March 17, 2024 • 39 mins
Nancy's story starts with her parents' tumultuous past, carrying a weight of generational pain, which she has learned to transmute into a source of strength and empathy. Her early years were marred by loss and the struggle to fit in, which led her down a path fraught with poor choices and pain. However, it was through this darkness that Nancy's determination, once seen as stubbornness, emerged as an unshakeable faith.
As Nancy recounts her journey of faith and redemption, it's evident that spiritual transformation can be profound and life-altering. Her spontaneous decision to join the Navy became a pivot point, leading her to cross paths with individuals who would influence her faith, and serve as a catalyst for her to embrace Christianity, forever changing the trajectory of her life.
The narrative then transitions into the beautiful, albeit imperfect, love story between Nancy and Myron Stevenson. From a whirlwind romance to the struggles of marriage compounded by personal baggage, their commitment to each other and their faith is profoundly moving. It's a narrative that reinforces the belief that through faith, hope, and a willingness to face one's past, redemption and healing are possible. The power of vulnerability in relationships is a thread that runs throughout the episode, emphasizing the importance of openness and communication in building strong, resilient bonds.
Lastly, Nancy's story is a call to embrace life's challenges with gratitude. The idea that we should continuously seek new learning experiences and growth opportunities, regardless of our age, is both inspiring and motivating. This chapter of the episode is a powerful reminder that life's lessons come in many forms and that recognizing and appreciating them is a form of wisdom.
This episode is more than just a recounting of events; it's a celebration of life's trials and triumphs. It serves as an encouragement to anyone who might find themselves in the throes of hardship or despair. Nancy's story provides hope and serves as a beacon to guide others through their own darkness.
Through Nancy's narrative, listeners are invited to reflect on their own lives, to find strength in their struggles, and to seek joy in serving others. It is a call to action to live a life that is kind and full of gratitude, one that honors the past while looking forward to a future filled with promise. This podcast episode is not just a story to be heard but an experience to be felt and a journey to be shared.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Ordinary People Extraordinary Things.
I'm your host, nancy, and I getto talk to ordinary people just
like you about real stories,stories of faith and hope.
I have a challenge for you.
Would you share ordinary peopleextraordinary things with four
people today?
Four people I picked fourbecause it's my favorite number
(00:23):
but would you take the timetoday to share hope and faith
with someone that you know,maybe share your favorite
episode or episodes, orsomething that your friend or
your family member is goingthrough?
That would encourage them.
I am asking for this challengefor people today to share
(00:43):
ordinary people, extraordinarythings.
Are you ready?
Can we pray first?
Yes.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Father, god, thank you so much for this opportunity
to share my story, a story thatyou have given me to share,
that I was ashamed of for solong, and now I see you using it
all the time to encourageothers.
I pray that you would help meto listen to your Holy Spirit
today and to only say what youwant me to say, and to say it
(01:13):
clearly, without stuttering orstammering, or I don't want
Nancy to have to do a lot ofediting after.
So, lord, just help me to bringyou glory in all of it, and I
pray it in Jesus' name Amen.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Thank you for that.
Well welcome to ordinary people.
Extraordinary things.
I'm here with Nancy, and youare one of the only other
Nancy's I know there aren't toomany of us anymore, I know.
I know so whenever we're in thesame circles around church and
so whenever everyone's likeNancy and I was like what, oh,
(01:48):
they're talking to NancyStevenson, because I don't
really get that that often yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Are you the same?
I am, and sometimes I getemails that I think were
intended for Nancy Brusher thatcome to me so yes, it works both
ways, girl.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
And it's a.
It's a calm.
It's not like a strange name,but it's just not used very
often.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
It was very common when I was younger, okay, but
but yeah, you don't see too manypeople your age and younger.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Yes, yes, well, just had to start out with that.
So if people don't know you.
What are three words or phrasesto describe you?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I think the first one is determined and my mom, if
you'd asked her that questionwhen I was a kid, she would have
said stubborn and I thinksometimes Myron would say the
same thing my husband but when Imake up my mind to do something
, I'm pretty determined tofinish when I start.
Nice, I think I'm faithful andloyal, is another that I stand
(02:45):
by the people that I love and Idon't easily walk away from
relationships.
I'm pretty organized.
I kind of I thrive inorganization.
I don't do real well in chaos,and so when my mind, when I need
a break just from working andthinking about things, I'll go
in in a room and organize it.
(03:06):
I mean that's just kind of whathelps me to relax, and sometimes
that can be annoying for people, but I think it helps me to be
more to do my job well.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
To be organized.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I see a lot of those traits that you just said.
Thank you, so we get to talkabout your faith journey.
Yeah, kind of broad like whoop,just throw it out there, okay.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Well, I'm almost 68 years old in April, so my story
is a long one.
I lived for a long time.
I'll try not to get into toomuch detail, but my story really
starts with my dad's story,because my mom and my dad both,
and they both come from verydysfunctional, broken family
(03:54):
lives.
And so my dad when he was fiveyears old.
They were very poor.
They lived in the little towncalled Tipton, oklahoma, and my
grandfather would go out and tryto find work every day in
construction, and there werefive boys and he didn't have
money to go out and buy themtoys, and so what he would do is
leave his rifle there for theboys to play with, unloaded, and
(04:17):
that would be their toy.
That would be the toy that theboys would play with.
And one day my grandfatherforgot to unload the rifle and
my dad, when he was five yearsold, picked up the rifle and
shot and killed his brother, andso his life, as you can imagine
, was full of shame and pain, mygrandfather's too.
(04:39):
He was an alcoholic most of hislife.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Because of that or before that.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Because of that I think honestly.
I don't know too much, but Ithink it was because of that.
He had so much shame and guiltabout forgetting to unload the
rifle and he took a lot of hisinternal anger out of my dad,
and so there was a lot ofbrokenness there.
He was angry.
He came from a broken marriagebefore he met my mom, and my mom
(05:11):
too, had a pretty good lifegrowing up, very poor, but then
she married a man when she wasin the Navy.
She was in the Navy in WorldWar II, really Part of the waves
, yeah.
Wow.
And she married I believe hewas Army, a guy who you know.
It was a whirlwind romance andshe had my sister early on and
(05:34):
when my sister was, I don't know, probably about a year old, he
said he was going out to buycigarettes and never came home.
So mom was abandoned.
You know, to raise a daughterby herself.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
And this was in World War II or after.
It was after, yeah, after thewar.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
So, mom and, dad found each other through a
Phillips petroleum company.
They both worked there.
They found each other.
I think it was kind of amarriage of convenience because
they both had a child that theywanted.
You know, they wanted the otherparent to help them raise and
so they raised my sister and mybrother, never telling my sister
, who was just a baby, that shewas not my dad's daughter.
(06:16):
Oh, really yeah and so she grewup thinking that my dad was her
dad.
So there was so many dynamicsto the family mix that were
pretty broken.
And then a few years later,quite a few years later actually
, my mom was 35 when she had meand I still don't know if it was
planned or an accident.
I have a feeling it wasprobably not planned, but not an
accident to God, not anaccident to God.
(06:38):
He knew, he knew what he wasdoing.
My dad tried really hard totake care of the family
financially.
He worked really hard.
He did all he knew how to do toraise a family, but didn't have
a clue how to have arelationship.
Mom took me to church at a veryyoung age.
I grew up going to church withmom and hearing about Jesus and
(06:58):
knowing the basics of the Biblestories, but I never knew that
it could be personal.
That I could have a personalrelationship with him.
