February 23, 2025 • 56 mins
Julie’s journey is one of astonishing resilience and transformation. From surviving a childhood marred by abuse and trafficking to finding hope and healing, her story is a powerful reminder how God can use pain to bring purpose. In this episode, discover how Julie navigated the complexities of life between an abusive household and the loving home of her aunt, a journey that ultimately led her to speak out against her past and seek justice. Her candid reflections on confronting her stepfather in court provide a profound insight into reclaiming one's narrative and serve as an inspiration for anyone facing similar battles.
Through therapy and the unwavering support of her husband, Julie not only found healing but also a purpose in helping others. This episode doesn’t shy away from discussing difficult truths about human trafficking and the importance of community and kindness in healing. Julie’s narrative reinforces the strength found in faith and she shares, “I never thought I would say I'm grateful.”
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Nancy Bruscher (00:00):
My name's Nancy and you've found Ordinary People
, extraordinary Things.
This podcast is all about hope,real hope, found in stories of
ordinary people just like you,sharing their faith and stories
of how God has worked in theirlives.
I have a disclaimer on thisepisode that I want you to know.
(00:21):
If you have young earslistening, please take heart.
This episode that I want you toknow, if you have young ears
listening, please take heart.
Listen, probably by yourself atleast first, to see if this is
something that you want yourkids to hear.
Julie is so vulnerable insharing her story of trafficking
by her stepdad.
It is a very powerful story,though At the end she says that
(00:45):
she is grateful for what shewent through.
I literally can still notbelieve that she said that and
that she means it and how Godhas shown up in her life in
amazing, powerful ways ofredemption and healing.
(01:06):
And this may be a difficult onefor all of us.
I know it was really difficultfor me to listen and process and
sit in it with Julie, but it isa wonderful story and I promise
you you will not want to missit.
But if you do have young earslistening, please take heart on
(01:28):
what this is about.
Well, welcome to OrdinaryPeople, extraordinary Things.
I'm here with Julie.
Julie, thanks for being on.
Julie Schondel (01:35):
Oh, thanks for having me.
Nancy Bruscher (01:36):
Yeah.
If people don't know who youare, can you give three words or
phrases to describe yourself?
Julie Schondel (01:43):
So I thought a lot about this.
But resilient, okay, tenaciousOoh, and servant those are good.
Nancy Bruscher (01:56):
Could you give examples of those Like why would
you call yourself resilient?
Julie Schondel (02:01):
Resilient because I have come through a
lot of very difficult things andstill have a very blessed life
and I feel like I am haveovercome a lot we'll have to get
(02:24):
into those.
Tenacious, because if I get ahold of something, it's like a
dog with a bone.
I just don't let it go.
I don't let it go, you know,and servant, because I tend to
serve other people, like myhusband and my kids and my
grandkids and church and thingslike that, and that is really
(02:50):
part of my purpose.
Nancy Bruscher (02:52):
The servant's heart, yeah.
Julie Schondel (02:54):
Right yeah.
Nancy Bruscher (02:54):
How many kids do you have?
Julie Schondel (02:56):
I have two girls , three granddaughters.
Very good, yes, yeah, yeah,yeah.
Nancy Bruscher (03:03):
So, yeah, can you share your testimony or
might say, like, how you come toknow Jesus, or maybe some of
your resilient stories with us?
Julie Schondel (03:14):
So I came from a very dysfunctional, abusive
background and I kind of livedin two households.
I had my biological mom andstepdad that were alcoholic,
narcissist, abusive, and then Ihad a loving home, my aunt.
(03:37):
I went to her house every dayafter school.
She had four kids, but shetreated me like her own, went to
my soccer games, taught me howto sew and garden and cook and
all those things, and so I hadan example of a loving family.
But that wasn't what I wasexperiencing.
(03:59):
At my other house.
I was abused by my stepdad for10 years and trafficked for him
by the last two, and so therewas a lot of things that I had
to overcome in my life in orderto function on a daily basis,
(04:21):
and some days I still don'tfunction.
There's just days that I've hadto accept the fact that I'm not
functional, and I found outrecently with my I call them my
sisters and my brothers that Igrew up with in my aunt's house,
and I call her my mom becausemy biological mother was not a
(04:42):
mom.
She didn't have a maternal bonein her body and I was like an
inconvenience to them.
In fact, they tried to ask myaunt to take custody of me and
raise me and she said, no,you're responsible, you need to
be responsible.
So I was treated like aninconvenience.
(05:03):
I've been in and out ofcounseling my whole life trying
to peel the onion layers off andget down to who I really am,
and that's been very difficultto figure that out, when I'm not
trying to be what everybodyelse wants me to be, but to
(05:25):
figure out who I really am andwho God created me to be and
what his intention for me wasand is.
Nancy Bruscher (05:37):
That's a lot, it is a lot your biological dad is
.
Was he in the picture at?
Julie Schondel (05:43):
all.
No, I didn't meet him until Iwas 18.
Oh wow, and it was uneventful.
It was not a wonderful reunionof hey, you're my dad, because
he never was in the picture.
Nancy Bruscher (06:03):
Okay and never really came into your life, Even
I met him.
Julie Schondel (06:08):
That one time, I think I talked on the phone
with him, I remember when I waslittle little, he would call
about every six months or so asI was, you know, I can remember
like five, six, seven, eight,you know and he would make a
bunch of promises and then neverfollow through and my one of
(06:30):
the things my biological mom didwas she actually did not bad
mouth him and let me, you know,create my own opinion of him.
So that was interesting, youknow, create my own opinion of
him, uh, so that was interesting.
You know, uh, that she wascapable of doing that because
she wasn't capable of a wholelot of things, but that was one
(06:53):
of the things that she did.
Nancy Bruscher (06:54):
Well, and when did your stepdad come into the
picture?
Julie Schondel (07:00):
They started dating when I was probably two
Okay.
And I have memories andfeelings, but he started abusing
me when I was five.
Oh Like physically, emotionallysexually.
Nancy Bruscher (07:21):
Sexually yeah, oh my gosh, when you were five,
I was five.
And I have distinct memories.
Julie Schondel (07:29):
Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, thank you.
It's interesting, when I tellpeople my story, the responses
that I get Sometimes, becauseI'm very open about my story and
, very you know, I can say itpretty unemotionally, you know,
and for a long time it wasbecause I was detached.
(07:50):
Okay, but but I was able toconnect with those emotions and
actually feel with the therapistthat I the counselor I'm
working with now helped me getback in touch with those
emotions, you know, and howhorrible it really was and what
I went through and that I am awalking miracle that I went
(08:12):
through all the things that Idid.
But so 10 years I left home at15.
Okay, and because of thetrafficking and rape and things
that he was doing, and your mom?
Nancy Bruscher (08:30):
does she know about it, or she didn't care, or
do you know?
Julie Schondel (08:36):
I have a story that I tell myself she was an
alcoholic and so she was drunk alot, but I feel like it doesn't
.
It seems to me that itshouldn't matter how drunk you
are.
You got to know that's going onand unfortunately, there were
times she was in the room and Ithink she had to have known.
(09:01):
There's no way that she didn'tknow, but I think that she chose
to ignore that, as in my storythat I tell myself that she I
was the inconvenience and so shedidn't want to deal with it.
So she just either ignored itor chose not to do anything
(09:23):
about it.
It or chose not to do anythingabout it because she she looked
at me as competition for hisaffections, and when I finally
did say something about when heraped me in Mexico, she looked
at him and said couldn't youcontrol yourself any better than
(09:46):
that?
which, to me, I mean, she didn'tsay oh my gosh, are you okay?
Do we need to take you to adoctor or counselor, or can?
What can I do to help you?
That that wasn't her response.
And even later in life, as Iwas, you know, I left home at 15
(10:10):
, and it was the height of heralcoholism.
And when I was 16, she tried tocommit suicide.
She succeeded, but my stepdadcame home and found her and gave
her CPR and she'd survived andwent into rehab at that point
and that was when she got sober.
But even after she got sobershe wasn't a mother.
(10:36):
She didn't believe me.
I think she had put it out ofher mind and she didn't believe
(10:59):
that it happened.
Travelers were installingmemories into their clients that
weren't actually there, becausea lot of people don't remember
what happened they block it orsomething they block it and a
lot of people do, and sometimesto survive, right, right, yes,
it'sjust, it's just, it's actually
(11:19):
part of ptsd.
Ptsd when you go through atrauma, ptsd, our brain, our
subconscious, is there toprotect us and it actually
stores that trauma in theamygdala.
I don't know if you've heardany of the.
You know this about PTSD, butit stores the trauma in the
(11:43):
amygdala and then later on inlife you can have a smell or an
experience or a song or and Ihave all of those triggers.
I just have learned how tomanage them.
So there's definitely musicthat will trigger a memory and a
(12:08):
lot of people adults don't havethose triggers or realize it,
because then your body responds.
It's actually like anuncontrollable trigger response
that people have, triggerresponse that people have, and
then all of the memories comeflooding back and all of a
(12:29):
sudden they're a mess.
And I've been through that.
Like I said, there's stilltimes where I still have
triggers that I will have a veryemotional response.
Nancy Bruscher (12:46):
And that's what you were saying on.
You accept the fact that youcan't function.
Is that what you were alludingto?
Julie Schondel (12:51):
Yes, yeah, so there's times where I just like
can't get up and take a figureout if I need to take a shower
or if I, you know like it's.
It's hard to like share yourdemons.
