February 1, 2025 • 20 mins
Walking with Jesus is a journey of faith, love, and devotion. However, this journey can be incredibly challenging when we are burdened with bitterness and anger.
Jennifer’s story is about embracing forgiveness to liberate us from the need to be right. She shares how she chose joy, let go of the hurt and pain caused by others, and allowed God's grace to flow through her.
Sit back, grab a cup of coffee, and hear how Jennifer quieted her heart and listened to God’s whispers.
And you can get the book Jennifer contributed to, Before She Knew Jesus, on Amazon or at www. storiesofafaithbuilder.com. Jennifer’s is Chapter 3, When Forgiveness Feels Offensive.
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.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carol (00:13):
Welcome to the God is good podcast, where we share
stories of those who havereignited their faith in Jesus
and experienced remarkable lifetransformations.
My name is Carol O'Brien, andI'm your host for this podcast.
If our episodes touch your heartand you would like to get
involved and help us on ourmission of moving hearts toward
Jesus, please listen to the endof this episode to learn how.
(00:40):
Trust in the Lord with all yourheart.
On your own intelligence do notrely.
In all your ways, be mindful ofHim and He will make straight
your paths.
Proverbs 3 verses 5 through 6.
Dear friends in Christ, it iswith a heart full of reflection
and gratitude that I welcome youto this episode.
(01:02):
Every story we share heretouches me deeply.
I hope they do the same for you.
That you find something withineach story that moves your heart
closer to Jesus.
If so, I think you'll find thatthis episode is just as
powerful.
It resonated with me profoundly,shaking me to my core, and
(01:22):
serving as a poignant reminderof the times when my own paths
were not straight.
Through this journey, I foundstrength and guidance in faith,
and it is my hope that thisepisode will inspire you in a
similar way.
Before we get to her story, I'dlike to tell you about our
guest, Jennifer.
Soft spoken and passionate, shehas a beautiful and supportive
(01:46):
family, including her husbandand two daughters.
Jennifer is an active member ofa dynamic church community, full
of faith-filled friends.
And if that doesn't keep herbusy enough, she wrote a chapter
in the new book, Before She KnewJesus.
This book so aptly releases onValentine's Day, February 14th,
(02:09):
2025.
It is about forgiveness in theface of betrayal and devastating
hardships.
I am honored to introduceJennifer, whose powerful
testimony and unwavering faithhave been a beacon of hope and
inspiration.
Her story is one of resilience,redemption, and the
(02:30):
transformative power of God'slove.
Join me as we welcome Jenniferand hear her remarkable journey.
Hi, Jennifer.
Jennifer (02:40):
Hey, Carol.
So nice to be here.
Thank you for this opportunity.
Carol (02:44):
It's so wonderful to speak with you.
Before we get into your story,please tell me about the method
for writing the chapter of yourbook.
Was it a healing process or doyou feel like you were already
through the trauma and so thiswas just a joyful retelling of a
story?
Jennifer (03:00):
This particular chapter is a retelling, so this
is something that I had healedfrom and lived through several
years after reflecting upon thismoment, and being able to retell
it and see where the story'sgone since then.
And just really understandingwhen we're told in the Bible to
count it all joy.
(03:21):
This I can now count as joy.
Carol (03:24):
That's fantastic that you're through it enough that
you can look back on it and findall the God moments in it.
So, this does bring us to yourstory.
It's a hard story.
The unfairness of this situationis really heartbreaking.
Can you share what happened?
Jennifer (03:42):
Absolutely.
So when we come into this story,I was 30 at the time.
God had been in my life But Ijust really wasn't listening.
I was doing what I wanted to do,or what I knew to do, mostly out
of survival mode.
So what I had decided is that wewere going to pack up my soon to
be husband, our new baby, andmove from one side of the
(04:04):
country to the other so that Icould fulfill my desires of
being part of a sea turtlerescue.
When we got to the other side ofthe country, we made a stop at
my husband's mom's house becauseshe happens to live in the area.
And we went out to look for aplace to live and we found a
place.
It was perfect.
(04:24):
It was this upcoming littleneighborhood with the playground
and a community garden.
