August 8, 2023 • 27 mins
What does it mean to live abundantly? How does faith transform the toughest of terrains into fertile soil for love and righteousness? Join me, Angelic Gibson, as we dig into these questions through my personal narrative. I'll walk you through the dream that sparked this podcast in 2016 and its fruition in 2023, spotlighting the role of divine guidance throughout this journey.
Get ready for heartfelt stories of spiritual markers and divine protection, including how my grandmother and youth pastor illuminated my path in my formative years. We'll then traverse through the milestones of my life, from a spiritual reset in New York to my 20-year-long marriage and raising a blended family. Hear about my son, Austin's, miraculous story and how practicing faith authentically has shaped my experiences at the workplace. This episode is sure to be a fruitful harvest of insights into living a life of faith, growth, and abundance.
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Episode Transcript
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Angelic Gibson (00:02):
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of
Grow, where God reveals our way.
I'm Angelic Gibson, your host,and I can't wait to explore the
vast riches of God's Word withyou.
So don't forget to subscribeand stay tuned for upcoming
episodes packed with biblicalteachings, inspirational stories
and a fresh perspective on theworld around us.
Now let's get started on thisbeautiful journey.
(00:24):
May God bless you abundantly.
Wow, it is so good to be withyou all today.
You have no idea how long it'staken to get to episode one.
God planted this podcast in myheart back in 2016, and
sometimes things just need tomarinate in your heart and you
(00:46):
need to be in prayer in my case,multiple years before you
actually step out in faith andreally embrace what God is
calling you to embrace.
So here we are in 2023, andGrow is officially getting off
the ground, and I could not bemore excited.
This is a very big step offaith for me.
(01:08):
Those of you out there who knowme know that I'm a planner, I
like to execute, I like to seeresults, and so, if I can't see
around the corner, yeah, I'mgoing to be a little
uncomfortable, but with this,I'm going to trust that God is
revealing my way, along withyour way, and there's going to
be great blessings that he isgoing to birth through this
(01:28):
podcast.
So thank you for tuning in withme and thank you for being with
me today.
So it has been incredible justto even publish a two and a half
minute episode zero,introducing you to this concept
of Grow God reveals our way andto see so many of you already
start to download it.
It is exciting.
(01:49):
It's almost like you're whenyou're birthing a baby for those
who have had children out there, when you birth the baby and
you see that baby for the firsttime and you see how beautiful
your baby is and everyone elsestarts to see your baby and tell
you how beautiful that baby is.
That's what it's like Someoneis taking interest and wanting
to tune in and listen in.
It feels very, very good and Ijust pray that all the glory of
(02:15):
this podcast and all episodes tocome, including this one, just
bring great, great glory to God,because it's really his and I
hold it truly loosely in myhands and we'll have him do with
it as he wills.
So grow.
Why grow?
God reveals our way.
Well, first and foremost, godgave this to me in a dream and
(02:35):
it was based off of Hosea 10:12,where the Lord is speaking to
Hosea and he's saying it's timefor Israel to plow up the hard
grounds of their heart, thatthey may sow the seeds of
righteousness and they'll takegood root so it can produce a
(02:56):
crop of love.
And it's always it's all aboutproducing that crop of love.
And so if we just kind of lookat the state of the world right
now, we can certainly see thehard ground of the hearts that
are against the Lord in his ways.
And we as the body of Christ,as the body of believers, we
really need to lean in and wehave to just start to help
(03:19):
people plow up that hard ground.
And that may be some of ourroles is to plow up that hard
ground.
And the next phase is to plantthe seed into the heart, into
the ground right, and that wouldbe the word of God.
So we say plow up the hardground, make it soft and subtle
and supple and ready to receiveseed.
(03:39):
The word of God goes into thatheart and then when God's word
takes grab, takes hold, itliterally starts to grow, the
harvest comes and it produces,and it should be producing a
crop of love.
So the fruit in our livesshould be just an abundance of
love surrounding us by thepeople that were leading to
(04:01):
Christ.
And so that is grow.
It's prepare the heart toreally be dedicated to the Lord,
plant the seeds ofrighteousness, the word of God,
to produce the crop of love.
And really cool story is growactually has the entire trinity
with the body of Christ wrappedup into it.
(04:22):
If you look at the root words,god means Father, reveals means
Holy Spirit, our is thecollective body of Christ and
way is the way of Jesus.
And so you can't make that up,right.
Folks like that is prettyamazing, and these are what I
like to call Godwinks, where Godgave me a dream, he gave me big
(04:45):
vision, he gave it all to me,just words and a dream that were
rooted in scripture, andthere's been much birthing in
and around this grow since thenand there's other things that
have predated this podcast.
So not to get into all thattoday, but really this is just
the next step in that journeywhere God is revealing my way
(05:08):
and my walk with him, andhopefully you're going to get
lots of good nuggets listeningto this podcast and how he wants
to reveal his way to you so youmay live abundantly, producing
a great crop of love.
So I think what I want to do inthis episode not just give you
that little background on how wegot to grow today, but really
(05:29):
just introduce you to who I amand how has God been at work in
and through my life.
And that is obviously a bigquestion when you kind of tee it
up, often Sometimes people sayhow did you come to faith?
You know, why is your face sodeep?
Or you know, I don't quite hearfrom God the way you hear from
(05:52):
God, and you know, how did thatcome to be?
