Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY230037A
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00:05 ♪ I want to spend my life mending broken people ♪ 00:15 ♪ I want to spend my life removing pain ♪ 00:25 ♪ Lord let my words heal a heart that hurts ♪ 00:36 ♪ I want to spend my life mending broken people ♪ 00:57 ♪ ♪ 01:07 Hello and welcome to another 3ABN Today program. Thank you 01:09 for joining us as you do each and every day. And today we're 01:13 especially, of course, I'm here (Yvonne and Danny Shelton) 01:15 with my cohost and lovely wife Yvonne. And we're especially 01:18 blessed today to have some of our favorite people in the whole 01:22 wide world. No one should get upset because we're going to 01:26 introduce, I should say reintroduce really, Gerri-Lynn 01:30 Shelton Mendenhall but Gerri- Lynn and your husband, your 01:35 handsome husband Jason. 01:36 That's right. 01:37 So Jason and Gerri-Lynn we're so glad that you are here and 01:42 We're thankful to be here, Thank you. 01:44 You started singing on 3ABN I wonder how old you were. 01:47 I was nine. 01:49 Nine years old. 01:50 I'm 47 now so it was a long time ago. 01:53 Look at this. Here's a woman that doesn't mind telling her 01:55 age. 01:57 So don't get any ideas. 02:00 Oh, okay. Well you're just a little older. How am I doing? 02:04 Well because she's 46. 02:07 That's right. (laughter) 02:11 Well we're so glad that you guys are here. You called us, I don't 02:14 know, what's it been a few months and I'm telling you grass 02:19 doesn't grow under their feet because she called us with an 02:22 idea that she had, well actually it was some things that happened 02:25 incredible story and all of a sudden it went from that story 02:29 to a book and I have a feeling it's going to be a movie. It's 02:33 one of the most incredible stories that I've ever heard of 02:36 in thousands of these interviews but this is amazing, isn't it? 02:41 It is, it truly is. 02:42 You're crying like babies. You're telling the story. We're 02:44 other end of the phone. We're crying. In fact, we got some... 02:47 We're crying along with you. That was an incredible 02:50 conversation as well. I remember it so well. You had called me 02:53 for my birthday to wish me a Happy birthday and to sing happy 02:57 birthday to me and we ended up talking that night for three 03:00 hours on the phone. So it's an incredible miracle that happened 03:05 and we are excited to be here to share it. 03:08 Yeah, tell us a little bit before we get started where 03:10 y'all live now. 03:11 We're in Franklin, Tennessee. 03:13 Okay, nice little area. All right 03:15 That's right. Jason is a retired Navy pilot... 03:20 He doesn't look old enough to be retired. 03:21 I know they look like babies. 03:24 He's a commercial pilot as well. 03:25 Yes (That's amazing) And so for 20 years of our life we have 03:29 lived in a lot of places, but now we have been able to settle 03:32 down and we are loving Franklin. 03:34 Okay good. 03:36 Still trying to become UT basketball and football fans 03:39 It will take a couple_. 03:40 You'll get into that little scene. Well Reggie and Ladye's 03:42 there. They'll help you They'll encourage you into that for sure 03:46 Well Gerri-Lynn we have some footage of you when you were 10 03:51 maybe. I think about 10 years old and it's for some of you 03:54 folk that have been watching 3ABN forever. It's been saved 04:00 for a long time. This November it'll be almost 39 years. It'll 04:04 be 39 since the Lord impressed us a station to reach the world. 04:08 So we know your age now so 47 if you were 10 that's pretty 04:13 simple math so that's been about 37 years ago because otherwise 04:18 we'd just gone on the air. 04:19 We had, yes we had and I believe this video was 1986 I believe. 04:25 Oh, 1986 Wow. The idea came at the end of 84 and the Lord 04:29 blessed it. We were not only able to get it up to satellite 04:34 to go into homes but already by that time in 86 we went on the 04:39 air and had a production center. So we started out with nothing 04:43 but a little small building. Then we finally built a bigger 04:46 building and were producing. So I haven't seen this whole clip 04:49 so no telling what the production looks like. It'll be 04:53 good because you're in it and you're singing. Gerri Lynn's 04:58 been gifted I mean from the time she was little bitty. I mean she 04:59 just literally had a love for music and of course your whole 05:04 family, Rick and Val, they sang all you sang together. (That's 05:08 right) and so it's...I'm so proud of you I can't tell you 05:14 how proud we are of the fact and in a good way that you love 05:17 Jesus and that you're willing to share what God has done for you 05:21 to a lost and dying world. And today when you hear this story 05:25 you're going to understand what it is that God has given them. 05:29 It's an incredible story that I thinks going to change 05:32 potentially millions of lives. Before we come back to the story 05:35 let's listen and watch Gerri-Lynn. 05:38 ♪ Joseph trusted in the Lord to save when all his brothers ♪ 05:47 ♪ sold him as a slave. But who could make him a prince of ♪ 05:52 ♪ the land. He knew the answer Jesus can ♪ 06:01 ♪ You may ask me why I'm smiling when everything in my world ♪ 06:09 ♪ crumbled down, when trials leave me torn♪ 06:13 I'll ride out the storm 06:15 ♪ It is safe and sound ♪ 06:20 ♪ Who can take a sinner down and out and give his life something 06:26 to smile about 06:29 ♪ But when you meet that miracle man, you'll find the ♪ 06:35 ♪ answer, Jesus can. You'll find the answer, Jesus can ♪ 06:47 ♪ You'll find the answer, Jesus can ♪ 06:56 Ah is that precious or what? 07:02 That was beautiful in that background right there with 07:05 those...with the earth and kind of an abstract three angels, 07:08 Dr. Walt Thompson who's now resting in Jesus who was board 07:13 chairman at 3ABN for many years he and his son Greg actually 07:17 made all that in Chicago and brought it down and we put it in 07:20 the building so when you drive up you see the three angels. So 07:24 today we're going to be talking about three angels in a bit, but 07:27 let's go back now and tell us the story and how it all began. 