The landlords were Christian.
And so we picked out the trailerthat we wanted.
Everything in it was in theprocess of being rebuilt and
they told us that it would beabout two weeks.
We're like, okay, we could dotwo weeks.
(04:45):
So fast forward.
It had been two weeks and wehadn't heard anything.
Texts and emails wentunresponded to.
And we went back down to checkon progress.
It was about two and a halfhours away.
When we arrive, the trailer thatwe had chosen was in worse shape
than where we had seen it in thefirst place.
So we find them and they'relike,"you know, I'm really
(05:05):
sorry.
It's taking longer than wethought.
We didn't respond because itwasn't ready.
Give us two more weeks.
But, can we have a little bitmore money to cover costs?" I
was very naive at the timecoming to that stuff, and so we
ended up giving them ourdeposit, first month's rent, and
half of another month's rent intotal.
(05:26):
And then we went back for twomore weeks.
And we finally get a text.
"It's moving day, you can movein, come get your new home," and
we're like, yes, because thiswould fulfill a dream.
I would be living by the beach,in the country, not in a city,
have a community, like, it hitall the boxes.
And so we show up, and there'sanother family...
(05:49):
living in our home.
It was very apparent that theyhad been there at least a couple
of weeks, because everything wasmoved in, you know, kind of
walking around the place, tryingnot to be too nosy, but really
kind of wondering, did they justmove in?
Was it an accident?
Something like that.
We found nobody around and so wewent across the street, which is
(06:13):
another part of their property.
We're asking people,"where arethese landlords?
Where are they?
We need to talk to them.
There's somebody in our house."And then we were informed by one
of the maintenance men,"Oh, theydid that to you, too?" And we
were like,"Whoa, what do youmean you, too?" And they're
like,"Oh yeah, they've done thatbefore." It was shortly after
(06:36):
that, that a gentleman comesaround the corner and he was one
of their managers and tells usthat we need to leave the
property because we areconsidered trespassing and that
the law would be called if wedidn't leave.
So that left us in a new city,homeless with a baby and a cat.
We could not go back to hismom's place.
(06:58):
Because her landlord said wecan't go back because we'd
already been there a month.
And everything that we weresupposed to be doing was in this
city two and a half hours away.
Carol (07:08):
Oh my gosh, that's really hard.
I can't imagine what you werefeeling at that time.
I mean, not having a home andhaving to care for a young
child.
And then all the financialimplications of having paid them
already.
And so, how did you feel?
Did you lose your faith inpeople?
Jennifer (07:27):
At that time I was, I was very angry, very angry.
But there was a brief momentwhere I just felt like God was
very firm, very kind, butsaying, forgive them.
And I was not having it.
That was not going to happen atthat moment.
At that point it was just, itwas really hard.
(07:48):
To say, you know what?
I'm in the right.
I didn't do anything wrong Andif they've done this to me,
they've done this to otherpeople.
And so what that did is thatleft us completely, nearly
completely broke.
I did take it to the point whereI took it to the court Just in
full transparency.
I took them to court and I suedthem.
(08:10):
And while I was going throughevery step of that process, God
was telling me, forgive them,forgive them.
I still, even hearing him andknowing it was him, I still did
the wrong thing.
I walked out of that courtroomand went to collect the money
(08:30):
because we won because theydidn't show up and the clerk
tells me no, they have to pay usand then we pay you.
But it was over the next fewweeks where having conversations
with God that I hadn't had in avery long time and there was
just a softening in my hearttowards the landlord.
I called the courts.
I asked them to stop.
I'm not going to pursue her forthis.
(08:52):
Once I did that, I saw them forthe humans they are and not for
the things that they did, and Ihad never seen anybody like that
before.
Carol (09:02):
That's incredible.
One of the things that I'velearned doing this podcast is
that, you know, we're really allbroken in some way.
I think we all think,"Oh, mygosh, I'm the broken one.
And these other people have itall together." We don't know
what was broken with thoselandlords.
They certainly didn't act withintegrity, but God knows what
(09:23):
was going on for them.
