July 17, 2025 • 22 mins
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Covered in Prayer: An Evening for MomsJoin us Saturday, August 9 from 5–7 PM at Awaken Coffee Bar in Mullins, SC for an evening of encouragement, prayer, and community. Enjoy a light meal and connect with other women as we cover our families in prayer. Space is limited, so register now!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Audrey (00:00):
Hello and welcome back to Grace From my Home.
I'm Audrey McCracken and I'm soglad to be back with you again
this week.
I wanted to start off today byreminding you that on Saturday,
august 9th, I am having a prayergathering at Awaken Coffee Shop
and that's in Mullen, southCarolina.
(00:20):
It's called Covered in Prayer ANight for Moms and from 5 to 7
pm we're going to have a mealtogether, talk, get to know each
other and we're going to prayfor our children.
If you live in or around theMullins area, we would so love
to have you.
This week I am going to be on afriend's podcast and once I
(00:42):
have the information and thedetails I'll pass that along to
you.
But I met Steph through mypodcast.
She's a long-time listener toGrace from my home.
I had the opportunity to meether at our coffee shop, at
Awaken Coffee Bar, probably sixmonths ago now.
She was in the United Statesvisiting family and she drove to
(01:07):
see us.
She drove to meet me and to seeour coffee shop and it was such
a blessing to get to know her,to meet her face to face, and
she has asked me to have aconversation with her on her
podcast.
So next week I'll give you moreinformation about that.
But as I was preparing to speakon Steph's podcast, I was going
(01:29):
back and thinking about somethings and I remembered a person
who really influenced me as ayoung Christian and it just kind
of tied into some of the thingsthat I'm going to talk with
Steph about.
But I wanted to share a few ofthese things with you because I
really think it's veryencouraging.
I've shared part of my story onthe podcast before.
(01:51):
I did not grow up in aChristian home, but I did grow
up going to church.
I had a grandmother who madesure that I went with her, that
my sister and I were in churchwith her every Sunday, and I'm
very thankful for that.
My sister and I were in churchwith her every Sunday and I'm
very thankful for that.
So I grew up in church.
I knew church culture.
I'm thankful for that.
I'm thankful for thatintroduction to who God is and
(02:13):
who Jesus is.
That's a foundation that if youdon't have that, it's not that
it's impossible to overcome, butit's so much easier when you
have that foundation to believein Jesus, when you know who
Jesus is, when you've beentaught who he is.
So I'm thankful for thatfoundation, but I did not make a
(02:40):
true commitment of my life toJesus to serve him until I was
in my 20s.
It was actually my last year incollege and I became a
Christian that last year.
I'm very thankful that I had achurch family with a very wise
man, a very wise pastor, whohelped me a great deal.
He became more of a father tome really than a pastor and I'm
very thankful for that.
(03:01):
He's still in my life today.
But one of the things that hetaught me was to seek wisdom.
He taught me about having adaily time with Jesus, to seek
him, to pray to him, to listen,to read the word.
But he also taught me to seekwisdom, the importance of
(03:22):
seeking wisdom.
And, guys, wisdom doesn'talways show up the way we think
it's going to show up.
Actually, it never shows up theway we think it's going to show
up.
Wisdom is calling.
It says in Proverbs that wisdomshe's calling out for those who
will come.
But we have to humble ourselvesto receive God's wisdom.
(03:48):
And I was reminded, as I waspreparing for this podcast with
Steph, of a little missionarylady who I met early on in my
Christian walk.
Her name was Sister BeatriceStansky, and she loved the Lord.
When I met Sister Stansky shewas in her 80s, she was in her
early 80s and she was amissionary, had been a
(04:10):
missionary for many years.
M y pastor knew her and hadinvited her to come to our
church and speak and, to bequite honest with you, at first
I really didn't think I wasgoing to be a fan, and I'll tell
(04:32):
you why.
I'll pull back the curtain andgive you a little bit of insight
.
