised in the Catholic school, 01:48 I didn't really, you know, put forth the effort 01:51 or time to really learn about God or anything. 01:54 Got you. And, Angela, what about you? 01:56 Well, I was raised in a Seventh-day Adventist Home. 01:58 Okay. 01:59 My family went to church, my grandparents, 02:01 my aunts, uncles, everybody went to church 02:04 and I have a good memory of that, 02:07 but when I became a teenager 02:08 just one day my parents just stopped going. 02:11 And so we left the church, and I was at a church, 02:15 probably until I was about 24. 02:18 Okay, okay. Yeah. 02:19 Now, when you two met, were you in church then? 02:24 Actually, no, neither of us 02:25 were really in church at the time, 02:26 I definitely was not. 02:28 I was through and through 100% part of the world. 02:32 I was not involved in the church, 02:33 didn't attend church, didn't read my Bible, 02:35 had zero relationship with God at the time 02:37 I was just kind of looking for worldly pleasures 02:39 and doing worldly things. 02:41 So without a question we were not in the church 02:44 when we met. 02:46 Yeah. 02:47 So you're both kind of in the same state though? 02:48 Yes. 02:50 Yeah, at the time, she, and she was a single mom 02:52 when we met too, working two jobs and, you know. 02:55 Going to school. 02:56 Going to school, 02:57 so she really didn't set the time to go to church 02:59 or wasn't even part of that either then too. 03:01 Got you. Yeah. 03:02 Did you notice something missing in your life? 03:05 You know, looking back on it now, 03:08 I would say at the time I didn't. 03:10 But, you know, looking back, yeah, there was a big part 03:12 that was missing in my life for sure. 03:14 Did you feel like you were trying to fill voids 03:18 with other things? 03:19 Oh, without question, without question, 03:21 I mean I was, you know, 03:23 it was the party scene, the nightlife, 03:26 you know, I grew up in South Florida 03:28 near Fort Lauderdale, Miami, 03:29 so that's kind of what you do down there 03:31 and especially if you don't have 03:32 God in your heart, 03:33 you're just living in the clubs 03:35 and it's all about drinking and drugs and partying. 03:38 You know, that's really all it's about 03:39 and that's kind of what I used to fill my life 03:41 with, it's just, you know all the outside things, 03:44 you know, like I said the drinking and the drugs 03:46 and, you know, women and clubbing 03:48 and, you know dancing all of that, 03:50 that was pretty much what I did. 03:51 Yeah, yeah, and you found that it was empty. 03:54 Absolutely. 03:55 Yes. Absolutely. 03:57 So what were you doing for work? 03:59 What was your career? 04:00 Well, at the time I was, 04:01 I was a bookkeeper for a company. 04:03 Okay. 04:04 So I worked in a vault just counting money, 04:06 but I had lost that job at one point. 04:08 The company I worked for had shut down. 04:10 And we have actually just gotten married, maybe, 04:13 I don't know, maybe a year prior to that, 04:15 and when the company shut down. 04:18 I started looking for a job and I couldn't find one 04:20 and Angela then told me that she's pregnant. 04:25 I'm unemployed, so I didn't know what to do. 04:27 Things got real. 04:29 Things got real, real quick. 04:31 So what I did is, 04:34 my father and my grandfather were both, 04:36 had served in the army. 04:37 Okay. 04:39 My father was a pharmacy tech 04:40 and my grandfather was actually a spy in World War II. 04:41 Wow. 04:43 So there was a legacy there within my family 04:44 about serving in the military, 04:45 so I thought maybe this is a good time 04:47 to look into it. 04:48 So both my wife and I went there 04:50 and talk to a recruiter. 04:51 And, you know, I decided this is the best option 04:54 so I enlisted in the army for four years. 