You know, like the fact that Idon't get off the couch I'll
watch stupid TV or a movie thatI've seen five times, or you
(13:12):
know, because there's certainthings that kind of give me
comfort, you know, plainsolitaire, or those types of
things, and I will escape intothat because I don't want to
deal with my reality, and it'susually when I'm overwhelmed
when there's a lot going on inmy life and I don't, I stop
(13:35):
taking care of myself, I stopeating right, I stop, you know,
doing the things that I knowmake me resilient.
Nancy Bruscher (13:48):
That's good.
That's good.
It was really brave of you tobe able to run away from that,
because I think that sometimesyou hear about once you get into
trafficking, it's hard to knowhow to live any other life
really.
Julie Schondel (14:04):
Well, to be honest, I lived on the streets
for two years.
Okay, I was addicted to alcohol, marijuana, speed.
I dealt drugs to survive.
I slept on people's couches, Iwas a couch surfer and traded
(14:24):
myself for places to stay, andit wasn't until my mom's suicide
attempt that I got sober.
So it was like two years on thestreets.
Were you into alcohol before 15or that was part of my grooming
process from my stepdad.
(14:45):
So they were entertainers, theylike to have people over and we
had friday night poker partiesand sunday morning brunches and
I was their like servant makingdrinks for everybody, and
everybody thought I was so cute.
So I grew up in a very adultenvironment and drinking was
(15:11):
part of that.
Smoking pot was part of that.
They were they were marijuanausers, and so I was taught how
to roll joints so that I couldgo do that for them when I was
like nine.
Oh wow.
And so alcohol and marijuanawere a big part of the grooming
(15:33):
process that he and later on hewould use that to hold over me.
If he wasn't allowed to touchme, to hold over me.
If he wasn't allowed to touchme, I wasn't allowed to drink or
be a part of the family.
Nancy Bruscher (15:53):
So sad so you had two years on the streets.
Julie Schondel (15:58):
Two years on the streets Got sober when I was 17
.
How so?
Obviously, my biological momwent into recovery and so she's
like you need to go to Al-Anonor Alateen or something.
(16:19):
And so I did.
I went to Alateen.
Nancy Bruscher (16:21):
And that's a recovery.
Julie Schondel (16:22):
It's a 12-step program for teens Okay, and I
ended up in AA and got sober.
And I was probably 10, 11 yearssober when I ended up at
another 12-step program,codependents Anonymous.
(16:43):
Oh, okay, and I realized thatit wasn't alcohol that was my
issue.
Nancy Bruscher (16:45):
When I ended up at another 12-step program
Codependence Anonymous.
Julie Schondel (16:46):
Oh okay, and I realized that it wasn't alcohol
that was my issue.
It was my trauma and the peoplearound me, and so I can.
Alcoholism runs in my family.
It is genetic, and so I'm verycareful.
(17:15):
But I can have a glass of winewith dinner or go out and have a
social drink and not overdo it.
So I did.
You know, like I said, I was.
Nancy Bruscher (17:24):
I think, 28 when I took my first legal drink,
and so you were completely soberfor a long time 11 years, yeah,
yeah.
Wow.
Julie Schondel (17:33):
Wow and so that.
But that helped me actually,but I was still really screwed
up.
It wasn't until I was 21 that Iactually got into my first
counselor.
So I had a friend in AA and shewas horribly abused by her dad
(17:54):
her biological dad and she saidhere's the number of my
counselor.
You really need to get somehelp.
Because I was, um, verypromiscuous Even in my sobriety.
I was acting out and acting in.
When you have PTSD and you hittriggers, you either act out at
(18:18):
people around you or you act inand abuse yourself or don't take
care of yourself.
And so I was doing all of thatand really not taking care of
myself and not having any kindof good relationships.
(18:38):
And I actually got married.
That didn't even last for ayear.
That was, you know, tragic.
I finally got to a point whereI decided I needed to work on
myself and I went to thiscounselor and she helped me a
lot and I was with her aboutthree months.
(19:01):
When I met my current husband,oh wow, and I told him you don't
want to get involved with mebecause I've been through a lot
and I'm not good inrelationships and you should
probably just run and becauseI'm just gonna hurt you, I don't
(19:23):
have the capacity to have agood relationship.
And he said I'll wait.
And he went to counseling withme and and we got married nine
months later.
Nancy Bruscher (19:38):
Wow, yeah, yeah so actually, how long have you
guys been married?
Julie Schondel (19:43):
Uh 37 years.
Nancy Bruscher (19:46):
Oh my gosh, that's amazing.
It's totally God.
It's totally God From what youjust told me, before I mean yeah
, it's totally God, Um, because,uh, I told him.
Julie Schondel (19:58):
I said I just started counseling and I was
abused and raped, and at thatpoint I didn't know that I was
trafficked, but you knew thatyou were I knew that I was
molested for 10 years and rapedby my stepdad and that was.
That was part of my story andthere is so much to the story.
(20:22):
Like I actually sued him incivil court.
When I realized the damage thathe and my biological mom had
done, I filed a lawsuit in civilcourt, took three years to
(20:43):
actually go to trial and thatreally gave me and we went to
trial.
He actually left the state andcalled the judge and said I
don't want anything to do withthis, I've left the state.
I fired my attorney and so westill had to put on the whole
(21:04):
trial.
I had to get up and testify.
I had to present expertwitnesses.
Nancy Bruscher (21:10):
How old were you ?
Julie Schondel (21:12):
21.
Oh, okay, well, 21.
We filed it when I was 21.
So I was like 24.
Okay 21, so I was like 24, okayso pretty young in your, in your
kind of counseling and tryingto figure.
Okay, yeah, and it actuallyempowered me because I had
(21:33):
somebody, an authority, say whathappened to you is wrong and
because nobody had ever saidthat to me.
Nobody had ever said what hedid to you is wrong and you're
the victim here.
I was treated.
Unfortunately, the system backthen didn't know how to treat
(21:56):
survivors of molestation andincest.
It was a very broken system andI'm sure it's not wonderful now
, but it was a very brokensystem and I was accused when I
was 15.
It did come out after the rapethat um and my aunt took me in,
(22:22):
but I was on drugs and reallynot able to accept her.
Nancy Bruscher (22:28):
So a lot of other people at when you were 15
knew that this had happened.
Yes, okay, yeah Okay.
Julie Schondel (22:35):
And, uh, the authorities knew, Okay, Uh, and
they told me that they weregoing to put him in jail, but
they never said what he did toyou is wrong.
And my court appointed attorneyaccused me of seducing him.
And it was.
(22:55):
It was horrible.
I so I ran, I I left.
I had a boyfriend, I went andlived with him for a little
while until that fell.
He was abusive and was beatingme, and so I again didn't know
how to take care of myself andstand up for myself so then the
(23:19):
the court thing when you were21,.
Nancy Bruscher (23:22):
That actually was empowering for you.
Julie Schondel (23:25):
Yes, because I had an authority say this is
absolutely wrong and I wasawarded a huge amount of money
which I never got because he hidall of his money, which I never
got because he hid all of hismoney.
But it was still emotionallygood for me.
(23:46):
And I actually spoke at theNational Press Club for an
organization that was againstpornography because he used
pornography as part of mygrooming and abuse and so it was
(24:06):
.
So I had people that were like,come tell your story at our,
you know, and I had like so manypeople come up to me and say
I've never told anybody, come upto me and say I've never told
anybody.
But since you told your storyin a venue like this, I'm
(24:32):
telling you I have been throughsomething similar and so I
actually facilitated somesupport groups and did a lot of
using that power until I startedhaving children and then I kind
of stepped back from that wholerole and was a parent and of
course I had two girls, whichmade it very difficult to.
(24:57):
I was very protective.
I didn't want anything likewhat I went through to happen to
them and um, and it was veryhard to, because every time they
hit a milestone of a memorythat I had.
(25:19):
I kind of relived that.
Nancy Bruscher (25:24):
Yeah.
Julie Schondel (25:25):
So I remember when my oldest daughter turned
five and I realized how insanelyhorrible it was that he was
molesting me at that age.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And having three granddaughters, it's still.
Nancy Bruscher (25:46):
All girls.
Julie Schondel (25:46):
All girls, yeah, yeah so it's still very
difficult.
Nancy Bruscher (25:54):
Was it hard to be a mom because you didn't see
how to be a good mom, or did youhave your aunts, kind of, or
how did that work?
Julie Schondel (26:03):
So I did have my aunts example, and my
grandmother, my maternalgrandmother, was phenomenal.
She had 28 grandchildren andshe loved all of us so
unconditionally.
It was her example also.
(26:24):
But I mean, even today I rarelyread a fiction book.
It's all about personaldevelopment, or how can I
improve myself, how can I takecare of myself, how can I be a
servant to others, and so I reada lot of personal development
(26:47):
fiction, those type of books.
Yeah.
But, and I kind of probably wentthe opposite direction, because
I really didn't have, uh, thatmaternal I was.
I was never going to be that.
Nancy Bruscher (27:08):
Yeah, so you and your husband got married after
nine months and you're stillworking through.
You probably had a lot ofchanges to go through still, as
you were newly married.
Julie Schondel (27:19):
Right and I did like we did go to counseling
together, because he also comesfrom a broken marriage, like
both his parents divorced andgot remarried, and so we
realized early on that neitherone of us had a good foundation
for how to be a couple.
So we did go to counseling fora while together, in addition to
(27:44):
my individual counseling, andlearned how to be in a
relationship and have a goodrelationship, and we did pretty
good until about 12 years and wehad a separation okay and did
(28:05):
you have kids by this time?
yeah, we had both of them theywere seven and four, okay, and
we had almost got divorced itwas.
It was pretty bad and I movedout, got a two-bedroom apartment
head and we were in counselingat the time and I was going to
(28:31):
take the girls with me but I wasout of the school district,
even though I wasn't far away.
