Dawn Stephens Ep 53

David W Ebel: Welcome to the God Says Yes Podcast. You are welcome here. Welcome back to God Says Yes. My name is David Ebel, and after 50 plus years of ministry, we're here again. We're still here with the same t focus and target as always, to encourage, to meet people that that struggle, that are regular people just like you and me, who've gone through things and come out the other side because of with God's help to become viable, healthy, functional human beings who can make a difference in the world around them. Now, for some of us, we we really have some struggles, and ⁓ we we want to recognize that. So even if you're one of those that's been wounded or hurt or or cheated or betrayed or belittled, or or even you got hurt at church, which can happen because you will look at the emergency room at a hospital. Not everybody's thrilled to be there, and the church was designed to be the emergency room with the body of Christ, where the wounded and broken come in. And that's where they find help and healing. Now, but when they come in, they may be kicking and screaming on the inside. And so the anger and the fear and the doubt and the questions, they cause sometimes people to say things or do things that are unlovable. And it hurts. It really does. But sometimes people actually get wounded enough, they step back themselves. Instead of being there for the person with God's help, forgive them, they get wounded enough, they say, Well, never mind that. And they sit on the curb watching life go by. And they don't get the blessings of God that God had planned for them. And the other person moves by moves on and you're stuck. And so that's what this is for. God says yes. Yes to healing and hope and future and desires and blessings that only He can provide. And He can't wait to do it. So ⁓ that's why we're here. ⁓ I I've got a I've got a great friend here this to with me today to interview. Her name is Dawn Stevens. And Dawn is one of the most creative people I've interviewed in a long time. And that's a compliment. I'm a creative person and I love creative types with all my heart. And it's exciting to have her on the on the podcast. Dawn, welcome. Thanks, David. I'm really glad to be here. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself so we we become friends right away? ⁓ sure. So I tell people that I am a fruit pot. That means I'm a vessel created by the potter to grow his fruit. ⁓ and so that's what I try to do every day. ⁓ I always haven't been a fruit pot. That's been a journey. and I've gone through a process of God filling me and emptying me with all different things. And each time he did, I made that my identity. And it just took a long journey for me to figure out that I needed to define myself by what he grew through me. And not what he gave me to hold. I love the I love the concept. I can't wait for the details. So who were you before Jesus? So who was I before Jesus? That's a hard question for me to answer because I feel like Jesus has always been there surrounding me, whether I listened to him or not. ⁓ I accepted him or asked him in to come live in my heart when I was just six years old. But my reason, David, was because I was in children's church and thought if I go forward and ask Jesus in my heart, I might win a prize ⁓ from the pre treasure box. And that would make my teacher very happy. So I did. and you know, I love how God just honors our little hearts and desires, even when they're maybe a little misled. ⁓ then when I was about nine years old at a church camp. God really spoke to me and I realized that the reason I needed him was because I was a sinner. And so I ⁓ heard very clearly at nine years old, I want your life. And so I said yes then and you know, accepted him and went on a path where I decided, I'm gonna do whatever you want me to do. I'm gonna I'm gonna serve you my whole life. I made that decision at nine years old. However, there were two things I was really good at. I could draw pictures and I could make up a great story. And when I was in school, I'd draw pictures all over my test papers and worksheets and I'd get in a lot of trouble for that. My teachers would get upset with me and they'd ask why I did it. And so I'd make up a fabulous story. I'd get in even more trouble. So I never did really well in school. And David, while I told God, I'll do anything you want me to do, the one thing I told him I would didn't want to do, and I'm sh I figured he'd honor it, right, because he loves me, was be a teacher. So I told God, I'll do anything but be a teacher. And when I went time to go to when I went time for me to go to college, I went to visit my sister who was there because I still God had not revealed to me who I was supposed to be. I began to sit with her in her dorm room and her roommate came in and began to draw pictures on this big poster board and I was like, Is that your homework? And she said, Yeah. I said, ⁓ that's it. I'm gonna major in whatever you're majoring in. That's my major, that's what I'm going to be. And of course, David, you knew what her major was, right? Elementary education. Yeah. There you go. So I became a teacher. ⁓ And discovered I loved it. Like I was so gifted at it. I determined that I was created for that. That God had always meant for me to be a teacher and I loved it. But pretty soon I had my own kids. I became a mom too. Despite growing up during the women's lib movement, I was having a really hard time being a hundred percent mom and a hundred percent teacher and something had to give. Obviously couldn't send my kids back, so I walked away from teaching and when I did, I felt so empty and unfulfilled. I struggled with identity. I didn't know who I was. I wasn't fulfilled enough just being a stay at home mom. So I started running a dot com business. We're in the dot com days. And while I did that, I wasn't writing stories. I wasn't drawing pictures except I got to make create little pictures for my website, write business plans. They were a lot like stories. And I did that for a while. There was only one part, David, that I was really bad at. And that was selling things. So I never