04:57 Wow, wow. 04:58 And I served a total of almost 12 years in the army. 05:00 Wow. 05:02 Now I know that, you know when you're in the military, 05:04 no matter what branch you're in, 05:06 there's a lot of travel involved 05:08 and there's some challenges that, you know, come up. 05:11 What challenges did you guys face 05:13 in your relationship when you joined the army? 05:15 Oh, boy. 05:16 Well, when I joined the army 05:19 that's kind of when everything started to fall apart. 05:21 The time that, you know, I had spent in basic training 05:24 and being away from her. 05:25 And then, AIT, which is kind of like the schooling 05:28 that you go to for your specific job 05:31 that you're going to have within the army. 05:33 So we spent, I don't know maybe about six or seven months 05:36 being apart from each other 05:38 and I might have thought one day 05:39 within that time, so there was, it was hard 05:42 and when I joined, I don't know what happened 05:45 but maybe it's because I didn't have 05:47 all that nightlife involved, 05:48 I didn't have those things that I could just, 05:50 you know, fill my life with in that void. 05:53 So I became very depressed. 05:55 Yeah. And it was, it was tough. 05:58 So that time in the military 05:59 I became basically an alcoholic. 06:03 I drank all the time, it was, you know, every day. 06:06 I started making extremely poor choices 06:08 in my life and the job that I had 06:10 at the time in the military. 06:13 I would have to say about every day, 06:16 I was watching people die. 06:17 Wow. 06:18 And it took a toll on me because you know, 06:20 you're working eight to ten hours a day 06:23 and you're witnessing, 06:24 you know, someone's life being taken. 06:25 Yeah. 06:27 And you know you played a part in that. 06:28 And then I would have to come home and all of a sudden, 06:31 flip a switch and become a father and a husband, 06:34 and I didn't know how to do that. 06:35 And on top of me being, 06:37 you know, dealing with depression 06:38 and not really sharing it with anybody 06:39 just trying to control those emotions on my own, 06:42 I just, I started to fall apart. 06:44 Yeah. 06:46 And, you know, with the drinking. 06:49 You know it's hard for me to say 06:50 but as a married couple I did, 06:53 you know, some of the worst things 06:54 that I could do to my wife and I committed adultery. 06:57 And it wasn't just once, I did it on multiple occasions. 07:02 And, you know, it's hard to forgive myself. 07:05 I know the Lord does forgive me for it absolutely, 07:07 but I still, in some ways I carry that weight with me, 07:10 because of what I did, 07:12 and the pain that I caused my wife. 07:14 You know, she was very much a part of the church 07:18 at that time. 07:21 And she had rededicated her life to the Lord. 07:23 Yeah. 07:24 So, I don't know if you want to talk about that. 07:28 Yeah, you know, Angela, I want to know, like, 07:31 what were your feelings 07:33 while Ian was gone at the army? 07:37 I was really sad. 07:38 It was sad and then before he joined the army, 07:42 and before we got married, I gave my life back to God. 07:46 I was smoking, I was drinking, and my cousin invited me 07:49 to evangelistic meeting. 07:52 And I went there smoking and drinking and left there. 07:57 You know I came as I was, 'cause everybody's always like, 08:00 "Come as you are." 08:01 So I did, I was smoking about a pack and a half day 08:04 and drinking on the weekends 08:06 and I went and I just gave my heart to God 08:11 and stopped all that. 08:12 So when we got married, 08:14 praise God that I gave my heart to God 08:17 before we got married. 08:18 And when we got married, I was already in love with him, 08:20 so I was like, 08:22 God is not going to come before you, 08:24 so I was like, God, God comes first I meant to say, 08:27 and so I told him that upfront, 08:29 I was like, "Before we get married, 08:30 I just want you to know I love God 08:32 and you may not go to church 08:33 but God comes first in my life," 08:35 and he respected that 08:36 and, but he went away 08:39 and he told me what he was doing. 