July 13, 2025 • 21 mins
Have you ever questioned your worth or wondered if your struggles had meaning?
In this powerful and personal episode of *Dear Daughters of God*, Stephanie shares her journey through chronic migraines, professional pressure, and a deep spiritual awakening. From her work as a charter school administrator to the moment God used her words to save a life, she reflects on how each experience shaped her and helped her fulfill *the measure of her creation*.
Discover how distorted thoughts can be challenged, how faith can be healing, and how God places you exactly where you're needed—even when you're at your weakest.
🔔 SUBSCRIBE for more real stories of divine purpose and healing: https://www.youtube.com/@DearDaughtersofGod
📘 Learn more about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and David Burns’ book *Feeling Great*
📖 Scripture Highlight:
"All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made." – John 1:3
🎙️ Hosted by Stephanie Eccles, storyteller and founder of *Dear Daughters of God*
#FaithStory #ChristianTestimony #HealingThroughGod #MentalHealthAndFaith #DearDaughtersOfGod #CBT #FindingYourPurpose #GodsPlan #ChristianPodcast #TrueWorth #WomenOfFaith
Thanks for listening! I'm on Instagram as deardaughtersofgod. Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=1iyjqx0cq4kbk&utm_content=qr66nqv
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Stephanie (2) (00:00):
you jump over bags and Trina you call
(00:03):
yourselves dancers, lets bedancers.
and I look at the, height and Ithink that's impossible.
this is nuts.
I not doing it I refuse.
But
This episode was videotaped liveas I gave this speech at a
(00:26):
women's conference, and I actout much of the story because it
needs acting out.
So I encourage you to look it upon YouTube on the Dear Daughters
of God channel so you can getthe full effect of this story
where I explain how God helpedme find my purpose.
thank you for listening and nowonto the story.
(00:51):
Welcome.
I'm so glad you, you welcome tohave the ability measure of your
creation My name is Stephanie.
SI, by way of introduction, Iwas one of those women in the
eighties that got married as wasa teenager.
Yes, it is true.
I fell for a handsome man namedRich and we got married when I
was 19 When the children camealong, I lied to them and told
(01:17):
them I was 20 because it soundedbetter.
But they figured it out.
It wasn't long before theyfigured it out.
Yes.
Well, it all worked out and 38married years later, we grew.
From two to six to 20, 20 of usand I introduce myself this way
(01:42):
because being a mother and awife and a grandmother have been
the greatest blessings of mylife, and they've certainly
propelled me towards the,fulfill the measure of my
creation.
But I'm not going to talk aboutlead as dear people.
Today.
I'm going to talk about anotherpart of my life The professional
(02:05):
part of
my
life specifically that as a charter school
administrator, where I servedfor 15 years.
If you had asked me as a youngadult, what are you going be?
I would've never said as acharter school administrator,
but the Lord had difficult plansthat he realized that it was in
this role.
(02:25):
I'm gonna have the opportunityto develop latent talents within
me Feel free to come in and comesit down.
We're glad your here.
So I want to share anexperience.
From that to time in my lifethis, specifically was when I
was at Excelsior Academy.
I was the executive directorthere, and when I arrived it had
(02:47):
one beautiful school, 650students, grades kindergarten
through eighth grade, and overthe years that I was there, I
was given the opportunity togrow that school with a capable
team and we did just that.
We grew into two schools muchgreater campus and 1400
(03:07):
students.
At the time this experienceoccurred we had been just given
permission by the Utah StateBoard of Education to double our
school size again, which is veryhard to get it takes over a
year.
of trial and hard work butalthough we been given this
permission go to 3000, it wasnow our opportunity to have been
(03:29):
reflect as the administrationwas it.
Right.
For Excelsior to take this leapof faith, was it?
Right?
And so we were meeting withrealtors, contractors, finance
people, all of these people.
It was a very intense time in mycareer.
On the personal side, I washaving some annoying health
(03:52):
issues and I kept them to myselfexcept my closest friends.