So, whatever the question is inand around, how did you come
into a relationship with God?
Where does the faith come from?
It's a very big question andit's something that I will be
unfolding through many episodesto come, because you can't sum
up a lifetime of God revealinghimself to you in one episode.
(06:14):
But what I do want to do todayis just give you some big
nuggets, pretty big milestonesthroughout my life that have
really set in my heart firmlywhy I believe in the God that I
believe in and then.
Not that I'm going to unpackthose big milestones in this one
(06:35):
episode, but in future episodesI will be peeling those
milestones back.
The good, the bad, the ugly andthe great, the excellence of
the Lord, it's all mixed intolife, because life is never one
straight path.
There's twists, there's turns,there's sadness, there's joy,
(06:56):
there's all the emotions inbetween, and certainly my life
has been filled with all of themin a beautiful, beautiful way.
It's a tapestry of the Lord,for sure.
And so with that, that bigquestion, when did I come to
know God?
Sometimes people will say thereis a moment in time where they
(07:17):
came to know the Lord, and thenother times people will say,
well, I don't know, I've justkind of always known him.
And I would say, for me it's amixture of I don't remember a
day without the Lord in my life,in my heart.
But I will tell you, it took mealmost 25 years of living, from
(07:40):
birth to 25, to really figureit out what it means to follow
him.
And you know I love thisscripture.
It's great that you believe inJesus.
Well, even the demons believe.
But do you really follow him?
And that following him isreally, I think, whatever
(08:01):
Christian rustles with, from theday you come to the fact to,
when you come to that crossroads, that you have a choice you're
going to surrender your life tohim and follow him or you can
just you know, maybe be playingwith him in the sandbox.
And so certainly I had keythings in my life that woke me
(08:21):
up and said my way doesn't workand I need to lay it at the foot
of the cross and I need to dothings differently.
And I, I uh, have had thosemoments right and this is where
I'm at today.
But if I start at the beginning,what I want to do for you today
is actually just give you somereally good high-level
milestones.
Again, I said that already, butI'll say it again to kind of
(08:43):
chart out what does my spiritualjourney look like?
Sometimes, if you're into, youknow, really doing work on who
you are in relationship with theLord, who you're, you know your
connection of your spirit tothe Holy Spirit.
Sometimes that's calledspiritual direction, where
you're working on yourself.
You're working on who God is inyour life, through your life,
(09:06):
and what does he want.
You know that next step to befor you.
At many times when you're doingspiritual direction work, a
spiritual director the one whois directing the Direct E will
have you create a spiritualautobiography, and I'm going to
give you a high-level spiritualautobiography of my own.
And then what I would encourageyou to do after this episode is
(09:28):
to find some time in yourcalendar, block it off and just
call it time with God and reallysit down and pray through what
are your spiritual milestones,because it's a huge indicator of
how God has been at work in andthrough your life and maybe how
he wants to reveal his way foryour next step.
And when, it's interesting,when you chronologically journal
(09:52):
things out and give honor toGod for all that he is doing,
has done and is doing in andthrough your life, revelation
just comes out in a very wildway.
It's so cool.
I love it.
I love the practice ofjournaling and meditating and
just really getting centeredwith the Lord.
So, angela Gibson, who am I?
Well, I would just say again,I've always known the Lord.
(10:14):
He's always been a presence inmy life and I would say that
there were some very bigspiritual things that happened
to me when I was early on.
First and foremost, we knowthat God created family man and
woman and there's a mother and afather, and then there's
children involved, and hisdesire is that we are raised in
(10:37):
a home that honors him.
And so if we look at all ofDeuteronomy, it literally is all
about teaching what are thecommandments of the Lord,
raising children up in the waysof the Lord, because if we
follow the ways of the Lord,blessing and prosperity follow
the goodness of the Lord.
It's just, it's blessing.
(10:58):
And when we don't follow hisways, the opposite happens.
Curses happen and we see it.
We can see pathways ofrighteousness producing great
fruit in our culture today andwe see where we don't do things
God's way, the evil thatmanifests.
It's just broken homes and hurtpeople and death comes upon us
(11:18):
and just lots of, lots ofhorrible things.
And you know, these realitiescertainly didn't escape my
childhood.
My father passed away when I wasthree and that is a huge
spiritual moment because Godsays that he is a father to the
fatherless.
And so in that moment when Iwas three years old and I lost
my father, you know what littlegirl doesn't want to have a
(11:40):
father around for all of herlife, I was certainly was, you
know, a part of that.
Like I my entire life.
I don't remember a day where Ididn't wish I had a father that
was with me my whole life and Idefinitely had issues as a
result of not having a strongfatherly presence in my life,
but he he departed when I wasthree years old through a
(12:04):
tragedy, and that was the firstspiritual marker, because when
you read the word of God, hepromises that he will be a
father to the fatherless.
And so my encouragement to youout there who's listening, who
might have lost a father at anearly age know that God will
never turn his back on you.
Hold firm to the promise thathe is a father to the fatherless
(12:27):
and that is just foreverwritten in stone.
It's his promise to you andit's been a huge encouragement
to me.
So I hope that gives youencouragement and when you think
about the next things I'm goingto share with you.
There has been a divineprotection over my life and my
family's life since that momentin time when my father passed
(12:50):
away.