08:43 You know, it was very hard for me. 08:45 And, you know, my first thing is, 08:48 I'm not gonna be with no man that cheats on me, 08:50 there's no way, you know, and I'm like, 08:52 "Forget this, I'm leaving," but I was like, 08:54 "God, what is Your will? 08:56 What is Your will? What do You want me to do?' 08:57 And my cousin, 08:59 she went through this similar before I did 09:02 and then she's like, just, I spoke to her. 09:04 She's like, "Just read Psalms and Proverbs 09:06 and pray for your husband, pray for your marriage." 09:08 She's like, "Fight for it." 09:10 So I did and I prayed and every time, 09:13 you know, throughout the years we'd be fine, 09:14 then it would happen again and then he's drinking 09:16 and then it happens, 09:18 so I just kept praying and kept praying 09:20 for God's will to be done 09:21 and I would fight with God, I'd be like, 09:23 "Why do You want me with this man? 09:24 I don't want to be with Him." 09:26 You know, I don't want to be hurting anymore, 09:28 but God had a plan. 09:30 And now it's just a wonderful marriage 09:34 and I'm just so thankful and praise God 09:37 that I have this wonderful husband now 09:39 that he just loves the Lord. 09:42 Yes. Amen. Yeah. 09:43 And, Ian, like when Angela came to the Lord, 09:48 did you feel like you were married 09:50 to a different person? 09:52 One hundred percent. 09:54 She completely changed 09:56 and we were not at the same level 09:57 at that point. 09:59 She had accepted Lord, 10:00 the Lord and accepted Him completely into her life. 10:03 So, you know, I didn't really know 10:05 much about having relationship with God 10:07 so I just kind of told her, you know, yeah, 10:09 sure it's fine with me, you know. 10:12 But I was still drinking, I was still smoking, 10:15 I was still very much a part of the world 10:16 and she was not 10:18 so we couldn't really relate anymore. 10:19 There was a lot of things that we just didn't, 10:22 we started losing in common. 10:23 And, you know, but we just, 10:26 we kept moving forward as a couple 10:27 and, you know, throughout all of the, 10:32 the adultery and the drinking and the arguments 10:34 and the fighting, I mean, 10:36 it was constant and it was cyclical, 10:38 you know, something would happen 10:40 and I would be good for a while, 10:42 but then because of the hurt that I've caused her 10:44 and she didn't know how to deal with it. 10:45 She started, you know, and I don't blame her for it, 10:49 but, you know, berating me 10:50 and putting me down and things like that, 10:52 so then I started feeling even worse about myself 10:54 and it wasn't really her fault. 10:56 You know, it was just, she didn't know 10:58 how to deal with the emotions either at that time. 11:00 Yes. 11:01 And you know we just kept moving forward 11:03 and kept moving forward, 11:04 but it hit a point where in our marriage 11:06 and our relationship 11:07 where she couldn't take it anymore. 11:08 And she was, she was 100% done and I don't blame her for it. 11:13 So she left to go to North Carolina, 11:17 remind you, we lived in Georgia at the time 11:18 and she just kind of took a little vacation kind of, 11:21 to get away from me, and she had told me 11:23 that she wanted to divorce. 11:25 And this is when, 11:26 at the same time my mother was sick with cancer. 11:29 And she had been dealing with it 11:30 and battling with it for several years. 11:32 So I became, I essentially lost it, 11:37 and I became suicidal. 11:39 I was on the phone with my brother 11:41 and I was crying uncontrollably, 11:43 I couldn't... 11:44 All the emotions that were flooding 11:46 through my head, all I wanted to do is die, 11:48 because in my head I'm losing 11:50 the two most important women in my life. 11:51 And the only thing that actually saved me was, 11:55 was my son, 11:56 because my son was in the home with me at that time 11:58 and I kept thinking in my head 12:00 that I don't want my son to find me dead in the house. 