My mom had grown up in a verystrict religious denomination
and that was one of the reasonsthat she did not go to church
when she got married and movedaway from home, because it was a
very legalistic culture.
(04:53):
In that church you don't wearpants, you don't wear makeup,
you don't wear jewelry, and mymom just felt like she couldn't
live up to the standards andthat people were very judgmental
, and so she associated thatwith God and she didn't really
want anything to do with that.
And so when I heard that thislittle
(05:16):
lady was coming and that she toodid not wear makeup, she only
wore dresses.
She didn't wear pants, shedidn't wear jewelry.
The first thing I thought was Ireally don't want anything to do
with that type of Christianity.
It left a bad taste in my mouth.
(05:37):
A very strict religiousbackground like that or in a
very strict religiousdenomination that was very
legalistic a lot of times thosepeople did not go on to serve
the Lord and I didn't want that.
That wasn't the kind ofrelationship I wanted with Jesus
(06:00):
.
I wanted to know Him and Ididn't want to be hung up on the
outside things.
You know, I wanted to know himand I didn't want to be hung up
on the outside things.
Well, my pastor, you know he,this lady, this missionary that
he knew and thought a lot of wascoming into town and she was in
her 80s and she did not drive,she had people who drove her
places.
He asked me to spend the daywith her, take her where she
(06:25):
needed to go, you know, get herwhatever she needed, and just to
spend that time with her.
And at first I really didn'twant to do that.
I wasn't, I was kind ofhesitant, but I did it for him
and I'm so glad I did, becausewhen I told him I said well, you
know, I just don't know.
I don't know that you knowwe're going to really hit it off
too well, and he told me.
He said, audrey, yes, shebelieves these things that are
(06:47):
different than the way youbelieve, but her heart is pure.
And I didn't know what thatmeant.
I didn't quite get it, butafter I spent a couple of days
with her, I got it.
She was not judgmental andcritical.
Yes, she believed that Jesuswanted us to do certain things,
(07:08):
things that I didn't necessarilyfeel convicted to do, ways that
she was brought up, that thisis how a godly woman lives or
dresses or, you know, believes.
And I didn't necessarilybelieve all of those things that
she did, but I could not deny,after spending time with her,
that she loved Jesus.
(07:28):
When she would pray and sheprayed often it was like she was
having a conversation withJesus, and at this time I was so
hungry for Jesus.
I was so hungry to know him andto find out more about him, and
so when I got around her andshe would pray, I wanted
whatever she had.
I was like what is this?
(07:50):
You know, this lady talks toJesus like they're best friends
and she had such a peace abouther and she was not judgy.
She did not make me feel lessthan I think that was one of my
biggest fears.
I was already struggling withmy self-confidence and trying to
serve the Lord and didn't feellike I was worthy, coming from
(08:15):
the background that I had, and Ididn't want to feel judged.
Well, she didn't make me feeljudged at all.
She had a very sweet spiritabout her and as I was with her
I learned a lot of things.
And, guys, god wants to teach uswisdom but it rarely comes in
the package that we're expectingand sometimes we can let the
(08:37):
outward appearances keep us fromfinding God, from finding
wisdom, because it's packageddifferent than we expect it to
be or different than we want itto be.
Today, where we really do judgea book by its cover, and
(08:59):
there's wisdom and lookingbeyond the outward appearance
and the labels and reallygetting to the heart of the
matter.
And this woman I had judgedbecause of her denomination and
because of the things I knewabout her.
But the truth is she lovedJesus and we as Christians, we
(09:24):
must be wise as serpents.
The Bible says be wise asserpents and harmless as doves.
If we will allow the Lord, hewill teach us things.
But we have to humble ourselvesand we have to let go of our
preconceived ideas and we haveto let people be people and we
(09:46):
have to allow the Holy Spirit toteach us discernment and wisdom
.
And you know, let me just tellyou a few of the things that I
learned from Sister BeatriceStansky.
Like I said, when I met her,she was in her early 80s and she
was planning a trip to Egypt.