I'd had'em for a couple ofyears.
Starting at COVID time, and thiswas a couple years after COVID.
These health issues includedspasms in the back of my neck,
flu-like symptoms every two tothree weeks, and, sinus,
pressure, regular on either sideof my nose.
(04:14):
I visited the ENT and therewasn't a sinus infection, and I
see in his wall a poster thatsays Fix your chronic run nose.
And I was like, that was anotherissue I had.
And I was thinking, is thismenopause?
You know, I'm certainly have theright years, but it just doesn't
seem to be in the menopausalcategory.
(04:34):
Well, I looked at that andthought maybe that would take
care of the sinus pressure.
Then I certainly had chronic mynose.
It was a simple procedure.
You have it at five o'clock atnight after work and you're back
at work the next morning.
All they do is.
Freeze the inner insides of thenasal membranes its a cryo
procedure.
So I had it done in theprocedure, I had a sharp, sharp
(04:58):
pain, the tip of my left nose,but I didn't say anything about
it because its suppose to hurt.
Well, the next day they'd said,you'll get a brain freeze
headache, expect that that, likewhen you sip on a slurpie too
fast.
And I did.
I got that brain freezeheadache.
And then.
The following day, I had a lowgrade migraine and I was
(05:20):
familiar with migraine becauseas a child I had developed
migraines developing age ofeight, and they were quite
severe, great deal of pain.
I passed out sleep for severalhours and wake up hours later.
Crazy.
I grew out of them somewhere inmy teenage years, so after that
(05:41):
low migraine, I had another one.
And another one, within abouttwo or three weeks, I was having
migraines every single day andthey were getting progressively
worse, but there was somethingunusual about this migraine.
They came with a stabbing painin the wee hours of the morning,
two to three o'clock in themorning, stabbing pain in that
part of my nose where thatprocedure hurt so very badly.
(06:03):
In the left side of my nose, mycheek, and my eyeball stabbing
pain, wake me up and suddenly.
Then it would turn into a hotcoals shooting through the crown
of my head, that sort of pain.
This was going on every singleday, and I was the person that
needed to be able to work everysingle day, which I was.
And so I have, I wanted to dosomething to help myself through
(06:26):
this health crisis so I cancontinue on in my duties.
So I reached back to what Ilearned in graduate school about
cognitive behavioral therapy.
Aaron Beck, the developer ofCBT, he said this about CBT,
what is common behavioraltherapy?
(06:47):
He said, the way you thinkdetermines the way you feel and
the way you act.
Aaron Beck had many students ofcognitive behavioral therapy and
one of those students name wasDavid Burns.
Also another psychiatrist, DavidBurns, popularized CBT.
(07:07):
He brought it to the masses bywriting the book, feeling good,
and then re publishing it tofeeling great.
What was so wonderful aboutfeeling great was it was written
for everyday people and it wasfull of techniques that you
could use to help yourselfthrough.
Whatever you're going throughand it had a technique in their
called talk to yourself as ifyou were your very best friend.
(07:33):
Um, it was easy to understand.
He said, you're much kinder toyour friends and forgiving and
understanding than you are toyourself This is the way Burns
described CBT.
He described it this way.
Thoughts create emotions.
By challenging distortedthoughts, people can drastically
(07:57):
improve their mood ratherquickly.
So the idea is CBT teaches usthat.
People have distorted thoughtsand they feel very real.
They feel truthful.
They feel actual, but they'renot.
They're not real.
And even though they're notreal, they feel real and they
(08:20):
affect the way we feel, and thatfeeling that emotion affects the
way we behave.
So I have looked that techniqueof talk to yourself as if you're
very, your very best friend, andused it to get to work every
day.
I started calling myself,sweetheart, in all sincerity in
(08:41):
the morning after having a veryhard night, starting around 2:00
AM I said to myself, sweetheart,you are stronger than you
realize you have strength beyondyour understanding.
You can do it.
Get out of bed.
The Lord is with you.
(09:02):
Say, you haven't called me thisat Excelsior Academy.