I was out of their schooldistrict and our counselor said
it's going to be better for themto be in their community where
they have friends and go to thesame school and all of that.
So I decided to not try andmake them be with me.
(28:58):
So we did 50, 50, you know, andabout a month after I moved out
he came to my apartment to sayI'm done, I'm, I don't want to
do this.
You know, just get an attorney.
We're going to get divorced,yeah, and I remember praying,
(29:22):
probably a couple months beforethis.
Okay, god, I don't know if youare even there or if you even
care what I'm going through, orif you just want me to be happy,
or I don't know what you want,or if you're there in my life.
I don't know what you want, orif you're there in my life.
(29:44):
And when Greg came to the doorto say he was done, right after
that he said I'm willing to tryagain if you are.
And he literally turned aroundto see who said it.
It was like God took hold ofhis mouth and said those words
(30:12):
and I knew immediately that Godhad just intervened, like the
God of the universe that createdall the heavens and all the
earth.
Had stepped in to intervene inmy divorce.
Had stepped in to intervene inmy divorce.
And because that was an answerto my prayer.
(30:34):
And I had tried everythingexcept Jesus.
I mean literally.
I tried, you know, likeprobably Buddhism not really,
but like Eastern beliefs I hadtried, like paganism, wiccan,
healing crystals, you knowchakra cleansing, you know aura
cleansing, all of that.
I had tried to fix that holethat was inside of me and later
(31:02):
on I learned that God puts histhumbprint on our heart and the
only thing that can fill it isJesus.
And in talking with my twosisters that I grew up with,
like your aunts, my aunts yeah,my aunts' kids.
I was an only child.
So my two sisters, we weretalking recently and they shared
(31:27):
with me that they because theywere my example of Jesus when I
was growing up, because theywere both very strong Christians
and they sang.
They both played guitar andsang and had beautiful voices
and we would sit after schooland sing songs.
And they both told me recentlythat both of them shared Jesus
(31:47):
with me when I was like six, youknow, staying at their house
after school.
I was there a lot of weekends.
I was there all summer longbecause my mom worked for my
stepdad in his dental officebecause my mom worked for my
stepdad in his dental office,and so I had several
(32:08):
opportunities or introductionsand my grandmother gave me a
King James Bible.
I still have that Bible.
That was one of the things thatactually made it through my
living on the streets and that Idon't know how I ended up still
having that, but I do.
It's on my bookshelf, and didyou read it?
Nancy Bruscher (32:29):
when you were on the streets, or did you just
kind of have it as in like?
My grandma gave this to me.
Julie Schondel (32:34):
I don't necessarily remember that.
I remember one time when I wasat my aunt's house when all of
this stuff when I was 15 and allof the court stuff was going on
.
I remember sitting in thatbedroom holding that bible and
trying to read it and I I didn'tunderstand any of it, but I
(32:58):
knew that God was there.
Like I always believed in God.
I just didn't believe in Jesusbut and I had several
opportunities throughout mylifetime where Jesus came into
the picture, but I was not in aplace where I could receive that
(33:25):
.
And it wasn't until, like I said, god literally intervened in my
divorce that I realized thatGod had been there all along.
Through all of the things Iwent through, through, all the
horrible things, I experiencedthat God had been there all
along.
Through all of the things Iwent through, through all the
horrible things, I experiencedthat God was there.
(33:45):
And in that moment I said, okay, god, I will never deny Jesus
in my life again.
And so that was what brought meto Christ and I started going
to church, church, and I alwayswent to my aunt's church like it
was never.
(34:06):
I never found a church that wasmine.
I always ended up going tochurch with my aunt and my, my
two cousins, my, who I call mysisters now it's only been a few
years since I really realized.
It was when my aunt died.
It was February of right beforeCOVID that she died and she had
(34:29):
Alzheimer's for a lot of years,like 10 years, and she had not.
She had been non-verbal for thelast three or four, five, five
years and it wasn't until shedied that I realized that she
was my mom, that she really that, she her, and that family was
(34:50):
God's provision for me, becausehe knew that my mom and stepdad
were not going to be parents tome, and so God provided my aunt
and her four children to give mea loving, caring environment.
(35:15):
So I didn't realize that untilshe passed, which is really sad.
I became a full-on Christfollower, believer, and my
husband was raised Catholic andhe's very much a traditional
moral, you know never wanted adivorce.
(35:43):
He had some very foundationalvalues, morals from that
upbringing.
But he was not a practicingcatholic and so when I told him
and it's funny because he, hestarted reading his bible after
that and we and I started goingto church he had been
commissioned as an officer inthe Navy so he had to go to
school for like three monthsright after we reconciled, and
(36:06):
so he was there reading hisBible.
He was away for three monthsand so we started talking about
it and he came home right aroundChristmastime and I said I'm
going to church and I'veaccepted Christ and you know,
and I'm doing this, and so hestarted coming to church with me
(36:29):
.
This was like Christmas time,january.
The church that we were goingto did baptisms twice a year in
Mission Bay.
We were in San Diego.
So I said I'm getting baptizedin May when they do baptism.
They did it Memorial Day andLabor Day.
Nancy Bruscher (36:45):
Oh, that's funny .
Julie Schondel (36:45):
And so Memorial Day is always usually around my
birthday, and I said I'm gettingbaptized by the pastor.
We were going to church andsomewhere around April the
pastor gave a sermon about bythe way, if you're praying, you
know it might be falling on deafears if you haven't made the
(37:07):
choice to make Christ yourSavior.
And so he said, by the, youknow, around April he says by
the way, I prayed the prayertoday the way I prayed the
prayer today and of courseinside was hooping and hollering
and celebrating.
(37:27):
And I said oh, that's nice.
And so we ended up gettingbaptized together in Mission Bay
.
So it wasn't just an individualbaptism where we each accepted
Christ, but our relationship wasbaptized also.
Nancy Bruscher (37:42):
Oh, wow, and how old were you?
Julie Schondel (37:45):
I mean about Okay, 34-ish.
We decided that divorce wasnever going to be an option.
You know, if God of theuniverse was going to come down
and intervene in our divorce,obviously that wasn't his plan
for us and we needed to take theword divorce out of our
vocabulary.
And, whatever happened, we weregoing to work through it.
(38:10):
And I remember when we I guessit was probably 25 years Some of
our friends were gettingdivorced at like 19 years and
he's like why would they do that?
That's just when it's startingto get good what a story, julie.
(38:32):
I know right like a very, very,very heartbreaking story well,
and it wasn't until a couple fewyears ago that I realized that
I was trafficked.
That was that came when Istarted volunteering for Covered
yes.
And I was studying to be a casemanager and one of the things
(38:53):
they recommended reading forworking with the trafficking
survivors was a book called Roadto Redemption and it explains a
lot of different types oftrafficking.
You know, gang and pimp, andboyfriend and familial was one
(39:18):
of them and there was a story inthere and I took the book into
my counselor and I said thisisn't far from what I
experienced.
And we started talking aboutwhat happened in my house and I
(39:38):
used to say like part of mystory was that I was the family
offering, because all the menthat started that would come to
our house would end up in mybedroom With you.
Yes, and I was 13.
And it hit me when she saidthat's trafficking.
(40:07):
I will never know the truth,whether they paid him or what
the exchange was or how thathappened.
I'll never know.
Nancy Bruscher (40:24):
But I do know that I was trafficked.
I actually heard that fromother people that they didn't
know they were trafficked.
Julie Schondel (40:38):
And it almost seems like impossible.
Is it because you're groomed somuch?
Yes, okay, yeah, the groomingis hideous.
It really is.
It really is.
One of the things that I'venoticed is that I can pick out.
I met a girl at a farmer'smarket in Larkspur last year and
(41:06):
she only had to say a couplethings for me to realize that
she was being trafficked,because I recognized the
grooming.
Nancy Bruscher (41:17):
Were you able to talk to her.
Julie Schondel (41:19):
I did try to connect her with Johanna from
Covered.
And I have another friend thatwas there with me and she was
heartbroken that we could notget her because I don't think
she knew she was beingtrafficked.
But we could not get her.
She started backing away whenwe started trying to connect her
(41:42):
with joe and it was very sad,yeah, but there's a lot of
people like trafficking wasn'teven a thing when I was a
teenager.
Now it's so prevalent, like soobvious.
Nancy Bruscher (42:00):
Would you say it wasn't a thing as in, people
didn't understand it.
I mean, obviously it washappening.
Julie Schondel (42:05):
I'm sure it was.
I mean, it's happened fordecades, you know, forever.
Forever I mean even in biblicaltimes you know there was.
There was trafficking, but itwasn't, I guess, on everybody's
radar, because right now itseems like human trafficking is
on everybody's radar.
Nancy Bruscher (42:27):
Yeah.
Julie Schondel (42:28):
So it wasn't, I guess, a household name Sure
right, you know, definitely,definitely Like.
I said, even the authoritiesdidn't know how to deal with me,
right yeah, and how to treat me.
To be honest, I had no ideauntil I was about 12 or 13 that
what was going on in my housewasn't going on in everybody's
(42:50):
house.
I didn't often have friendsover or sleepovers or things
like that.
Often have friends over orsleepovers or things like that
and I didn't know it wasn'thappening in everybody else's
house until I started getting tothat age where I was having
more friends that we were, youknow, doing sleepovers and
(43:11):
things like that, and figuringout that that didn't happen in
everybody's house, that I didn'tknow that daddies didn't love
their daughters that way, that Ididn't know that other kids
didn't watch porn movies intheir house.