So I listened and I learned asmuch as I could, but it just
never really hit home with meand so went to church but never
(07:18):
really grew in my relationshipwith Jesus.
And then when I was 12 we foundout my dad had stomach cancer
and so when I was 13 he passedaway.
Oh wow.
When that happened I think Itook on a lot of his anger that
he had growing up because he wasnot kind and drank too much and
(07:39):
it was just not a healthyfamily.
So I took on a lot of his angerand made some really bad choices
.
When I was in high school Ilooked for friends who would
just take me in, as I was asbroken as I was, and a lot of
times those were friends whowere also broken and I got
involved in drugs and alcoholand all those bad choices, sex
(08:03):
when I was very young, and itwas not a happy life, but it was
all I knew, and so I barely gotthrough high school.
I did actually quit school atone point when I was a sophomore
, just because I just felt likeBible Church and you know from
the city Чер Coloff out of placethere.
I remember after my dad diedsome kids came up to me
(08:25):
afterwards and they walked rightto me as if they were going to
say something and then theydidn't know what to say so they
walked away.
And that was kind of how I feltin high school.
I just never quite felt like Ifit, because now I realize that
they just didn't know what tosay.
It wasn't they were trying to beunkind, but they just didn't
know what to say.
They never had a friend who hadlost a parent before, and so I
(08:46):
felt very alone and that made medrift towards people anybody
really who would accept me.
So I made really, really badchoices and did end up going
back to school after I had quitand got through, mainly because
I started focusing on businessas what I was really good at and
(09:08):
so when I started focusing onthat, it was a little bit easier
for me to get through theschool part of it, but I still
was very alone, and when I gotout of school every day I would
go find friends and drink and doall the things that I shouldn't
have been doing, but that's allI knew, and so, by the time I
was, I graduated high school andthen I went to college at
(09:31):
Oklahoma State University.
I grew up in Bartlesville,oklahoma, by the way, and went
to college at Oklahoma Statethinking that maybe there I felt
like I had a sign on my backthat said vulnerable girl,
please use me and I thought,maybe when I left Bartlesville,
that that would go away, but itdidn't.
(09:52):
There was just something thatpeople saw in me, I think, that
was vulnerable and broken, andso the same things kept
happening.
When I went to school there andgot involved with a really bad
guy who we found out later,actually spent 13 years in
prison for attempted murder.
(10:12):
And so no, this happened after Imet him Myron did a little bit
of research on him and found outthat he was really a bad guy
and he used people to get money.
And he did that with me, and Iwas so broken after that that I
really didn't want to liveanymore.
I just had lost my desire tolive.
And so one night I went with afriend and drank probably a half
(10:37):
of a fifth of tequila andsomehow or other managed to get
from the friend's house back tomy apartment.
I drove I don't know how in theworld I feel like angels must
have been surrounding that car,but I drove home and when I got
home I swallowed about a half abottle of Tylenol.
I don't remember any of this,but I don't know if it was
(10:59):
because I already had thehorrible hangover of a headache
or if I really was trying totake my life.
I don't know what my motivationwas, but all I know is I woke
up the next day in the hospitaland my friend, who was mad at me
, came looking for me in myapartment that night at 2.30 in
the morning.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
This is such a god thing.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
She came looking for me.
She happened to be a nurse, soshe gave me CPR and called the
ambulance, and so I ended up inthe hospital the next day, and
that's when I realized I had toget out of there.
I knew that I had to get awayfrom the town, away from all
those people, and so, as I toldyou before, my mom was in the
(11:41):
Navy, and so was my dad in WorldWar II, and there was a little
recruiting office right behindwhere I lived in my apartment,
so I walked over there and Italked to the recruiter, I did
all the testing and ended up inthe intelligence field with the
Navy, and God in his wisdom,when I went to boot camp in
(12:03):
Orlando, florida, he put a younglady, I believe her name.
Her name was either Eve orGrace, I can't remember which
one.
It was a biblical name, though,and she was on the bottom bunk
and I was on the top bunk, andshe would read her Bible.
When the rest of us would beout taking a smoke break, or
anytime we got a break, shewould read her Bible and she
(12:26):
would tell Jesus about how muchhe loved me.
This was really my firstexperience with a Christian,
with a believer who was willingto share her faith with me.
I wasn't quite ready at thatpoint to make a decision for
Christ, but she definitelyplanted the seed and I can't
wait to meet her in heaven andtell her you started all of this
(12:46):
.
You know just that moment thatshe had with me and I know that
she prayed for me and made sucha difference.
And so then I went to them aswell.
First Pensacola, florida, for mytraining and then to Masawa,
japan, was my first duty station, and it was there that God
brought a young Marine namedMichael Keefe, who was from
Moscow, idaho.
(13:06):
Mike was such a strong,passionate believer that had so
much joy in his life that whenyou know, after hanging out with
him just for a few nights onthe mid-shift, two in the
morning, you know I would seethat joy in him and he just
radiated that he would singhymns completely off key but,
(13:27):
eating, care, you know, therewas just so much joy in his life
, and so he invited me to cometo a meeting at a little.
It was a little mission, really,for a Christian servicemen
overseas called the HospitalityHouse, and it was there that the
missionaries shared the gospelwith me in a way that I'd never
heard of before.
You know, just it was.
(13:50):
He talked about forgiveness andhow I, no matter what my story
was, how I could be forgiven forall of those bad choices that I
made, and that there was hopeif I would just let Jesus be the
Lord of my life.
And so there was a lot more toit than that.
A lot I don't remember, but butthat's what sunk into me, and so
(14:14):
I lived in Barracks then, orold World War II Barracks that
we had in Miss Owah, and Iremember going back to my room
that night in the Barracks bymyself and just laying it all
out for the Lord and I just toldhim that I couldn't keep going
the way that I had.
I didn't want to live the waythat I had been anymore.
I wanted to let him be the Lordof my life.
(14:37):
There was no scripted prayer.
There was, you know nothingthat I looked up in a book to
pray.
It was just what God laid on myheart and I really do believe
that was the Holy Spirit justmaking it so clear to me what I
needed to do and I'm so glad,knowing myself the way that I do
, I'm so glad that happened thatway because I feel like if it
(14:58):
would have been someone elsekind of coaching me through that
, I may have doubted it later.
I may have questioned whether itwas really real, but I know
without any doubt that thatmoment, that first moment that I
really had with Jesus was, wasvery real and my life did change
Not that it became perfect atall.
I still made some bad choiceseven after that, but I knew when
(15:21):
I did that I could turn awayfrom it and get back on the path
that he wanted me on.
And so then about a year later,another big strapping marine
walked in to where I worked.
His name was Myron Stevensonand we met.
There's a little bit of disputewhether it was May or June when
(15:41):
we met.
I think it was June, he thinksit was May, he thinks it was
June.
But anyway, on June 24th wewere engaged.
What I know, I still can'tbelieve it.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
So at the very most two months, yeah, at the very
most, and we both just knewSorry, were you or Navy?
I was Navy.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
And he was Marine.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Marine goes under the Army.
No, no Marine is with Navy.
Oh, ok, although they don'tlike to admit it.
But yeah, the Marine.
Ok.
I was like, how did you guysmeet?
Speaker 3 (16:12):
OK, so, Missal, the base that we were at had all
four services there.
Oh, ok, so there were Army AirForce, navy and Marines at the
space, and so we worked on thesame shift and he came in I
think it was a night shift whenI first met him and we just both
knew right away he had been abeliever his whole life.
Really he calls himself anursery baby.
(16:33):
He grew up in the nursery atchurch I like that, yeah and
when he was 12 years old he cameforward at a revival at his
church to ask Jesus to be hissavior.