Now Egypt is not an easycountry for a Christian minister
(10:08):
to get into.
But see, sister Stansky, if youpassed her in the Walmart you
probably wouldn't look twice,because she was just a little
old lady with a cane and shedidn't look like a minister of
the gospel.
She was just a little old ladybut she was a fireball when she
(10:29):
got behind the pulpit.
And I remember her saying thather friends didn't understand
because to them she was justBeatrice or B.
But when she got up to speak toa crowd, the Lord would anoint
her or give her the power to dowhat he asked her to do, and she
(10:52):
would just speak the wordboldly.
And that was very interestingto me as a young Christian
because I had felt like the Lordhad called me also.
At one time I felt like theLord had called me into missions
and I knew I was called intoministry.
I thought, perhaps missions,but I didn't feel equipped.
I didn't feel capable or able.
(11:14):
And she shared with me.
You're not supposed to.
Whatever God calls you to do,he will give you an anointing
for that.
He will give you an anointing.
It's just the ability, the Godgiven ability.
It's not about your talents oryour ability or or even your
dedication to figure somethingout.
(11:34):
It's about God giving you hisgrace, his divine enablement to
do whatever he calls you to do.
And I saw that on her.
She was meek and mild and notsomething that would turn heads,
but when she was doing what Godcalled her to do, she just
(11:55):
flowed in it.
There was just such a grace onher to speak the word clearly
and accurately and with boldness, and I saw that in her.
Another thing she taught me, Iremember she said one time you
have to always have a goal.
Now she was in her eighties andshe was planning her next trip
(12:18):
to Egypt.
Like I said, she was planningher next trip to Egypt.
Like I said, she was planningher next trip to Egypt and then
she was going to go from thereto Israel.
Her husband was Jewish, he hadpassed away several years before
, but they had family in Israel.
But she had a friend.
She told me she found a youngwoman to go with her.
Now, that young woman was inher 60s because I guess when
(12:39):
you're 80, you know people intheir 60s are young.
So she had a 60-year-old ladywho was going to go with her on
these trips.
But she said you know, when Iget back, she was planning on
going to Hawaii.
She had a, a group of peoplethat she ministered with in
Hawaii and then she was going togo to I think it was Portugal,
but she had all these placeslined up and she was in her 80s.
(13:01):
And I and I asked her you know,are you, are you thinking about
slowing down?
She'd been doing this for 50years.
She said, oh no, she no.
She said when I slow down, I'llstop, it'll just stop.
She said I always have a goal.
I always have something thatI'm working on.
And she said you got to have agoal.
She said a goal gives you areason to get up in the morning.
(13:22):
It gives you a reason to keepon going when you want to stop,
it gives you a reason when youfall down to get back up.
So, she said she.
She taught me that Should youalways have to have a goal,
something that you're working on, something that you're working
towards, so you don't get stuckin what's wrong right now you
know and the issues and theproblems you have right now?
(13:42):
You don't want to get stuckthere.
If you're looking forward, thenthat that goal, that desire,
that purpose will pull youforward in hard times.
And so that was something elsethat she taught me.
She was 80 years old and shehad goals.
She had years worth of goalsahead of her.
She actually passed away at theage of 94.
(14:04):
So when I knew her, when Ifirst met her, it would look
like she was at the end of hercareer, the end of her life.
She still went on for 14 moreyears preaching God's word,
ministering in these foreigncountries, going to places that
it was hard for missionaries,christians, to get into and she
(14:26):
was very unassuming to.
And she was very unassuming,she was very meek, but she had a
desire to do God's work and shehad such a love for Jesus and
such a love for people.
Another thing that she taught me.
I remember I called her one dayand I said how are you doing?
(14:48):
And she said well, I'm gettingout of the belly of the whale.
I'm getting out.
I've been in the belly forthree days and I'm getting out.
And, guys, I really had no ideawhat she was talking about.
That was like a foreignlanguage to me.
And I said what do you mean?
And she was almost a littlefrustrated.
I guess this was commonvernacular in her denomination
and her group of friends.