12:05 You know, I don't want him to have that image 12:07 for the rest of his life. 12:08 So as soon as she came home, 12:10 I went to my leadership in the army 12:13 and I explained to them what I had going on. 12:15 And they immediately took me 12:16 to the military medical hospital, 12:19 and I was put on suicide watch 12:21 and had to go through counseling 12:22 for about four days. 12:24 During that time, 12:26 or after the four days when I got released, 12:28 my brother had called me and said, 12:30 "Hey, mom, is not doing well, 12:31 you need to come down here and go to the hospital." 12:33 So I went down there to visit her 12:34 and four days later she died. 12:36 Wow. 12:37 Now, this was the moment where I think in some, 12:40 in anybody's life, you're either gonna go left 12:42 or you're gonna go right, just you know, 12:45 and it was four days earlier where I was on suicide watch. 12:48 You know, I wanted to end my life, 12:50 and now my mother's dead 12:51 and I didn't know how to handle these emotions. 12:52 I had fear, anger, upset, 12:55 you know, but at the same time I was happy 12:56 because my mom didn't have to go 12:57 through that pain anymore. 12:59 Yeah, she wasn't suffering. No, she wasn't. 13:01 Um, so a few more days had gone by 13:04 and I called up my wife and I said, 13:05 "You know, listen, 13:07 you're never gonna have to worry again." 13:08 And she didn't believe me, she just goes, 13:10 "Yeah right, whatever." 13:11 And, you know, and I didn't blame her 13:12 â cause at this point talk was cheap, 13:14 so I couldn't just talk the talk, 13:15 I had to walk the walk. 13:18 And, you know, she's... 13:21 I can't thank her enough and really for the Lord 13:23 because, you know, as bad as she wanted to leave, 13:26 she listened to the Lord and not her emotions 13:28 and not what she wanted. 13:30 You know, so she listened to God 13:31 and she never left and she's stuck by my side 13:34 and this, that was the moment where things 13:36 and the Lord really started to work in my life. 13:38 Yeah. 13:39 He really started to make some changes. 13:40 And I want to go into that but I want to say that, 13:42 that is very powerful 13:44 that you had that forgiveness in your heart, 13:47 you know, that's clearly from the Lord 13:48 that God placed that forgiveness 13:50 in your heart and it's powerful 13:53 that you accepted that and you extended that to Ian, 13:58 and you guys are sitting here today 14:00 and, you know, like, having the opportunity 14:04 to get to know you, I think you guys are wonderful couple. 14:06 Thank you. 14:08 Like I'm thrilled that you guys are out here. 14:11 Yeah. Praise God. 14:12 You know, you've been through a lot. 14:15 You had come to the point 14:18 where you just wanted to end it all. 14:20 I did. 14:21 But your son, your son was there. 14:23 It's amazing how God uses children to get to the parents 14:27 to reach the parents. 14:29 So as you're taking this turn now, 14:31 you've received that forgiveness, 14:33 and you've seen, 14:35 you know that Christ like attitude 14:36 in your wife, in Angela. 14:37 That's right. 14:39 Now that you're taking that turn, what happened? 14:42 Well, you know, so I started attending church, 14:46 just a little bit here and there, 14:48 but I was getting more and more involved, 14:49 you know, in the past when I would go to church 14:51 I was more of a seat warmer. 14:52 I just kind of went to make my wife happy and that was it. 14:54 I had no intentions of sitting there and learning. 14:57 If anything I was looking at my watch 14:58 counting down the time when we'll get out of there. 15:01 But, you know, so I started attending church 15:03 more and more but I was sincere this time. 15:05 And I had a friend of hers. 15:09 Her husband who I had never met. 15:11 And I won't go into the whole story 15:13 but he basically who I'd never met, 15:14 had known nothing about, never talked to this man 15:17 and he did an act of kindness towards me and my family 15:21 that nobody would really do. 15:23 But to make a long story short, essentially my AC broke, 15:27 and he sent somebody out there and paid for it to fix it. 15:29 Yeah. 15:30 And that's really expensive sometimes. 