So he'd been a believer for along time.
I was still a new believer,excited on fire, and in December
December 8th of that same year,1978, we got married.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Wow, that's a whirlwind romance.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
It definitely was a whirlwind romance and there were
a lot of bets going on abouthow long this marriage was going
to last, and I think if a lotof those guys that we knew back
then could see us now, theywould be shocked because it's
been 45 years that we have beentogether, and so it has not been
easy.
We've had some struggles.
I, as you can imagine, broughta lot of baggage with me into
(17:23):
the marriage.
It was really hard that firstyear for me just to learn how to
let somebody in, to trust him,because I had been hurt so many
times and I was.
I wanted a relationship, but Ididn't have a good example
growing up of what a healthymarriage is, and so I had no
clue how to be a good wife, howto be a loving wife, and he had
(17:49):
some baggage that he broughtwith him too, as we all do, and
it was just really hard at thevery beginning and even in the
first few years, I would sayafter having our first baby.
We were two and a half years inthe end, I think, when we had
Jake, and of course that bringsanother kind of stress into
(18:09):
relationships, and so when wehad been together for about
eight years, he just had hadenough.
Honestly, he wanted to love meand I didn't know how to let him
, and so he decided that wewould take a break for a while,
and so he moved out.
We were separated for about amonth and thankfully, god really
(18:31):
worked in both of us duringthat time that we were separated
.
I really dug into his word andread through Job, strangely
enough, and that was reallycomforting to me to know that
even in these really difficulttimes, that God is still with us
and he redeems us through them.
(18:54):
And so we've had a lot ofstruggles in both of our lives,
both separately and togethersince then, but God has been so
faithful to help us to learn totrust in him, and about seven
years ago now I think it was ohgosh, it's been more than that
2015,.
(19:14):
In April of 2015, I went to awomen's retreat that we were
pretty much I was pretty muchforced to really dig into my
past and pull out some of thatbaggage and look at it and lay
it at the foot of the cross andgive it over to Jesus.
And that was really thebeginning of sharing my full
(19:37):
story with Myron.
As much as I wanted to tell himbefore, I didn't know that he
could still love me if he knewall of the things in my story.
There was so much shame aroundthat story.
So you had been married for avery long time, very long time
before I really shared.
He knew top level, high levelabout my story, but never the
(19:58):
depth of the hurt and the painthat I had been through
including my story with myfamily early on, and so finally
digging that up, talking aboutit and bringing the shame out
into the light made it lose itspower.
And so he also went to a men'sretreat the same organization,
(20:21):
cross ministry group as whatit's called and kind of worked
through a lot of his stuffBecause, as you can imagine, he
had a lot of hurt and pain fromall the years of trying to love
me and me pushing him away, andso we both were so impacted by
that and have been given a lotof tools to help us work through
(20:44):
when things do get hard.
Wow.
Speaker 4 (20:50):
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Speaker 1 (21:46):
I have heard some of your story.
We sat down several years agobut not all of this and I'm sure
there's more you know yeah butwhat I want to say is thank you.
Thank you for being vulnerable,because that's really hard yeah
and.
(22:07):
But I love what you said aboutis when we let it go, then it
doesn't have this power anymore.
So that's why I'm just prayingfor someone who's listening
today of just let it out,because then it doesn't carry
that weight anymore, it doesn'thave that power over you because
it's out.
And something else I just Ijust loved when I was hearing
(22:30):
you is you know, I've only knownyou for the last few years and
I see you as not a perfectChristian at all, because none
of us are perfect.
But oh my gosh, she's got ittogether.
Look at her, she's amazing,which you are.
I'm not trying to say that, butI love that you're sharing this
(22:50):
part of your story, of yourhistory, of your past.
To say, you know, it's okay,because I think this might be
part of our problem inChristianity is, once we come to
Jesus, we want to pretend likenothing.
None of this past ever happened, and that's great because we
have freedom in Jesus.
But also maybe we've lost theopportunity to meet someone,
(23:13):
where they are, who's not a partof you know, jesus's family,
yet that doesn't know him,because we've put ourselves on
this well, I don't know whatyou're talking about, kind of
thing.
I've never lived that kind oflife.
You know, I have it alltogether and your story of of a
lot of I.
Maybe I'm saying it badly, butbad decisions can actually show
(23:38):
someone from the outside like,oh, it's okay, it's okay to come
to Jesus.
When I'm like this, heunderstands.
Someone else was like this too.
Did I say that somewhat?
Well, yes, that's great and I.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
I have learned through sharing my story over
the last few years.
One of the things when I firststarted in my job that I'm doing
now, I just felt like God wastelling me to sit down with our
volunteers and get to know themand hear their hearts, and part
of that I learned was that whenI shared my story, that they
were much more willing to bevulnerable and share their
(24:17):
stories with me, and so I haveshared it probably over a
hundred times in the last fiveyears and so that that too,
there's so much healing in thatpiece, in just telling it over
and over and over again, and itdoes lose its power and it does
(24:37):
help the people who were hearingto know that, hey, I don't have
to be perfect, I don't have tobe in a perfect place before I
come to Jesus.
I can come to him just exactlyas I am broken, lost, afraid,
hopeless, and he will take me inand love me, and that's what I
(24:58):
want anybody who hears thisstory to know.
It doesn't matter what you'vedone yeah, at all.
There's a lot more to my storythat I didn't share that some of
you I know what identify with.
But I'll be glad to sit downand have a cup of coffee with
anybody who wants to hear it,and so that you can know that
(25:19):
you are not alone, first of all,in your journey, and and I want
to be able to help, and storyis a great way to do it.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
So I'm so thankful, nancy, for what you do, yeah, in
helping people share theirstories yeah amazing well, I
just love that and I love thatyou said also because I think
this could be a missed thoughtthat some people have is okay,
you said yes to Jesus.
You know you had this, thismoment, but things weren't
(25:48):
perfect after that no and youmade mistakes, but I still love.
I love also that you said youknow I looked for him for
forgiveness and I got back onthe path, yeah, so I love that,
because obviously we makemistakes, but we don't want to
just sit in our mistakes either,right like there's a there's a
balance.
So I love that you said thatabsolutely through difficulties.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
It's how my faith has grown through struggles, when
we had the hard times in ourmarriage, when we struggled with
raising three boys and notreally knowing how to do that
well because, again, I didn'thave great examples growing up.
When I've had difficulties inmy work life.
God has walked me through thosetimes and those are the times
(26:38):
when I have really dug into hisword and and learn to rely on
him more than any other.
I'm thankful for the greattimes that we've had and I try
to always remember to bethankful and to be grateful for
those times.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
But times of growth, I think, come out of hardship
that's what I've I hear over andover and over again, and none
of us want that right, but Ithink it's so true.
Romans 5 3.
Not only that, but we rejoicein our sufferings, knowing that
suffering produces endurance,and endurance produces character
(27:15):
, and character produces hope.
And hope does not put us toshame what you were talking
about, because God's love hasbeen poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit, spiritwho has been given to us.
Yeah, I think that's thosethings in the Bible where you're
like, yeah, is that true, do Iwant it to be true?
(27:36):
But it is.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
It is definitely true , and that's a great life verse
for me.
That's not the one that I hadbrought with me today.
That is a great one because itdoes the suffering, produces
perseverance and it keeps usgoing and builds character.
There are times when I thinkokay, God, I've had enough
character very much.
I've got it.
I've got it.
(27:59):
But he's used all of thosetimes to help me grow and to
help me realize that he has aplan for my life.