I do know that, like I said, myaunt took me in when I had left
(43:35):
home and we had to go to courtand there's my mom, my
biological mom, in the courtroomon his side of the courtroom
and my aunt is there with me onmy side of the courtroom and I
feel like I've done somethingwrong.
Nancy Bruscher (43:52):
Maybe you can't answer this, but I'm sure you've
asked this question.
Why does God allow this sort ofthing?
Julie Schondel (44:02):
so I was going to kind of wait for that one
until you asked me what I'mgrateful for, because because I
but I will go ahead and talkabout it God does allow it.
I'm sure it breaks his heart.
Nancy Bruscher (44:15):
I mean it's breaking my heart right now,
like it really is.
This is so hard.
Julie Schondel (44:19):
You're making me cry.
Nancy Bruscher (44:21):
This is so hard, you know, yeah, no it is and,
like I said, I have a lot ofpeople that have different
responses A lot of people.
Julie Schondel (44:27):
Sometimes it's like the story in the Bible of
the Good Samaritan, where peoplelike go around the path and
avoid this person with all thesegaping wounds, you know, and um
, people will avoid me becausethey can't handle the story much
.
It is, it's a lot, and but thenthere's people like the good
(44:52):
samaritan that pick you up anddress your wounds and pay for
you to rehabilitate, which Ididn't exactly have.
That but it is.
Yeah, no, it's a hard story.
It's a hard story and when Itell people they have very
different responses and Istopped talking about it for a
while because I had so manypeople just walk away because
(45:17):
they couldn't handle it.
I know God allows it becausewhat I went through has made me
the person I am today and Inever thought I would be able to
say that I'm grateful.
Nancy Bruscher (45:31):
I'm like no, don't say that, Julie, I know.
Julie Schondel (45:35):
But think about it.
Don't say that, julie.
I know, but think about it.
I mean, if I had not enduredthose things, I would not have
the opportunity to be resilientor tenacious.
Or, like you know, I'm on thesecurity team at church.
I do that because I don't everwant to be out in public or
(46:00):
somewhere that some horriblething like a shooter walks in
and I'm not able to be a part ofthe solution rather than a part
of the problem.
I am a mom affair.
Nancy Bruscher (46:12):
Yeah, I can see that.
Julie Schondel (46:13):
Yeah, I don't think I would be all of those
things if it weren't for what Iwent through, what I've had to
overcome and there is just trueevil.
Nancy Bruscher (46:26):
Isn't there?
Julie Schondel (46:26):
there is true evil yeah, and God does give us
free will and he allows peopleto do horrible things, but that
doesn't make him bad because he,like I said, he provided a
loving environment for me, heprovided an example of a loving
(46:48):
family.
He provided, you know so, eventhough I was going through that,
because he's not going tointervene in somebody's free
will to do evil.
But that doesn't mean that he'snot there.
Nancy Bruscher (47:03):
He never left me .
Julie, can we pray before we?
Julie Schondel (47:09):
end this yes.
Nancy Bruscher (47:10):
Yes, absolutely God, such a story.
I've been just kind of silentbecause I don't have the words,
god, and I think sometimesthat's okay.
So just bless the story thatJulie's been so brave to share
(47:46):
and may, when she walks out ofhere here, make she feel peace
and comfort and not like re-hitby something, not have a PTSD
moment, not have to walk throughsomething and go through
something.
God, because of her bravery,please just give her peace and
comfort.
And, god, I'm just praying forthe people who are listening.
I don't know who's going tolisten, god, people who have no
idea what she went through.
Thank God, people who do knowwhat she went through.
(48:09):
God, help us just with whatever.
However, we're listening tothis story.
Help us to hear your words.
Help us to just give uswhatever you want us to get from
this, because this is hard, god, it's just hard.
So we ask this in your name.
You talked about that.
(48:30):
We go to the same church.
I'm always amazed at thestories that are there, that you
don't know that are there.
I say that a lot.
Julie Schondel (48:36):
That's part of one of the things that are there
that you don't know that arethere.
I say that a lot.
That's part of one of thethings that in my servant heart
I don't know if you do a wordfor the year I gave up
resolutions years ago becausethose just don't happen, right.
What's the Quitter's Day?
The second.
Friday in.
February, january, you know Like.
So I do a word for the year.
(48:56):
This year my word is connection.
I want to make connections withpeople because you don't
realize what somebody sittingnext to you has been through or
how they're feeling.
I haven't.
I was suicidal probably 10, 15years ago because I got
(49:17):
re-traumatized, but I have notbeen suicidal in a lot of years
because I can see that God isusing me to do good, to use my
story for something good.
There's good that comes fromthe evil.
That's done and it says inGod's word.
But I tell people a lot be kind, because you don't know what
(49:43):
the person that cut you off intraffic has just gone through.
You don't know.
You know, instead of gettingangry and yelling at them, pray
for them.
We don't know what the peopleeverybody walking around and
post-pandemic people need.
Connection, like it really issomething that we were deprived
(50:09):
of during the pandemic.
I personally got verycomfortable in my home.
My home is my sanctuary, yeah,and I've isolated, I've been
guilty of isolating myself, andso I really believe that God's
calling me to make connectionsand that's why I'm working on my
(50:29):
podcast.
Nancy Bruscher (50:30):
Yes, yes, what is your podcast going to be
called?
Julie Schondel (50:34):
Vibrant Living Essentially.
Nancy Bruscher (50:36):
I love it.
I love it.
Well, if it's out by the timewe get this out, we'll connect
it.
Otherwise, when it does, thenI'll just change the show notes
in there.
Right, as we wrap up.
What is your favorite Bibleverse or story?
Julie Schondel (50:51):
Esther, because God put her through a lot of
hard stuff.
Nancy Bruscher (50:57):
She was trafficked right I mean, that's
what they kind of assumehappened to all of these women
that came into his bedroom for anight.
Julie Schondel (51:06):
Right.
Nancy Bruscher (51:06):
I mean it's kind of like glossed over a little
bit.
Julie Schondel (51:10):
It is glossed over and God chose not to put
that part in the story.
But what he chose to highlightin the story is that he used her
to save God's people, and thatjust totally gave me chills.
God has called me for such atime as this to make a
(51:37):
difference in the lives of thepeople that he puts in front of
me.
Nancy Bruscher (51:42):
I do the Bible recap and that she said that I'm
Esther.
She's like if you have littleears, you might want to to stop.
And I was like this is Esther.
What?
What did I miss something?
They brought all of these youngwomen in to him.
Julie Schondel (51:57):
Right For a night.
Nancy Bruscher (51:59):
Until he found the queen and I was like, oh, oh
, I didn't see that and maybeGod's like you don't always have
to see that right away.
It's such a powerful storyright, it is.
Of her being brave enough to gobefore the king, then, right
yeah, when that?
Julie Schondel (52:18):
before the king, then Right yeah, when that?
Was not a thing, Right.
You know that they didn't allowit, right, yeah, and so I could
probably add to my words braveand courageous because, like you
said, being willing to tell mystory.
Nancy Bruscher (52:41):
What are you grateful for?
Julie Schondel (52:44):
Healing, the healing that I have done and,
like I said, I can honestly sayI'm grateful for everything that
I went through.
Nancy Bruscher (52:57):
That's hard for me.
Yeah, and it's hard for me.
Julie Schondel (52:58):
Yeah, and, and it's hard for me too, you know.
But and and I have to say thatI am grateful for my husband.
We've been together 37 yearsand he has been my safe place.
He has been through all myinsanity, because there have
(53:20):
been very insane times.
Well, I was getting throughsome of those triggers waking up
in the middle of the night in afetal position, shaking, and I
couldn't have him touch mebecause of the trauma, but he
would sit there, he would laythere and say it's okay, I'm
here, you're okay, you're safe.
I couldn't have him touch mebecause of the trauma, but he
would sit there, he would laythere and say it's okay, I'm
(53:41):
here, you're okay, you're safe.
Nancy Bruscher (53:44):
What kindness have you shown or what kindness
have you received in the lastweek?
Julie Schondel (53:48):
I am not the type of person that tries to
call out what I do for people.
You know what I mean.
Yeah, I mean obviously you knowthat I'm serving my daughter
right now because she's goingthrough a very difficult
disability that she can't drive.
So I spend at least two days aweek, sometimes more, taking
(54:12):
care of my grandkids, pickingthem up from school, doing all
of that of my grandkids, pickingthem up from school, doing all
of that.
What I wrote down when I waspreparing for this.
I'm in a life group and one ofthe couples is a foster family
and they have teenage daughterthat they're trying to adopt and
they just got a brand new safehaven baby that they're trying
(54:36):
to adopt and they are just sokind to these children that have
been abandoned and I I guess itmeans a lot to me to see godly
people stepping up to be to beparents yeah because that wasn't
(55:00):
what I mean.
Nancy Bruscher (55:01):
It did happen for me it was my aunt, so good.
Well, julie, thank you forbeing on.
Thank you for sharing yourstory thank you for inviting me
on ordinary people,extraordinary things.
Your story is his glory.
I hope that Julie's story herbeing so vulnerable and sharing
(55:23):
such an intimate, difficult partof her story has impacted you.
Maybe it was just empathy.
I don't know what God is goingto use for you in this story,
but thank you for listening.
In two weeks we have a brandnew episode coming out.
It is with Darcy.
Darcy is going to share so manygreat things.
(55:45):
We had such a fun conversation.
We're both from the same townin Iowa Lake City and we talk
about some really fun things asfar as food that is specific to
Iowa or that area, just some funthings like that.
But then we really dive in.
We dive into finding faith,finding faith from a storyteller
(56:06):
, farmer's perspective.