This may have been anopportunity to bless you because
he gave you the peace andcomfort with this.
And I really love that.
So you did say that God waswhispering to you and making
your path straight.
Did this change the way that youapproach different situations?
Jennifer (09:41):
Absolutely.
It changed.
I never look at people the sameway.
I always wonder what'sunderneath.
This brought up the realizationthat there was something in me
that couldn't let it go.
There was some brokenness insideof me that was clinging to the
need to be right.
So it was bringing up thingsthat I needed to work on.
(10:02):
I see behaviors differently.
I see choices differently.
And so going forward for therest of my life, I don't look at
people the same way.
I look at them as humans and weare all just trying to figure it
out with whatever we'veexperienced and knowing that I
can give more grace.
I can extend mercy.
(10:23):
I can reflect Jesus' charactermore intentionally through
interactions with others.
Just the constant reminder of,How much have I forgiven you?"
Carol (10:33):
How God has forgiven you?
Right.
Yes.
Yes.
And I think about the Sermon onthe Mount where Jesus says, If
someone takes your cloak, givethem your tunic as well.
And that's a hard lesson.
So what happened after thisexperience, this terrible story
of betrayal?
Jennifer (10:53):
So, after that, once I had forgiven her, and I had
asked for her forgiveness, wewere searching for a new home.
And we had bad credit history.
So we were looking in all theplaces we thought we would be
accepted and we could afford.
The place that we found in themeantime was a trailer that did
(11:13):
not have any heat.
There were ants in the walls,out of the walls.
We had a crawling toddler and soit was this daily battle of
trying to wash our clothesbecause we couldn't afford a
washer and dryer.
And we couldn't afford to go toa laundry mat.
So we were doing everything byhand, including cloth diapers.
And we were driving around and Isaw these apartments off to the
(11:36):
side.
They were by the beach and theywere beautiful in the kind that
you look at it and you're like,that would be nice.
I felt that Holy nudge and itwas the nudge of, you need to go
do this.
And there's like a surety ofsuccess when you get that nudge.
There's something successful onthat side.
And so my husband questioned meand he was like, those are
really, those are not, we're notgoing to be able to afford that.
(11:58):
And I was like, just go.
So we go in and talk to themanager and we tell them our
story.
And they're like, well, let'srun your credit.
So we run credit.
And she's like, oh, good news.
You were approved.
And we're like, that's great.
And she's like, well, you needfirst month and the deposit is
also first month's rent.
And that's where we said, Thankyou, but have a great day.
(12:18):
We don't have that." And so wego to leave and we're getting in
our truck and the manager comesfrom running out of the office
and she waves us down and she'slike, you need to come back
inside.
"You know, we don't have thefunds to move in." And she stops
me.
She looks me dead in the eye andshe says,"When God tells you to
do something, you do it.
(12:39):
And he told me you need to livehere and we're going to make it
work.
We're going to work it out." Sowe go back inside and we sign
all the papers.
We gave her everything we have.
My husband hadn't even startedhis job yet.
He was going to start the nextMonday.
And they were like, just bringus what you got.
This is what you'll owe andwe'll work on it.
(13:01):
We had a new apartment.
We had a washer and dryer, wewere right by the beach, and
places to play with ourdaughter, and it was a safe
neighborhood.
And that was something that wasjust incredibly important to us
is that we had the safety and wejust felt so protected.
We became very close friendswith the agents in the office.
(13:24):
And the beautiful part about itis that the forgiveness didn't
stop at that point.
Once we were there for a fewmonths, we found out that we
were going to be expectingagain.
My first pregnancy was a verydifficult pregnancy.
It was very high risk and weknew we would need help and
there was nobody there to helpus.
So here we were packing upeverything we own back in our
(13:47):
truck and having to go backacross the country to go with my
mom, because I know she couldhelp us.
That meant that we had to breaka lease that meant there were
fees and rent.
And through the kindness of theLord and nothing else we were
forgiven that debt as well.
And there were things thathappened after that, with the
(14:09):
management of the property thatwe were just leaving that we
could have never foreseen.
And through it all within acouple of years, it was less
than two years, that debt hadfallen off of our credit and
it's gone.