07:32 Sure. 07:33 That was beautiful by the way Babe. 07:36 Thank you. 07:37 Amazing I mean at 10 years old. 07:40 Well, we're here to share. The backdrop of our story is a 07:45 nearly 10 year infertility struggle. Jason and I about four 07:51 years into marriage started talking about having a child and 07:54 we were so excited to start a family. Looking back I remember 07:59 even as a teenager, I was excited about being a mother one day. I 08:04 loved to shop at garage sales and consignment stores and so I 08:10 would see all the baby clothes there and even as a teenager I 08:14 would snatch up those clothes and those bibs and those rattles 08:18 and I would put them in a hope chest. Hope chests were big back 08:22 then in my day all in preparation to be a mother. 08:26 And so now at 27 four years married I was beyond ready. I 08:32 was so excited. We called family and friends and told them our 08:36 plan. I went to the bookstore and bought every book you can on 08:40 pregnancy. You know, what to expect when you're expecting 08:43 Baby naming books. Jason and I started a list of our favorite 08:50 boy names and girl names and we had a room set aside in our home 08:56 already for a nursery. We were just ready. But year after year 09:01 went by with no success. And we went to my family doctor and she 09:11 told me some good information and I tried to implement all 09:13 that she was saying. I talked to other women who were going 09:17 through some infertility issues and tried to change my diet and 09:22 take supplements and take my temperature at the right time. 09:25 I was doing everything I knew to do. But month after month went 09:29 by with no success. So eventually, I was recommended to 09:36 an OB/GYN in my community and he wanted to do some testing on 09:41 both of us to see what might be causing some infertility. So 09:46 Jason's tests came back good so he wanted to look closer at 09:53 me. So he recommended exploratory surgery. So a couple 09:59 days later the doctor's office called me and told me to come in 10:03 because we had the results and the doctor wanted to talk with 10:06 me. So as I was waiting in the room and he walked in I could 10:12 see the disappointment on his face. And he said, Ms. Mendenhall 10:16 this is not the greatest news. I know but you were wanting to 10:20 hear some better news but we have found that you have 10:24 polycystic ovarian syndrome. You have fibroid tumors in your 10:29 uterus. You have a pretty severe case of endometriosis and by 10:34 this time I was 31 and so age was now playing a role as well 10:38 And so he told me then that the attempts to get pregnant on my 10:48 own were very, very low, and he said that even with fertility 10:54 medicine it would be an uphill battle and with no guarantees. 10:58 And the news was absolutely devastating to me. I remember 11:06 leaving the doctor's office and tears started flowing and by the 11:11 time I got to my car I was weeping. As just as I was 11:16 grieving this news I felt like someone had punched me in the 11:21 stomach and I was just trying to catch my breath. And so I 11:27 remember going home, driving home and I'm thinking how am I 11:32 supposed to tell this to my husband who wanted a child as 11:37 bad as I did. And all the guilt I felt as a wife because it was 11:42 me, it was all my, all the problems. His tests came back 11:45 good but I was the one with all this infertility issue and I 11:52 remember him walking in the door and he was eager to hear the 11:55 news of this surgery. He walked in the door and he could see I 11:59 was crying and upset. And I told him it's not looking real good 12:07 Babe. We may never be able to conceive. 12:11 For a little girl who had a dream of that. (Yes, yes) 12:15 That's tough, yeah. 12:19 And so he took me in his arms and I remember this moment so 12:31 well because in that moment my heart was broken, my spirit was 12:40 broken and I felt like even my body was broken. And his 12:45 response to me in that moment could have been life or death to 12:48 my spirit. And instead of blaming me, instead of saying 12:54 you know you have all the medical issues. This is going 12:58 to cost us so much money to try fertility medicines, instead of 13:01 a look of disappointment on his face he held me in his arms and 13:05 I remember feeling the love, a 1 Corinthians kind of love that 13:10 looked beyond his own hurt and attended to my own needs. And 13:16 that is a moment that I went from a place of hopelessness to 13:20 a place of hope in a very short amount of time because of the 13:23 way that he responded to me. He looked me in the eye