Participants: Mike Carducci (Host), Laura Saladind
Series Code: PC
Program Code: PC000045
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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. |
Revised 2017-05-25