15:32 Yes, it is. Yes. 15:34 He's never met Jason. 15:36 Never met the man. Yeah. 15:37 And he's one of my best friends now. 15:39 Yeah. His name is Jason so... 15:41 Look he sounds like a good guy to me. 15:42 He is a great guy. He is a great guy. 15:44 That's right. 15:45 But it just kind of made me wonder, 15:46 you know, maybe there's something more 15:48 to Christ and being a part of a church 15:49 and to having relationship with God. 15:52 And so, Angela went to then, 15:54 I don't know how much longer afterwards 15:56 but she went to an evangelistic series. 15:58 His wife gave me, showed me. 16:00 That's right. Jennifer. 16:01 And it was Pastor Kenny Shelton. 16:03 Yeah. Wow! 16:05 Uncle Kenny. 16:06 Uh-huh. That's right. 16:08 So she went there and came back and just said, 16:10 "Look, you know, hey, Ian, 16:12 you know, would you be open to seeing this guy? 16:14 He's an amazing preacher." 16:15 And I said, "Sure, you know, I'll go with you." 16:17 â Cause, again, I was starting to drift more 16:20 towards the Lord at this time. 16:21 I couldn't tell but now looking back 16:23 I can see Him working. 16:24 And so I went to this series, and it was just incredible. 16:29 The things that Pastor Kenny was saying 16:31 and especially at the end when he made an appeal. 16:34 I didn't take that lightly 16:35 and I had seen appeals done before, 16:37 you know, you see people stand up 16:39 and I just kind of took it as, 16:40 you know, they're just doing that 16:42 because they have to stand up. 16:43 You know, but for me I'm not going to do that 16:44 unless I truly mean it. 16:46 So, he made an appeal 16:47 and that first night I couldn't do it. 16:49 I started hearing voices in my head 16:51 telling me you know, I'm not good enough. 16:53 You know, you're nobody. 16:54 Look at the pain that you've caused 16:56 to your wife. 16:57 Look at the pain you've caused to your family, 16:58 and to all those that you love, 17:00 you know, how can God accept you, 17:02 He can't do that, He can't love you. 17:04 So that first night I never stood up. 17:06 So the devil was... The devil was attacking. 17:08 Without question, 17:10 and I told her the story afterwards 17:11 and the things that I had been experiencing 17:12 while I was in that church 'cause when I wanted to stand, 17:15 I'll tell you my legs got heavy, 17:17 I felt a pressure on my chest. 17:19 You know the palms started to sweat, it was, 17:21 you know, I was going through a spiritual battle. 17:24 And so I asked her later that night 17:26 after explaining to her I just said, 17:27 "Hey, you know, can we go again tomorrow and see him." 17:30 And she, she had plans because she was actually, 17:33 what was it, adventures? 17:34 Yes. 17:36 Yeah, she was doing adventures the following day 17:37 and she canceled all of her plans 17:39 and she's like, I am taking my husband back to see this, 17:43 you know, this evangelistic series 17:44 and hear Pastor Kenny. 17:46 So I went again 17:47 and the same thing started happening all over. 17:49 And, but that night I decided to give my heart 17:52 to the Lord. 17:54 And I completely surrendered at that moment, 17:58 and I was still smoking at the time too. 18:00 So I had made changes in my life, 18:03 I previously to that I've stopped drinking. 18:06 But at that moment I was still smoking, 18:08 and I quit. 18:10 You know, Praise God, 'cause it took a lot of prayer. 18:12 It was a miracle. Yes. 18:14 I think that's when she knew, Okay, something's... 18:16 He's serious this time. 18:17 Yeah. Yeah. 18:19 'Cause I smoked for about 20 years. 