But I said I don't know whatyou mean.
(15:10):
What do you mean?
You're getting out of the bellyof the whale?
And she said what I mean is thatthe Lord has been talking to me
about doing something and I'vebeen resistant.
And when God tells you to dosomething, he's not going to let
it go until you do it.
And I said well, what do youmean?
She said well, god has asked meto do something and I didn't
(15:32):
want to do it.
So I just ignored him, I justpretended I didn't hear.
She said but the relationshipstops when you stop obeying.
He's not going to give you thenext assignment until you do the
last assignment.
It's kind of like Jonah and thewhale.
You know, lord, I want you togo to Nineveh.
No, I'm going to go the otherway.
(15:52):
I'm going to go in the otherdirection.
Well, no, you're not.
You're going to be in the bellyof the well until you decide to
obey.
And that was a wonderful lessonto teach a young Christian that
it's not about what I want to door where I want to go.
Where is God sending me?
And I can't fake it, I can'tpretend I'm obeying him when he
(16:13):
knows and I know that I'm not.
And so I learned so manywonderful lessons from this
saint, this woman of God, whohad served Jesus with her whole
life, with her whole heart.
And one of the biggest lessonsI learned is that we will miss
the greatest blessings, thegreatest friendships, if we
(16:36):
judge people by our ownstandards, if we cut off a whole
group of people because theydon't dress like us or act like
us or think like us, if we havepreconceived ideas of what a
godly person is, and we meetsomebody who perhaps does not
meet up to our standard ordoesn't fit the mold that we
(16:59):
have created in our minds ofwhat a Christian is, then we can
really miss God, we can missout on the blessing that he
wants to give us.
So, guys, let's learn to be wise.
Let's learn to judge, to make arighteous judgment, and not
judge people on theirdenomination or the way they
(17:23):
talk or the things that we thinkare important as Christians.
Let's allow God the freedom toteach us something through
somebody that we would notchoose and you know I would have
if I had not listened to mypastor and if I had put up a
wall between myself and her andsaid, no, I don't want to learn
(17:46):
anything from this woman whodoesn't believe exactly the way
I believe.
Then I would have missed out ona friend and I wouldn't have
learned the wisdom that Godwanted to teach me through her.
And so I just I ask you todayto use that, use my lesson in
your life.
You know where is God leadingyou.
(18:07):
What lessons does he want toteach you?
Through unexpectedcircumstances or unexpected
people, you know he's alwaysteaching.
You know the school of the HolySpirit is always in session.
He has things he wants to teachus every day, and if we have
ears to hear and eyes to see,then we can learn.
(18:30):
We can hear his voice as he'strying to get good information
to us.
He's trying to teach us thingsthat he knows that we need.
So I hope that this has been ablessing to you.
I just wanted to share a littlebit about the life of Sister
Beatrice Stansky.
She was a blessing in my lifeand I know she was a blessing to
(18:51):
many others and, like I said,she wasn't from my denomination.
Her ways were not to my liking.
But there are people all overthe world who think differently
but love Jesus and we need tomake room for them and the
wisdom that God has given them.
You know, we don't need to turnthat wisdom away.
(19:13):
Maybe God wants to teach usthrough somebody who we don't
particularly like their ways,but God has a plan.
Amen.
Let's pray, father.
I pray today for myself and forthese ladies who are listening.
I pray, lord, that you wouldteach us wisdom.
That, lord, you would speak toour hearts and our minds.
(19:33):
That, lord, you would help usto get out of our own way.
And, lord, that you would helpus to have ears to hear that we
would not turn away people justbecause they don't fit our brand
of Christianity.
That Lord, you would help us tosee past the outside and look
into the heart.
And Lord, help us to have themercy and the grace, lord, with
(19:56):
other people that you have withus.
And, lord, we thank you foryour goodness, for your grace,
for your kindness, lord, andthat you're so patient with us.
And Lord, I pray for theseladies.
That, lord, they would have awonderful week and that they
would hear your voice in Jesusname.