There were unfortunatecircumstances that just started
to hit my childhood left andright, and I'm not going to go
into all the details of that onthis episode, but just some
really tragic, hurtful,dysfunctional events throughout
my childhood that led me and mysiblings to a place where we
(13:11):
went and lived with otherrelatives outside of my mother
when I was 11 years of age andthrough all of what we live
through, though, I can tell youthat it doesn't make sense how
we got to the other side of themand how we stand firm in
(13:31):
healing today, unless God's handwas protecting us and fathering
us spiritually.
It's very beautiful In the mixof all this turmoil that I kind
of grew up in as a child.
I had a lot of sweet moments,though, with the Lord.
I remember I would go to mygrandmother's house for a
vacation Bible school during thesummer, and if anybody's ever
(13:52):
done vacation Bible school,specifically back in the 80s,
you know how good it was.
I mean, this little lot of mine, I'm going to let it shine.
I hope you all are singing outthere, because that was a good
one, and I just remember singingall these sweet little songs,
and I remember in my heart, asjust a little girl, asking my
grandmother Grandma, do you everthink that I'll get to sing for
(14:14):
the Lord one day to a lot ofpeople?
Do you think I'll be able tospeak for him?
Because I would be enamored atall these people who would be
teaching on the Lord, the Lord'sword, and I just always
captivated my heart, even as alittle girl, and my grandmother,
my grandmother, would alwaystell me you know that I was
called and set apart and I wasgoing to do a mighty work for
(14:37):
the Lord.
So I stand firm on that truthand let all that that we do give
glory to God right, amen.
And so if I move past myadolescent years, another
spiritual marker for me would bethat I got to.
I lived outside of Chicago whenI was growing up and I lived in
a town called Hensdale Illinoisshout out to Hensdale and there
(15:01):
was a town next to it calledOakbrook and there was a church
there, the Oakbrook ChristianCenter, and my youth pastor of
that day was Paul Glyman, anamazing man of God and he was a
beacon in my life.
So, just a pivotal point in mylife I was, you know, 13, 14, 15
(15:21):
years old.
I had a lot of, you know,identity issues that I was
battling and looking foracceptance in all the wrong
places and just being a typicalteenage girl who was running
away from the Lord.
Quite frankly, he was a voiceof reason.
(15:42):
Paul Glyman was a voice ofreason and truth in my life that
, even though those seeds tookat least another decade to
really start to take root, hewas definitely part of plowing
up that hard ground and plantingseeds of righteousness.
And you know, calling out Ialready called out my
grandmother I also had anotherspiritual just beacon in my life
(16:04):
my grandmother on my father'sside.
She was a prayer warrior.
I'll tell you more about her ina future episode, but wish we
all had grandmas like her.
I would also say that you knowit really took a while for me to
get to my next spiritual marker.
I ran from the Lord from about15 years old till about 25.
(16:29):
I just ran away from him and Idid everything opposite of what
the Lord's way included, to thepoint where I was 23 years old,
single mom of three children andnot really knowing how to plant
a good path for them, and I wasat a pretty major crossroads
(16:52):
and that, honestly, thatcrossroads with God's divine
hand on it, is really what tookme to a new place in life.
I was looking at my threebabies and I wanted something
different for them that I had inmy own upbringing in life.
I wanted to give them a surefoundation, I wanted to give
them hope in a future, and sothat's what I did.
(17:15):
I turned away from the ways ofthe world and I started to seek
out the Lord and really start tofollow Him, and that path took
me to New York.
So at 23 years old, I left theMidwest of Illinois, packed up
my three babies and went to NewYork and I really did a reset on
life, and there that's when Iwould really find the way of the
(17:36):
Lord.
God was so gracious.
He gave me a live-in nanny andher name was Mary Beth.
And Mary Beth was just a salt,a piece of salt that came into
my life and she introduced me toChristian contemporary music
third day, and I'll never forgetit, because that music of third
(17:57):
day started to do something inmy heart that was
transformational.
So God was really using her toreach me through music, and then
ended up getting planted in achurch and things just started
to look drastically differentfor me.
Lo and behold, two years wouldgo by and the Lord would
introduce me to my now husband,who had two beautiful children
(18:21):
of his own.
So we are celebrating 20 yearsof marriage this September, in
2023.
Praise the Lord.
And together I had my threechildren, he had his two.
We blended them very closelyand then we had our one guy
together, one little guy, johnJohn, who's not so little
anymore, he's 19.
(18:41):
And I still call him John John.
He doesn't like it, but Ireally don't care.
He's always going to be my JohnJohn.
So sorry, john John, love you,buddy.
But yeah.
So here we are all these yearslater and God has done an
amazing work in and through myfamily.
I would just say that one of thebiggest milestones, spiritually
(19:04):
, spiritual markers in my lifeis my family.
It's not too often at least inmy experience, it hasn't been.
I haven't frequented thescenario.
You know a lot, but when youhave a blended family, you can
see division, you can see, youknow whose kids are whose or
(19:26):
whatever the words are right.
You can see that it's maybe nota unified biological family.
And one thing that, by thewisdom and grace of God, that
John and I John is my husbandthat we have done since really
we decided, you know, to lean inand get married and to lean in
and get married and blend thisfamily is really try to love
(19:49):
past bloodlines and I'll dofuture episodes on this, but
I'll just say this it's not very, it's not very often that
people can come in and identifywhose kids are what kids in my
family and I have so muchgratitude from that lens because
I can't take credit for it it'struly the Holy Spirit who I
(20:10):
believe because he's a father tothe fatherless that he saw the
battle wounds that I wentthrough as a kid.