18:20 Wow. 18:21 And I just with the help of the Lord, I quit. 18:23 You don't even look like you're old enough 18:24 to smoke 20 years but... 18:26 That's right. Wow. 18:27 Well, thank you, I appreciate that. 18:29 No problem. No problem. 18:30 So, Angela, how were you feeling 18:32 when he gave his heart to the Lord? 18:34 That was awesome, It was really... 18:36 I prayed for my husband for 11 years. 18:39 And I really prayed for him and prayed for him 18:42 to give his life to the Lord, 18:44 I will say the same prayer over and over, 18:46 "God please help my husband stop drinking, 18:48 please help my husband stop smoking, 18:49 please help my husband to give his life to You." 18:52 And that was my prayer usually every night 18:55 for 11 years I prayed for him. 18:57 So when he finally did, fully commit, 19:01 it was wonderful, but the struggles you know 19:04 when you give your heart to the Lord, 19:05 it doesn't stop there. 19:07 That's right. 19:08 That's just the beginning of it. 19:09 That's right. Yeah. 19:11 And it was for us. 19:12 Yeah, and I'm glad that you brought that out, 19:13 but you know I think something else 19:15 that's powerful too is that you prayed 19:17 and you asked and you kept on asking. 19:19 You're asked again and you kept on asking like, 19:22 that's powerful. 19:23 It speaks through the fervent prayer 19:24 and that persistence and prayer 19:26 and that's, that's key. 19:27 Yeah. 19:28 So what happened 'cause it's not smooth sailing 19:31 just because you become a Christian, 19:32 things can get tough. 19:34 It gets worst. Absolutely. 19:36 Right after, you know, 19:38 dedicating my heart to the Lord, 19:40 I received orders from the army to go to Texas, 19:43 and I had to be there within 90 days. 19:45 And that's not totally uncommon but for me 19:48 and what I had experienced in the people 19:49 that I have known, and the soldiers 19:51 I had known, I hadn't seen that in a long time. 19:53 So... 19:54 And we owned a house. 19:56 Yeah, and we owned the house at the time. 19:57 So we couldn't just pick up and leave. 19:58 Wow. 20:00 Yeah, we had a lot going on at that moment 20:01 so I was really struggling with the decision I needed to, 20:03 you know, to make. 20:04 At this point I wanted to do what the Lord wanted to do, 20:07 wanted me to do. 20:08 I did not want to do my way at all 20:10 from that point forward, 20:11 so I kept praying and praying and praying. 20:14 Every night and I was waking up at 2, 3 o'clock in the morning 20:17 and just thinking about what I should do 20:19 and what the Lord wants me to do 20:21 just sleepless nights constantly. 20:22 And it got to the point 20:24 where, you know, I wasn't hearing anything back. 20:27 And I thought that maybe those voices 20:29 that I was hearing in my head, 20:31 you know, telling me I'm not good enough 20:33 at that evangelistic series, 20:34 you know, telling me that God doesn't love me 20:37 and the things that I've done, 20:38 you know, He can't accept me. 20:41 You know, it just, it started to consume me. 20:44 And I became filled with anger, and I started maybe again, 20:46 I actually began to curse God and I even called up my wife 20:50 and I just said yeah, 20:52 and I just said, you know, God hates me. 20:55 God doesn't love me. He's not answering. 20:57 I thought this is, you know once I become, 20:59 you know, a servant of His, you know 21:01 and, and I accept Him and allow Him 21:03 to come into my life, 21:04 He's supposed to guide me 21:05 and I'm not getting any guidance. 21:08 So, when I was on the phone with her, 21:10 that was where she really drew the line, 21:12 she said, "You're cursing God, I'm done with you. 21:16 You've put me through enough." 21:18 And I raced home from work 21:20 and you know kept her on the phone. 21:22 And as soon as I came in there she was in the bed, 21:25 sitting in the bed, 21:26 in our bedroom and just started reading the Bible. 21:28 Crying.. Crying her eyes out... 21:30 Reading the Bible. 