and he said 13:29 reminded me we are not without hope. We are in this together 13:32 God is not taken by surprise at this fertility diagnosis and so 13:37 we will continue to trust Him and if we're going to be parents 13:42 we will be parents in His time whether through conceiving or 13:45 through the wonderful world of adoption we are going to 13:49 continue to pray and ask God for His leading. And that's what 13:51 we did. As we listened to the doctor, he started me on 13:58 fertility medicine and about another year passed and still no 14:04 success and my symptoms continued to get worse. At this 14:09 time I ended up by the end of that year in the ER having to 14:16 have a blood transfusion due to loss of blood. And when the 14:21 doctor saw me he had examined me shortly after and he said I 14:27 know how much you want to have a pregnancy. He said but most of 14:30 the time when I see women in your condition I recommend a 14:34 hysterectomy. And he said I know how bad though that you're 14:38 wanting to 14:39 have a pregnancy but I've done all I can do for you so I'm 14:41 going to recommend you to a fertility specialist and we'll 14:45 just pray that all goes well. And so at this point, we had also 14:53 around this time looked into adoption again for the second 14:58 time and at the time it was just so expensive. It was literally 15:02 cost prohibitive for us at the time. And so we just kept on 15:06 praying and trusting and saying God if you want us to be parents 15:11 you know you'll have to provide the money for adoption or 15:15 you'll have to you know answer our prayer. And so we just 15:18 called our family and friends. By this time we were on many 15:25 prayer lists at many different churches. So we continued to 15:29 bathe every step of our fertility journey in prayer. 15:33 And we were excited about the possibility of going to the 15:36 fertility specialist but at the time I didn't even know if I 15:40 would be a candidate, if he would take me on as a patient. 15:43 But when we sat down with him he looked at my case and he said 15:47 you have a pretty bad case. He said but I've seen worse and so 15:52 he said I think we might can try some different fertility 15:56 medicine and see how this might go. So long story short the end 16:02 of that year the fertility medicine still wasn't working 16:06 and I had tried three different fertility procedures and none of 16:10 them worked. 16:11 Now where were your spirits by this time, you know by now where 16:15 were you? 16:17 Yes, um we always held onto hope I have served God all my life 16:23 and I knew that He could make a way when there does not seem to 16:26 be any other way. So we always held onto hope but yes I mean 16:32 fertility, the infertility struggle is so hard physically 16:37 emotionally, spiritually. I did ask God why. I've served God my 16:43 whole life. (We were broken) We were broken. (We were broken) 16:48 Jason was you know serving his country for 20 years. I was 16:54 serving God. He knew that I would raise a child for Him and 16:58 I didn't understand the wait. So many of our family and 17:05 friends were raising families of their own. And I didn't 17:09 understand. But you know when I look back on this I never felt 17:13 any condemnation from asking those questions. Not only did 17:17 God mind that I was asking those questions, He gave me the 17:22 strength I needed until there were answers. And you know one 17:27 of my favorite songs that I have grown up singing as well, you've 17:30 heard me sing it many times is His Strength Is Perfect. And so 17:35 in the times of weakness His strength was perfect for me and 17:39 whether that was through His sweet Holy Spirit speaking to me 17:43 through a verse or through a song or through a wink and a hug 17:47 from my husband when he saw I was struggling, His strength was 17:51 perfect. And when I look back on everything that we've gone 17:54 through I would not change it because sometimes there is 17:58 purpose in the wait. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew 18:03 their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles. And so 18:08 although it was very, very difficult we never lacked His 18:14 strength and His comfort. 18:16 Now where were you Jason at this point after the two years of 18:22 trying, where were you? 18:23 At that point, I'm still traveling so much with the 18:28 service. So there were many times where I felt so inadequate 18:35 (Jason Mendenhall) because I wasn't present and so I look 18:42 back at I'm so grateful at the strength that He provided for 18:47 both of us even at times when we could not be together. So there 18:51 were many times while GL was not alone, she was never alone, but 18:56 sometimes we felt alone and we weren't physically together and 19:00 that was difficult as well wasn't it? 19:04 And for many going through infertility you do feel alone 19:07 because even your family and your friends they may not know 19:11 how to help, you know. They don't know how to do it and 19:15 that's okay and it's understandable, but 19:18 definitely the strength of the Lord is what got us through and 19:23 the promises in His word. And so we continued to rely on Him and 19:28 when it was time to go see this fertility specialist again we 19:33 had gone through three procedures that once again did 19:38 not work. At this time, and this is where the story gets good, 19:42 at this time we had been struggling for about nine years. 