She really talks about howsharing your story does help
others and the eternal ripplesthat has.
She talks about people thathave truly impacted her life in
kindness.
That might sound like a smallway, and we talked about putting
the power of curiosity to workand how that's vital, and even
(56:29):
if that means questioning God,maybe you feel like she does In
the episode she said that shehas seen herself as a problem
child of God.
So if that resonates with youplease listen in two weeks when
Darcy shares.
We'll see you then.
My name's Nancy and you've found Ordinary People
, extraordinary Things.
This podcast is all about hope,real hope, found in stories of
ordinary people just like you,sharing their faith and stories
of how God has worked in theirlives.
I have a disclaimer on thisepisode that I want you to know.
(00:21):
If you have young earslistening, please take heart.
This episode that I want you toknow, if you have young ears
listening, please take heart.
Listen, probably by yourself atleast first, to see if this is
something that you want yourkids to hear.
Julie is so vulnerable insharing her story of trafficking
by her stepdad.
It is a very powerful story,though At the end she says that
(00:45):
she is grateful for what shewent through.
I literally can still notbelieve that she said that and
that she means it and how Godhas shown up in her life in
amazing, powerful ways ofredemption and healing.
(01:06):
And this may be a difficult onefor all of us.
I know it was really difficultfor me to listen and process and
sit in it with Julie, but it isa wonderful story and I promise
you you will not want to missit.
But if you do have young earslistening, please take heart on
(01:28):
what this is about.
Well, welcome to OrdinaryPeople, extraordinary Things.
I'm here with Julie.
Julie, thanks for being on.
Julie Schondel (01:35):
Oh, thanks for having me.
Nancy Bruscher (01:36):
Yeah.
If people don't know who youare, can you give three words or
phrases to describe yourself?
Julie Schondel (01:43):
So I thought a lot about this.
But resilient, okay, tenaciousOoh, and servant those are good.
Nancy Bruscher (01:56):
Could you give examples of those Like why would
you call yourself resilient?
Julie Schondel (02:01):
Resilient because I have come through a
lot of very difficult things andstill have a very blessed life
and I feel like I am haveovercome a lot we'll have to get
(02:24):
into those.
Tenacious, because if I get ahold of something, it's like a
dog with a bone.
I just don't let it go.
I don't let it go, you know,and servant, because I tend to
serve other people, like myhusband and my kids and my
grandkids and church and thingslike that, and that is really
(02:50):
part of my purpose.
Nancy Bruscher (02:52):
The servant's heart, yeah.
Julie Schondel (02:54):
Right yeah.
Nancy Bruscher (02:54):
How many kids do you have?
Julie Schondel (02:56):
I have two girls , three granddaughters.
Very good, yes, yeah, yeah,yeah.
Nancy Bruscher (03:03):
So, yeah, can you share your testimony or
might say, like, how you come toknow Jesus, or maybe some of
your resilient stories with us?
Julie Schondel (03:14):
So I came from a very dysfunctional, abusive
background and I kind of livedin two households.
I had my biological mom andstepdad that were alcoholic,
narcissist, abusive, and then Ihad a loving home, my aunt.
(03:37):
I went to her house every dayafter school.
She had four kids, but shetreated me like her own, went to
my soccer games, taught me howto sew and garden and cook and
all those things, and so I hadan example of a loving family.
But that wasn't what I wasexperiencing.
(03:59):
At my other house.
I was abused by my stepdad for10 years and trafficked for him
by the last two, and so therewas a lot of things that I had
to overcome in my life in orderto function on a daily basis,
(04:21):
and some days I still don'tfunction.
There's just days that I've hadto accept the fact that I'm not
functional, and I found outrecently with my I call them my
sisters and my brothers that Igrew up with in my aunt's house,
and I call her my mom becausemy biological mother was not a
(04:42):
mom.
She didn't have a maternal bonein her body and I was like an
inconvenience to them.
In fact, they tried to ask myaunt to take custody of me and
raise me and she said, no,you're responsible, you need to
be responsible.
So I was treated like aninconvenience.
(05:03):
I've been in and out ofcounseling my whole life trying
to peel the onion layers off andget down to who I really am,
and that's been very difficultto figure that out, when I'm not
trying to be what everybodyelse wants me to be, but to
(05:25):
figure out who I really am andwho God created me to be and
what his intention for me wasand is.
Nancy Bruscher (05:37):
That's a lot, it is a lot your biological dad is
.
Was he in the picture at?
Julie Schondel (05:43):
all.
No, I didn't meet him until Iwas 18.
Oh wow, and it was uneventful.
It was not a wonderful reunionof hey, you're my dad, because
he never was in the picture.
Nancy Bruscher (06:03):
Okay and never really came into your life, Even
I met him.
Julie Schondel (06:08):
That one time, I think I talked on the phone
with him, I remember when I waslittle little, he would call
about every six months or so asI was, you know, I can remember
like five, six, seven, eight,you know and he would make a
bunch of promises and then neverfollow through and my one of
(06:30):
the things my biological mom didwas she actually did not bad
mouth him and let me, you know,create my own opinion of him.
So that was interesting, youknow, create my own opinion of
him, uh, so that was interesting.
You know, uh, that she wascapable of doing that because
she wasn't capable of a wholelot of things, but that was one
(06:53):
of the things that she did.
Nancy Bruscher (06:54):
Well, and when did your stepdad come into the
picture?
Julie Schondel (07:00):
They started dating when I was probably two
Okay.
And I have memories andfeelings, but he started abusing
me when I was five.
Oh Like physically, emotionallysexually.
Nancy Bruscher (07:21):
Sexually yeah, oh my gosh, when you were five,
I was five.
And I have distinct memories.
Julie Schondel (07:29):
Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, thank you.
It's interesting, when I tellpeople my story, the responses
that I get Sometimes, becauseI'm very open about my story and
, very you know, I can say itpretty unemotionally, you know,
and for a long time it wasbecause I was detached.
(07:50):
Okay, but but I was able toconnect with those emotions and
actually feel with the therapistthat I the counselor I'm
working with now helped me getback in touch with those
emotions, you know, and howhorrible it really was and what
I went through and that I am awalking miracle that I went
(08:12):
through all the things that Idid.
But so 10 years I left home at15.
Okay, and because of thetrafficking and rape and things
that he was doing, and your mom?
Nancy Bruscher (08:30):
does she know about it, or she didn't care, or
do you know?
Julie Schondel (08:36):
I have a story that I tell myself she was an
alcoholic and so she was drunk alot, but I feel like it doesn't
.
It seems to me that itshouldn't matter how drunk you
are.
You got to know that's going onand unfortunately, there were
times she was in the room and Ithink she had to have known.
(09:01):
There's no way that she didn'tknow, but I think that she chose
to ignore that, as in my storythat I tell myself that she I
was the inconvenience and so shedidn't want to deal with it.
So she just either ignored itor chose not to do anything
(09:23):
about it.
It or chose not to do anythingabout it because she she looked
at me as competition for hisaffections, and when I finally
did say something about when heraped me in Mexico, she looked
at him and said couldn't youcontrol yourself any better than
(09:46):
that?
which, to me, I mean, she didn'tsay oh my gosh, are you okay?
Do we need to take you to adoctor or counselor, or can?
What can I do to help you?
That that wasn't her response.
And even later in life, as Iwas, you know, I left home at 15
(10:10):
, and it was the height of heralcoholism.
And when I was 16, she tried tocommit suicide.
She succeeded, but my stepdadcame home and found her and gave
her CPR and she'd survived andwent into rehab at that point
and that was when she got sober.
But even after she got sobershe wasn't a mother.
(10:36):
She didn't believe me.
I think she had put it out ofher mind and she didn't believe
(10:59):
that it happened.
Travelers were installingmemories into their clients that
weren't actually there, becausea lot of people don't remember
what happened they block it orsomething they block it and a
lot of people do, and sometimesto survive, right, right, yes,
it'sjust, it's just, it's actually
(11:19):
part of ptsd.
Ptsd when you go through atrauma, ptsd, our brain, our
subconscious, is there toprotect us and it actually
stores that trauma in theamygdala.
I don't know if you've heardany of the.
You know this about PTSD, butit stores the trauma in the
(11:43):
amygdala and then later on inlife you can have a smell or an
experience or a song or and Ihave all of those triggers.
I just have learned how tomanage them.
So there's definitely musicthat will trigger a memory and a
(12:08):
lot of people adults don't havethose triggers or realize it,
because then your body responds.
It's actually like anuncontrollable trigger response
that people have, triggerresponse that people have, and
then all of the memories comeflooding back and all of a
(12:29):
sudden they're a mess.
And I've been through that.
Like I said, there's stilltimes where I still have
triggers that I will have a veryemotional response.
Nancy Bruscher (12:46):
And that's what you were saying on.
You accept the fact that youcan't function.
Is that what you were alludingto?
Julie Schondel (12:51):
Yes, yeah, so there's times where I just like
can't get up and take a figureout if I need to take a shower
or if I, you know like it's.
It's hard to like share yourdemons.
You know, like the fact that Idon't get off the couch I'll
watch stupid TV or a movie thatI've seen five times, or you
(13:12):
know, because there's certainthings that kind of give me
comfort, you know, plainsolitaire, or those types of
things, and I will escape intothat because I don't want to
deal with my reality, and it'susually when I'm overwhelmed
when there's a lot going on inmy life and I don't, I stop
(13:35):
taking care of myself, I stopeating right, I stop, you know,
doing the things that I knowmake me resilient.
Nancy Bruscher (13:48):
That's good.
That's good.
