Happily, Ever After

Hi this is breathing welcome to the Salvation Army's words of life. Welcome back to the Salvation Army's words of life.

I'm glad that you're joining us again and I want to welcome Cheryl Gillam to the show. Thanks, Bernie. It's good to be here with you Cheryl, this is going to be our last episode for the series and I'm really sad about that because that we been on this journey since July 5 went barefoot Cinderella's and it's been a series that's followed along with Susie Erickson's book of the same name. If you've missed any episodes or if you'd like to share with a friend. Please visit Salvation Army sound cast.org/words of life. There you will be able to purchase Susie's book read accompanying blogs and more. I'm really excited about this week's episode Val where mouth joins Susie in this episode to talk about her experience with the divorce and a lot of different things along her journey that has caused her and shaped her to because she is today. I want to tell you about Val she is.

I we worked with her in the department recently and she is such a faith filled woman I'm so inspired by her the way she prays is so specific and faith filled that you know I we what we experienced miracles as we watch God work in her life. Just a few months ago she was trying to change her passport over to her married name is Reese.

She is briefly married and so that she can join her husband over in England and you know with everything shut down because of coveted.

It was almost impossible for her to get her passport. She had specific dates that she asked us to pray for and so she asked for June 9 that we pray that her passport would come through knowing that the government was shut down. At that point, and that you know or they were just starting to open and there was a backlog of of all these passports that they had the issue and so I think it was like those six or seventh of June. She comes back to us and she says okay there's been a breakthrough. I think we I think it might happen and that she was able to speak to the senator's office and get access to her.

Her passport get receiving her passport and getting it put the process but through and so on June 8.

She gets in an email from the senator's office saying that they've sent the paperwork to the appropriate people in the government and that in the next couple days. She should receive repair passport and so I'm just at with her faith filled journey that tied she did not allow her circumstances to beer down that she was able to rise through her faith in Jesus Christ and her walk with the Lord so happy today to be in the studio this morning with one of my good friends Val Wortman begin chapter 10 of barefoot Cinderella's happily ever after talking about being a product of the 80s. One of the highlights of my teenage years in the 1980s was watching soap operas with my mom. I think that I really bonded with my mother over watching soap operas. But as I grew in my journey with the Lord, the Lord convicted me of watching soap operas, but he showed me the real-life drama of people in his word and one of those people is Joseph know Joseph as a young boy a had dreams of what he hoped his future would be. But his word just like childhood dreams of what he hoped to become like God gave him a dream. It really a vision of what he would one day become. He had no idea what those dreams meant at the time, but he knew that they were from God.

Was there a point in your childhood life that you had a dream of what you wanted to become one day when I was 15 I was at best youth event and someone came and gave me a word beside your can it be a full-time minister for the Lord and that person just continued walking. I still to this day. Don't know who that is. But I knew that that was a dream and an award that was spoken over me. Joseph story takes a bit of a turn and his life starts to look a lot like the soap operas that I used to watch with my mom and has there been a time in your life when perhaps it look like a soap opera to my goodness. I remember that day well my life before that at this particular day Wes, I went say picture-perfect, but it was smooth sailing. I was a minister and working in youth ministry, which I've always been passionate about. I thought I had a good a good marriage. I had a good home life the good work life, my family was good and healthy. Everything was sick. I said smooth sailing until this one day and I just felt like the blood was pulled from under me. My life as I knew it was destroyed. I felt like I was living a lie. I felt that I was somehow common blinded. I felt stupid.

I like how did I miss this. How did I miss the red flags. My husband of 10 years. Just left this day. I didn't know where he was.

I didn't know anything and I felt very very very dumb and I really had no idea it was just from one day be in smooth sailing to the next day. My life is in shambles, I think that Joseph could so relate to your story where his life just all of a sudden fell apart when his brothers sold him into slavery and here are people that you think love you and they have your back and they vowed to be your your person you know and then they are the ones that turn around and you and what do you do with that. How do you even begin to process that I look back to that week on and I feel like I was living a out of body experience in the Lord just gave me the least strength I needed to to make it through that the first week and beyond.

