S1E12: Bonus Episode

Episode Overview

In this episode we share behind-the-scenes stories and inspirations from our first four episodes. Here’s a closer look at the heartfelt journeys we’ve explored so far.

S1E2: Monica’s Story

Our journey began with Monica’s story. Following her ACTS retreat, Monica saw a bold calling emerge within her. She found the courage to reveal her struggles, paving the way for a deeper connection with others and a renewed sense of purpose.

S1E3: Diane’s Story

Diane’s story, explored in our second episode, highlighted her ability to see God’s love everywhere. Diane remains a shining example of gratitude and faith, finding reasons to thank God even in trials. 

S1E4: Jennifer’s Story

In the third episode, Jennifer introduced us to a powerful concept—challenging us to set aside pride and embrace humility, transforming both the forgiver and the forgiven.

S1E5: Jacy’s Story

Our fourth episode stepped into the remarkable and dramatic life of Jacy. For Jacy, these moments were deeply personal and extraordinary, serving as a testament to God’s guidance and love even in life’s most turbulent times.

Closing Reflection

Thank you for joining me on this special episode. As we continue this journey together, I pray these reflections inspire you to see the beauty and grace in your own story. And if you are called to share your story and move hearts toward, please get in touch!

#Jesus, #Faith, #God, #GodisGood, #Bible, #Scripture

Support the show

Our goal with this episode is to move at least one heart toward God -- is it yours? Let us know! And if you'd like to get involved by becoming a storyteller or donating to the movement, please visit:

Web: godisgoodpodcast.com
Social: www.facebook.com/groups/godisgoodpodcast/

Some of our episodes mention the ACTS Retreat, which is an evangelization retreat from ACTS Missions in San Antonio, TX: www.actsmissions.org.

Episode Transcript

Carol (00:09):
Welcome to the God is Good Podcast, where we share
stories of everyday people whohave reignited their faith in
Jesus and experienced remarkablelife transformations.
My name is Carol O'Brien, andI'm the host for this podcast.
Hello friends in Christ.
As I'm prepping to head out foran Evangelization retreat for

(00:31):
Acts missions, I'm also workingon a very large episode.
It's simply too big and I've runout of time.
So instead, for this period'sepisode, I'm going to share some
insights behind the scenesstories.
Inspirations from our first fourepisodes.

(00:51):
I'm excited to be doing this asI've been wanting to do an
episode like this for a fewmonths now.
I've been so inspired by each ofour storytellers in unique and
different ways.
I'm hoping this episode inspiresyou too, to share as well,
either in the comments sectionsbelow, or even by becoming one
of our storytellers.

(01:13):
Okay, let's dig in.
Monica's story was our firstepisode, and if you've listened
to the episode, you'll know thatshe is the inspiration for this
entire podcast.
Monica is a spiritualpowerhouse.
In her episode, we talk abouthow people perceive each other's
lives.

(01:34):
We imagine that everyone aroundus is living their very best
life We see on social media.
All of life and rarely see thepain and heartache this.
While everyone saw how puttogether and confident she was,
no one knew that she wasstruggling with many aspects of

(01:56):
her life and her marriage.
Following her Acts retreat, shefound a calling to be bold, to
start revealing her life and herstruggles and why she completely
surrendered her trust to God inall areas of her life.
This seemingly simpletransformation opened up a whole

(02:16):
new life of servant leadership,one in which Monica was brave
enough to share her story andremarkably transform others by
revealing the struggle sheovercame with God's help.
Her favorite scripture isProverbs three, one through six,
and it's so fitting because ittells us that we need to rely on

(02:37):
God's love and will for ourlives.
Rather than on other humanbeings and our own
understanding, and if you cantrust him with your whole heart,
he will make straight yourpaths.
For me, one of the most powerfullessons of Monica's story and
Proverbs three is that God neverpromises that if we follow him,

(03:02):
he'll take away all of ourtroubles.
That has been incredibly freeingfor me.
I used to believe that havingtroubles in my life meant that I
was unworthy of God's peace andlove.
Monica's story revealed to methat while the storms of life
are swirling around me, God isstanding right beside me.
Storms are always going tohappen, and he's inviting me to

(03:25):
hold out my hand and trust himbecause he loves me.
Today when troubles arise, asthey always will, I now try to
lean on God first instead of myown understanding.
I'm still a work in progress.
Monica's story, which is seasonone, episode two is fittingly

(03:46):
called Relying on God.
Diane is our second storyteller.
She is one of those specialpeople who just see God's love
everywhere she is, and whateverhappens in her life.
No matter the trials, she findssomething to thank God for.
In the preparation before herepisode, we chatted about the

(04:08):
struggles in her life.
She called her life aminiseries, and as soon as we
began her episode, I understoodwhy.
Her life started in trauma andthen one difficult experience
after another shaped andstrengthened her love for God.
I was just mentioning withMonica's episode that God

(04:29):
doesn't promise us an easy life.
Rather, he promises us his loveand peace if we rely on him.
Diane faced much suffering, butI think her true transformation
came about when she left thesituation to protect her son.
Caused her pain, but she knewshe could rely on God to get her

(04:50):
through it.
Her scripture is beautiful.
Isaiah 12 verse two.
It's called a Song ofThanksgiving, so we named her
story the same.
The verse guides us not to fear,but to trust God through our
suffering.
It's so reflective of Diane'slife.
Today, especially because ofDiane's courage in sharing her

(05:14):
story, I'm working on seeing thetrials in my life as a blessing.
I know that God uses thosesufferings to bring us closer to
him, and like Diane, now, I lookfor God everywhere.
Diane's story is season one,episode three, and it's called A
Song Thanksgiving.