There are hundreds of kids outthere waiting for you.
They need you.
It was this type of conversationI would have with myself that
will keep me going during thishealth crisis.
Well, it was at this time thatTooele County, which is where
Excelsior schools located, therewas a tragedy at the local high
(09:23):
school just a few blocks awayfrom my school that ended in the
8th grade A teenage boy died bysuicide.
It was such a heartbreak and astab stab in the stomach to
those that knew and loved him.
And for me, after the initialshock, it was like a wake up
call.
(09:44):
I felt like the students atExcelsior, I asked protect them.
with what?
With knowledge.
By teaching them a few simpletechniques of cognitive
behavioral therapy before theygo to what I consider some of
the hardest years you've everlike high school.
(10:04):
So I grabbed a couple of mycounselors and I said, let's
create some classes.
Students learn better inclassroom size groups, not a big
assembly Let's create a littleworkbook we only have a few days
left of school.
We can do this, and I was nowgoing to teach five class in a
day, and they were each gonnateach some classes of cognitive
(10:29):
behavioral therapy.
At this point, I've had at least60 days in a row of these
migraines as described.
I was weak and both physicallyand emotionally, I knew I needed
help.
I said to my husband.
Would you give me a priesthoodblessing?
I need extra help to make itthrough this day.
(10:50):
It will take great energy tofulfill that duty and my own
duties So, and I also said tohim, I know exactly what needs
to be said.
Let me tell you, I need to behealed Make sure that happens.
Second, I have a calling healme, have the Lord heal me.
So he started the blessing.
(11:14):
In a blessing.
There was just a little bit thatwas about me.
It was, it was about, um, that Ithink the strength that I
needed, the endurance I had,that felt in weeks and, and that
I also would be given the wordsto say but that's all it was
said about me and the rest wasabout a certain student that was
whose life was in a fragilecondition and this student,
(11:37):
student needed these lessons tosave the student's life.
I went into this blessingthinking I knew exactly what
needed to happened, and came outrealizing, okay, I am ready to
(12:00):
be a part of the The Lords will.
I went to school the next day.
I had a migraine as usual,starting at two A.
I had strength.
That I haven't felt in weeks.
I had words come to me freelyand I'm gonna share with you the
story that I shared with thesestudents that happened to me at
(12:22):
a time that was their age.
To help them understanddistorted thoughts.
And I'll share with you aportion of the story considering
the time that we have, and thisis how of a story goes when I
was 14 years old, I said, whydid you dance?
With the, the University ofUtah's ballet department.
And after that I was recruitedonto their ballet company called
(12:45):
Utah Ballet, and they, um,performed a Utah and around the
Intermountain West This meant Iwent to high school.
until about 11:00 AM and thenthe University for the rest of
the day Every day you had atechnique class.
The company had a technique.
Class was two hours long, andthis technique class was taught
by, I'll call her Ms.
(13:07):
Vladamir She was the director ofUtah Ballet.
Let me tell you this, Vladimirwas very demanding, she was
quick tempered, and she wasknown to make dancers cry.
It was the end of the two hourclass and then we were headed to
rehearsal At the end of theballet class, there's always a
big leap combination.
(13:27):
It really is exhilarating Youstart in the back corner and you
start like this.
and you Chasse', you go into abig leap combination, chaine',
lots of turns, and then youplant the landing, traveling
across the large studio from theback front and the right when We
are about to finish.
We hear bang on the piano.
(13:48):
and Ms.
Vladamir says, i-i-i-i-i I can'tstand it.
I can't stand it.
I can't stand to watch youdance, you gimme nothing.
You gimme nothing.
You call yourself dancers, youhardly leave the floor Go, go,
(14:10):
go, go get your bags.
And I thought great.
She's sick of us.
We're out.
of here So I run to get my bagthinking let me flee.
I tried to get my bag and shesays no, no, no, no.
You bring your bag to the centerof the room all of you Bring
your bag to the center of theroom.
pile them in, in the center ofthe room.