He saw the families that I livedwith and there was division and
you know, I wasn't always abiological kid in the house and
I felt the separation from thatof a biological parent to a non
(20:31):
biological parent.
And I remember making a promiseto God one day when I was a
teenager and I was hurt bysomething that I was living
through in the moment and I saidif you ever give me kids that I
don't actually naturally birth,I just pray that you, you know,
give me the heart to love themthe way that I would love my own
(20:52):
kids, because I would neverwant another child to feel the
way that I was feeling in thatmoment.
Sorry, and it's just a greatblessing to know that God's hand
has truly been on my family.
Whew, sorry, I'm a crier.
(21:16):
You're learning that episodeone.
But these are tears of joybecause it's nothing short of a
miracle that I am blessed with afamily that John and I have
been blessed with.
So again, that's a bigspiritual marker in my life is
being able to raise up a familyin a blended way and see the
(21:39):
fruit of the Lord across alltheir lives.
It's amazing.
Another spiritual marker in mylife it's a little out of
sequence here, but would be mysecond born child, my first son,
austin.
He was born with a Kajenalheart disease and I could do an
entire podcast series on thatboy because he has met the Lord
(22:02):
more than once.
He's came back to testify aboutit.
I have incredible miraculousstories in and around his life
just seeing the true hand of God, just continually keeping
someone alive or bringing themback when they literally passed
and came back.
It's just been amazing.
So I will be sharing in futureepisodes I'll be sharing more
(22:27):
details about his story, butit's absolutely incredible.
But yeah, those are some of thebig ones.
I think another one I'll endwith this one today.
I have so many.
But another big marker for mewas once I really started to
figure out how do I follow theways of the Lord and really
(22:49):
living it out, living what theBible says in practicing what
you preach, so to speak.
That's what I'm trying to say.
I had to figure out well, Icould live it out at home, but
how did I live it out in theworkplace?
And I'm a CIO, chiefInformation Officer by day in
(23:14):
the workplace and I have theprivilege of leading large teams
.
And I had to figure out how doI live authentically to who?
I am based in faith, whetherI'm at home or at work, and I
didn't want to be angelic oneperson on Sunday at church,
(23:36):
another one at home and anotherone at the workplace.
To really live as a Christianis to live a fully integrated
life, and so God has taught meso much on what it means to live
in Him.
And then consistency no matterwhere you're at or what
environment you're in or whatrole you're playing in a day,
(23:57):
your lifestyle will liveconsistent, will hold up to who
you are and who you say you arein Christ.
So that's a huge milestone whenGod really called me to be a
marketplace leader, representingwho he is and not, you know,
not standing firm in theintegrity of my faith for fear
(24:21):
that maybe it would not beaccepted in the marketplace.
So that has been.
It continues to be a journeythat I'm on and it's a huge
marker in my spiritual life.
So, yeah, that's a little bit.
A little bit about me.
I really want to just encourageyou to lean in with God.
(24:44):
What has God been revealing toyou?
What are the key moments inyour life, maybe key moments of
adversity that you faced, maybemoments of joy where you could
really feel the presence of theLord?
Or, if you haven't felt thepresence of the Lord, what are
those key milestones that haveshaped you into who you are?
(25:05):
And maybe lean in with prayerand read your Bible and see what
God has to say about thosemilestones.
Because at the end of the day,he said that before you were
formed in your mother's womb, heknit you together in that womb,
but he also recorded everysingle day of your life in his
(25:26):
book.
And so what does that mean?
Every major milestone, milemarker in your life, big event
that you've gone through, goodor bad, you know, sad or happy,
he has been there with you,whether you felt him or not, and
he does have something toreveal to you in those moments.
If you haven't leaned in tounderstand what that revelation
(25:48):
is yet, so that would be myencouragement lean in with God
and see what he has to say aboutthe key milestones in your life
.
I'll be praying over you.
I'm going to close this out inprayer, but thank you for
listening today.
It's an honor that you don'tcount it robbery to join me on
this podcast and see what theLord is doing.
We're going to have some reallycool guests coming to the
(26:11):
podcast soon.
I can't wait to reveal whothose folks are going to be, but
I think you're going to get alot out of it, so I'm super
excited about it.
But with that, may God blessyou abundantly.
I'm sending you great love andI'm going to close this in
prayer.
Heavenly Father, we just thankyou for this time.
We just give you all glory andhonor for it.
Thank you for every listenerwho is under my voice, lord, I
(26:33):
just thank you that you arestirring in their hearts.
You're reminding them of thebig markers in their own life
their own life that you want toreveal something to them.
Even if they think they have itfully understood, lord, there's
always more to understand andto unpack.
With you, you're constantlyjust providing revelation and
knowledge to those who seek you,lord.
(26:54):
So we thank you that you arefaithful to be with them in this
moment as they're listening.
We thank you that you are justgoing to pave the ground to show
them abundantly more than theycan ask, think or imagine.
Lord, we close this in themighty name of Jesus, amen.
Thank you for joining us onthis episode of Grow, where God
(27:15):
reveals our way.