It was really brave of you tobe able to run away from that,
because I think that sometimesyou hear about once you get into
trafficking, it's hard to knowhow to live any other life
really.
Julie Schondel (14:04):
Well, to be honest, I lived on the streets
for two years.
Okay, I was addicted to alcohol, marijuana, speed.
I dealt drugs to survive.
I slept on people's couches, Iwas a couch surfer and traded
(14:24):
myself for places to stay, andit wasn't until my mom's suicide
attempt that I got sober.
So it was like two years on thestreets.
Were you into alcohol before 15or that was part of my grooming
process from my stepdad.
(14:45):
So they were entertainers, theylike to have people over and we
had friday night poker partiesand sunday morning brunches and
I was their like servant makingdrinks for everybody, and
everybody thought I was so cute.
So I grew up in a very adultenvironment and drinking was
(15:11):
part of that.
Smoking pot was part of that.
They were they were marijuanausers, and so I was taught how
to roll joints so that I couldgo do that for them when I was
like nine.
Oh wow.
And so alcohol and marijuanawere a big part of the grooming
(15:33):
process that he and later on hewould use that to hold over me.
If he wasn't allowed to touchme, to hold over me.
If he wasn't allowed to touchme, I wasn't allowed to drink or
be a part of the family.
Nancy Bruscher (15:53):
So sad so you had two years on the streets.
Julie Schondel (15:58):
Two years on the streets Got sober when I was 17
.
How so?
Obviously, my biological momwent into recovery and so she's
like you need to go to Al-Anonor Alateen or something.
(16:19):
And so I did.
I went to Alateen.
Nancy Bruscher (16:21):
And that's a recovery.
Julie Schondel (16:22):
It's a 12-step program for teens Okay, and I
ended up in AA and got sober.
And I was probably 10, 11 yearssober when I ended up at
another 12-step program,codependents Anonymous.
(16:43):
Oh, okay, and I realized thatit wasn't alcohol that was my
issue.
Nancy Bruscher (16:45):
When I ended up at another 12-step program
Codependence Anonymous.
Julie Schondel (16:46):
Oh okay, and I realized that it wasn't alcohol
that was my issue.
It was my trauma and the peoplearound me, and so I can.
Alcoholism runs in my family.
It is genetic, and so I'm verycareful.
(17:15):
But I can have a glass of winewith dinner or go out and have a
social drink and not overdo it.
So I did.
You know, like I said, I was.
Nancy Bruscher (17:24):
I think, 28 when I took my first legal drink,
and so you were completely soberfor a long time 11 years, yeah,
yeah.
Wow.
Julie Schondel (17:33):
Wow and so that.
But that helped me actually,but I was still really screwed
up.
It wasn't until I was 21 that Iactually got into my first
counselor.
So I had a friend in AA and shewas horribly abused by her dad
(17:54):
her biological dad and she saidhere's the number of my
counselor.
You really need to get somehelp.
Because I was, um, verypromiscuous Even in my sobriety.
I was acting out and acting in.
When you have PTSD and you hittriggers, you either act out at
(18:18):
people around you or you act inand abuse yourself or don't take
care of yourself.
And so I was doing all of thatand really not taking care of
myself and not having any kindof good relationships.
(18:38):
And I actually got married.
That didn't even last for ayear.
That was, you know, tragic.
I finally got to a point whereI decided I needed to work on
myself and I went to thiscounselor and she helped me a
lot and I was with her aboutthree months.
(19:01):
When I met my current husband,oh wow, and I told him you don't
want to get involved with mebecause I've been through a lot
and I'm not good inrelationships and you should
probably just run and becauseI'm just gonna hurt you, I don't
(19:23):
have the capacity to have agood relationship.
And he said I'll wait.
And he went to counseling withme and and we got married nine
months later.
Nancy Bruscher (19:38):
Wow, yeah, yeah so actually, how long have you
guys been married?
Julie Schondel (19:43):
Uh 37 years.
Nancy Bruscher (19:46):
Oh my gosh, that's amazing.
It's totally God.
It's totally God From what youjust told me, before I mean yeah
, it's totally God, Um, because,uh, I told him.
Julie Schondel (19:58):
I said I just started counseling and I was
abused and raped, and at thatpoint I didn't know that I was
trafficked, but you knew thatyou were I knew that I was
molested for 10 years and rapedby my stepdad and that was.
That was part of my story andthere is so much to the story.
(20:22):
Like I actually sued him incivil court.
When I realized the damage thathe and my biological mom had
done, I filed a lawsuit in civilcourt, took three years to
(20:43):
actually go to trial and thatreally gave me and we went to
trial.
He actually left the state andcalled the judge and said I
don't want anything to do withthis, I've left the state.
I fired my attorney and so westill had to put on the whole
(21:04):
trial.
I had to get up and testify.
I had to present expertwitnesses.
Nancy Bruscher (21:10):
How old were you ?
Julie Schondel (21:12):
21.
Oh, okay, well, 21.
We filed it when I was 21.
So I was like 24.
Okay 21, so I was like 24, okayso pretty young in your, in your
kind of counseling and tryingto figure.
Okay, yeah, and it actuallyempowered me because I had
(21:33):
somebody, an authority, say whathappened to you is wrong and
because nobody had ever saidthat to me.
Nobody had ever said what hedid to you is wrong and you're
the victim here.
I was treated.
Unfortunately, the system backthen didn't know how to treat
(21:56):
survivors of molestation andincest.
It was a very broken system andI'm sure it's not wonderful now
, but it was a very brokensystem and I was accused when I
was 15.
It did come out after the rapethat um and my aunt took me in,
(22:22):
but I was on drugs and reallynot able to accept her.
Nancy Bruscher (22:28):
So a lot of other people at when you were 15
knew that this had happened.
Yes, okay, yeah Okay.
Julie Schondel (22:35):
And, uh, the authorities knew, Okay, Uh, and
they told me that they weregoing to put him in jail, but
they never said what he did toyou is wrong.
And my court appointed attorneyaccused me of seducing him.
And it was.
(22:55):
It was horrible.
I so I ran, I I left.
I had a boyfriend, I went andlived with him for a little
while until that fell.
He was abusive and was beatingme, and so I again didn't know
how to take care of myself andstand up for myself so then the
(23:19):
the court thing when you were21,.
Nancy Bruscher (23:22):
That actually was empowering for you.
Julie Schondel (23:25):
Yes, because I had an authority say this is
absolutely wrong and I wasawarded a huge amount of money
which I never got because he hidall of his money, which I never
got because he hid all of hismoney.
But it was still emotionallygood for me.
(23:46):
And I actually spoke at theNational Press Club for an
organization that was againstpornography because he used
pornography as part of mygrooming and abuse and so it was
(24:06):
.
So I had people that were like,come tell your story at our,
you know, and I had like so manypeople come up to me and say
I've never told anybody, come upto me and say I've never told
anybody.
But since you told your storyin a venue like this, I'm
(24:32):
telling you I have been throughsomething similar and so I
actually facilitated somesupport groups and did a lot of
using that power until I startedhaving children and then I kind
of stepped back from that wholerole and was a parent and of
course I had two girls, whichmade it very difficult to.
(24:57):
I was very protective.
I didn't want anything likewhat I went through to happen to
them and um, and it was veryhard to, because every time they
hit a milestone of a memorythat I had.
(25:19):
I kind of relived that.
Nancy Bruscher (25:24):
Yeah.
Julie Schondel (25:25):
So I remember when my oldest daughter turned
five and I realized how insanelyhorrible it was that he was
molesting me at that age.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And having three granddaughters, it's still.
Nancy Bruscher (25:46):
All girls.
Julie Schondel (25:46):
All girls, yeah, yeah so it's still very
difficult.
Nancy Bruscher (25:54):
Was it hard to be a mom because you didn't see
how to be a good mom, or did youhave your aunts, kind of, or
how did that work?
Julie Schondel (26:03):
So I did have my aunts example, and my
grandmother, my maternalgrandmother, was phenomenal.
She had 28 grandchildren andshe loved all of us so
unconditionally.
It was her example also.
(26:24):
But I mean, even today I rarelyread a fiction book.
It's all about personaldevelopment, or how can I
improve myself, how can I takecare of myself, how can I be a
servant to others, and so I reada lot of personal development
(26:47):
fiction, those type of books.
Yeah.
But, and I kind of probably wentthe opposite direction, because
I really didn't have, uh, thatmaternal I was.
I was never going to be that.
Nancy Bruscher (27:08):
Yeah, so you and your husband got married after
nine months and you're stillworking through.
You probably had a lot ofchanges to go through still, as
you were newly married.
Julie Schondel (27:19):
Right and I did like we did go to counseling
together, because he also comesfrom a broken marriage, like
both his parents divorced andgot remarried, and so we
realized early on that neitherone of us had a good foundation
for how to be a couple.
So we did go to counseling fora while together, in addition to
(27:44):
my individual counseling, andlearned how to be in a
relationship and have a goodrelationship, and we did pretty
good until about 12 years and wehad a separation okay and did
(28:05):
you have kids by this time?
yeah, we had both of them theywere seven and four, okay, and
we had almost got divorced itwas.
It was pretty bad and I movedout, got a two-bedroom apartment
head and we were in counselingat the time and I was going to
(28:31):
take the girls with me but I wasout of the school district,
even though I wasn't far away.
I was out of their schooldistrict and our counselor said
it's going to be better for themto be in their community where
they have friends and go to thesame school and all of that.
So I decided to not try andmake them be with me.
(28:58):
So we did 50, 50, you know, andabout a month after I moved out
he came to my apartment to sayI'm done, I'm, I don't want to
do this.
You know, just get an attorney.