Amen.
Don't forget if you live in theMullins area, please sign up
(20:19):
for Covered in Prayer, a Nightfor Moms.
I would so love to meet you, tolearn about you, to hear your
story, and meet me back herenext week and we'll talk again.
God bless, bye-bye.
Hello and welcome back to Grace From my Home.
I'm Audrey McCracken and I'm soglad to be back with you again
this week.
I wanted to start off today byreminding you that on Saturday,
august 9th, I am having a prayergathering at Awaken Coffee Shop
and that's in Mullen, southCarolina.
(00:20):
It's called Covered in Prayer ANight for Moms and from 5 to 7
pm we're going to have a mealtogether, talk, get to know each
other and we're going to prayfor our children.
If you live in or around theMullins area, we would so love
to have you.
This week I am going to be on afriend's podcast and once I
(00:42):
have the information and thedetails I'll pass that along to
you.
But I met Steph through mypodcast.
She's a long-time listener toGrace from my home.
I had the opportunity to meether at our coffee shop, at
Awaken Coffee Bar, probably sixmonths ago now.
She was in the United Statesvisiting family and she drove to
(01:07):
see us.
She drove to meet me and to seeour coffee shop and it was such
a blessing to get to know her,to meet her face to face, and
she has asked me to have aconversation with her on her
podcast.
So next week I'll give you moreinformation about that.
But as I was preparing to speakon Steph's podcast, I was going
(01:29):
back and thinking about somethings and I remembered a person
who really influenced me as ayoung Christian and it just kind
of tied into some of the thingsthat I'm going to talk with
Steph about.
But I wanted to share a few ofthese things with you because I
really think it's veryencouraging.
I've shared part of my story onthe podcast before.
(01:51):
I did not grow up in aChristian home, but I did grow
up going to church.
I had a grandmother who madesure that I went with her, that
my sister and I were in churchwith her every Sunday, and I'm
very thankful for that.
My sister and I were in churchwith her every Sunday and I'm
very thankful for that.
So I grew up in church.
I knew church culture.
I'm thankful for that.
I'm thankful for thatintroduction to who God is and
(02:13):
who Jesus is.
That's a foundation that if youdon't have that, it's not that
it's impossible to overcome, butit's so much easier when you
have that foundation to believein Jesus, when you know who
Jesus is, when you've beentaught who he is.
So I'm thankful for thatfoundation, but I did not make a
(02:40):
true commitment of my life toJesus to serve him until I was
in my 20s.
It was actually my last year incollege and I became a
Christian that last year.
I'm very thankful that I had achurch family with a very wise
man, a very wise pastor, whohelped me a great deal.
He became more of a father tome really than a pastor and I'm
very thankful for that.
(03:01):
He's still in my life today.
But one of the things that hetaught me was to seek wisdom.
He taught me about having adaily time with Jesus, to seek
him, to pray to him, to listen,to read the word.
But he also taught me to seekwisdom, the importance of
(03:22):
seeking wisdom.
And, guys, wisdom doesn'talways show up the way we think
it's going to show up.
Actually, it never shows up theway we think it's going to show
up.
Wisdom is calling.
It says in Proverbs that wisdomshe's calling out for those who
will come.
But we have to humble ourselvesto receive God's wisdom.
(03:48):
And I was reminded, as I waspreparing for this podcast with
Steph, of a little missionarylady who I met early on in my
Christian walk.
Her name was Sister BeatriceStansky, and she loved the Lord.
When I met Sister Stansky shewas in her 80s, she was in her
early 80s and she was amissionary, had been a
(04:10):
missionary for many years.
M y pastor knew her and hadinvited her to come to our
church and speak and, to bequite honest with you, at first
I really didn't think I wasgoing to be a fan, and I'll tell
(04:32):
you why.
I'll pull back the curtain andgive you a little bit of insight
.
My mom had grown up in a verystrict religious denomination
and that was one of the reasonsthat she did not go to church
when she got married and movedaway from home, because it was a
very legalistic culture.