We hope you found inspiration,wisdom and encouragement as we
continue on this faith-filledjourney together.
We invite you to subscribe toGrow so you never miss an
episode.
Stay tuned for more biblicalteachings, heartfelt testimonies
and insights that will nourishyour spirit and deepen your
relationship with God.
We appreciate your support andparticipation in this podcast.
(27:36):
Until next time, may you growin faith, love and knowledge of
His divine plan.
May God bless you abundantly.
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of
Grow, where God reveals our way.
I'm Angelic Gibson, your host,and I can't wait to explore the
vast riches of God's Word withyou.
So don't forget to subscribeand stay tuned for upcoming
episodes packed with biblicalteachings, inspirational stories
and a fresh perspective on theworld around us.
Now let's get started on thisbeautiful journey.
(00:24):
May God bless you abundantly.
Wow, it is so good to be withyou all today.
You have no idea how long it'staken to get to episode one.
God planted this podcast in myheart back in 2016, and
sometimes things just need tomarinate in your heart and you
(00:46):
need to be in prayer in my case,multiple years before you
actually step out in faith andreally embrace what God is
calling you to embrace.
So here we are in 2023, andGrow is officially getting off
the ground, and I could not bemore excited.
This is a very big step offaith for me.
(01:08):
Those of you out there who knowme know that I'm a planner, I
like to execute, I like to seeresults, and so, if I can't see
around the corner, yeah, I'mgoing to be a little
uncomfortable, but with this,I'm going to trust that God is
revealing my way, along withyour way, and there's going to
be great blessings that he isgoing to birth through this
(01:28):
podcast.
So thank you for tuning in withme and thank you for being with
me today.
So it has been incredible justto even publish a two and a half
minute episode zero,introducing you to this concept
of Grow God reveals our way andto see so many of you already
start to download it.
It is exciting.
(01:49):
It's almost like you're whenyou're birthing a baby for those
who have had children out there, when you birth the baby and
you see that baby for the firsttime and you see how beautiful
your baby is and everyone elsestarts to see your baby and tell
you how beautiful that baby is.
That's what it's like Someoneis taking interest and wanting
to tune in and listen in.
It feels very, very good and Ijust pray that all the glory of
(02:15):
this podcast and all episodes tocome, including this one, just
bring great, great glory to God,because it's really his and I
hold it truly loosely in myhands and we'll have him do with
it as he wills.
So grow.
Why grow?
God reveals our way.
Well, first and foremost, godgave this to me in a dream and
(02:35):
it was based off of Hosea 10:12,where the Lord is speaking to
Hosea and he's saying it's timefor Israel to plow up the hard
grounds of their heart, thatthey may sow the seeds of
righteousness and they'll takegood root so it can produce a
(02:56):
crop of love.
And it's always it's all aboutproducing that crop of love.
And so if we just kind of lookat the state of the world right
now, we can certainly see thehard ground of the hearts that
are against the Lord in his ways.
And we as the body of Christ,as the body of believers, we
really need to lean in and wehave to just start to help
(03:19):
people plow up that hard ground.
And that may be some of ourroles is to plow up that hard
ground.
And the next phase is to plantthe seed into the heart, into
the ground right, and that wouldbe the word of God.
So we say plow up the hardground, make it soft and subtle
and supple and ready to receiveseed.
(03:39):
The word of God goes into thatheart and then when God's word
takes grab, takes hold, itliterally starts to grow, the
harvest comes and it produces,and it should be producing a
crop of love.
So the fruit in our livesshould be just an abundance of
love surrounding us by thepeople that were leading to
(04:01):
Christ.
And so that is grow.
It's prepare the heart toreally be dedicated to the Lord,
plant the seeds ofrighteousness, the word of God,
to produce the crop of love.
And really cool story is growactually has the entire trinity
with the body of Christ wrappedup into it.
(04:22):
If you look at the root words,god means Father, reveals means
Holy Spirit, our is thecollective body of Christ and
way is the way of Jesus.
And so you can't make that up,right.
Folks like that is prettyamazing, and these are what I
like to call Godwinks, where Godgave me a dream, he gave me big
(04:45):
vision, he gave it all to me,just words and a dream that were
rooted in scripture, andthere's been much birthing in
and around this grow since thenand there's other things that
have predated this podcast.
So not to get into all thattoday, but really this is just
the next step in that journeywhere God is revealing my way
(05:08):
and my walk with him, andhopefully you're going to get
lots of good nuggets listeningto this podcast and how he wants
to reveal his way to you so youmay live abundantly, producing
a great crop of love.
So I think what I want to do inthis episode not just give you
that little background on how wegot to grow today, but really
(05:29):
just introduce you to who I amand how has God been at work in
and through my life.
And that is obviously a bigquestion when you kind of tee it
up, often Sometimes people sayhow did you come to faith?
You know, why is your face sodeep?
Or you know, I don't quite hearfrom God the way you hear from
(05:52):
God, and you know, how did thatcome to be?
So, whatever the question is inand around, how did you come
into a relationship with God?
Where does the faith come from?
It's a very big question andit's something that I will be
unfolding through many episodesto come, because you can't sum
up a lifetime of God revealinghimself to you in one episode.
(06:14):
But what I do want to do todayis just give you some big
nuggets, pretty big milestonesthroughout my life that have
really set in my heart firmlywhy I believe in the God that I
believe in and then.