We're going to get divorced,yeah, and I remember praying,
(29:22):
probably a couple months beforethis.
Okay, god, I don't know if youare even there or if you even
care what I'm going through, orif you just want me to be happy,
or I don't know what you want,or if you're there in my life.
I don't know what you want, orif you're there in my life.
(29:44):
And when Greg came to the doorto say he was done, right after
that he said I'm willing to tryagain if you are.
And he literally turned aroundto see who said it.
It was like God took hold ofhis mouth and said those words
(30:12):
and I knew immediately that Godhad just intervened, like the
God of the universe that createdall the heavens and all the
earth.
Had stepped in to intervene inmy divorce.
Had stepped in to intervene inmy divorce.
And because that was an answerto my prayer.
(30:34):
And I had tried everythingexcept Jesus.
I mean literally.
I tried, you know, likeprobably Buddhism not really,
but like Eastern beliefs I hadtried, like paganism, wiccan,
healing crystals, you knowchakra cleansing, you know aura
cleansing, all of that.
I had tried to fix that holethat was inside of me and later
(31:02):
on I learned that God puts histhumbprint on our heart and the
only thing that can fill it isJesus.
And in talking with my twosisters that I grew up with,
like your aunts, my aunts yeah,my aunts' kids.
I was an only child.
So my two sisters, we weretalking recently and they shared
(31:27):
with me that they because theywere my example of Jesus when I
was growing up, because theywere both very strong Christians
and they sang.
They both played guitar andsang and had beautiful voices
and we would sit after schooland sing songs.
And they both told me recentlythat both of them shared Jesus
(31:47):
with me when I was like six, youknow, staying at their house
after school.
I was there a lot of weekends.
I was there all summer longbecause my mom worked for my
stepdad in his dental officebecause my mom worked for my
stepdad in his dental office,and so I had several
(32:08):
opportunities or introductionsand my grandmother gave me a
King James Bible.
I still have that Bible.
That was one of the things thatactually made it through my
living on the streets and that Idon't know how I ended up still
having that, but I do.
It's on my bookshelf, and didyou read it?
Nancy Bruscher (32:29):
when you were on the streets, or did you just
kind of have it as in like?
My grandma gave this to me.
Julie Schondel (32:34):
I don't necessarily remember that.
I remember one time when I wasat my aunt's house when all of
this stuff when I was 15 and allof the court stuff was going on
.
I remember sitting in thatbedroom holding that bible and
trying to read it and I I didn'tunderstand any of it, but I
(32:58):
knew that God was there.
Like I always believed in God.
I just didn't believe in Jesusbut and I had several
opportunities throughout mylifetime where Jesus came into
the picture, but I was not in aplace where I could receive that
(33:25):
.
And it wasn't until, like I said, god literally intervened in my
divorce that I realized thatGod had been there all along.
Through all of the things Iwent through, through, all the
horrible things, I experiencedthat God had been there all
along.
Through all of the things Iwent through, through all the
horrible things, I experiencedthat God was there.
(33:45):
And in that moment I said, okay, god, I will never deny Jesus
in my life again.
And so that was what brought meto Christ and I started going
to church, church, and I alwayswent to my aunt's church like it
was never.
(34:06):
I never found a church that wasmine.
I always ended up going tochurch with my aunt and my, my
two cousins, my, who I call mysisters now it's only been a few
years since I really realized.
It was when my aunt died.
It was February of right beforeCOVID that she died and she had
(34:29):
Alzheimer's for a lot of years,like 10 years, and she had not.
She had been non-verbal for thelast three or four, five, five
years and it wasn't until shedied that I realized that she
was my mom, that she really that, she her, and that family was
(34:50):
God's provision for me, becausehe knew that my mom and stepdad
were not going to be parents tome, and so God provided my aunt
and her four children to give mea loving, caring environment.
(35:15):
So I didn't realize that untilshe passed, which is really sad.
I became a full-on Christfollower, believer, and my
husband was raised Catholic andhe's very much a traditional
moral, you know never wanted adivorce.
(35:43):
He had some very foundationalvalues, morals from that
upbringing.
But he was not a practicingcatholic and so when I told him
and it's funny because he, hestarted reading his bible after
that and we and I started goingto church he had been
commissioned as an officer inthe Navy so he had to go to
school for like three monthsright after we reconciled, and
(36:06):
so he was there reading hisBible.
He was away for three monthsand so we started talking about
it and he came home right aroundChristmastime and I said I'm
going to church and I'veaccepted Christ and you know,
and I'm doing this, and so hestarted coming to church with me
(36:29):
.
This was like Christmas time,january.
The church that we were goingto did baptisms twice a year in
Mission Bay.
We were in San Diego.
So I said I'm getting baptizedin May when they do baptism.
They did it Memorial Day andLabor Day.
Nancy Bruscher (36:45):
Oh, that's funny .
Julie Schondel (36:45):
And so Memorial Day is always usually around my
birthday, and I said I'm gettingbaptized by the pastor.
We were going to church andsomewhere around April the
pastor gave a sermon about bythe way, if you're praying, you
know it might be falling on deafears if you haven't made the
(37:07):
choice to make Christ yourSavior.
And so he said, by the, youknow, around April he says by
the way, I prayed the prayertoday the way I prayed the
prayer today and of courseinside was hooping and hollering
and celebrating.
(37:27):
And I said oh, that's nice.
And so we ended up gettingbaptized together in Mission Bay
.
So it wasn't just an individualbaptism where we each accepted
Christ, but our relationship wasbaptized also.
Nancy Bruscher (37:42):
Oh, wow, and how old were you?
Julie Schondel (37:45):
I mean about Okay, 34-ish.
We decided that divorce wasnever going to be an option.
You know, if God of theuniverse was going to come down
and intervene in our divorce,obviously that wasn't his plan
for us and we needed to take theword divorce out of our
vocabulary.
And, whatever happened, we weregoing to work through it.
(38:10):
And I remember when we I guessit was probably 25 years Some of
our friends were gettingdivorced at like 19 years and
he's like why would they do that?
That's just when it's startingto get good what a story, julie.
(38:32):
I know right like a very, very,very heartbreaking story well,
and it wasn't until a couple fewyears ago that I realized that
I was trafficked.
That was that came when Istarted volunteering for Covered
yes.
And I was studying to be a casemanager and one of the things
(38:53):
they recommended reading forworking with the trafficking
survivors was a book called Roadto Redemption and it explains a
lot of different types oftrafficking.
You know, gang and pimp, andboyfriend and familial was one
(39:18):
of them and there was a story inthere and I took the book into
my counselor and I said thisisn't far from what I
experienced.
And we started talking aboutwhat happened in my house and I
(39:38):
used to say like part of mystory was that I was the family
offering, because all the menthat started that would come to
our house would end up in mybedroom With you.
Yes, and I was 13.
And it hit me when she saidthat's trafficking.
(40:07):
I will never know the truth,whether they paid him or what
the exchange was or how thathappened.
I'll never know.
Nancy Bruscher (40:24):
But I do know that I was trafficked.
I actually heard that fromother people that they didn't
know they were trafficked.
Julie Schondel (40:38):
And it almost seems like impossible.
Is it because you're groomed somuch?
Yes, okay, yeah, the groomingis hideous.
It really is.
It really is.
One of the things that I'venoticed is that I can pick out.
I met a girl at a farmer'smarket in Larkspur last year and
(41:06):
she only had to say a couplethings for me to realize that
she was being trafficked,because I recognized the
grooming.
Nancy Bruscher (41:17):
Were you able to talk to her.
Julie Schondel (41:19):
I did try to connect her with Johanna from
Covered.
And I have another friend thatwas there with me and she was
heartbroken that we could notget her because I don't think
she knew she was beingtrafficked.
But we could not get her.
She started backing away whenwe started trying to connect her
(41:42):
with joe and it was very sad,yeah, but there's a lot of
people like trafficking wasn'teven a thing when I was a
teenager.
Now it's so prevalent, like soobvious.
Nancy Bruscher (42:00):
Would you say it wasn't a thing as in, people
didn't understand it.
I mean, obviously it washappening.
Julie Schondel (42:05):
I'm sure it was.
I mean, it's happened fordecades, you know, forever.
Forever I mean even in biblicaltimes you know there was.
There was trafficking, but itwasn't, I guess, on everybody's
radar, because right now itseems like human trafficking is
on everybody's radar.
Nancy Bruscher (42:27):
Yeah.
Julie Schondel (42:28):
So it wasn't, I guess, a household name Sure
right, you know, definitely,definitely Like.
I said, even the authoritiesdidn't know how to deal with me,
right yeah, and how to treat me.
To be honest, I had no ideauntil I was about 12 or 13 that
what was going on in my housewasn't going on in everybody's
(42:50):
house.
I didn't often have friendsover or sleepovers or things
like that.
Often have friends over orsleepovers or things like that
and I didn't know it wasn'thappening in everybody else's
house until I started getting tothat age where I was having
more friends that we were, youknow, doing sleepovers and
(43:11):
things like that, and figuringout that that didn't happen in
everybody's house, that I didn'tknow that daddies didn't love
their daughters that way, that Ididn't know that other kids
didn't watch porn movies intheir house.
I do know that, like I said, myaunt took me in when I had left
(43:35):
home and we had to go to courtand there's my mom, my
biological mom, in the courtroomon his side of the courtroom
and my aunt is there with me onmy side of the courtroom and I
feel like I've done somethingwrong.
Nancy Bruscher (43:52):
Maybe you can't answer this, but I'm sure you've
asked this question.
Why does God allow this sort ofthing?