(04:53):
In that church you don't wearpants, you don't wear makeup,
you don't wear jewelry, and mymom just felt like she couldn't
live up to the standards andthat people were very judgmental
, and so she associated thatwith God and she didn't really
want anything to do with that.
And so when I heard that thislittle
(05:16):
lady was coming and that she toodid not wear makeup, she only
wore dresses.
She didn't wear pants, shedidn't wear jewelry.
The first thing I thought was Ireally don't want anything to do
with that type of Christianity.
It left a bad taste in my mouth.
(05:37):
A very strict religiousbackground like that or in a
very strict religiousdenomination that was very
legalistic a lot of times thosepeople did not go on to serve
the Lord and I didn't want that.
That wasn't the kind ofrelationship I wanted with Jesus
(06:00):
.
I wanted to know Him and Ididn't want to be hung up on the
outside things.
You know, I wanted to know himand I didn't want to be hung up
on the outside things.
Well, my pastor, you know he,this lady, this missionary that
he knew and thought a lot of wascoming into town and she was in
her 80s and she did not drive,she had people who drove her
places.
He asked me to spend the daywith her, take her where she
(06:25):
needed to go, you know, get herwhatever she needed, and just to
spend that time with her.
And at first I really didn'twant to do that.
I wasn't, I was kind ofhesitant, but I did it for him
and I'm so glad I did, becausewhen I told him I said well, you
know, I just don't know.
I don't know that you knowwe're going to really hit it off
too well, and he told me.
He said, audrey, yes, shebelieves these things that are
(06:47):
different than the way youbelieve, but her heart is pure.
And I didn't know what thatmeant.
I didn't quite get it, butafter I spent a couple of days
with her, I got it.
She was not judgmental andcritical.
Yes, she believed that Jesuswanted us to do certain things,
(07:08):
things that I didn't necessarilyfeel convicted to do, ways that
she was brought up, that thisis how a godly woman lives or
dresses or, you know, believes.
And I didn't necessarilybelieve all of those things that
she did, but I could not deny,after spending time with her,
that she loved Jesus.
(07:28):
When she would pray and sheprayed often it was like she was
having a conversation withJesus, and at this time I was so
hungry for Jesus.
I was so hungry to know him andto find out more about him, and
so when I got around her andshe would pray, I wanted
whatever she had.
I was like what is this?
(07:50):
You know, this lady talks toJesus like they're best friends
and she had such a peace abouther and she was not judgy.
She did not make me feel lessthan I think that was one of my
biggest fears.
I was already struggling withmy self-confidence and trying to
serve the Lord and didn't feellike I was worthy, coming from
(08:15):
the background that I had, and Ididn't want to feel judged.
Well, she didn't make me feeljudged at all.
She had a very sweet spiritabout her and as I was with her
I learned a lot of things.
And, guys, god wants to teach uswisdom but it rarely comes in
the package that we're expectingand sometimes we can let the
(08:37):
outward appearances keep us fromfinding God, from finding
wisdom, because it's packageddifferent than we expect it to
be or different than we want itto be.
Today, where we really do judgea book by its cover, and
(08:59):
there's wisdom and lookingbeyond the outward appearance
and the labels and reallygetting to the heart of the
matter.
And this woman I had judgedbecause of her denomination and
because of the things I knewabout her.
But the truth is she lovedJesus and we as Christians, we
(09:24):
must be wise as serpents.
The Bible says be wise asserpents and harmless as doves.
If we will allow the Lord, hewill teach us things.
But we have to humble ourselvesand we have to let go of our
preconceived ideas and we haveto let people be people and we
(09:46):
have to allow the Holy Spirit toteach us discernment and wisdom
.
And you know, let me just tellyou a few of the things that I
learned from Sister BeatriceStansky.
Like I said, when I met her,she was in her early 80s and she
was planning a trip to Egypt.
Now Egypt is not an easycountry for a Christian minister
(10:08):
to get into.