Like we even went to look for itto pay everything off later.
It was gone.
It was forgiveness afterforgiveness after forgiveness.
(14:32):
So when you forgive a little,God just multiplies that.
Carol (14:37):
God is so good.
I love that story because itmakes me think on one hand you
had this one landlord whotreated you so badly and then
God gave you another landlordthat treated you so kindly.
Jennifer (14:52):
And we're still friends today.
So when we travel back that way,we can always pop in and say,
Hey, and she wants to see thegirls and catch up and
everything.
And so it was really justabsolutely life changing.
Carol (15:05):
Is this what the chapter of your book is about?
Jennifer (15:08):
This is definitely what my chapter is about in this
story.
I had come together with severalother authors to share their raw
stories as well.
My particular chapter is chapterthree, and it's called,"When
Forgiveness Feels Offensive."
Carol (15:23):
Oh, what a great title.
That just says everything,doesn't it?
I don't know if everyonelistening caught it, but you
said earlier that after youforgave the landlord, you asked
for her forgiveness for takingher to court.
At first I thought, No, shedidn't do anything wrong.
Why should she have to ask thatlandlord for forgiveness?
(15:47):
But your story tells the reason,right?
You were actually listening toGod and doing what God's will
was for your life.
And he blessed you after theforgiveness that you were able
to find in your heart to give tosomeone who had wronged you.
It's an amazing story and itjust really shows how on fire
you are for Jesus.
(16:08):
Do you have any suggestions forour listeners on how they too
can become and stay on fire forJesus?
Jennifer (16:14):
One of the things that has brought the most clarity
when it comes to getting to knowJesus on a deep level is
spending those quiet moments andinviting him in and just saying,
just show me what it is.
Whatever it is that you areworking on with me, how can I
partner with you?
And then just saying thank you.
(16:36):
Thank you for the stars.
Thank you for the sun.
Thank you for this world.
Thank you for just anything thatyou can think of.
And there's something reallyholy about being completely
thankful.
It is a constant conversation.
Always.
It's something that took me along time to get used to because
I was used to filling my headwith lots of other thoughts.
(16:57):
I'm always learning more aboutwho Jesus was.
And the more that I learn, themore on fire I get, the more
excited I get, and the more Iwant to share because it's
amazing.
It's miraculous.
It's so deep.
Carol (17:10):
I think this is an excellent point to re-read your
favorite scripture, because Ithink it's very telling to who
you are and how much you loveJesus.
"Trust in the Lord with all yourheart.
On your own intelligence do notrely.
In all your ways be mindful ofHim and He will make straight
your paths." Proverbs 3 verses 5through 6 Well, thank you for
(17:34):
sharing your story, Jennifer.
It's truly hard and maybe evenimpossible to walk with Jesus
when you're carrying bitternessand anger.
But you chose forgiveness andjoy.
Your call to live by faithenabled Jesus to guide your
path.
I know your story reallyimpacted me.
It made me think of the timeswhen I knew I was right and
(17:56):
instead of reacting with graceand kindness, I acted with
justification for how angry Iwas.
I counted the ways the personhad wronged me, instead of
counting the blessings that Ihad been given.
I hope it inspires even oneperson to trust in God with all
their heart.
(18:17):
Thank you again, Jennifer.
And please tell us how to getyour book when it's released.
Jennifer (18:21):
Absolutely.
You can find,"Before She KnewJesus" on Amazon.
It should be released the secondweek of February.
If you're hearing this afterthat, you can go to my website,
storiesofafaithbuilder.com, andyou can order it from there as
well.
Carol (18:41):
We'll make sure we put that information in the show
notes.
Thanks again, Jennifer.
And thank you to all of ourlisteners for joining us on this
movement by liking, sharing, andfollowing our podcast.
We welcome everyone who wouldlike to become more involved and
move more hearts towards Jesusand there are two really great
ways.
The first is by becoming one ofour storytellers and sharing
(19:04):
your story.
And second, we humbly ask you toconsider offering a small
one-time or monthly donation.