(14:32):
Trina, where's Trina?
Don't back up.
Come here.
She takes Trina by the shoulderAnd she places Trina carefully
on top of the bag and she saysto the rest of us now.
You do the combination and youjump over the bags and Trina you
call yourselves dancers, lets bedancers.
(14:53):
and I look at the, height and Ithink that's impossible.
This is nuts.
I not doing it.
I refuse.
But Ms.
Vladamir she's looking at me andshe's looking at all the dancers
but especially me because I'mher rising star.
And she would not take her eyesoff me, and I was starting to be
(15:15):
pushed forward in the line andwhat was I going to do.
So I started to pray.
Father, please, please give mestrength beyond my own.
Give my height beyond my own.
I don't want to kill Trina.
I don't want to decapitate Trinaoh, and I, chasse and I leap I
looked up out, I look, look up,and I chasse' And, and then I
(15:38):
chaine' I turn and I do not.
decapitate Trina I leap rightover her, completely over her.
And I landed little shiveringand grateful and I walked
towards the back of the studiojust so grateful that we're both
living.
And then the next thing I hear,is another smack from Ms.
(16:00):
Vladamir and she said it's notgood enough It's not good enough
Do it.
again Do it again Trina youducked your head Well, for the
sake time, I'll end thatdramatic story there, but it
continues to climb in it's dramaand I went back to the students
(16:22):
and now I tell them aboutdistorted thoughts and I said,
it was at this time that Iremember distinctly my mind
being crowded with thoughts likethis.
Your body just isn't right.
Your legs.
Your legs, your legs are notlong enough.
If they were longer, you couldhave leaped like that all of the
(16:42):
time.
Yes.
And I don't think they'repowerful enough or strong
enough.
I don't think your footwork is,fast enough.
I don't think you have thetalent to be amongst this
caliber of dancers.
That's what I was hearing and itleft me feeling embarrassed,
anxious, worried.
And then I wanted to hide away Icouldn't, but I dreamed of there
(17:07):
being some sort of catastrophethat would keep me from going to
dance class because I knew Iwould have imminent failure.
So at the time, I knew nothingabout distort thoughts, but this
is how I was feeling it.
Now, knowing about thoughts.
(17:30):
I could challenge that by sayingthis.
Well, wait, I minute, I am alyrical dancer.
I've been told that, and I'vebeen told that even so, I can
leap a little bit like a gazellethat I am obviously very high,
but with grace and it's thesevery legs at this very length
(17:54):
that have helped me with thoseleaps Yes, yes.
These are the legs that havedone it and I wouldn't be the
youngest dancer of this companyby far, recruited to dance with
adults if I didn't have thetalent to be here.
Ah, that's how I challenged,distorted thoughts.
(18:15):
And at that time, I felt to lookover this way and my eyes met
the glare.
of a certain boy.
As I'm talking about how tochallenge distorted thoughts and
I can see in his eyesunderstanding and a sense of
(18:37):
relief as it, it rolled off hisshoulders and then the spirit
bore, witness to me that thiswas the certain boy that was
spoken of and that.
His words spoken through me hadjust saved his life, and in that
(19:03):
moment, I knew I had taken aleap towards the measure of my
creation.
The Lord Jesus Christ wants usto succeed by following his
example.
In his mortal ministry, hehealed the sick and he gives us
(19:27):
through divine designopportunities to heal one
another.
Like that moment, it's like thescripture says.
All things are made by Him andwithout Him was not anything
made that was made.
John chapter, one, verse three,all those moments think of them
(19:51):
in your life where you come uponsomeone, where they've become
upon you.
He created those moments, well,three years more have passed and
I continue on in my migrainejourney.
I decided to retire early frombeing a school administrator.
And now I have another calling,and I get to now focus on
(20:15):
moments when the Lord has puthis hand in our lives and helped
us to fulfill the measure of ourcreation as the host of Dear
Daughters of God a videopodcast.
It's on now.
It's on YouTube.