21:31 Yeah. Yeah. 21:32 But as I heard her reading the Bible 21:34 I became fueled even more with anger, 21:36 because I didn't want to hear it. 21:37 Yeah. 21:38 And she kept telling me just pray, just pray 21:40 and I said, "I don't want to pray to God, 21:41 I don't, I can't pray to God, 21:42 He's left me, He doesn't love me." 21:44 And when she would stop reading the Bible 21:46 just everything would just calm down. 21:49 And then she would start reading it out loud 21:50 and then I would get angry all over again 21:52 and when I looked at myself in the mirror in our bathroom 21:55 which is right next to our bedroom, 21:57 my eyes didn't look like me, you know, I know it was me. 22:00 Yeah. 22:01 But it didn't look like me, I was just so angry 22:03 and it seemed like there was another person in me, 22:06 it was like another spiritual attack 22:07 all over again. 22:09 But this was after my baptism, so you would, why, 22:12 you know, you would think why you're gonna go 22:13 through something like this. 22:15 And it really felt like Satan was throwing an army after me, 22:19 and I couldn't understand that either, 22:20 I was wondering why am I so important 22:22 that Satan wants me so bad. 22:24 'Cause you're a child of God. 22:25 That's right. 22:26 And so needless to say that night I slept alone. 22:32 Hope your couch was comfortable. 22:33 Well... 22:34 We had a spare bed. We got a spare bed. 22:36 Second one wasn't too bad. 22:37 Yeah, that's right. 22:39 So, I was in the bed and I was just, 22:42 you know, I couldn't pray, but I got three words out, 22:45 and that was, "God, help me." 22:47 Wow. 22:49 And that's all I really needed to say, 22:51 because that next day, I became, 22:52 I woke up and I felt calm, 22:54 and the day after that I was even more at peace. 22:57 And I just became fueled with this fire 23:00 and this passion for the Lord. 23:01 Yeah. 23:03 And I was, you know, waking up early 23:04 having my own devotional, 23:06 sometimes at 4:30 in the morning 23:07 I'd wake up 23:09 and I would just start reading and studying my Bible 23:11 to the point where she's wandering, 23:12 you know, hey, I need your help around the house, you know. 23:15 Yeah. 23:17 Can you do something here, you know. 23:18 I love it. 23:19 But, you know, but I began to find that balance 23:21 between family and the Lord because, you know. 23:24 And it was just... It was just incredible. 23:26 We would be places in, 23:28 you know, I'd just tell her, you know. 23:29 I just wanna serve the Lord. I just wanna serve the Lord. 23:31 He just kept saying that, I don't know what I'm gonna do, 23:33 'cause he was hired by a contractor. 23:35 Okay. 23:36 And... Well before that. 23:37 Oh, okay. Yeah. 23:39 Okay. Sorry, I don't mean to... 23:40 No, it's okay. 23:42 I had made the decision to get out of the army, 23:43 which was very tough 23:45 because, you know, you have medical insurance 23:48 that you don't have to pay for, 23:49 you know, and your family would go to the hospital, 23:53 go in emergency room and they're covered. 23:54 Yeah. 23:56 And that was huge because I thought, 23:59 you know, if I get out the army, 24:00 how are we going to... 24:02 How am I, as a man of the home gonna take care of my family. 24:04 Yes. 24:05 And we just kind of, you know, I made a decision. 24:08 We were at church one night, and I just saw my wife 24:12 and my kids with our church family 24:14 and I just said, "This is where we need to be, 24:16 this is where I'm going to grow in Christ. 24:18 Wow. 24:19 So, we did it and we decided to get out. 24:21 And that was it 24:22 and then we just relied on the Lord 24:25 to take us the rest of the way. 24:27 So, I heard, Angela, 24:29 you're about to go into some contract work real quick. 24:31 Yes. 24:33 Yeah, he got a job as contractor, 24:34 but he didn't want to do that, he wants to serve the Lord. 24:36 So... 24:38 'Cause I would essentially been going back 24:39 to what I'd been doing before which is taking lives again. 