But see, sister Stansky, if youpassed her in the Walmart you
probably wouldn't look twice,because she was just a little
old lady with a cane and shedidn't look like a minister of
the gospel.
She was just a little old ladybut she was a fireball when she
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got behind the pulpit.
And I remember her saying thather friends didn't understand
because to them she was justBeatrice or B.
But when she got up to speak toa crowd, the Lord would anoint
her or give her the power to dowhat he asked her to do, and she
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would just speak the wordboldly.
And that was very interestingto me as a young Christian
because I had felt like the Lordhad called me also.
At one time I felt like theLord had called me into missions
and I knew I was called intoministry.
I thought, perhaps missions,but I didn't feel equipped.
I didn't feel capable or able.
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And she shared with me.
You're not supposed to.
Whatever God calls you to do,he will give you an anointing
for that.
He will give you an anointing.
It's just the ability, the Godgiven ability.
It's not about your talents oryour ability or or even your
dedication to figure somethingout.
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It's about God giving you hisgrace, his divine enablement to
do whatever he calls you to do.
And I saw that on her.
She was meek and mild and notsomething that would turn heads,
but when she was doing what Godcalled her to do, she just
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flowed in it.
There was just such a grace onher to speak the word clearly
and accurately and with boldness, and I saw that in her.
Another thing she taught me, Iremember she said one time you
have to always have a goal.
Now she was in her eighties andshe was planning her next trip
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to Egypt.
Like I said, she was planningher next trip to Egypt.
Like I said, she was planningher next trip to Egypt and then
she was going to go from thereto Israel.
Her husband was Jewish, he hadpassed away several years before
, but they had family in Israel.
But she had a friend.
She told me she found a youngwoman to go with her.
Now, that young woman was inher 60s because I guess when
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you're 80, you know people intheir 60s are young.
So she had a 60-year-old ladywho was going to go with her on
these trips.
But she said you know, when Iget back, she was planning on
going to Hawaii.
She had a, a group of peoplethat she ministered with in
Hawaii and then she was going togo to I think it was Portugal,
but she had all these placeslined up and she was in her 80s.
(13:01):
And I and I asked her you know,are you, are you thinking about
slowing down?
She'd been doing this for 50years.
She said, oh no, she no.
She said when I slow down, I'llstop, it'll just stop.
She said I always have a goal.
I always have something thatI'm working on.
And she said you got to have agoal.
She said a goal gives you areason to get up in the morning.
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It gives you a reason to keepon going when you want to stop,
it gives you a reason when youfall down to get back up.
So, she said she.
She taught me that Should youalways have to have a goal,
something that you're working on, something that you're working
towards, so you don't get stuckin what's wrong right now you
know and the issues and theproblems you have right now?
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You don't want to get stuckthere.
If you're looking forward, thenthat that goal, that desire,
that purpose will pull youforward in hard times.
And so that was something elsethat she taught me.
She was 80 years old and shehad goals.
She had years worth of goalsahead of her.
She actually passed away at theage of 94.
(14:04):
So when I knew her, when Ifirst met her, it would look
like she was at the end of hercareer, the end of her life.
She still went on for 14 moreyears preaching God's word,
ministering in these foreigncountries, going to places that
it was hard for missionaries,christians, to get into and she
(14:26):
was very unassuming to.
And she was very unassuming,she was very meek, but she had a
desire to do God's work and shehad such a love for Jesus and
such a love for people.
Another thing that she taught me.
I remember I called her one dayand I said how are you doing?
(14:48):
And she said well, I'm gettingout of the belly of the whale.
I'm getting out.
I've been in the belly forthree days and I'm getting out.
And, guys, I really had no ideawhat she was talking about.
That was like a foreignlanguage to me.
And I said what do you mean?
And she was almost a littlefrustrated.
I guess this was commonvernacular in her denomination
and her group of friends.
But I said I don't know whatyou mean.
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What do you mean?
You're getting out of the bellyof the whale?
And she said what I mean is thatthe Lord has been talking to me
about doing something and I'vebeen resistant.