These funds will help us producethe podcast and even allow us to
offer some spiritual retreatscholarships.
You can do both of these thingsat GodIsGoodPodcast.com/joinus.
(19:26):
All of your support, whetherit's a donation, a like, a
follow, or even sharing thispodcast with a friend is so
appreciated and helps us move asmany hearts as possible toward
Jesus.
Until next time, friends,remember, God is good.
Welcome to the God is good podcast, where we share
stories of those who havereignited their faith in Jesus
and experienced remarkable lifetransformations.
My name is Carol O'Brien, andI'm your host for this podcast.
If our episodes touch your heartand you would like to get
involved and help us on ourmission of moving hearts toward
Jesus, please listen to the endof this episode to learn how.
(00:40):
Trust in the Lord with all yourheart.
On your own intelligence do notrely.
In all your ways, be mindful ofHim and He will make straight
your paths.
Proverbs 3 verses 5 through 6.
Dear friends in Christ, it iswith a heart full of reflection
and gratitude that I welcome youto this episode.
(01:02):
Every story we share heretouches me deeply.
I hope they do the same for you.
That you find something withineach story that moves your heart
closer to Jesus.
If so, I think you'll find thatthis episode is just as
powerful.
It resonated with me profoundly,shaking me to my core, and
(01:22):
serving as a poignant reminderof the times when my own paths
were not straight.
Through this journey, I foundstrength and guidance in faith,
and it is my hope that thisepisode will inspire you in a
similar way.
Before we get to her story, I'dlike to tell you about our
guest, Jennifer.
Soft spoken and passionate, shehas a beautiful and supportive
(01:46):
family, including her husbandand two daughters.
Jennifer is an active member ofa dynamic church community, full
of faith-filled friends.
And if that doesn't keep herbusy enough, she wrote a chapter
in the new book, Before She KnewJesus.
This book so aptly releases onValentine's Day, February 14th,
(02:09):
2025.
It is about forgiveness in theface of betrayal and devastating
hardships.
I am honored to introduceJennifer, whose powerful
testimony and unwavering faithhave been a beacon of hope and
inspiration.
Her story is one of resilience,redemption, and the
(02:30):
transformative power of God'slove.
Join me as we welcome Jenniferand hear her remarkable journey.
Hi, Jennifer.
Jennifer (02:40):
Hey, Carol.
So nice to be here.
Thank you for this opportunity.
Carol (02:44):
It's so wonderful to speak with you.
Before we get into your story,please tell me about the method
for writing the chapter of yourbook.
Was it a healing process or doyou feel like you were already
through the trauma and so thiswas just a joyful retelling of a
story?
Jennifer (03:00):
This particular chapter is a retelling, so this
is something that I had healedfrom and lived through several
years after reflecting upon thismoment, and being able to retell
it and see where the story'sgone since then.
And just really understandingwhen we're told in the Bible to
count it all joy.
(03:21):
This I can now count as joy.
Carol (03:24):
That's fantastic that you're through it enough that
you can look back on it and findall the God moments in it.
So, this does bring us to yourstory.
It's a hard story.
The unfairness of this situationis really heartbreaking.
Can you share what happened?
Jennifer (03:42):
Absolutely.
So when we come into this story,I was 30 at the time.
God had been in my life But Ijust really wasn't listening.
I was doing what I wanted to do,or what I knew to do, mostly out
of survival mode.
So what I had decided is that wewere going to pack up my soon to
be husband, our new baby, andmove from one side of the
(04:04):
country to the other so that Icould fulfill my desires of
being part of a sea turtlerescue.
When we got to the other side ofthe country, we made a stop at
my husband's mom's house becauseshe happens to live in the area.
And we went out to look for aplace to live and we found a
place.
It was perfect.
(04:24):
It was this upcoming littleneighborhood with the playground
and a community garden.
The landlords were Christian.
And so we picked out the trailerthat we wanted.
Everything in it was in theprocess of being rebuilt and
they told us that it would beabout two weeks.
We're like, okay, we could dotwo weeks.
(04:45):
So fast forward.
It had been two weeks and wehadn't heard anything.
Texts and emails wentunresponded to.