19:47 I was now 35 and so age was even more of an issue. So we go to 19:57 have one more consultation with our fertility specialist and he 20:03 informed us that the next logical step because nothing has 20:05 been working would be the IVF procedure in vitro fertilization. 20:11 And I did not know a lot about it at the time. I knew that at 20:15 one point it had been a controversial subject. So the 20:17 first thing I said to him was we believe in the sanctity of 20:22 life and I need to understand what you mean when you're 20:24 talking about IVF. And he assured me, he said well you 20:28 need to know that I also believe in the sanctity of life and he 20:32 said there is only so much that we as fertility doctors can do. 20:36 He said we can assist you. What IVF is for those going 20:41 through situations and having a diagnosis like you were really 20:45 my body was somewhat of a hostile environment for 20:50 fertility. That the fertility process can happen outside of 20:54 my body. And he said we are just assisting in that and he said 20:59 our medical team will look for, it's a process of conception 21:04 into a fertilized embryo and an embryo will be transferred into 21:11 your uterus, to your womb. Um he said but once there we can't 21:16 make that embryo attach to procure a pregnancy. And so he 21:23 was very up front that that is left to a higher power. But he 21:29 said, I do feel like that we should try this and let's see 21:33 how it works. So now we're faced with an even bigger decision. 21:38 We all know how expensive fertility procedures are 21:42 and so, well 21:46 we're here to talk, I have written a book recently and in 21:48 the book I have a chapter and it's called A Fork in the Road. 21:53 Because that is exactly what I felt like. If you can envision 21:56 a person at a fork in the road and if I went one way and 22:05 went and pursued adoption it was going to be 20 or 30 22:10 thousand dollars, a two-year wait, but I knew at the end of 22:14 that process I would have a precious baby. However, if I go 22:19 the fertility route it's going to be 20 or 30 thousand dollars 22:24 and this amount seems unimaginable to us at the time. 22:28 It was going to be very expensive and only cover one 22:34 round of IVF with absolutely no guarantees. However, I was 35 22:41 and I already had a former doctor say you know at this 22:44 point you really need a hysterectomy. So I'm faced with 22:49 if I ever want to try and conceive, this is literally my 22:53 last chance. If I ever want to conceive, I'm 35, my symptoms 22:56 are really terrible, I need to do it now. So I hit my knees. I 23:05 prayed in a way that you know I've always trusted God and His 23:08 guidance, but I prayed very specifically this time and I hit 23:14 my knees and I said, God, I don't know what to do. If you want to 23:18 place a baby in my arms through the wonderful world of adoption 23:21 that's what I want. If you want me to be able to carry a child 23:25 that's what I want but I need specific direction and my words 23:30 were, Please show me specific direction so that there's no 23:33 confusion. That was my prayer. And I wish I could remember 23:39 exactly the time frame after I prayed that I would say around 23:45 seven to ten days. It was shortly after that prayer I was 23:50 reading in my Bible at night before I go to bed like I always 23:53 do and I was just trying to get back to the scripture I was 23:57 reading previously the night before and so I was trying to 24:00 find my bookmark. But instead I opened the Bible and it 24:07 literally fell open to Isaiah 54 Sing barren woman you who have 24:19 never borne a child, shout for joy ye who have never 24:27 experienced childbirth expand your tents. In other words, get 24:34 ready because it's going to happen... 24:37 Look at God, all right. 24:40 I cried I laughed, I raised my hands in thanksgiving (two 24:48 handed) Yeah. It was like the words just jumped off the pages 24:52 just for me and I knew exactly now what I was going to do and I 24:57 said, Thank you, God. I wrote it down in my Bible right then. It 25:02 was January 2012 and I put claiming victory. Praise the 25:07 Lord. And so the next day I talked with his parents and I 25:13 read them the scripture and I said get ready. You're going to 25:16 be grandparents. And so I called my family and my friends and all 25:20 the people who had been praying for us and asking God to answer 25:26 our prayers. I called them and I said I have my answer. He is 25:30 going to answer our prayers. So I said change your prayers 25:34 please from asking for us to thanking God in advance for what 25:39 He's about to do and that's what we did. 25:42 Whoo! that's giving me a chill right there. 25:47 That's a step of faith. Go ye into all the world. Well that is 25:50 so broad that it says okay here's what I saw. I'm going to 25:53 believe that and I'm going forward knowing that you're 25:56 going to bless us. (Absolutely) 25:57 But look at how God addressed your specific situation with 26:03 scripture specifically. And when He does that because that's 26:07 happened to me in my life and when He does that you know it's 26:11 Him. It can't be anybody else. It's God. Whoo! 26:16 Absolutely. And the joy of the Lord was present. I was telling 26:20 everyone it's going to work. I don't know exactly when it's 26:23 going to work, but it's going to work. And so we all started 26:26 thanking God in advance. And as we made preparations to go this 26:31 route I was at complete peace with the IVF process. And I 26:37 because of time today I don't have time to go into all the 26:40 specifics like I do in the book but IVF is very time-specific. 