(05:36):
Jennifer's story is the nextepisode.
Jennifer introduced us to a newconcept, it's called offensive
forgiveness.
She wrote a chapter in a bookcalled, Before She Knew Jesus,
which is a spiritual guide.
Jennifer's chapter is chapterthree,"when forgiveness feels

(05:57):
offensive." It's funny, before Ieven knew her story, just the
title of it brought me to areally reflective place.
I knew that forgiveness could behard in the past.
I struggled with how to forgivepeople in my life who
intentionally hurt me.
How could I forgive them, God,and what does it mean to do so?

(06:21):
Do I have to let them back intomy life?
Do I have to forget what theydid and move on?
Then Jennifer shared her storyof a forgiveness that is beyond
our understanding as humans.
Where, when the first thing wewant to say is,"I was in the
right and you were in thewrong," God asked us to put down

(06:43):
our pride and cloak ourselves inhumility.
It doesn't seem fair to ourhuman egos, and in those
moments.
God reveals his heart to us andshows us how much he loves us.
Jennifer's favorite scripture isthe same as Monica's, but it's
the straight paths concept ofProverbs three that is so

(07:06):
powerful in this situation.
When we walk with God, he'llmake our path straight.
He'll guide us if we allow himto.
And he'll give us that peace weso desperately long for.
I mentioned that even before thetaping of Jennifer's story, it
put me a reflective mode.
How many times did I ask thewrong questions of God?

(07:29):
How many times did I forget toeven ask God what I should do in
a situation, especially when Iwas right?
And what is happening in my liferight now where God is asking me
to be humble in front of him andto love difficult people in my
life?
Thanks to Jennifer introducingme to the concept of offensive

(07:51):
forgiveness, I am now trying toput it into practice those
things that I used to see asselfishness, unkindness, and
outright transgressions of otherpeople, I now try to see as
callings from God to encourageme to grow in love and closeness
to him.
To rely on him to handle mytroubles, and to allow him to

(08:13):
make my path straight.
Jennifer's story is season one,episode four: Straight Paths.
Oh my goodness.
Our next episode is Jacys story.
I find myself constantly lookingat my pictures of Jesus to see
if they're breathing.
I only have a few, the SacredHeart, St.

(08:34):
Faustina's Divine Mercy, andJesus knocking at the door with
no handle, but they areconstantly in my line of vision
and no, I haven't seen thembreathe yet.
I am only kind of kiddingbecause I know that Jesus really
shows us Himself where and howwe each need to see him.

(08:55):
For jacy, it was in a dramaticand remarkable way, perhaps
because her life up until thatpoint.
Had been filled with dramaticexperiences that left her young
heart devastated.
They caused her to makedecisions that brought her pain
and resulted in temporarilykeeping her from the cleansing

(09:17):
of her soul and heart.
But when she cried out to Jesus,He answered.
In a profound and, I think,miraculous way.
Her story is an inspiration ofallowing God to lead us outta
the darkness, not always in theway that we hope or pray for,

(09:38):
but in his own way, which isalways better than ours.
In reflecting on Jacy's story, Ithink at the times when I didn't
know what God had planned forme, when I thought He wasn't
there and when He wasn'tlistening to me.
Well, When I look back on mylife, I can now see the times he

(09:58):
showed me Himself and His willfor my life.
I couldn't see it at the timebecause I was so focused on me
and My suffering and my pain.
He got me through each of thosemoments, even when I was angry
with him and thought that he hadleft me to fend for myself.

(10:18):
He never left me.
And even though he doesn't showme himself as dramatically as he
showed Jacy, I am beyond blessedthat I know him and feel him
every minute of every day of mylife.
Jacy's dramatic story is seasonone, episode five, and it is
simply called, Jesus Breathed.

(10:41):
Well, I hope you enjoyed thismini episode of the God Is Good
podcast.
If you feel called to become oneof our storytellers and share
your story of transformationfrom lukewarm to on fire for
Jesus, please reach out.
And if you would like just tosupport our episode, you can do
so by liking and subscribingwherever you listen to your

(11:02):
podcast.
Financial support is alsoappreciated and helps us to
produce the episodes.

You can help us via our website: GodisGoodPodcast.com. (11:09):
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Finally, please let me know ifyou like this type of episode.
If you do, let us know in thecomments section and let me know
if the episodes inspire you.
And stay tuned for our next fulllength episode.
It's going to be very powerful.

(11:31):
In the meantime, friends,remember God is good.