And we went back down to checkon progress.
It was about two and a halfhours away.
When we arrive, the trailer thatwe had chosen was in worse shape
than where we had seen it in thefirst place.
So we find them and they'relike,"you know, I'm really
(05:05):
sorry.
It's taking longer than wethought.
We didn't respond because itwasn't ready.
Give us two more weeks.
But, can we have a little bitmore money to cover costs?" I
was very naive at the timecoming to that stuff, and so we
ended up giving them ourdeposit, first month's rent, and
half of another month's rent intotal.
(05:26):
And then we went back for twomore weeks.
And we finally get a text.
"It's moving day, you can movein, come get your new home," and
we're like, yes, because thiswould fulfill a dream.
I would be living by the beach,in the country, not in a city,
have a community, like, it hitall the boxes.
And so we show up, and there'sanother family...
(05:49):
living in our home.
It was very apparent that theyhad been there at least a couple
of weeks, because everything wasmoved in, you know, kind of
walking around the place, tryingnot to be too nosy, but really
kind of wondering, did they justmove in?
Was it an accident?
Something like that.
We found nobody around and so wewent across the street, which is
(06:13):
another part of their property.
We're asking people,"where arethese landlords?
Where are they?
We need to talk to them.
There's somebody in our house."And then we were informed by one
of the maintenance men,"Oh, theydid that to you, too?" And we
were like,"Whoa, what do youmean you, too?" And they're
like,"Oh yeah, they've done thatbefore." It was shortly after
(06:36):
that, that a gentleman comesaround the corner and he was one
of their managers and tells usthat we need to leave the
property because we areconsidered trespassing and that
the law would be called if wedidn't leave.
So that left us in a new city,homeless with a baby and a cat.
We could not go back to hismom's place.
(06:58):
Because her landlord said wecan't go back because we'd
already been there a month.
And everything that we weresupposed to be doing was in this
city two and a half hours away.
Carol (07:08):
Oh my gosh, that's really hard.
I can't imagine what you werefeeling at that time.
I mean, not having a home andhaving to care for a young
child.
And then all the financialimplications of having paid them
already.
And so, how did you feel?
Did you lose your faith inpeople?
Jennifer (07:27):
At that time I was, I was very angry, very angry.
But there was a brief momentwhere I just felt like God was
very firm, very kind, butsaying, forgive them.
And I was not having it.
That was not going to happen atthat moment.
At that point it was just, itwas really hard.
(07:48):
To say, you know what?
I'm in the right.
I didn't do anything wrong Andif they've done this to me,
they've done this to otherpeople.
And so what that did is thatleft us completely, nearly
completely broke.
I did take it to the point whereI took it to the court Just in
full transparency.
I took them to court and I suedthem.
(08:10):
And while I was going throughevery step of that process, God
was telling me, forgive them,forgive them.
I still, even hearing him andknowing it was him, I still did
the wrong thing.
I walked out of that courtroomand went to collect the money
(08:30):
because we won because theydidn't show up and the clerk
tells me no, they have to pay usand then we pay you.
But it was over the next fewweeks where having conversations
with God that I hadn't had in avery long time and there was
just a softening in my hearttowards the landlord.
I called the courts.
I asked them to stop.
I'm not going to pursue her forthis.
(08:52):
Once I did that, I saw them forthe humans they are and not for
the things that they did, and Ihad never seen anybody like that
before.
Carol (09:02):
That's incredible.
One of the things that I'velearned doing this podcast is
that, you know, we're really allbroken in some way.
I think we all think,"Oh, mygosh, I'm the broken one.
And these other people have itall together." We don't know
what was broken with thoselandlords.
They certainly didn't act withintegrity, but God knows what
(09:23):
was going on for them.
This may have been anopportunity to bless you because
he gave you the peace andcomfort with this.
And I really love that.
So you did say that God waswhispering to you and making
your path straight.
Did this change the way that youapproach different situations?
Jennifer (09:41):
Absolutely.
It changed.
I never look at people the sameway.
I always wonder what'sunderneath.
This brought up the realizationthat there was something in me
that couldn't let it go.