And that's what has reallyamazed me, I think more than
anything else about my journey,is how he's used me in these
last six years, since I've beenon staff at Southeast, in ways
(28:23):
that I never really thought waspossible.
I never considered myself aleader.
In times that I have been putin leadership positions, I
always kind of felt like I was areluctant leader.
I'll do it if I have to, butthis is not my thing.
And in the last three well sixmonths now, I guess, since I
(28:45):
started in my new job, where I'mleading people in ways that I
felt totally unprepared for, butI realized that God has used
the experiences that I've had inmy life, even the ones that I
had early in my life, to help meto lead people well and to
understand people a little bitbetter and to have grace with
(29:08):
people who may be struggling,who may say things that are not
kind and should try and dig inand understand why what's going
on.
So I'm just amazed at how Goduses us broken people in ways
that can bring him glory.
We've got all kinds of peopleon our team who would say the
(29:29):
same thing, who come from a pastof brokenness, who are now
serving God and being the faceof God in our church, Not
necessarily because of thebrokenness, but because of the
healing that God has done sincethen, and it's pretty amazing to
watch.
It's my favorite part of my job.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
And so you're passionate about serving.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
I am.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
What would you say about like, if someone's like
well, what is serving, or how doI serve, or I don't have time
for that?
Speaker 3 (30:00):
Well, what I've learned is it's not just going
in and filling a need.
I really truly believe thateveryone has a call to serve.
I think something we can all dois listen well, be there and be
observant of the people aroundyou.
You can serve somebody,sometimes just by smiling at
(30:21):
them If they've had a rough day.
They've just come out of theirjob and they work with people
and somebody just reamed them onone side and down the other,
and then you see them and yousmile at them or say something
kind.
It can change their whole world, and so I think that's
something we can do.
Every day.
You see someone who has aparticular need, whether it's a
(30:45):
neighbor, or, again, someone inthe grocery store who can't get
something off a high shelf andyou help them and you smile and
say here, let me help you.
I think there's opportunitiesaround us every day when we can
serve others.
We can make a meal for aneighbor who's sick.
You know there's lots ofopportunities, we just have to
look for them.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
Things were looking for the right time, like, oh,
when I'm older.
Oh, when I'm retired.
Oh, I'm retired now, I don'thave to do it.
Oh, after my kids are grown.
And I think that if we do that,we might never serve Right or
we're losing out.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
And we're missing opportunities that.
God always gives usopportunities.
If we ask Him to, he'll putthem in front of us.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
You talked a little bit about kindness.
This is a new question I'mbringing in.
What kindness have you shown orwhat kindness have you seen
from someone or gotten in thelast week.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
I love that question and it was a lot easier for me
to answer the kindnesses thatI've seen in others than the
kindnesses I've shown, so I justI listed a few here.
Speaker 4 (31:54):
So I'll just read them off.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
really good, so my friend, ronnie, brought me a
buntini cake the other day.
She knows a little bitdiscouraged by something that
had happened and she went to thebuntini store and brought me a
cake just to encourage me.
Carrie, who is our admin on ourteam at work, is always asking
ways she can help and she does.
(32:16):
She steps in.
I was a little bit stressedabout having to feed a team of
people that were doing a classfour on Sunday and she said let
me help you, I'll order the food, I'll go pick it up, you don't
have to worry about that.
And it was just it took so muchoff my plate and took stress
off of me.
Tim, you know Tim always stopsevery time I see him and ask how
(32:37):
I'm doing and he actually stopsand listens yeah, actually yeah
, and cares about it.
He'll take the time to listen.
A friend that I met withMichelle the other day visits a
lady in long-term care who is myage actually but had a stroke
years ago, can't communicate,can't really do anything to
(32:58):
reciprocate her care, but she'sthere every week loving on this
lady.
Our staff is so great aboutstepping in.
When any of us need help, theystep in and just do it.
Ask how can I help?
Which is so kind, sue.
Our dear Sue brings dessertevery single Monday morning to
(33:18):
our staff to enjoy on Mondays.
So those are just a few.
I see it around me all the timeand I learn from them.
I try my best to stop andlisten when I have a chance to
have a conversation with anyone.
Sometimes it's hard, especiallyon Sunday mornings because it's
pretty busy, but I'll try andstop and pray with people.
(33:42):
If I know that there's a needto pray for, I will stop right
there and pray.
And that's always a kindnesswhen we pray for people,
something we're all called to do.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
That's good.
I just find that more and more,we're bombarded with the idea
that people are bad, thatthere's not kindness, and so I
just felt like it was reallyimportant to start sharing that.
I think if we look for it,we'll see it Right.
Speaker 4 (34:14):
But if we look, for the bad.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
Well, that's not hard .
Speaker 3 (34:17):
That's absolutely true.
You can find that anytime too,right, right, yeah, I try real
hard to look for the good inpeople and the kindness that
people do.
Yeah, it's a great question.
Well, thank you for that.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
So what is your favorite Bible verse?
He said you like the one thatwe talked about, but you have
another one?
Speaker 3 (34:33):
Yes, well, I'll tell you the first one, as a new
believer, that I memorized wasRomans 8, 28.
And we know that all thingswork all things Sorry, Let me
try that again.
And we know that in all things,god works for the good of those
who love Him, who have beencalled according to His purpose,
and that's a verse that I'veheld on to tightly through a lot
(34:54):
of the struggles in my life.
I think right now there's averse in 1 Corinthians 12, 27
that says all of you togetherare Christ's body and each of
you is a part of it.
And that's really what I'mfocusing on for this job that I
have as the volunteercoordinator is to make sure that
(35:15):
everybody understands thatthere is a part for them to play
in this kingdom role that wehave to serve others.
So that is definitely afavorite too.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
Yeah, the idea that we can't all be the head or the
eyes but we need a foot, we needa finger, we need everything
right and a big toe.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
Yeah, we do, and there's a place for everyone.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
When you were saying that God works, I'll butcher it,
but the Romans one that youjust said, that I just felt that
one as well when you weretalking about how the bad things
that happened, but God did useit and you've seen that and
that's so beautiful, so manytimes yeah.
So beautiful.
Speaker 3 (35:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
He's faithful.
Well, our last question whatare you grateful for?
Speaker 3 (36:03):
Oh, I'm grateful for my family, especially for Myron.
He loves me so well and Ifinally am learning how to
receive it, and he supports meand we are able to support each
other now.
It's so cool that we've comefull circle.
We started out working togetherwhen we were in the military
(36:24):
and now we're working togetheragain at Southeast.
He's the director of securitythere, and it's so fun for me to
see him at work, because for 43years he was in the Intel
community and I didn't get tosee what he did.
So now I get to actually walkalongside him and I've learned
so much from his leadership inmy role too.
(36:45):
So I'm very thankful for thatand for my three boys three
grown boys two live here andone's in Houston, and I'm so
proud of every one of them andthe men that they've become and
the women that they've loved too, and my six grandchildren.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
Oh yes.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
Yeah, they're all amazing.
The youngest is Joseph and he'ssix months old now.
He was born on August 31st andhe's just so amazing.
The oldest is 21 and will be 22in April.
His name is Jonathan, andthey're all amazing and I'm so
thankful for each of them.
I'm also thankful that at myage, I'm learning something new
(37:25):
and trying something completelyoutside my comfort zone that God
has called me to and ischallenging me every day, and I
think it helps me to stay alittle bit younger by trying new
things and learning new things.
And then I'm very grateful forthe people that he's put in my
life in this long, long journeythat I've had.