24:42 Yeah. 24:44 And I didn't wanna do that, I didn't wanna, 24:45 but I left in the Lord's hand, I said God, 24:47 you know, I'm hired, you know, I haven't started yet 24:50 and they haven't given me a start date, but I'm hired. 24:53 I love that you went out with faith. 24:55 So how did you end up coming to 3ABN? 24:59 Well, we had sent our resumes up, 25:02 and we, when we sent it to Jill, 25:05 it was during the... 25:08 I think it was a camp meeting at the time. 25:10 Okay. 25:11 But, you know, prior to that, it was, I kept, 25:13 I didn't know what to do anymore, 25:15 you know, I didn't have a job but we had no income anymore 25:18 so I just as time went on, I kept saying, 25:22 you know, I just, I don't know I just didn't know what to do, 25:26 I was just so confused. 25:27 So, but I sent our resumes out to Jill 25:31 because actually, Pastor John Lomacang 25:33 who I reached out to early on in my Christianity, 25:37 in my walk with God, 25:38 I'd sent him an email and he responded back 25:40 and gave me some very powerful words 25:42 of encouragement. 25:43 And, but he called me up and just said that I, 25:47 you know, talked to Jill Morikone 25:49 about your guy's story 25:50 and she went through guy's resume 25:52 so I was blown away when that happened. 25:54 Yeah, that was a miracle. 25:55 So, yeah, absolutely, so you sent, 25:57 you sent the resume in, 26:00 and you didn't hear from Jill for a little while. 26:02 Did you begin to get discouraged? 26:05 Absolutely I did, and it seemed, my friend Jason. 26:10 He worked for a company and I said, 26:12 "You know, I need a job. 26:13 What do you got, I can't wait any longer." 26:16 And as soon as I said that is when I got the phone call 26:17 from Pastor John. 26:18 Wow. 26:20 And then, as more, you know, then we had our interviews 26:22 and everything else but then more time had passed. 26:24 You know, I think, I don't know how long it was, 26:26 but it was over a month. 26:28 Then after that time that passed the second time 26:30 did you get discouraged again? 26:32 Absolutely. Okay. 26:33 I did. 26:34 It happened all over again as time passed, 26:36 I was trying, you know, I couldn't understand 26:38 why everything was taking so long 26:40 but it was God working through me 26:42 because I can tell you without question 26:43 He was teaching me patience and about waiting. 26:46 In His timing. 26:47 His timing. Absolutely. 26:49 But then the phone rang again, didn't it? 26:50 As soon as I was, I was, in the wife with my car 26:52 and I said, I can't wait any longer I need a job. 26:54 You're in the car with your wife. 26:56 Yeah. 26:57 Got you, got you. 26:59 And second time, you know, my phone went off 27:01 and it was an email from Jill inviting us up here 27:03 for another interview. 27:04 What a blessing. 27:06 And God has provided everything for us all our needs. 27:08 All of our needs. All of our needs. 27:10 And you made a point you said that 27:12 no matter what they were going to pay 27:15 you are going to come. 27:17 Yeah, we made it, you know, basically told God, 27:20 whatever it is, whatever the pay, 27:21 we don't, we don't care. 27:22 We're gonna trust in You. 27:24 We're gonna trust in You that You will provide 27:25 and that's what we did... 27:26 And He has. 27:28 And He did because right after 27:29 our interview, we saw that, 27:31 you know, with me being a veteran 27:32 that I got Veterans Assistance 27:33 and I started getting, getting paid so... 27:35 Yeah, that is huge, your story is truly inspiring. 27:40 The lessons of forgiveness that we've seen, 27:42 the perseverance, God showing up on time, 27:46 and I just want to say thank you, 27:47 I appreciate your transparency and all of that. 27:48 Thank you. 27:50 And I want to thank you for joining us. 27:51 Well, we've reached the end of another program. 27:54 Thanks for tuning in. 27:55 Join us next time, God bless. |
Revised 2021-05-23