26:44 And so everything along the way God had to be present in 26:50 everything we were doing. If this part of the process didn't 26:55 work the next part of the process would not work and we 26:58 had multiple people, dozens, hundreds of people praying over 27:01 this procedure. But I was not worried. But long story short 27:07 this is where it gets so, so good. It was time for the last 27:12 process, the embryo transfer. And I waited in the doctor's 27:19 office that morning and I was at complete peace. Isaiah 54 was 27:24 running over in my head and we got done with the procedure and 27:28 the doctor said the procedure went well. We had two healthy 27:36 embryos implanted that day and we have placed the embryos in 27:41 your womb. But now I have done all that I can do that's 27:46 medically possible. The rest is left to a higher power. And so 27:52 we waited on the nurses to come in and they gave us instructions 27:54 for this next phase and the instructions were if the embryo 27:58 is going to attach it will do so within 12 to 36 hours. So go 28:04 home and rest. They were telling Jason spoil her, put her feet up 28:09 bring her food, bring her juice whatever she wanted and so don't 28:17 be picking up anything heavy just go home and rest for the 28:20 next 36 hours and then in 10 days take a pregnancy test to 28:25 see if this procedure worked. And if the pregnancy test is 28:30 positive then we will bring you back and have your blood drawn 28:34 and we will check it that way too to confirm a positive test. 28:38 But she was very adamant don't take it before the 10 days. It 28:42 takes that long for the pregnancy hormones in your body 28:46 to be detected. So go home and rest and in 10 days take a 28:50 pregnancy test. 28:52 What year was this? 28:53 This was 2012, yes. So that's what we did. I went home, I got 28:57 into my PJs, I was so excited about getting spoiled for three 29:00 days. (I went and got the ice cream) 29:03 That's right. He brought me dinner 29:05 that night and a glass of juice. We watched the news 29:08 and went to bed. I woke up the next morning about 8:30. I had 29:16 slept in that morning. I looked over and was surprised to see 29:21 Jason still in bed with me because he's normally in the 29:25 other room by that time watching the news. So I looked over and 29:30 not only was he lying there, he had tears coming down his face. 29:35 And we just had the most important procedure of my life 29:39 the night before and I could tell these were not just tears. 29:43 He had been weeping. His face was red. His eyes were swollen. 29:48 He had been weeping and I said Babe, what's wrong? Are you okay? 29:53 And he said, I'm okay Babe. How are you feeling? And I said well 29:57 I'm feeling fine, I'm feeling okay but you don't look like 30:00 you're doing okay. And he said, I'm okay but I have to tell you 30:05 something. And I said well sure. What is it? And he said, Are you 30:11 sure you're not going to think I'm crazy. And I said well no. 30:15 What do you mean? And he said Babe it worked, you're pregnant. 30:22 Now wait a minute. You can't know that before 10 days till 30:28 you take the pregnancy test and you go get the blood test. 30:32 (Exactly) You're saying by the next morning it worked. He's 30:35 real confident that it worked without question. I got to hear 30:38 the rest. 30:39 And I said, what do you mean Babe, it worked? We were just 30:43 told yesterday by our fertility doctor and the nurses that 30:47 there's no way to know this for 10 more days if it worked. He 30:50 said, Oh it worked. And I said, well you know in my mind I'm 30:54 thinking we've had all these people praying so I said well 30:57 how do you know that it worked? Did God confirm it for you in a 31:01 dream last night? I couldn't possibly understand what he 31:04 meant. He laughed and he cried he said no it was no dream. 31:08 And I said, what then? How could you possibly know this? And he 31:14 said, Are you sure you're not going to think I'm crazy. And I 31:19 said no. I could not wait one more minute. What do you mean, 31:23 Babe. And he said, Babe, there were angels in our room last 31:26 night. (Whoo glory!) And I said What! and he began to tell me 31:36 the incredible experience. I said what do you mean there were 31:43 angels in our room? He said Babe I went to sleep just like you 31:45 did last night and I woke up in the middle of the night and I 31:51 was startled because I heard a voice, I'm sorry, not a voice, I 31:54 heard a noise and I thought Oh my we've forgotten to set the 31:58 alarm and someone has broken in our room. But he said as soon as 32:03 that thought of fear came over him in one second that fear was 32:09 gone and he said I knew exactly what was happening. I knew there 32:13 were angels in our room and I knew God was answering our 32:16 prayer and he said all I could do was fall onto the side of the 32:21 bed onto my knees. He said, it was an involuntary motion. And 32:27 he said my hands went up, I started worshipping God 32:31 immediately. I started singing any worship songs that I could 32:35 think of. He is Here, Hallelujah Holy Ground, In the Presence of 32:41 Jehovah or whatever I could think of I was singing because I 32:45 knew I was in the presence of God. And he said I watched them 32:49 as three of them, three angels, were at the foot of the bed and 32:56 I watched them as they made their way over to you. And I 32:59 said, What was I doing? I said I didn't hear any of this. He 33:05 said, I was praising God, I was on my knees and singing. And I 33:08 said I didn't hear anything. He said, No, you didn't. 33:10 This wasn't a dream, right? 