Julie Schondel (44:02):
so I was going to kind of wait for that one
until you asked me what I'mgrateful for, because because I
but I will go ahead and talkabout it God does allow it.
I'm sure it breaks his heart.
Nancy Bruscher (44:15):
I mean it's breaking my heart right now,
like it really is.
This is so hard.
Julie Schondel (44:19):
You're making me cry.
Nancy Bruscher (44:21):
This is so hard, you know, yeah, no it is and,
like I said, I have a lot ofpeople that have different
responses A lot of people.
Julie Schondel (44:27):
Sometimes it's like the story in the Bible of
the Good Samaritan, where peoplelike go around the path and
avoid this person with all thesegaping wounds, you know, and um
, people will avoid me becausethey can't handle the story much
.
It is, it's a lot, and but thenthere's people like the good
(44:52):
samaritan that pick you up anddress your wounds and pay for
you to rehabilitate, which Ididn't exactly have.
That but it is.
Yeah, no, it's a hard story.
It's a hard story and when Itell people they have very
different responses and Istopped talking about it for a
while because I had so manypeople just walk away because
(45:17):
they couldn't handle it.
I know God allows it becausewhat I went through has made me
the person I am today and Inever thought I would be able to
say that I'm grateful.
Nancy Bruscher (45:31):
I'm like no, don't say that, Julie, I know.
Julie Schondel (45:35):
But think about it.
Don't say that, julie.
I know, but think about it.
I mean, if I had not enduredthose things, I would not have
the opportunity to be resilientor tenacious.
Or, like you know, I'm on thesecurity team at church.
I do that because I don't everwant to be out in public or
(46:00):
somewhere that some horriblething like a shooter walks in
and I'm not able to be a part ofthe solution rather than a part
of the problem.
I am a mom affair.
Nancy Bruscher (46:12):
Yeah, I can see that.
Julie Schondel (46:13):
Yeah, I don't think I would be all of those
things if it weren't for what Iwent through, what I've had to
overcome and there is just trueevil.
Nancy Bruscher (46:26):
Isn't there?
Julie Schondel (46:26):
there is true evil yeah, and God does give us
free will and he allows peopleto do horrible things, but that
doesn't make him bad because he,like I said, he provided a
loving environment for me, heprovided an example of a loving
(46:48):
family.
He provided, you know so, eventhough I was going through that,
because he's not going tointervene in somebody's free
will to do evil.
But that doesn't mean that he'snot there.
Nancy Bruscher (47:03):
He never left me .
Julie, can we pray before we?
Julie Schondel (47:09):
end this yes.
Nancy Bruscher (47:10):
Yes, absolutely God, such a story.
I've been just kind of silentbecause I don't have the words,
god, and I think sometimesthat's okay.
So just bless the story thatJulie's been so brave to share
(47:46):
and may, when she walks out ofhere here, make she feel peace
and comfort and not like re-hitby something, not have a PTSD
moment, not have to walk throughsomething and go through
something.
God, because of her bravery,please just give her peace and
comfort.
And, god, I'm just praying forthe people who are listening.
I don't know who's going tolisten, god, people who have no
idea what she went through.
Thank God, people who do knowwhat she went through.
(48:09):
God, help us just with whatever.
However, we're listening tothis story.
Help us to hear your words.
Help us to just give uswhatever you want us to get from
this, because this is hard, god, it's just hard.
So we ask this in your name.
You talked about that.
(48:30):
We go to the same church.
I'm always amazed at thestories that are there, that you
don't know that are there.
I say that a lot.
Julie Schondel (48:36):
That's part of one of the things that are there
that you don't know that arethere.
I say that a lot.
That's part of one of thethings that in my servant heart
I don't know if you do a wordfor the year I gave up
resolutions years ago becausethose just don't happen, right.
What's the Quitter's Day?
The second.
Friday in.
February, january, you know Like.
So I do a word for the year.
(48:56):
This year my word is connection.
I want to make connections withpeople because you don't
realize what somebody sittingnext to you has been through or
how they're feeling.
I haven't.
I was suicidal probably 10, 15years ago because I got
(49:17):
re-traumatized, but I have notbeen suicidal in a lot of years
because I can see that God isusing me to do good, to use my
story for something good.
There's good that comes fromthe evil.
That's done and it says inGod's word.
But I tell people a lot be kind, because you don't know what
(49:43):
the person that cut you off intraffic has just gone through.
You don't know.
You know, instead of gettingangry and yelling at them, pray
for them.
We don't know what the peopleeverybody walking around and
post-pandemic people need.
Connection, like it really issomething that we were deprived
(50:09):
of during the pandemic.
I personally got verycomfortable in my home.
My home is my sanctuary, yeah,and I've isolated, I've been
guilty of isolating myself, andso I really believe that God's
calling me to make connectionsand that's why I'm working on my
(50:29):
podcast.
Nancy Bruscher (50:30):
Yes, yes, what is your podcast going to be
called?
Julie Schondel (50:34):
Vibrant Living Essentially.
Nancy Bruscher (50:36):
I love it.
I love it.
Well, if it's out by the timewe get this out, we'll connect
it.
Otherwise, when it does, thenI'll just change the show notes
in there.
Right, as we wrap up.
What is your favorite Bibleverse or story?
Julie Schondel (50:51):
Esther, because God put her through a lot of
hard stuff.
Nancy Bruscher (50:57):
She was trafficked right I mean, that's
what they kind of assumehappened to all of these women
that came into his bedroom for anight.
Julie Schondel (51:06):
Right.
Nancy Bruscher (51:06):
I mean it's kind of like glossed over a little
bit.
Julie Schondel (51:10):
It is glossed over and God chose not to put
that part in the story.
But what he chose to highlightin the story is that he used her
to save God's people, and thatjust totally gave me chills.
God has called me for such atime as this to make a
(51:37):
difference in the lives of thepeople that he puts in front of
me.
Nancy Bruscher (51:42):
I do the Bible recap and that she said that I'm
Esther.
She's like if you have littleears, you might want to to stop.
And I was like this is Esther.
What?
What did I miss something?
They brought all of these youngwomen in to him.
Julie Schondel (51:57):
Right For a night.
Nancy Bruscher (51:59):
Until he found the queen and I was like, oh, oh
, I didn't see that and maybeGod's like you don't always have
to see that right away.
It's such a powerful storyright, it is.
Of her being brave enough to gobefore the king, then, right
yeah, when that?
Julie Schondel (52:18):
before the king, then Right yeah, when that?
Was not a thing, Right.
You know that they didn't allowit, right, yeah, and so I could
probably add to my words braveand courageous because, like you
said, being willing to tell mystory.
Nancy Bruscher (52:41):
What are you grateful for?
Julie Schondel (52:44):
Healing, the healing that I have done and,
like I said, I can honestly sayI'm grateful for everything that
I went through.
Nancy Bruscher (52:57):
That's hard for me.
Yeah, and it's hard for me.
Julie Schondel (52:58):
Yeah, and, and it's hard for me too, you know.
But and and I have to say thatI am grateful for my husband.
We've been together 37 yearsand he has been my safe place.
He has been through all myinsanity, because there have
(53:20):
been very insane times.
Well, I was getting throughsome of those triggers waking up
in the middle of the night in afetal position, shaking, and I
couldn't have him touch mebecause of the trauma, but he
would sit there, he would laythere and say it's okay, I'm
here, you're okay, you're safe.
I couldn't have him touch mebecause of the trauma, but he
would sit there, he would laythere and say it's okay, I'm
(53:41):
here, you're okay, you're safe.
Nancy Bruscher (53:44):
What kindness have you shown or what kindness
have you received in the lastweek?
Julie Schondel (53:48):
I am not the type of person that tries to
call out what I do for people.
You know what I mean.
Yeah, I mean obviously you knowthat I'm serving my daughter
right now because she's goingthrough a very difficult
disability that she can't drive.
So I spend at least two days aweek, sometimes more, taking
(54:12):
care of my grandkids, pickingthem up from school, doing all
of that of my grandkids, pickingthem up from school, doing all
of that.
What I wrote down when I waspreparing for this.
I'm in a life group and one ofthe couples is a foster family
and they have teenage daughterthat they're trying to adopt and
they just got a brand new safehaven baby that they're trying
(54:36):
to adopt and they are just sokind to these children that have
been abandoned and I I guess itmeans a lot to me to see godly
people stepping up to be to beparents yeah because that wasn't
(55:00):
what I mean.
Nancy Bruscher (55:01):
It did happen for me it was my aunt, so good.
Well, julie, thank you forbeing on.
Thank you for sharing yourstory thank you for inviting me
on ordinary people,extraordinary things.
Your story is his glory.
I hope that Julie's story herbeing so vulnerable and sharing
(55:23):
such an intimate, difficult partof her story has impacted you.
Maybe it was just empathy.
I don't know what God is goingto use for you in this story,
but thank you for listening.
In two weeks we have a brandnew episode coming out.
It is with Darcy.
Darcy is going to share so manygreat things.
(55:45):
We had such a fun conversation.
We're both from the same townin Iowa Lake City and we talk
about some really fun things asfar as food that is specific to
Iowa or that area, just some funthings like that.
But then we really dive in.
We dive into finding faith,finding faith from a storyteller
(56:06):
, farmer's perspective.
She really talks about howsharing your story does help
others and the eternal ripplesthat has.
She talks about people thathave truly impacted her life in
kindness.
That might sound like a smallway, and we talked about putting
the power of curiosity to workand how that's vital, and even
(56:29):
if that means questioning God,maybe you feel like she does In
the episode she said that shehas seen herself as a problem
child of God.
So if that resonates with youplease listen in two weeks when
Darcy shares.
We'll see you then.
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