Not that I'm going to unpackthose big milestones in this one
(06:35):
episode, but in future episodesI will be peeling those
milestones back.
The good, the bad, the ugly andthe great, the excellence of
the Lord, it's all mixed intolife, because life is never one
straight path.
There's twists, there's turns,there's sadness, there's joy,
(06:56):
there's all the emotions inbetween, and certainly my life
has been filled with all of themin a beautiful, beautiful way.
It's a tapestry of the Lord,for sure.
And so with that, that bigquestion, when did I come to
know God?
Sometimes people will say thereis a moment in time where they
(07:17):
came to know the Lord, and thenother times people will say,
well, I don't know, I've justkind of always known him.
And I would say, for me it's amixture of I don't remember a
day without the Lord in my life,in my heart.
But I will tell you, it took mealmost 25 years of living, from
(07:40):
birth to 25, to really figureit out what it means to follow
him.
And you know I love thisscripture.
It's great that you believe inJesus.
Well, even the demons believe.
But do you really follow him?
And that following him isreally, I think, whatever
(08:01):
Christian rustles with, from theday you come to the fact to,
when you come to that crossroads, that you have a choice you're
going to surrender your life tohim and follow him or you can
just you know, maybe be playingwith him in the sandbox.
And so certainly I had keythings in my life that woke me
(08:21):
up and said my way doesn't workand I need to lay it at the foot
of the cross and I need to dothings differently.
And I, I uh, have had thosemoments right and this is where
I'm at today.
But if I start at the beginning,what I want to do for you today
is actually just give you somereally good high-level
milestones.
Again, I said that already, butI'll say it again to kind of
(08:43):
chart out what does my spiritualjourney look like?
Sometimes, if you're into, youknow, really doing work on who
you are in relationship with theLord, who you're, you know your
connection of your spirit tothe Holy Spirit.
Sometimes that's calledspiritual direction, where
you're working on yourself.
You're working on who God is inyour life, through your life,
(09:06):
and what does he want.
You know that next step to befor you.
At many times when you're doingspiritual direction work, a
spiritual director the one whois directing the Direct E will
have you create a spiritualautobiography, and I'm going to
give you a high-level spiritualautobiography of my own.
And then what I would encourageyou to do after this episode is
(09:28):
to find some time in yourcalendar, block it off and just
call it time with God and reallysit down and pray through what
are your spiritual milestones,because it's a huge indicator of
how God has been at work in andthrough your life and maybe how
he wants to reveal his way foryour next step.
And when, it's interesting,when you chronologically journal
(09:52):
things out and give honor toGod for all that he is doing,
has done and is doing in andthrough your life, revelation
just comes out in a very wildway.
It's so cool.
I love it.
I love the practice ofjournaling and meditating and
just really getting centeredwith the Lord.
So, angela Gibson, who am I?
Well, I would just say again,I've always known the Lord.
(10:14):
He's always been a presence inmy life and I would say that
there were some very bigspiritual things that happened
to me when I was early on.
First and foremost, we knowthat God created family man and
woman and there's a mother and afather, and then there's
children involved, and hisdesire is that we are raised in
(10:37):
a home that honors him.
And so if we look at all ofDeuteronomy, it literally is all
about teaching what are thecommandments of the Lord,
raising children up in the waysof the Lord, because if we
follow the ways of the Lord,blessing and prosperity follow
the goodness of the Lord.
It's just, it's blessing.
(10:58):
And when we don't follow hisways, the opposite happens.
Curses happen and we see it.
We can see pathways ofrighteousness producing great
fruit in our culture today andwe see where we don't do things
God's way, the evil thatmanifests.
It's just broken homes and hurtpeople and death comes upon us
(11:18):
and just lots of, lots ofhorrible things.
And you know, these realitiescertainly didn't escape my
childhood.
My father passed away when I wasthree and that is a huge
spiritual moment because Godsays that he is a father to the
fatherless.
And so in that moment when Iwas three years old and I lost
my father, you know what littlegirl doesn't want to have a
(11:40):
father around for all of herlife, I was certainly was, you
know, a part of that.
Like I my entire life.
I don't remember a day where Ididn't wish I had a father that
was with me my whole life and Idefinitely had issues as a
result of not having a strongfatherly presence in my life,
but he he departed when I wasthree years old through a
(12:04):
tragedy, and that was the firstspiritual marker, because when
you read the word of God, hepromises that he will be a
father to the fatherless.
And so my encouragement to youout there who's listening, who
might have lost a father at anearly age know that God will
never turn his back on you.
Hold firm to the promise thathe is a father to the fatherless
(12:27):
and that is just foreverwritten in stone.
It's his promise to you andit's been a huge encouragement
to me.
So I hope that gives youencouragement and when you think
about the next things I'm goingto share with you.
There has been a divineprotection over my life and my
family's life since that momentin time when my father passed
(12:50):
away.
There were unfortunatecircumstances that just started
to hit my childhood left andright, and I'm not going to go
into all the details of that onthis episode, but just some
really tragic, hurtful,dysfunctional events throughout
my childhood that led me and mysiblings to a place where we
(13:11):
went and lived with otherrelatives outside of my mother
when I was 11 years of age andthrough all of what we live
through, though, I can tell youthat it doesn't make sense how
we got to the other side of themand how we stand firm in
(13:31):
healing today, unless God's handwas protecting us and fathering
us spiritually.