It started on an audio platform.
It's still there, but in thelast 10 videos I've added
(20:38):
YouTube.
So now you can see these storiesunfold.
I tell the stories of my sistersand brothers where they've seen
the hand of God in their livesAnd by noticing that that hand
of God they better understandthe measure of their creation.
And I invite you to find us onthe YouTube under the channel,
(20:59):
Dear Daughters of God, and beinspired as to what your calling
is on this earth.
And as it changes from season toseason, by paying attention to
when God's hand is in your lifeas I was taught to bow by the
very best Ms.
(21:19):
Vladamir I continue on in thattradition As I say, farewell
until we meet again.
Goodbye
you jump over bags and Trina you call
(00:03):
yourselves dancers, lets bedancers.
and I look at the, height and Ithink that's impossible.
this is nuts.
I not doing it I refuse.
But
This episode was videotaped liveas I gave this speech at a
(00:26):
women's conference, and I actout much of the story because it
needs acting out.
So I encourage you to look it upon YouTube on the Dear Daughters
of God channel so you can getthe full effect of this story
where I explain how God helpedme find my purpose.
thank you for listening and nowonto the story.
(00:51):
Welcome.
I'm so glad you, you welcome tohave the ability measure of your
creation My name is Stephanie.
SI, by way of introduction, Iwas one of those women in the
eighties that got married as wasa teenager.
Yes, it is true.
I fell for a handsome man namedRich and we got married when I
was 19 When the children camealong, I lied to them and told
(01:17):
them I was 20 because it soundedbetter.
But they figured it out.
It wasn't long before theyfigured it out.
Yes.
Well, it all worked out and 38married years later, we grew.
From two to six to 20, 20 of usand I introduce myself this way
(01:42):
because being a mother and awife and a grandmother have been
the greatest blessings of mylife, and they've certainly
propelled me towards the,fulfill the measure of my
creation.
But I'm not going to talk aboutlead as dear people.
Today.
I'm going to talk about anotherpart of my life The professional
(02:05):
part of
my
life specifically that as a charter school
administrator, where I servedfor 15 years.
If you had asked me as a youngadult, what are you going be?
I would've never said as acharter school administrator,
but the Lord had difficult plansthat he realized that it was in
this role.
(02:25):
I'm gonna have the opportunityto develop latent talents within
me Feel free to come in and comesit down.
We're glad your here.
So I want to share anexperience.
From that to time in my lifethis, specifically was when I
was at Excelsior Academy.
I was the executive directorthere, and when I arrived it had
(02:47):
one beautiful school, 650students, grades kindergarten
through eighth grade, and overthe years that I was there, I
was given the opportunity togrow that school with a capable
team and we did just that.
We grew into two schools muchgreater campus and 1400
(03:07):
students.
At the time this experienceoccurred we had been just given
permission by the Utah StateBoard of Education to double our
school size again, which is veryhard to get it takes over a
year.
of trial and hard work butalthough we been given this
permission go to 3000, it wasnow our opportunity to have been
(03:29):
reflect as the administrationwas it.
Right.
For Excelsior to take this leapof faith, was it?
Right?
And so we were meeting withrealtors, contractors, finance
people, all of these people.
It was a very intense time in mycareer.
On the personal side, I washaving some annoying health
(03:52):
issues and I kept them to myselfexcept my closest friends.
I'd had'em for a couple ofyears.
Starting at COVID time, and thiswas a couple years after COVID.
These health issues includedspasms in the back of my neck,
flu-like symptoms every two tothree weeks, and, sinus,
pressure, regular on either sideof my nose.
(04:14):
I visited the ENT and therewasn't a sinus infection, and I
see in his wall a poster thatsays Fix your chronic run nose.
And I was like, that was anotherissue I had.
And I was thinking, is thismenopause?
You know, I'm certainly have theright years, but it just doesn't
seem to be in the menopausalcategory.
(04:34):
Well, I looked at that andthought maybe that would take
care of the sinus pressure.