(37:46):
I'm very grateful.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
Well, I love your to the point where I've heard it
before is that you can retirefrom a job, but you can't retire
from ministry.
That's right, as in just ourministry to love people and love
God.
So I like that.
Speaker 3 (38:01):
You're saying I'm trying new things, so yeah, yeah
, and it's been scary and funand challenging and all those
things, but I'm very gratefulfor it.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
Well, thank you for being on, thank you for sharing
a little bit of your heart,thank you for sharing your story
Absolutely, and I'm justpraying for every person.
I know that different peopleare going to grab different
things right.
As far as, like, I connectedwith this, I felt this, but I'm
just praying over this podcastand everyone who's listening.
Speaker 3 (38:31):
Me too.
Niazi, Thank you for what youdo in allowing people to share
their stories and to bring thesestories of hope to the world.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
I love it, thank you.
Thank you for listening.
I hope that this has inspiredyou and, as a reminder, please
take the challenge to tell fourpeople about ordinary people,
extraordinary things, and thusspreading faith and hope in our
communities.
Welcome to Ordinary People Extraordinary Things.
I'm your host, nancy, and I getto talk to ordinary people just
like you about real stories,stories of faith and hope.
I have a challenge for you.
Would you share ordinary peopleextraordinary things with four
people today?
Four people I picked fourbecause it's my favorite number
(00:23):
but would you take the timetoday to share hope and faith
with someone that you know,maybe share your favorite
episode or episodes, orsomething that your friend or
your family member is goingthrough?
That would encourage them.
I am asking for this challengefor people today to share
(00:43):
ordinary people, extraordinarythings.
Are you ready?
Can we pray first?
Yes.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Father, god, thank you so much for this opportunity
to share my story, a story thatyou have given me to share,
that I was ashamed of for solong, and now I see you using it
all the time to encourageothers.
I pray that you would help meto listen to your Holy Spirit
today and to only say what youwant me to say, and to say it
(01:13):
clearly, without stuttering orstammering, or I don't want
Nancy to have to do a lot ofediting after.
So, lord, just help me to bringyou glory in all of it, and I
pray it in Jesus' name Amen.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Thank you for that.
Well welcome to ordinary people.
Extraordinary things.
I'm here with Nancy, and youare one of the only other
Nancy's I know there aren't toomany of us anymore, I know.
I know so whenever we're in thesame circles around church and
so whenever everyone's likeNancy and I was like what, oh,
(01:48):
they're talking to NancyStevenson, because I don't
really get that that often yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Are you the same?
I am, and sometimes I getemails that I think were
intended for Nancy Brusher thatcome to me so yes, it works both
ways, girl.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
And it's a.
It's a calm.
It's not like a strange name,but it's just not used very
often.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
It was very common when I was younger, okay, but
but yeah, you don't see too manypeople your age and younger.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Yes, yes, well, just had to start out with that.
So if people don't know you.
What are three words or phrasesto describe you?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I think the first one is determined and my mom, if
you'd asked her that questionwhen I was a kid, she would have
said stubborn and I thinksometimes Myron would say the
same thing my husband but when Imake up my mind to do something
, I'm pretty determined tofinish when I start.
Nice, I think I'm faithful andloyal, is another that I stand
(02:45):
by the people that I love and Idon't easily walk away from
relationships.
I'm pretty organized.
I kind of I thrive inorganization.
I don't do real well in chaos,and so when my mind, when I need
a break just from working andthinking about things, I'll go
in in a room and organize it.
(03:06):
I mean that's just kind of whathelps me to relax, and sometimes
that can be annoying for people, but I think it helps me to be
more to do my job well.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
To be organized.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I see a lot of those traits that you just said.
Thank you, so we get to talkabout your faith journey.
Yeah, kind of broad like whoop,just throw it out there, okay.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Well, I'm almost 68 years old in April, so my story
is a long one.
I lived for a long time.
I'll try not to get into toomuch detail, but my story really
starts with my dad's story,because my mom and my dad both,
and they both come from verydysfunctional, broken family
(03:54):
lives.
And so my dad when he was fiveyears old.
They were very poor.
They lived in the little towncalled Tipton, oklahoma, and my
grandfather would go out and tryto find work every day in
construction, and there werefive boys and he didn't have
money to go out and buy themtoys, and so what he would do is
leave his rifle there for theboys to play with, unloaded, and
(04:17):
that would be their toy.
That would be the toy that theboys would play with.
And one day my grandfatherforgot to unload the rifle and
my dad, when he was five yearsold, picked up the rifle and
shot and killed his brother, andso his life, as you can imagine
, was full of shame and pain, mygrandfather's too.
(04:39):
He was an alcoholic most of hislife.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Because of that or before that.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Because of that I think honestly.
I don't know too much, but Ithink it was because of that.
He had so much shame and guiltabout forgetting to unload the
rifle and he took a lot of hisinternal anger out of my dad,
and so there was a lot ofbrokenness there.
He was angry.
He came from a broken marriagebefore he met my mom, and my mom
(05:11):
too, had a pretty good lifegrowing up, very poor, but then
she married a man when she wasin the Navy.
She was in the Navy in WorldWar II, really Part of the waves
, yeah.
Wow.
And she married I believe hewas Army, a guy who you know.
It was a whirlwind romance andshe had my sister early on and
(05:34):
when my sister was, I don't know, probably about a year old, he
said he was going out to buycigarettes and never came home.
So mom was abandoned.
You know, to raise a daughterby herself.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
And this was in World War II or after.
It was after, yeah, after thewar.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
So, mom and, dad found each other through a
Phillips petroleum company.
They both worked there.
They found each other.
I think it was kind of amarriage of convenience because
they both had a child that theywanted.
You know, they wanted the otherparent to help them raise and
so they raised my sister and mybrother, never telling my sister
, who was just a baby, that shewas not my dad's daughter.
(06:16):
Oh, really yeah and so she grewup thinking that my dad was her
dad.
So there was so many dynamicsto the family mix that were
pretty broken.
And then a few years later,quite a few years later actually
, my mom was 35 when she had meand I still don't know if it was
planned or an accident.
I have a feeling it wasprobably not planned, but not an
accident to God, not anaccident to God.
(06:38):
He knew, he knew what he wasdoing.
My dad tried really hard totake care of the family
financially.
He worked really hard.
He did all he knew how to do toraise a family, but didn't have
a clue how to have arelationship.
Mom took me to church at a veryyoung age.
I grew up going to church withmom and hearing about Jesus and
(06:58):
knowing the basics of the Biblestories, but I never knew that
it could be personal.
That I could have a personalrelationship with him.
So I listened and I learned asmuch as I could, but it just
never really hit home with meand so went to church but never
(07:18):
really grew in my relationshipwith Jesus.
And then when I was 12 we foundout my dad had stomach cancer
and so when I was 13 he passedaway.
Oh wow.
When that happened I think Itook on a lot of his anger that
he had growing up because he wasnot kind and drank too much and
(07:39):
it was just not a healthyfamily.
So I took on a lot of his angerand made some really bad choices
.
When I was in high school Ilooked for friends who would
just take me in, as I was asbroken as I was, and a lot of
times those were friends whowere also broken and I got
involved in drugs and alcoholand all those bad choices, sex
(08:03):
when I was very young, and itwas not a happy life, but it was
all I knew, and so I barely gotthrough high school.
I did actually quit school atone point when I was a sophomore
, just because I just felt likeBible Church and you know from
the city Чер Coloff out of placethere.
I remember after my dad diedsome kids came up to me
(08:25):
afterwards and they walked rightto me as if they were going to
say something and then theydidn't know what to say so they
walked away.