Of course, by the first week I I couldn't eat I couldn't sleep I couldn't. I didn't even want to drink anything I didn't know what to do what I did know like on who would I need to call Lake. I I was completely numb and I don't know how I could've made made it through where I am today without the Holy Spirit guiding me and protected me. Those of us who have faith in God know that we can face the trials of this life because God is with us absolute and that makes all the difference in what we encounter and how we get through to the other side and you. You've gotten to the other side having you and I have, yes, the Lord has been so faithful on from the beginning.

One of my favorite scriptures is also found in John chapter 10 of your book.

As I Romans 828 all things work for the good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose and that has been the testimony of my life.

This experience was not good and it was it was terrible, but the Lord through this experience through this being in the spit as she used me house.

I've learned what what I'm capable of. I've learned on the strength that I had within me that the Lord placed within me. He has provided me with amazing friendships that I was able to just pour out my heart to and times of this pure loneliness and those people those girls were able to speak truth God's truth over me and just… And being able to just spent to them was has been so helpful to get me to the point where I am today in God's redeeming your story as well as in me absolutely not had a really strong desire to have kids and he married again and I am in my 30s that I feel might my dad always says you have your whole life ahead of you because when you go through something like this to do and always feel like your life is over that part of your life is over, the dream of having children and being remarried like that's that's history.

I'm thinking maybe in the beginning of 2019 had that moment I surrendered my dreams to the Lord.

I just felt at peace and the Lord is like this. Trust me I was a self filled and I yes I still wanted to meet somebody I still want to have children in the future but at that moment, the Lord just give me a picture of his goodness and his grace. I'm just so happy with that same night I got a random Facebook message from now my husband nothing is ever end, and he's also a Salvation Army minister and another country, and in that we began a friendship.

Wow, now I hear you are now remarried to Ryan now remarried. The Lord has been this still so faithful I cannot stop saying that. I think that your story this whole journey of how God is carried you through these difficult circumstances. These moments of crisis into where you are right now is a testimony of God's faithfulness to his people. I couldn't agree more that the Lord placed not only has spirit, but just community the surround me to left me.

I have family who as well that the same thing on I know that the Lord placed those people of air, sort of like Joseph and he and being surrounded with the right people for the right time and I definitely agree that part of my success as having those people around me who, we linked arms and they wouldn't let me fall in when you have been hurt by people that are supposed to be the ones that had bowed to care for you. How did you move beyond that place of heart to opening your heart to someone else and being able to trust again. I enrolled in divorce care similar to grief care. I never got closure from the other party support me. I don't and I never knew why it happened or what I did to make it happen. If anything, so I remember praying to the Lord, Lord, can you remove the sense of the desire of needing closure. Can you give me closure and really that was a miracle, because I have no desire to get that closure from the parties have hurt me. And because of that, because it there's not any and I'm not waiting around for that that healing from those people because the Lord healed me, I am able to move forward without bringing those hurts with me to my future but your story is a lot like Joseph story, and really all of our stories are a Joseph story and a Cinderella story, Cinderella, Joseph had so much in common. They lived with integrity and they faced each hurdle in their paths just as you have done Cinderella. She had a fairy godmother watching over her. Coordinating the events of her life and her life was a fairytale but your life has not been a fairytale and mine has not been a fairytale and Joseph's life was not it. Tell our stories are. God tells Anne-Marie have walked through the journey with his help and through his strength and for those that are listening that are in the midst of their own messy story, God can be there strength to apps I 100% he can and he is willing and able to hit the handle whatever crisis situation you're going through the Salvation Army's mission doing the most good means helping people with material and spiritual needs to become a part of this mission every time you give to the Salvation Army visit Salvation Army USA.org to offer your support and love to hear from you. Email us@radiouss.salvationarmy.org or call 1-800-229-9965 or write us at PO Box 29972, Atlanta, GA 30359 tell us how we can help share prayer requests or share your testimony. Would love to use your story here.

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