Then I certainly had chronic mynose.
It was a simple procedure.
You have it at five o'clock atnight after work and you're back
at work the next morning.
All they do is.
Freeze the inner insides of thenasal membranes its a cryo
procedure.
So I had it done in theprocedure, I had a sharp, sharp
(04:58):
pain, the tip of my left nose,but I didn't say anything about
it because its suppose to hurt.
Well, the next day they'd said,you'll get a brain freeze
headache, expect that that, likewhen you sip on a slurpie too
fast.
And I did.
I got that brain freezeheadache.
And then.
The following day, I had a lowgrade migraine and I was
(05:20):
familiar with migraine becauseas a child I had developed
migraines developing age ofeight, and they were quite
severe, great deal of pain.
I passed out sleep for severalhours and wake up hours later.
Crazy.
I grew out of them somewhere inmy teenage years, so after that
(05:41):
low migraine, I had another one.
And another one, within abouttwo or three weeks, I was having
migraines every single day andthey were getting progressively
worse, but there was somethingunusual about this migraine.
They came with a stabbing painin the wee hours of the morning,
two to three o'clock in themorning, stabbing pain in that
part of my nose where thatprocedure hurt so very badly.
(06:03):
In the left side of my nose, mycheek, and my eyeball stabbing
pain, wake me up and suddenly.
Then it would turn into a hotcoals shooting through the crown
of my head, that sort of pain.
This was going on every singleday, and I was the person that
needed to be able to work everysingle day, which I was.
And so I have, I wanted to dosomething to help myself through
(06:26):
this health crisis so I cancontinue on in my duties.
So I reached back to what Ilearned in graduate school about
cognitive behavioral therapy.
Aaron Beck, the developer ofCBT, he said this about CBT,
what is common behavioraltherapy?
(06:47):
He said, the way you thinkdetermines the way you feel and
the way you act.
Aaron Beck had many students ofcognitive behavioral therapy and
one of those students name wasDavid Burns.
Also another psychiatrist, DavidBurns, popularized CBT.
(07:07):
He brought it to the masses bywriting the book, feeling good,
and then re publishing it tofeeling great.
What was so wonderful aboutfeeling great was it was written
for everyday people and it wasfull of techniques that you
could use to help yourselfthrough.
Whatever you're going throughand it had a technique in their
called talk to yourself as ifyou were your very best friend.
(07:33):
Um, it was easy to understand.
He said, you're much kinder toyour friends and forgiving and
understanding than you are toyourself This is the way Burns
described CBT.
He described it this way.
Thoughts create emotions.
By challenging distortedthoughts, people can drastically
(07:57):
improve their mood ratherquickly.
So the idea is CBT teaches usthat.
People have distorted thoughtsand they feel very real.
They feel truthful.
They feel actual, but they'renot.
They're not real.
And even though they're notreal, they feel real and they
(08:20):
affect the way we feel, and thatfeeling that emotion affects the
way we behave.
So I have looked that techniqueof talk to yourself as if you're
very, your very best friend, andused it to get to work every
day.
I started calling myself,sweetheart, in all sincerity in
(08:41):
the morning after having a veryhard night, starting around 2:00
AM I said to myself, sweetheart,you are stronger than you
realize you have strength beyondyour understanding.
You can do it.
Get out of bed.
The Lord is with you.
(09:02):
Say, you haven't called me thisat Excelsior Academy.
There are hundreds of kids outthere waiting for you.
They need you.
It was this type of conversationI would have with myself that
will keep me going during thishealth crisis.
Well, it was at this time thatTooele County, which is where
Excelsior schools located, therewas a tragedy at the local high
(09:23):
school just a few blocks awayfrom my school that ended in the
8th grade A teenage boy died bysuicide.
It was such a heartbreak and astab stab in the stomach to
those that knew and loved him.
And for me, after the initialshock, it was like a wake up
call.
(09:44):
I felt like the students atExcelsior, I asked protect them.
with what?
With knowledge.