And that was kind of how I feltin high school.
I just never quite felt like Ifit, because now I realize that
they just didn't know what tosay.
It wasn't they were trying to beunkind, but they just didn't
know what to say.
They never had a friend who hadlost a parent before, and so I
(08:46):
felt very alone and that made medrift towards people anybody
really who would accept me.
So I made really, really badchoices and did end up going
back to school after I had quitand got through, mainly because
I started focusing on businessas what I was really good at and
(09:08):
so when I started focusing onthat, it was a little bit easier
for me to get through theschool part of it, but I still
was very alone, and when I gotout of school every day I would
go find friends and drink and doall the things that I shouldn't
have been doing, but that's allI knew, and so, by the time I
was, I graduated high school andthen I went to college at
(09:31):
Oklahoma State University.
I grew up in Bartlesville,oklahoma, by the way, and went
to college at Oklahoma Statethinking that maybe there I felt
like I had a sign on my backthat said vulnerable girl,
please use me and I thought,maybe when I left Bartlesville,
that that would go away, but itdidn't.
(09:52):
There was just something thatpeople saw in me, I think, that
was vulnerable and broken, andso the same things kept
happening.
When I went to school there andgot involved with a really bad
guy who we found out later,actually spent 13 years in
prison for attempted murder.
(10:12):
And so no, this happened after Imet him Myron did a little bit
of research on him and found outthat he was really a bad guy
and he used people to get money.
And he did that with me, and Iwas so broken after that that I
really didn't want to liveanymore.
I just had lost my desire tolive.
And so one night I went with afriend and drank probably a half
(10:37):
of a fifth of tequila andsomehow or other managed to get
from the friend's house back tomy apartment.
I drove I don't know how in theworld I feel like angels must
have been surrounding that car,but I drove home and when I got
home I swallowed about a half abottle of Tylenol.
I don't remember any of this,but I don't know if it was
(10:59):
because I already had thehorrible hangover of a headache
or if I really was trying totake my life.
I don't know what my motivationwas, but all I know is I woke
up the next day in the hospitaland my friend, who was mad at me
, came looking for me in myapartment that night at 2.30 in
the morning.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
This is such a god thing.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
She came looking for me.
She happened to be a nurse, soshe gave me CPR and called the
ambulance, and so I ended up inthe hospital the next day, and
that's when I realized I had toget out of there.
I knew that I had to get awayfrom the town, away from all
those people, and so, as I toldyou before, my mom was in the
(11:41):
Navy, and so was my dad in WorldWar II, and there was a little
recruiting office right behindwhere I lived in my apartment,
so I walked over there and Italked to the recruiter, I did
all the testing and ended up inthe intelligence field with the
Navy, and God in his wisdom,when I went to boot camp in
(12:03):
Orlando, florida, he put a younglady, I believe her name.
Her name was either Eve orGrace, I can't remember which
one.
It was a biblical name, though,and she was on the bottom bunk
and I was on the top bunk, andshe would read her Bible.
When the rest of us would beout taking a smoke break, or
anytime we got a break, shewould read her Bible and she
(12:26):
would tell Jesus about how muchhe loved me.
This was really my firstexperience with a Christian,
with a believer who was willingto share her faith with me.
I wasn't quite ready at thatpoint to make a decision for
Christ, but she definitelyplanted the seed and I can't
wait to meet her in heaven andtell her you started all of this
(12:46):
.
You know just that moment thatshe had with me and I know that
she prayed for me and made sucha difference.
And so then I went to them aswell.
First Pensacola, florida, for mytraining and then to Masawa,
japan, was my first duty station, and it was there that God
brought a young Marine namedMichael Keefe, who was from
Moscow, idaho.
(13:06):
Mike was such a strong,passionate believer that had so
much joy in his life that whenyou know, after hanging out with
him just for a few nights onthe mid-shift, two in the
morning, you know I would seethat joy in him and he just
radiated that he would singhymns completely off key but,
(13:27):
eating, care, you know, therewas just so much joy in his life
, and so he invited me to cometo a meeting at a little.
It was a little mission, really,for a Christian servicemen
overseas called the HospitalityHouse, and it was there that the
missionaries shared the gospelwith me in a way that I'd never
heard of before.
You know, just it was.
(13:50):
He talked about forgiveness andhow I, no matter what my story
was, how I could be forgiven forall of those bad choices that I
made, and that there was hopeif I would just let Jesus be the
Lord of my life.
And so there was a lot more toit than that.
A lot I don't remember, but butthat's what sunk into me, and so
(14:14):
I lived in Barracks then, orold World War II Barracks that
we had in Miss Owah, and Iremember going back to my room
that night in the Barracks bymyself and just laying it all
out for the Lord and I just toldhim that I couldn't keep going
the way that I had.
I didn't want to live the waythat I had been anymore.
I wanted to let him be the Lordof my life.
(14:37):
There was no scripted prayer.
There was, you know nothingthat I looked up in a book to
pray.
It was just what God laid on myheart and I really do believe
that was the Holy Spirit justmaking it so clear to me what I
needed to do and I'm so glad,knowing myself the way that I do
, I'm so glad that happened thatway because I feel like if it
(14:58):
would have been someone elsekind of coaching me through that
, I may have doubted it later.
I may have questioned whether itwas really real, but I know
without any doubt that thatmoment, that first moment that I
really had with Jesus was, wasvery real and my life did change
Not that it became perfect atall.
I still made some bad choiceseven after that, but I knew when
(15:21):
I did that I could turn awayfrom it and get back on the path
that he wanted me on.
And so then about a year later,another big strapping marine
walked in to where I worked.
His name was Myron Stevensonand we met.
There's a little bit of disputewhether it was May or June when
(15:41):
we met.
I think it was June, he thinksit was May, he thinks it was
June.
But anyway, on June 24th wewere engaged.
What I know, I still can'tbelieve it.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
So at the very most two months, yeah, at the very
most, and we both just knewSorry, were you or Navy?
I was Navy.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
And he was Marine.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Marine goes under the Army.
No, no Marine is with Navy.
Oh, ok, although they don'tlike to admit it.
But yeah, the Marine.
Ok.
I was like, how did you guysmeet?
Speaker 3 (16:12):
OK, so, Missal, the base that we were at had all
four services there.
Oh, ok, so there were Army AirForce, navy and Marines at the
space, and so we worked on thesame shift and he came in I
think it was a night shift whenI first met him and we just both
knew right away he had been abeliever his whole life.
Really he calls himself anursery baby.
(16:33):
He grew up in the nursery atchurch I like that, yeah and
when he was 12 years old he cameforward at a revival at his
church to ask Jesus to be hissavior.
So he'd been a believer for along time.
I was still a new believer,excited on fire, and in December
December 8th of that same year,1978, we got married.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Wow, that's a whirlwind romance.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
It definitely was a whirlwind romance and there were
a lot of bets going on abouthow long this marriage was going
to last, and I think if a lotof those guys that we knew back
then could see us now, theywould be shocked because it's
been 45 years that we have beentogether, and so it has not been
easy.
We've had some struggles.
I, as you can imagine, broughta lot of baggage with me into
(17:23):
the marriage.
It was really hard that firstyear for me just to learn how to
let somebody in, to trust him,because I had been hurt so many
times and I was.
I wanted a relationship, but Ididn't have a good example
growing up of what a healthymarriage is, and so I had no
clue how to be a good wife, howto be a loving wife, and he had
(17:49):
some baggage that he broughtwith him too, as we all do, and
it was just really hard at thevery beginning and even in the
first few years, I would sayafter having our first baby.