33:14 Not a dream. (you're sure this was real?) Yeah, it was real. 33:17 Folks are going to ask so we got to make sure. It was real. 33:22 This was real. 33:23 Yeah and I tell her I said when we share this, this is crazy. 33:28 It's not normal. It was supernatural. Go ahead. 33:32 Yes and so as he was still on his knees and the angels came 33:41 over to my side of the bed and they were hovering over me... 33:46 Three of them, not one (not one) not two, three (three) 33:50 and he said they did not have any wings, they were tall, they 33:57 were...they shined with a silvery glow. Um there was no 34:02 definition in their face. He could not see their faces and 34:05 there was no audible voices. But there was noise, he said. You 34:11 know it sounded as though, he said the only way I know how to 34:13 describe it was that if you were walking on the carpet with socks 34:19 and it's that swoosh kind of sound. That's the sound that it 34:23 made and he said it did remind me of how songwriters say I can 34:27 hear the brush of angels wings. He said that was the noise that 34:32 I heard as they made their way over the you. And he said I'm 34:36 on my knees and he said I'm looking at three angels over you 34:41 And he said it was the most incredible experience. I wanted 34:44 you to see it. And so he said I stayed on my knees but I reached 34:50 over the side of the bed and I tried to touch you. I tried to 34:53 wake you up so that you could see it. And he said my hands 34:56 literally recoiled back from me. 34:59 And he couldn't reach out? 35:02 It didn't hurt. It didn't feel like I was being chastised in 35:07 any way. But whatever was happening in that moment I 35:11 couldn't touch her. (Wow) And my hand literally curled back like 35:15 this when I went to try to wake her up. 35:19 And this is happening and you're knocked out. 35:23 I'm knocked out. I'm laying there. I didn't know any of this 35:25 was happening. And so he began to...after that he like okay I 35:32 my hand back and I went back down to my knees and I just 35:36 said, okay God. I'm going to stay on my knees. And he said I 35:41 continued to watch them and he said the angel in the middle 35:45 would look up and then look back down at you, look up, and then 35:50 look back down at you. The angels on the side were there 35:54 maybe as they were assisting or guarding. They were just 35:58 standing there. But he said when I looked up to see what the 36:02 angel was looking at there was another light above me and he 36:07 said when I say above me there was one whole section of our 36:11 ceiling that was gone. He said it was like I was looking into 36:16 the sky. And there was another light and it wasn't the same 36:20 form of the three angels which he knew for sure were angels 36:25 but it looked like a star. I didn't perceive it to be God 36:28 but there was another light there. They would look up and 36:31 look down, look up, and look down 36:33 Were they doing something to you physically? 36:39 No. Just hovering beside her bedside and the center one would 36:46 look up and then look down, look up and look down and that went 36:52 on for my guess maybe 45 minutes or so. 36:57 From the time that it started until the time it was over was 37:00 probably about 45 minutes. And so as he continued to watch them 37:06 he said I remember saying to myself Wow God! I cannot believe 37:12 that you're doing this for us Thank you. And he said I was 37:17 immediately corrected and this is the purpose of my whole book 37:21 This is the purpose of our story The angels again not scolding 37:28 him but communicated with him no audible voice. No, what you're 37:35 seeing is not just happening for you. What you're seeing is how 37:40 he does it every time that life is created. 37:44 Now it's my turn. 37:47 Mine too. Wow! Every time every baby that ever conceived, ever 37:55 Yes. It's a big deal. There are angels in the room. God opens 38:02 the windows of heaven. 38:03 That's the name of your book. 38:05 The name of my book, Angels in Our Room. There are angels 38:09 present as they usher in the presence of God and he creates 38:13 every single one and Jason saw a glimpse of the psalmist 38:17 description. When our doctor says, We're waiting to see if 38:21 those embryos will attach. Think about what the psalmist David 38:28 says, You knit me together in my mother's womb, I am fearfully 38:36 and wonderfully made. 38:37 That's what they were doing 38:39 That's what they were doing. (have mercy) and God allowed 38:40 God answered our prayer and in a way I could never ever 38:48 imagine. He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly more 38:51 than we could ever ask or think So this nine years of 38:55 infertility, struggles, and the asking and the waiting was 38:58 answered in a far better way than I could ever have imagined 39:02 and it was not just for us. It was for all of us to know. We 