By teaching them a few simpletechniques of cognitive
behavioral therapy before theygo to what I consider some of
the hardest years you've everlike high school.
(10:04):
So I grabbed a couple of mycounselors and I said, let's
create some classes.
Students learn better inclassroom size groups, not a big
assembly Let's create a littleworkbook we only have a few days
left of school.
We can do this, and I was nowgoing to teach five class in a
day, and they were each gonnateach some classes of cognitive
(10:29):
behavioral therapy.
At this point, I've had at least60 days in a row of these
migraines as described.
I was weak and both physicallyand emotionally, I knew I needed
help.
I said to my husband.
Would you give me a priesthoodblessing?
I need extra help to make itthrough this day.
(10:50):
It will take great energy tofulfill that duty and my own
duties So, and I also said tohim, I know exactly what needs
to be said.
Let me tell you, I need to behealed Make sure that happens.
Second, I have a calling healme, have the Lord heal me.
So he started the blessing.
(11:14):
In a blessing.
There was just a little bit thatwas about me.
It was, it was about, um, that Ithink the strength that I
needed, the endurance I had,that felt in weeks and, and that
I also would be given the wordsto say but that's all it was
said about me and the rest wasabout a certain student that was
whose life was in a fragilecondition and this student,
(11:37):
student needed these lessons tosave the student's life.
I went into this blessingthinking I knew exactly what
needed to happened, and came outrealizing, okay, I am ready to
(12:00):
be a part of the The Lords will.
I went to school the next day.
I had a migraine as usual,starting at two A.
I had strength.
That I haven't felt in weeks.
I had words come to me freelyand I'm gonna share with you the
story that I shared with thesestudents that happened to me at
(12:22):
a time that was their age.
To help them understanddistorted thoughts.
And I'll share with you aportion of the story considering
the time that we have, and thisis how of a story goes when I
was 14 years old, I said, whydid you dance?
With the, the University ofUtah's ballet department.
And after that I was recruitedonto their ballet company called
(12:45):
Utah Ballet, and they, um,performed a Utah and around the
Intermountain West This meant Iwent to high school.
until about 11:00 AM and thenthe University for the rest of
the day Every day you had atechnique class.
The company had a technique.
Class was two hours long, andthis technique class was taught
by, I'll call her Ms.
(13:07):
Vladamir She was the director ofUtah Ballet.
Let me tell you this, Vladimirwas very demanding, she was
quick tempered, and she wasknown to make dancers cry.
It was the end of the two hourclass and then we were headed to
rehearsal At the end of theballet class, there's always a
big leap combination.
(13:27):
It really is exhilarating Youstart in the back corner and you
start like this.
and you Chasse', you go into abig leap combination, chaine',
lots of turns, and then youplant the landing, traveling
across the large studio from theback front and the right when We
are about to finish.
We hear bang on the piano.
(13:48):
and Ms.
Vladamir says, i-i-i-i-i I can'tstand it.
I can't stand it.
I can't stand to watch youdance, you gimme nothing.
You gimme nothing.
You call yourself dancers, youhardly leave the floor Go, go,
(14:10):
go, go get your bags.
And I thought great.
She's sick of us.
We're out.
of here So I run to get my bagthinking let me flee.
I tried to get my bag and shesays no, no, no, no.
You bring your bag to the centerof the room all of you Bring
your bag to the center of theroom.
pile them in, in the center ofthe room.
(14:32):
Trina, where's Trina?
Don't back up.
Come here.
She takes Trina by the shoulderAnd she places Trina carefully
on top of the bag and she saysto the rest of us now.
You do the combination and youjump over the bags and Trina you
call yourselves dancers, lets bedancers.
(14:53):
and I look at the, height and Ithink that's impossible.
This is nuts.
I not doing it.
I refuse.
But Ms.
Vladamir she's looking at me andshe's looking at all the dancers
but especially me because I'mher rising star.
And she would not take her eyesoff me, and I was starting to be
(15:15):
pushed forward in the line andwhat was I going to do.