There was some brokenness insideof me that was clinging to the
need to be right.
So it was bringing up thingsthat I needed to work on.
(10:02):
I see behaviors differently.
I see choices differently.
And so going forward for therest of my life, I don't look at
people the same way.
I look at them as humans and weare all just trying to figure it
out with whatever we'veexperienced and knowing that I
can give more grace.
I can extend mercy.
(10:23):
I can reflect Jesus' charactermore intentionally through
interactions with others.
Just the constant reminder of,How much have I forgiven you?"
Carol (10:33):
How God has forgiven you?
Right.
Yes.
Yes.
And I think about the Sermon onthe Mount where Jesus says, If
someone takes your cloak, givethem your tunic as well.
And that's a hard lesson.
So what happened after thisexperience, this terrible story
of betrayal?
Jennifer (10:53):
So, after that, once I had forgiven her, and I had
asked for her forgiveness, wewere searching for a new home.
And we had bad credit history.
So we were looking in all theplaces we thought we would be
accepted and we could afford.
The place that we found in themeantime was a trailer that did
(11:13):
not have any heat.
There were ants in the walls,out of the walls.
We had a crawling toddler and soit was this daily battle of
trying to wash our clothesbecause we couldn't afford a
washer and dryer.
And we couldn't afford to go toa laundry mat.
So we were doing everything byhand, including cloth diapers.
And we were driving around and Isaw these apartments off to the
(11:36):
side.
They were by the beach and theywere beautiful in the kind that
you look at it and you're like,that would be nice.
I felt that Holy nudge and itwas the nudge of, you need to go
do this.
And there's like a surety ofsuccess when you get that nudge.
There's something successful onthat side.
And so my husband questioned meand he was like, those are
really, those are not, we're notgoing to be able to afford that.
(11:58):
And I was like, just go.
So we go in and talk to themanager and we tell them our
story.
And they're like, well, let'srun your credit.
So we run credit.
And she's like, oh, good news.
You were approved.
And we're like, that's great.
And she's like, well, you needfirst month and the deposit is
also first month's rent.
And that's where we said, Thankyou, but have a great day.
(12:18):
We don't have that." And so wego to leave and we're getting in
our truck and the manager comesfrom running out of the office
and she waves us down and she'slike, you need to come back
inside.
"You know, we don't have thefunds to move in." And she stops
me.
She looks me dead in the eye andshe says,"When God tells you to
do something, you do it.
(12:39):
And he told me you need to livehere and we're going to make it
work.
We're going to work it out." Sowe go back inside and we sign
all the papers.
We gave her everything we have.
My husband hadn't even startedhis job yet.
He was going to start the nextMonday.
And they were like, just bringus what you got.
This is what you'll owe andwe'll work on it.
(13:01):
We had a new apartment.
We had a washer and dryer, wewere right by the beach, and
places to play with ourdaughter, and it was a safe
neighborhood.
And that was something that wasjust incredibly important to us
is that we had the safety and wejust felt so protected.
We became very close friendswith the agents in the office.
(13:24):
And the beautiful part about itis that the forgiveness didn't
stop at that point.
Once we were there for a fewmonths, we found out that we
were going to be expectingagain.
My first pregnancy was a verydifficult pregnancy.
It was very high risk and weknew we would need help and
there was nobody there to helpus.
So here we were packing upeverything we own back in our
(13:47):
truck and having to go backacross the country to go with my
mom, because I know she couldhelp us.
That meant that we had to breaka lease that meant there were
fees and rent.
And through the kindness of theLord and nothing else we were
forgiven that debt as well.
And there were things thathappened after that, with the
(14:09):
management of the property thatwe were just leaving that we
could have never foreseen.
And through it all within acouple of years, it was less
than two years, that debt hadfallen off of our credit and
it's gone.
Like we even went to look for itto pay everything off later.
It was gone.
It was forgiveness afterforgiveness after forgiveness.
(14:32):
So when you forgive a little,God just multiplies that.
Carol (14:37):
God is so good.
I love that story because itmakes me think on one hand you
had this one landlord whotreated you so badly and then
God gave you another landlordthat treated you so kindly.