It's very beautiful In the mixof all this turmoil that I kind
of grew up in as a child.
I had a lot of sweet moments,though, with the Lord.
I remember I would go to mygrandmother's house for a
vacation Bible school during thesummer, and if anybody's ever
(13:52):
done vacation Bible school,specifically back in the 80s,
you know how good it was.
I mean, this little lot of mine, I'm going to let it shine.
I hope you all are singing outthere, because that was a good
one, and I just remember singingall these sweet little songs,
and I remember in my heart, asjust a little girl, asking my
grandmother Grandma, do you everthink that I'll get to sing for
(14:14):
the Lord one day to a lot ofpeople?
Do you think I'll be able tospeak for him?
Because I would be enamored atall these people who would be
teaching on the Lord, the Lord'sword, and I just always
captivated my heart, even as alittle girl, and my grandmother,
my grandmother, would alwaystell me you know that I was
called and set apart and I wasgoing to do a mighty work for
(14:37):
the Lord.
So I stand firm on that truthand let all that that we do give
glory to God right, amen.
And so if I move past myadolescent years, another
spiritual marker for me would bethat I got to.
I lived outside of Chicago whenI was growing up and I lived in
a town called Hensdale Illinoisshout out to Hensdale and there
(15:01):
was a town next to it calledOakbrook and there was a church
there, the Oakbrook ChristianCenter, and my youth pastor of
that day was Paul Glyman, anamazing man of God and he was a
beacon in my life.
So, just a pivotal point in mylife I was, you know, 13, 14, 15
(15:21):
years old.
I had a lot of, you know,identity issues that I was
battling and looking foracceptance in all the wrong
places and just being a typicalteenage girl who was running
away from the Lord.
Quite frankly, he was a voiceof reason.
(15:42):
Paul Glyman was a voice ofreason and truth in my life that
, even though those seeds tookat least another decade to
really start to take root, hewas definitely part of plowing
up that hard ground and plantingseeds of righteousness.
And you know, calling out Ialready called out my
grandmother I also had anotherspiritual just beacon in my life
(16:04):
my grandmother on my father'sside.
She was a prayer warrior.
I'll tell you more about her ina future episode, but wish we
all had grandmas like her.
I would also say that you knowit really took a while for me to
get to my next spiritual marker.
I ran from the Lord from about15 years old till about 25.
(16:29):
I just ran away from him and Idid everything opposite of what
the Lord's way included, to thepoint where I was 23 years old,
single mom of three children andnot really knowing how to plant
a good path for them, and I wasat a pretty major crossroads
(16:52):
and that, honestly, thatcrossroads with God's divine
hand on it, is really what tookme to a new place in life.
I was looking at my threebabies and I wanted something
different for them that I had inmy own upbringing in life.
I wanted to give them a surefoundation, I wanted to give
them hope in a future, and sothat's what I did.
(17:15):
I turned away from the ways ofthe world and I started to seek
out the Lord and really start tofollow Him, and that path took
me to New York.
So at 23 years old, I left theMidwest of Illinois, packed up
my three babies and went to NewYork and I really did a reset on
life, and there that's when Iwould really find the way of the
(17:36):
Lord.
God was so gracious.
He gave me a live-in nanny andher name was Mary Beth.
And Mary Beth was just a salt,a piece of salt that came into
my life and she introduced me toChristian contemporary music
third day, and I'll never forgetit, because that music of third
(17:57):
day started to do something inmy heart that was
transformational.
So God was really using her toreach me through music, and then
ended up getting planted in achurch and things just started
to look drastically differentfor me.
Lo and behold, two years wouldgo by and the Lord would
introduce me to my now husband,who had two beautiful children
(18:21):
of his own.
So we are celebrating 20 yearsof marriage this September, in
2023.
Praise the Lord.
And together I had my threechildren, he had his two.
We blended them very closelyand then we had our one guy
together, one little guy, johnJohn, who's not so little
anymore, he's 19.
(18:41):
And I still call him John John.
He doesn't like it, but Ireally don't care.
He's always going to be my JohnJohn.
So sorry, john John, love you,buddy.
But yeah.
So here we are all these yearslater and God has done an
amazing work in and through myfamily.
I would just say that one of thebiggest milestones, spiritually
(19:04):
, spiritual markers in my lifeis my family.
It's not too often at least inmy experience, it hasn't been.
I haven't frequented thescenario.
You know a lot, but when youhave a blended family, you can
see division, you can see, youknow whose kids are whose or
(19:26):
whatever the words are right.
You can see that it's maybe nota unified biological family.
And one thing that, by thewisdom and grace of God, that
John and I John is my husbandthat we have done since really
we decided, you know, to lean inand get married and to lean in
and get married and blend thisfamily is really try to love
(19:49):
past bloodlines and I'll dofuture episodes on this, but
I'll just say this it's not very, it's not very often that
people can come in and identifywhose kids are what kids in my
family and I have so muchgratitude from that lens because
I can't take credit for it it'struly the Holy Spirit who I
(20:10):
believe because he's a father tothe fatherless that he saw the
battle wounds that I wentthrough as a kid.
He saw the families that I livedwith and there was division and
you know, I wasn't always abiological kid in the house and
I felt the separation from thatof a biological parent to a non
(20:31):
biological parent.