And when God tells you to dosomething, he's not going to let
it go until you do it.
And I said well, what do youmean?
She said well, god has asked meto do something and I didn't
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want to do it.
So I just ignored him, I justpretended I didn't hear.
She said but the relationshipstops when you stop obeying.
He's not going to give you thenext assignment until you do the
last assignment.
It's kind of like Jonah and thewhale.
You know, lord, I want you togo to Nineveh.
No, I'm going to go the otherway.
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I'm going to go in the otherdirection.
Well, no, you're not.
You're going to be in the bellyof the well until you decide to
obey.
And that was a wonderful lessonto teach a young Christian that
it's not about what I want to door where I want to go.
Where is God sending me?
And I can't fake it, I can'tpretend I'm obeying him when he
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knows and I know that I'm not.
And so I learned so manywonderful lessons from this
saint, this woman of God, whohad served Jesus with her whole
life, with her whole heart.
And one of the biggest lessonsI learned is that we will miss
the greatest blessings, thegreatest friendships, if we
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judge people by our ownstandards, if we cut off a whole
group of people because theydon't dress like us or act like
us or think like us, if we havepreconceived ideas of what a
godly person is, and we meetsomebody who perhaps does not
meet up to our standard ordoesn't fit the mold that we
(16:59):
have created in our minds ofwhat a Christian is, then we can
really miss God, we can missout on the blessing that he
wants to give us.
So, guys, let's learn to be wise.
Let's learn to judge, to make arighteous judgment, and not
judge people on theirdenomination or the way they
(17:23):
talk or the things that we thinkare important as Christians.
Let's allow God the freedom toteach us something through
somebody that we would notchoose and you know I would have
if I had not listened to mypastor and if I had put up a
wall between myself and her andsaid, no, I don't want to learn
(17:46):
anything from this woman whodoesn't believe exactly the way
I believe.
Then I would have missed out ona friend and I wouldn't have
learned the wisdom that Godwanted to teach me through her.
And so I just I ask you todayto use that, use my lesson in
your life.
You know where is God leadingyou.
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What lessons does he want toteach you?
Through unexpectedcircumstances or unexpected
people, you know he's alwaysteaching.
You know the school of the HolySpirit is always in session.
He has things he wants to teachus every day, and if we have
ears to hear and eyes to see,then we can learn.
(18:30):
We can hear his voice as he'strying to get good information
to us.
He's trying to teach us thingsthat he knows that we need.
So I hope that this has been ablessing to you.
I just wanted to share a littlebit about the life of Sister
Beatrice Stansky.
She was a blessing in my lifeand I know she was a blessing to
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many others and, like I said,she wasn't from my denomination.
Her ways were not to my liking.
But there are people all overthe world who think differently
but love Jesus and we need tomake room for them and the
wisdom that God has given them.
You know, we don't need to turnthat wisdom away.
(19:13):
Maybe God wants to teach usthrough somebody who we don't
particularly like their ways,but God has a plan.
Amen.
Let's pray, father.
I pray today for myself and forthese ladies who are listening.
I pray, lord, that you wouldteach us wisdom.
That, lord, you would speak toour hearts and our minds.
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That, lord, you would help usto get out of our own way.
And, lord, that you would helpus to have ears to hear that we
would not turn away people justbecause they don't fit our brand
of Christianity.
That Lord, you would help us tosee past the outside and look
into the heart.
And Lord, help us to have themercy and the grace, lord, with
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other people that you have withus.
And, lord, we thank you foryour goodness, for your grace,
for your kindness, lord, andthat you're so patient with us.
And Lord, I pray for theseladies.
That, lord, they would have awonderful week and that they
would hear your voice in Jesusname.
Amen.
Don't forget if you live in theMullins area, please sign up
(20:19):
for Covered in Prayer, a Nightfor Moms.
I would so love to meet you, tolearn about you, to hear your
story, and meet me back herenext week and we'll talk again.
God bless, bye-bye.
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