39:06 have a Creator you know. There may be some people who think 39:12 well, you don't know me. You don't know the circumstances of 39:17 my conception because if you did you would know God had nothing 39:21 to do with it. But I'm here to tell you that the circumstances 39:26 of one's conception does not define their existence. Their 39:31 creator does. The circumstances of one's conception does not 39:34 define your value. Your Creator does at the very beginning. And 39:39 when God knits us together we find in that very beginning of 39:46 our existence our identity, our value, our purpose. You know we 39:55 have shared this story throughout the last 11 years 39:58 many times with churches and family and friends and strangers 40:02 And I've always known I would share it in a bigger way at some 40:05 point and that is the purpose of this book. About two years 40:10 ago when I was seeing everything on the news. I mean in our 40:13 society, people searching for their very identity, people 40:17 denying their creator. I said, Jason, it's time, it's time, we 40:22 have an incredible story to tell that every life has a purpose 40:28 and is created by God... 40:30 So we go back and find out that you were right, you did see 40:34 angels in the room and did have that baby you prayed for for so 40:40 long. We might get to meet her here in a little bit. 40:44 Yeah, absolutely. (Yeah I hope so) Absolutely. 40:48 Also, we'd like to meet her. But what I thought was amazing when 40:50 Gerri Lynn told me the story, or course the name of the network 40:55 here is Three Angels Broadcasting. Not one, not two 40:57 but three angels and the first angel says fear God and give 41:01 glory to Him for the hour of His judgment is come. Worship Him 41:04 who created, who made the heavens and the earth. I mean 41:09 what God is saying is exactly when you saw the angel. You said 41:13 you looked up and you saw like a star, a light. You know 41:17 Revelation 18 says and the fourth angel helped the three 41:21 and the earth was lightened with the glory of God. So when you 41:26 look at that it's an amazing... It's no accident, there wasn't 41:31 just one or two but there were three because it's all about 41:36 giving glory to the creator God of the universe for what He has 41:40 done, to what He has made. And as you said, no human life there 41:46 is no life. Satan is an imitator a counterfeiter. That's why the 41:51 world's in such a mess as we are today when you get into all the 41:55 gender stuff. That's such a lie from the devil because he's 41:58 jealous because he couldn't create. Even Human beings with 42:03 God's blessing can procreate but Satan can't. He's a liar. So now 42:08 all of a sudden these angels, they knew you could handle it 42:12 They knew they could trust you. I mean think about that. From 42:18 the foundation of the world. (Emotional response) 42:25 Before you were born. (Yeah, yeah) Before you were born 42:29 From the foundation of the world He knew in the closing moments 42:32 of earth's history the world would get so confused and so 42:35 sidetracked that...Now this needs to be brought out. No 42:40 better time like now with all the abortion, all this stuff, 42:43 that's going on you know mingling and all the politics 42:47 for somebody to say no fear, God and give glory to Him. Worship 42:52 Him who made the heavens and the earth, who created each and 42:55 every one. There is no life without God. I don't care if 42:58 it's through rape, incest, whatever it is. Still not going 43:02 be life unless God creates it. It's an amazing story and I'm so 43:09 Tell us a little bit. We got a few minutes and we'll take a 43:13 news break and then we'll come back and hopefully we get to 43:15 meet McKenzie but I'll get to see her here. Tell us a little 43:19 bit about your journey now. How do you...it's not often that you 43:23 can have this idea even when it's true and when it's God's 43:27 blessing that all of a sudden it's like months later you call 43:29 us and say, Okay I got the book deal, everything is going...I 43:32 mean God's just opened up one door after another. 43:36 One door after the other, it's been amazing. We had several 43:39 publishers interested in publishing and we have gone with 43:43 Forefront Publishing and they have been amazing and a great 43:48 company, Simon and Schuster are going to be distributing the 43:50 book and God... 43:51 That's huge in itself. 43:53 Yeah. Yeah. It's really exciting and we're also excited. The Wind 43:59 Music Group is currently producing a single that will 44:05 also be downloadable in August and it's entitled, the song is 44:09 entitled Angles in the Room. 44:10 And tell me who wrote it? 44:12 That's right. 44:15 You and... 44:16 That was really a blessing from God as well. One of my favorite 44:20 songwriters since I was 10, you know I've been singing Holy 44:23 Ground since I was... 44:24 Absolutely. Our viewers all know if they've watched 3ABN. We sing 44:27 it, you know, over the years. Holy Ground. Geron Davis co-wrote 44:31 with you, right? 