We were two and a half years inthe end, I think, when we had
Jake, and of course that bringsanother kind of stress into
(18:09):
relationships, and so when wehad been together for about
eight years, he just had hadenough.
Honestly, he wanted to love meand I didn't know how to let him
, and so he decided that wewould take a break for a while,
and so he moved out.
We were separated for about amonth and thankfully, god really
(18:31):
worked in both of us duringthat time that we were separated
.
I really dug into his word andread through Job, strangely
enough, and that was reallycomforting to me to know that
even in these really difficulttimes, that God is still with us
and he redeems us through them.
(18:54):
And so we've had a lot ofstruggles in both of our lives,
both separately and togethersince then, but God has been so
faithful to help us to learn totrust in him, and about seven
years ago now I think it was ohgosh, it's been more than that
2015,.
(19:14):
In April of 2015, I went to awomen's retreat that we were
pretty much I was pretty muchforced to really dig into my
past and pull out some of thatbaggage and look at it and lay
it at the foot of the cross andgive it over to Jesus.
And that was really thebeginning of sharing my full
(19:37):
story with Myron.
As much as I wanted to tell himbefore, I didn't know that he
could still love me if he knewall of the things in my story.
There was so much shame aroundthat story.
So you had been married for avery long time, very long time
before I really shared.
He knew top level, high levelabout my story, but never the
(19:58):
depth of the hurt and the painthat I had been through
including my story with myfamily early on, and so finally
digging that up, talking aboutit and bringing the shame out
into the light made it lose itspower.
And so he also went to a men'sretreat the same organization,
(20:21):
cross ministry group as whatit's called and kind of worked
through a lot of his stuffBecause, as you can imagine, he
had a lot of hurt and pain fromall the years of trying to love
me and me pushing him away, andso we both were so impacted by
that and have been given a lotof tools to help us work through
(20:44):
when things do get hard.
Wow.
Speaker 4 (20:50):
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Speaker 1 (21:46):
I have heard some of your story.
We sat down several years agobut not all of this and I'm sure
there's more you know yeah butwhat I want to say is thank you.
Thank you for being vulnerable,because that's really hard yeah
and.
(22:07):
But I love what you said aboutis when we let it go, then it
doesn't have this power anymore.
So that's why I'm just prayingfor someone who's listening
today of just let it out,because then it doesn't carry
that weight anymore, it doesn'thave that power over you because
it's out.
And something else I just Ijust loved when I was hearing
(22:30):
you is you know, I've only knownyou for the last few years and
I see you as not a perfectChristian at all, because none
of us are perfect.
But oh my gosh, she's got ittogether.
Look at her, she's amazing,which you are.
I'm not trying to say that, butI love that you're sharing this
(22:50):
part of your story, of yourhistory, of your past.
To say, you know, it's okay,because I think this might be
part of our problem inChristianity is, once we come to
Jesus, we want to pretend likenothing.
None of this past ever happened, and that's great because we
have freedom in Jesus.
But also maybe we've lost theopportunity to meet someone,
(23:13):
where they are, who's not a partof you know, jesus's family,
yet that doesn't know him,because we've put ourselves on
this well, I don't know whatyou're talking about, kind of
thing.
I've never lived that kind oflife.
You know, I have it alltogether and your story of of a
lot of I.
Maybe I'm saying it badly, butbad decisions can actually show
(23:38):
someone from the outside like,oh, it's okay, it's okay to come
to Jesus.
When I'm like this, heunderstands.
Someone else was like this too.
Did I say that somewhat?
Well, yes, that's great and I.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
I have learned through sharing my story over
the last few years.
One of the things when I firststarted in my job that I'm doing
now, I just felt like God wastelling me to sit down with our
volunteers and get to know themand hear their hearts, and part
of that I learned was that whenI shared my story, that they
were much more willing to bevulnerable and share their
(24:17):
stories with me, and so I haveshared it probably over a
hundred times in the last fiveyears and so that that too,
there's so much healing in thatpiece, in just telling it over
and over and over again, and itdoes lose its power and it does
(24:37):
help the people who were hearingto know that, hey, I don't have
to be perfect, I don't have tobe in a perfect place before I
come to Jesus.
I can come to him just exactlyas I am broken, lost, afraid,
hopeless, and he will take me inand love me, and that's what I
(24:58):
want anybody who hears thisstory to know.
It doesn't matter what you'vedone yeah, at all.
There's a lot more to my storythat I didn't share that some of
you I know what identify with.
But I'll be glad to sit downand have a cup of coffee with
anybody who wants to hear it,and so that you can know that
(25:19):
you are not alone, first of all,in your journey, and and I want
to be able to help, and storyis a great way to do it.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
So I'm so thankful, nancy, for what you do, yeah, in
helping people share theirstories yeah amazing well, I
just love that and I love thatyou said also because I think
this could be a missed thoughtthat some people have is okay,
you said yes to Jesus.
You know you had this, thismoment, but things weren't
(25:48):
perfect after that no and youmade mistakes, but I still love.
I love also that you said youknow I looked for him for
forgiveness and I got back onthe path, yeah, so I love that,
because obviously we makemistakes, but we don't want to
just sit in our mistakes either,right like there's a there's a
balance.
So I love that you said thatabsolutely through difficulties.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
It's how my faith has grown through struggles, when
we had the hard times in ourmarriage, when we struggled with
raising three boys and notreally knowing how to do that
well because, again, I didn'thave great examples growing up.
When I've had difficulties inmy work life.
God has walked me through thosetimes and those are the times
(26:38):
when I have really dug into hisword and and learn to rely on
him more than any other.
I'm thankful for the greattimes that we've had and I try
to always remember to bethankful and to be grateful for
those times.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
But times of growth, I think, come out of hardship
that's what I've I hear over andover and over again, and none
of us want that right, but Ithink it's so true.
Romans 5 3.
Not only that, but we rejoicein our sufferings, knowing that
suffering produces endurance,and endurance produces character
(27:15):
, and character produces hope.
And hope does not put us toshame what you were talking
about, because God's love hasbeen poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit, spiritwho has been given to us.
Yeah, I think that's thosethings in the Bible where you're
like, yeah, is that true, do Iwant it to be true?
(27:36):
But it is.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
It is definitely true , and that's a great life verse
for me.
That's not the one that I hadbrought with me today.
That is a great one because itdoes the suffering, produces
perseverance and it keeps usgoing and builds character.
There are times when I thinkokay, God, I've had enough
character very much.
I've got it.
I've got it.
(27:59):
But he's used all of thosetimes to help me grow and to
help me realize that he has aplan for my life.
And that's what has reallyamazed me, I think more than
anything else about my journey,is how he's used me in these
last six years, since I've beenon staff at Southeast, in ways
(28:23):
that I never really thought waspossible.
I never considered myself aleader.
In times that I have been putin leadership positions, I
always kind of felt like I was areluctant leader.
I'll do it if I have to, butthis is not my thing.
And in the last three well sixmonths now, I guess, since I
(28:45):
started in my new job, where I'mleading people in ways that I
felt totally unprepared for, butI realized that God has used
the experiences that I've had inmy life, even the ones that I
had early in my life, to help meto lead people well and to
understand people a little bitbetter and to have grace with
(29:08):
people who may be struggling,who may say things that are not
kind and should try and dig inand understand why what's going
on.
So I'm just amazed at how Goduses us broken people in ways
that can bring him glory.
We've got all kinds of peopleon our team who would say the
(29:29):
same thing, who come from a pastof brokenness, who are now
serving God and being the faceof God in our church, Not
necessarily because of thebrokenness, but because of the
healing that God has done sincethen, and it's pretty amazing to
watch.