Jennifer (14:52):
And we're still friends today.
So when we travel back that way,we can always pop in and say,
Hey, and she wants to see thegirls and catch up and
everything.
And so it was really justabsolutely life changing.
Carol (15:05):
Is this what the chapter of your book is about?
Jennifer (15:08):
This is definitely what my chapter is about in this
story.
I had come together with severalother authors to share their raw
stories as well.
My particular chapter is chapterthree, and it's called,"When
Forgiveness Feels Offensive."
Carol (15:23):
Oh, what a great title.
That just says everything,doesn't it?
I don't know if everyonelistening caught it, but you
said earlier that after youforgave the landlord, you asked
for her forgiveness for takingher to court.
At first I thought, No, shedidn't do anything wrong.
Why should she have to ask thatlandlord for forgiveness?
(15:47):
But your story tells the reason,right?
You were actually listening toGod and doing what God's will
was for your life.
And he blessed you after theforgiveness that you were able
to find in your heart to give tosomeone who had wronged you.
It's an amazing story and itjust really shows how on fire
you are for Jesus.
(16:08):
Do you have any suggestions forour listeners on how they too
can become and stay on fire forJesus?
Jennifer (16:14):
One of the things that has brought the most clarity
when it comes to getting to knowJesus on a deep level is
spending those quiet moments andinviting him in and just saying,
just show me what it is.
Whatever it is that you areworking on with me, how can I
partner with you?
And then just saying thank you.
(16:36):
Thank you for the stars.
Thank you for the sun.
Thank you for this world.
Thank you for just anything thatyou can think of.
And there's something reallyholy about being completely
thankful.
It is a constant conversation.
Always.
It's something that took me along time to get used to because
I was used to filling my headwith lots of other thoughts.
(16:57):
I'm always learning more aboutwho Jesus was.
And the more that I learn, themore on fire I get, the more
excited I get, and the more Iwant to share because it's
amazing.
It's miraculous.
It's so deep.
Carol (17:10):
I think this is an excellent point to re-read your
favorite scripture, because Ithink it's very telling to who
you are and how much you loveJesus.
"Trust in the Lord with all yourheart.
On your own intelligence do notrely.
In all your ways be mindful ofHim and He will make straight
your paths." Proverbs 3 verses 5through 6 Well, thank you for
(17:34):
sharing your story, Jennifer.
It's truly hard and maybe evenimpossible to walk with Jesus
when you're carrying bitternessand anger.
But you chose forgiveness andjoy.
Your call to live by faithenabled Jesus to guide your
path.
I know your story reallyimpacted me.
It made me think of the timeswhen I knew I was right and
(17:56):
instead of reacting with graceand kindness, I acted with
justification for how angry Iwas.
I counted the ways the personhad wronged me, instead of
counting the blessings that Ihad been given.
I hope it inspires even oneperson to trust in God with all
their heart.
(18:17):
Thank you again, Jennifer.
And please tell us how to getyour book when it's released.
Jennifer (18:21):
Absolutely.
You can find,"Before She KnewJesus" on Amazon.
It should be released the secondweek of February.
If you're hearing this afterthat, you can go to my website,
storiesofafaithbuilder.com, andyou can order it from there as
well.
Carol (18:41):
We'll make sure we put that information in the show
notes.
Thanks again, Jennifer.
And thank you to all of ourlisteners for joining us on this
movement by liking, sharing, andfollowing our podcast.
We welcome everyone who wouldlike to become more involved and
move more hearts towards Jesusand there are two really great
ways.
The first is by becoming one ofour storytellers and sharing
(19:04):
your story.
And second, we humbly ask you toconsider offering a small
one-time or monthly donation.
These funds will help us producethe podcast and even allow us to
offer some spiritual retreatscholarships.
You can do both of these thingsat GodIsGoodPodcast.com/joinus.
(19:26):
All of your support, whetherit's a donation, a like, a
follow, or even sharing thispodcast with a friend is so
appreciated and helps us move asmany hearts as possible toward
Jesus.
Until next time, friends,remember, God is good.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.