And I remember making a promiseto God one day when I was a
teenager and I was hurt bysomething that I was living
through in the moment and I saidif you ever give me kids that I
don't actually naturally birth,I just pray that you, you know,
give me the heart to love themthe way that I would love my own
(20:52):
kids, because I would neverwant another child to feel the
way that I was feeling in thatmoment.
Sorry, and it's just a greatblessing to know that God's hand
has truly been on my family.
Whew, sorry, I'm a crier.
(21:16):
You're learning that episodeone.
But these are tears of joybecause it's nothing short of a
miracle that I am blessed with afamily that John and I have
been blessed with.
So again, that's a bigspiritual marker in my life is
being able to raise up a familyin a blended way and see the
(21:39):
fruit of the Lord across alltheir lives.
It's amazing.
Another spiritual marker in mylife it's a little out of
sequence here, but would be mysecond born child, my first son,
austin.
He was born with a Kajenalheart disease and I could do an
entire podcast series on thatboy because he has met the Lord
(22:02):
more than once.
He's came back to testify aboutit.
I have incredible miraculousstories in and around his life
just seeing the true hand of God, just continually keeping
someone alive or bringing themback when they literally passed
and came back.
It's just been amazing.
So I will be sharing in futureepisodes I'll be sharing more
(22:27):
details about his story, butit's absolutely incredible.
But yeah, those are some of thebig ones.
I think another one I'll endwith this one today.
I have so many.
But another big marker for mewas once I really started to
figure out how do I follow theways of the Lord and really
(22:49):
living it out, living what theBible says in practicing what
you preach, so to speak.
That's what I'm trying to say.
I had to figure out well, Icould live it out at home, but
how did I live it out in theworkplace?
And I'm a CIO, chiefInformation Officer by day in
(23:14):
the workplace and I have theprivilege of leading large teams
.
And I had to figure out how doI live authentically to who?
I am based in faith, whetherI'm at home or at work, and I
didn't want to be angelic oneperson on Sunday at church,
(23:36):
another one at home and anotherone at the workplace.
To really live as a Christianis to live a fully integrated
life, and so God has taught meso much on what it means to live
in Him.
And then consistency no matterwhere you're at or what
environment you're in or whatrole you're playing in a day,
(23:57):
your lifestyle will liveconsistent, will hold up to who
you are and who you say you arein Christ.
So that's a huge milestone whenGod really called me to be a
marketplace leader, representingwho he is and not, you know,
not standing firm in theintegrity of my faith for fear
(24:21):
that maybe it would not beaccepted in the marketplace.
So that has been.
It continues to be a journeythat I'm on and it's a huge
marker in my spiritual life.
So, yeah, that's a little bit.
A little bit about me.
I really want to just encourageyou to lean in with God.
(24:44):
What has God been revealing toyou?
What are the key moments inyour life, maybe key moments of
adversity that you faced, maybemoments of joy where you could
really feel the presence of theLord?
Or, if you haven't felt thepresence of the Lord, what are
those key milestones that haveshaped you into who you are?
(25:05):
And maybe lean in with prayerand read your Bible and see what
God has to say about thosemilestones.
Because at the end of the day,he said that before you were
formed in your mother's womb, heknit you together in that womb,
but he also recorded everysingle day of your life in his
(25:26):
book.
And so what does that mean?
Every major milestone, milemarker in your life, big event
that you've gone through, goodor bad, you know, sad or happy,
he has been there with you,whether you felt him or not, and
he does have something toreveal to you in those moments.
If you haven't leaned in tounderstand what that revelation
(25:48):
is yet, so that would be myencouragement lean in with God
and see what he has to say aboutthe key milestones in your life
.
I'll be praying over you.
I'm going to close this out inprayer, but thank you for
listening today.
It's an honor that you don'tcount it robbery to join me on
this podcast and see what theLord is doing.
We're going to have some reallycool guests coming to the
(26:11):
podcast soon.
I can't wait to reveal whothose folks are going to be, but
I think you're going to get alot out of it, so I'm super
excited about it.
But with that, may God blessyou abundantly.
I'm sending you great love andI'm going to close this in
prayer.
Heavenly Father, we just thankyou for this time.
We just give you all glory andhonor for it.
Thank you for every listenerwho is under my voice, lord, I
(26:33):
just thank you that you arestirring in their hearts.
You're reminding them of thebig markers in their own life
their own life that you want toreveal something to them.
Even if they think they have itfully understood, lord, there's
always more to understand andto unpack.
With you, you're constantlyjust providing revelation and
knowledge to those who seek you,lord.
(26:54):
So we thank you that you arefaithful to be with them in this
moment as they're listening.
We thank you that you are justgoing to pave the ground to show
them abundantly more than theycan ask, think or imagine.
Lord, we close this in themighty name of Jesus, amen.
Thank you for joining us onthis episode of Grow, where God
(27:15):
reveals our way.
We hope you found inspiration,wisdom and encouragement as we
continue on this faith-filledjourney together.
We invite you to subscribe toGrow so you never miss an
episode.
Stay tuned for more biblicalteachings, heartfelt testimonies
and insights that will nourishyour spirit and deepen your
relationship with God.
We appreciate your support andparticipation in this podcast.
(27:36):
Until next time, may you growin faith, love and knowledge of
His divine plan.
May God bless you abundantly.
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