It's my favorite part of my job.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
And so you're passionate about serving.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
I am.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
What would you say about like, if someone's like
well, what is serving, or how doI serve, or I don't have time
for that?
Speaker 3 (30:00):
Well, what I've learned is it's not just going
in and filling a need.
I really truly believe thateveryone has a call to serve.
I think something we can all dois listen well, be there and be
observant of the people aroundyou.
You can serve somebody,sometimes just by smiling at
(30:21):
them If they've had a rough day.
They've just come out of theirjob and they work with people
and somebody just reamed them onone side and down the other,
and then you see them and yousmile at them or say something
kind.
It can change their whole world, and so I think that's
something we can do.
Every day.
You see someone who has aparticular need, whether it's a
(30:45):
neighbor, or, again, someone inthe grocery store who can't get
something off a high shelf andyou help them and you smile and
say here, let me help you.
I think there's opportunitiesaround us every day when we can
serve others.
We can make a meal for aneighbor who's sick.
You know there's lots ofopportunities, we just have to
look for them.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
Things were looking for the right time, like, oh,
when I'm older.
Oh, when I'm retired.
Oh, I'm retired now, I don'thave to do it.
Oh, after my kids are grown.
And I think that if we do that,we might never serve Right or
we're losing out.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
And we're missing opportunities that.
God always gives usopportunities.
If we ask Him to, he'll putthem in front of us.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
You talked a little bit about kindness.
This is a new question I'mbringing in.
What kindness have you shown orwhat kindness have you seen
from someone or gotten in thelast week.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
I love that question and it was a lot easier for me
to answer the kindnesses thatI've seen in others than the
kindnesses I've shown, so I justI listed a few here.
Speaker 4 (31:54):
So I'll just read them off.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
really good, so my friend, ronnie, brought me a
buntini cake the other day.
She knows a little bitdiscouraged by something that
had happened and she went to thebuntini store and brought me a
cake just to encourage me.
Carrie, who is our admin on ourteam at work, is always asking
ways she can help and she does.
(32:16):
She steps in.
I was a little bit stressedabout having to feed a team of
people that were doing a classfour on Sunday and she said let
me help you, I'll order the food, I'll go pick it up, you don't
have to worry about that.
And it was just it took so muchoff my plate and took stress
off of me.
Tim, you know Tim always stopsevery time I see him and ask how
(32:37):
I'm doing and he actually stopsand listens yeah, actually yeah
, and cares about it.
He'll take the time to listen.
A friend that I met withMichelle the other day visits a
lady in long-term care who is myage actually but had a stroke
years ago, can't communicate,can't really do anything to
(32:58):
reciprocate her care, but she'sthere every week loving on this
lady.
Our staff is so great aboutstepping in.
When any of us need help, theystep in and just do it.
Ask how can I help?
Which is so kind, sue.
Our dear Sue brings dessertevery single Monday morning to
(33:18):
our staff to enjoy on Mondays.
So those are just a few.
I see it around me all the timeand I learn from them.
I try my best to stop andlisten when I have a chance to
have a conversation with anyone.
Sometimes it's hard, especiallyon Sunday mornings because it's
pretty busy, but I'll try andstop and pray with people.
(33:42):
If I know that there's a needto pray for, I will stop right
there and pray.
And that's always a kindnesswhen we pray for people,
something we're all called to do.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
That's good.
I just find that more and more,we're bombarded with the idea
that people are bad, thatthere's not kindness, and so I
just felt like it was reallyimportant to start sharing that.
I think if we look for it,we'll see it Right.
Speaker 4 (34:14):
But if we look, for the bad.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
Well, that's not hard .
Speaker 3 (34:17):
That's absolutely true.
You can find that anytime too,right, right, yeah, I try real
hard to look for the good inpeople and the kindness that
people do.
Yeah, it's a great question.
Well, thank you for that.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
So what is your favorite Bible verse?
He said you like the one thatwe talked about, but you have
another one?
Speaker 3 (34:33):
Yes, well, I'll tell you the first one, as a new
believer, that I memorized wasRomans 8, 28.
And we know that all thingswork all things Sorry, Let me
try that again.
And we know that in all things,god works for the good of those
who love Him, who have beencalled according to His purpose,
and that's a verse that I'veheld on to tightly through a lot
(34:54):
of the struggles in my life.
I think right now there's averse in 1 Corinthians 12, 27
that says all of you togetherare Christ's body and each of
you is a part of it.
And that's really what I'mfocusing on for this job that I
have as the volunteercoordinator is to make sure that
(35:15):
everybody understands thatthere is a part for them to play
in this kingdom role that wehave to serve others.
So that is definitely afavorite too.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
Yeah, the idea that we can't all be the head or the
eyes but we need a foot, we needa finger, we need everything
right and a big toe.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
Yeah, we do, and there's a place for everyone.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
When you were saying that God works, I'll butcher it,
but the Romans one that youjust said, that I just felt that
one as well when you weretalking about how the bad things
that happened, but God did useit and you've seen that and
that's so beautiful, so manytimes yeah.
So beautiful.
Speaker 3 (35:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
He's faithful.
Well, our last question whatare you grateful for?
Speaker 3 (36:03):
Oh, I'm grateful for my family, especially for Myron.
He loves me so well and Ifinally am learning how to
receive it, and he supports meand we are able to support each
other now.
It's so cool that we've comefull circle.
We started out working togetherwhen we were in the military
(36:24):
and now we're working togetheragain at Southeast.
He's the director of securitythere, and it's so fun for me to
see him at work, because for 43years he was in the Intel
community and I didn't get tosee what he did.
So now I get to actually walkalongside him and I've learned
so much from his leadership inmy role too.
(36:45):
So I'm very thankful for thatand for my three boys three
grown boys two live here andone's in Houston, and I'm so
proud of every one of them andthe men that they've become and
the women that they've loved too, and my six grandchildren.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
Oh yes.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
Yeah, they're all amazing.
The youngest is Joseph and he'ssix months old now.
He was born on August 31st andhe's just so amazing.
The oldest is 21 and will be 22in April.
His name is Jonathan, andthey're all amazing and I'm so
thankful for each of them.
I'm also thankful that at myage, I'm learning something new
(37:25):
and trying something completelyoutside my comfort zone that God
has called me to and ischallenging me every day, and I
think it helps me to stay alittle bit younger by trying new
things and learning new things.
And then I'm very grateful forthe people that he's put in my
life in this long, long journeythat I've had.
(37:46):
I'm very grateful.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
Well, I love your to the point where I've heard it
before is that you can retirefrom a job, but you can't retire
from ministry.
That's right, as in just ourministry to love people and love
God.
So I like that.
Speaker 3 (38:01):
You're saying I'm trying new things, so yeah, yeah
, and it's been scary and funand challenging and all those
things, but I'm very gratefulfor it.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
Well, thank you for being on, thank you for sharing
a little bit of your heart,thank you for sharing your story
Absolutely, and I'm justpraying for every person.
I know that different peopleare going to grab different
things right.
As far as, like, I connectedwith this, I felt this, but I'm
just praying over this podcastand everyone who's listening.
Speaker 3 (38:31):
Me too.
Niazi, Thank you for what youdo in allowing people to share
their stories and to bring thesestories of hope to the world.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
I love it, thank you.
Thank you for listening.
I hope that this has inspiredyou and, as a reminder, please
take the challenge to tell fourpeople about ordinary people,
extraordinary things, and thusspreading faith and hope in our
communities.
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