44:33 Yes I co...yes we co-wrote this song and it's amazing. We had 44:37 prayed over it and really felt that God met us in that writing 44:42 room a couple weeks ago. And we are so excited that it will be 44:46 downloadable in August. So many things that God is opening 44:51 up because our world today, they are searching. They're searching 44:58 for their value, for their identity, sometimes in their job 45:01 or their spouse or their social media status and they will never 45:05 find it outside of their creator and we just want everyone to 45:10 know, a reminder to us all, you already have your value given 45:16 you. There's no need to look for it anymore. It was given to you 45:19 at the beginning of your existence. Your identity is 45:22 already found and so you have a purpose and we're doing all we 45:27 can to get this message out. 45:29 It's exactly opposite of what the world is saying right now. 45:32 They're saying we don't know how you got here. You know there's 45:36 all these genders there's all these things. You know, there's 45:40 nothing conclusive, nothing points to God as the creator. 45:44 Everything is just (confusing) I mean it is. It's confusion. 45:48 You know, another one of the angels' messages, Come out of 45:51 Babylon which Babylon is confusion. So here you are 45:55 telling the world that God is the creator. Worship Him, the 45:59 creator who literally made the heavens and earth and each of us 46:02 and then you're saying Babylon is fallen, come out of her my 46:05 people and so it's confusing. So your story is straightening 46:09 all that out and you're standing for the Lord and it's amazing 46:14 how literally we've heard thousands of stories and been 46:17 part of them but this is one of the most amazing ones I've ever 46:20 heard. 46:22 And if we had time I'll just follow up to say quickly what 46:25 was so beautiful about the IVF process that we believe God led 46:29 us to was the IVF process shows the process happening outside of 46:35 one's body. So you can see the beginning stages. It's a 46:39 biological process, the beginning of life, which God 46:42 also ordained but it's just the biological process. There is a 46:46 supernatural process that happens pending the embryo 46:49 attaching to the uterus. Only God can do that. But what's 46:53 beautiful about that is for those who think God had nothing 46:58 to do with them, maybe because of the circumstances of their 47:01 birth. How could God ordain something that might have been 47:05 tragic. What's beautiful about it is there is a biological 47:09 process that happens, right but that does not determine your 47:13 existence. Days later pending attachment to the womb God 47:19 looked down. If you are here today. Anyone that is living on 47:22 this earth today no matter your circumstances in your conception 47:26 God looked down and saw an opportunity to place a soul into 47:32 a vessel and He had a plan. He had a plan for your life and He 47:38 has a purpose and with that comes hope for all of us. And 47:44 we're excited to be here to share this wonderful message. 47:47 So to recap just a second. You knew all that happened. The 47:52 angels left the room. You woke up. He told you the story wanted 47:56 to know if he was...you could have said well honey I've known 47:59 you was crazy when I married you You took it all. So now you have 48:04 to wait those 10 days. Did that seem like eternity? Of course 48:07 you're probably telling everybody anyway because, but 48:11 now you've had to follow through. Tell us. 48:13 That's right. Yeah. So I wake up and he's telling me all this and 48:18 immediately when we were done, we talked for two hours. We got 48:23 on our knees and we cried and prayed and thanked God. I held 48:26 my stomach and I said, Hi little baby. Jason got down and he 48:32 said hi little baby this is your daddy. And we began to tell 48:37 people immediately. We got on my social media, my Facebook. 48:42 It's still there if you go back to 2012. 48:44 You took that on faith. You're faith doesn't even begin till 48:47 your sight ends... 48:49 One of my best friends, Rita Beth, you know her, she called 48:52 me that morning to see how the procedure went. I looked at 48:55 Jason and I said, that phone's ringing Babe. I said it's Rita 48:58 Beth. I said she's going to want to know how I'm feeling. I said 49:02 Are we going to tell her? I said we don't have any confirmation 49:05 And he said Babe you can tell whoever you want to tell. 49:09 It's not in my character. 49:10 This is not in his character. 49:11 I have a checklist, plan, the plan's going to be half-executed 49:15 But that day I said, you can tell anybody you want. 49:21 Yeah, it's a done deal. And so we began to tell everyone and 49:25 one more thing that was so beautiful. There's so many 49:27 details that I don't have time to explain but that day I looked 49:33 at my calendar because I wanted to see when I could take this 49:36 pregnancy test to show people my positive result. As I counted 49:42 now nine days to when I could take it for the first time it 49:48 was, drum roll please, Mother's Day, Mother's day was the first 49:56 time that I was able to take the test. And we cannot express to 50:00 you the joy that we felt know after nine years of negative 50:03 pregnancy tests...I never saw one positive one time for nine 50:07 and a half years. And so to wake up that morning knowing that I'm 50:12 getting ready to take a pregnancy test and it's going to 50:14 be positive. I can't put into words. We're so thankful for 50:19 what God has done. 50:22 Absolutely incredible story. For the folks at home, we're 50:24 going to have to take a short break, but we're going to be 50:26 back. We're not finished yet. We got a big surprise for you. |
Revised 2023-11-08