So I started to pray.
Father, please, please give mestrength beyond my own.
Give my height beyond my own.
I don't want to kill Trina.
I don't want to decapitate Trinaoh, and I, chasse and I leap I
looked up out, I look, look up,and I chasse' And, and then I
(15:38):
chaine' I turn and I do not.
decapitate Trina I leap rightover her, completely over her.
And I landed little shiveringand grateful and I walked
towards the back of the studiojust so grateful that we're both
living.
And then the next thing I hear,is another smack from Ms.
(16:00):
Vladamir and she said it's notgood enough It's not good enough
Do it.
again Do it again Trina youducked your head Well, for the
sake time, I'll end thatdramatic story there, but it
continues to climb in it's dramaand I went back to the students
(16:22):
and now I tell them aboutdistorted thoughts and I said,
it was at this time that Iremember distinctly my mind
being crowded with thoughts likethis.
Your body just isn't right.
Your legs.
Your legs, your legs are notlong enough.
If they were longer, you couldhave leaped like that all of the
(16:42):
time.
Yes.
And I don't think they'repowerful enough or strong
enough.
I don't think your footwork is,fast enough.
I don't think you have thetalent to be amongst this
caliber of dancers.
That's what I was hearing and itleft me feeling embarrassed,
anxious, worried.
And then I wanted to hide away Icouldn't, but I dreamed of there
(17:07):
being some sort of catastrophethat would keep me from going to
dance class because I knew Iwould have imminent failure.
So at the time, I knew nothingabout distort thoughts, but this
is how I was feeling it.
Now, knowing about thoughts.
(17:30):
I could challenge that by sayingthis.
Well, wait, I minute, I am alyrical dancer.
I've been told that, and I'vebeen told that even so, I can
leap a little bit like a gazellethat I am obviously very high,
but with grace and it's thesevery legs at this very length
(17:54):
that have helped me with thoseleaps Yes, yes.
These are the legs that havedone it and I wouldn't be the
youngest dancer of this companyby far, recruited to dance with
adults if I didn't have thetalent to be here.
Ah, that's how I challenged,distorted thoughts.
(18:15):
And at that time, I felt to lookover this way and my eyes met
the glare.
of a certain boy.
As I'm talking about how tochallenge distorted thoughts and
I can see in his eyesunderstanding and a sense of
(18:37):
relief as it, it rolled off hisshoulders and then the spirit
bore, witness to me that thiswas the certain boy that was
spoken of and that.
His words spoken through me hadjust saved his life, and in that
(19:03):
moment, I knew I had taken aleap towards the measure of my
creation.
The Lord Jesus Christ wants usto succeed by following his
example.
In his mortal ministry, hehealed the sick and he gives us
(19:27):
through divine designopportunities to heal one
another.
Like that moment, it's like thescripture says.
All things are made by Him andwithout Him was not anything
made that was made.
John chapter, one, verse three,all those moments think of them
(19:51):
in your life where you come uponsomeone, where they've become
upon you.
He created those moments, well,three years more have passed and
I continue on in my migrainejourney.
I decided to retire early frombeing a school administrator.
And now I have another calling,and I get to now focus on
(20:15):
moments when the Lord has puthis hand in our lives and helped
us to fulfill the measure of ourcreation as the host of Dear
Daughters of God a videopodcast.
It's on now.
It's on YouTube.
It started on an audio platform.
It's still there, but in thelast 10 videos I've added
(20:38):
YouTube.
So now you can see these storiesunfold.
I tell the stories of my sistersand brothers where they've seen
the hand of God in their livesAnd by noticing that that hand
of God they better understandthe measure of their creation.
And I invite you to find us onthe YouTube under the channel,
(20:59):
Dear Daughters of God, and beinspired as to what your calling
is on this earth.
And as it changes from season toseason, by paying attention to
when God's hand is in your lifeas I was taught to bow by the
very best Ms.
(21:19):
Vladamir I continue on in thattradition As I say, farewell
until we meet again.
Goodbye
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