made a whole lot of money. My husband said when my kids got older, he was like, Hey, we really need money. You should probably go look for a job again. But I was still struggling. I was like, I don't know who I'm gonna be, I don't know what I'm supposed to be, I don't know what God wants to do with my life. And you know, I promised I would serve him, but I don't I don't know what that means. And so I pretty much told God again, I'll do whatever you want me to do, except of course sales, because we know that I can't sell anything or I'd still be running my own business. And so I went off to ⁓ convention, a show, and I met two guys who worked for the world's largest Christian publishing company. They were super impressed that I'd run my own business and that I'd been a school teacher and they wanted a they wanted to give me a job. And I thought, well this is it, right? I'm gonna write stories, I'm gonna illustrate books, I'm gonna draw pictures. I know it. So I said yes, whatever the job is, I'll take it. And you know what the job was? Selling. Selling. It was sales. It was the one thing that I said, God, I can't do this, and that's where he put me. But my job was to sell books to schools and and particularly to Christian schools because they were a Christian publishing company. So I just figured, Well gosh, if I take these books and write lesson plans to go with ⁓ because I knew how to do that as a teacher, and I give these lesson plans away, then teachers will buy the books. And that's what I did. And I outsold everybody in the company. I became the top salesperson. I got promoted to the head of this division. And I had 25 reps that worked under me. I worked, traveled all across the country to Christian schools, helping them use these books to teach with. I loved it. I need to interrupt here. Yeah. Okay. ⁓ You you gave me a lot more than I expected real quick. That's not But I gotta make sure I don't we don't wanna miss our checkpoints here. So y we know who you were. We know you how you met Jesus and how he's been good to you. And you're telling us about about your life. Struggles, difficulties, things that happened are are are are you know, we're we are strugglers and this is our story. How can people identify I mean it it sounds like your life's been pretty great. Has there been any battleground or struggles? Well, the so the the battleground was just inner because at this point, once again, I'm thinking, this is it, right? This is the best job ever. I'm making now I'm even making a lot of money where I didn't as a teacher. And I thought, this is what I was created to do. But David, that job only lasted about four years, and the publishing company got under a new new CEO, they called me up one day and said, We're cutting the division, your job no longer exists. Ouch. So I was but dumped. I mean, I just was jobless overnight. And because I was making my job, my identity every single time, that was a struggle for me. ⁓ and I I I know other people may think, ⁓ you've had such a great life, but For me, I w it I mean, I didn't want to get up out of bed in the morning. Like I was just done. I was I was so frustrated with God because at this point in my life I had done everything to serve him. And I just felt like every time he gave me something, I did the most with it, and then he would take it away. And I didn't understand why that was happening. but it was through that those experiences that A story came to me, ⁓ it which is about this little vessel that's created by a potter and it wants to know, Why did you make me? What's my purpose? So the first thing the potter does is he puts papers inside the little pot and little pot thinks, Ooh, I'm a smart paper pot. I love being this. But then the potter makes this other vessel that is bigger and stronger. than the little pot and he puts papers in that vessel. Then he takes little pot's papers away and puts them in the other vessel and little pot is empty and unfulfilled. But that's okay because the next day the potter comes by and puts coins inside little pot. Now little pot feels rich, loves being ⁓ the coin pot. He knows the coins belong to the potter, but gossip feels good to hold them, doesn't it? I don't we all want to be coin pots? But then the potter makes this pig shaped vessel and he starts to put coins in that vessel. And he takes all of Little Pot's coins away, puts them in the piggy bank. Little Pot is empty again. Then the potter puts dirt in ⁓ And now Little Pot does not want to be a dirt pot at all, does not like the way it feels to be a dirt pot. But it kinda gets ahead of the potter. And I did this a lot, David, in my life. I would kind of think I knew where God was taking me and I put myself there and end up in the wrong place. So Little Pot thinks, ⁓ I'm gonna become a flower pot. I might not be smart or rich, but I'm gonna be beautiful and I'm gonna grow beautiful flowers. And so it meets with the potter every day, gets sunlight and water and pretty soon it grows these beautiful flowers. And it feels very fulfilled and happy. But it wakes up one day and those flowers have turned hard and green. They're not beautiful anymore. Because you know what was happening? They were turning into strawberries. And so the potter says to Little Pot, You have to stop defining yourself by what you hold. You weren't meant to be a paper pot, smart paper pot, or rich coin pot, or a beautiful flower pot. You were meant to be my fruit pot. And so when I got to that Point in my life, that's when I decided, okay, I'm not going to define myself by what I hold, but I'm going to just be that vessel that allows God or the potter to grow his fruit through me. Amen. I, you know, I gotta tell you that a lot of people I meet, ⁓ you know, especially guys. So, hi, how you doing? What do you what do you do? What do you do? And and and so many times. They say I'm a plumber, I'm a doctor, I'm a lawyer, I'm I'm I'm a pastor, I'm something. And when all of a sudden you get too sick, you lose the job, whatever, you love you lose your identity because instead of who am I, it's I do. But our life isn't I do. Our life is to be that pot. And I know for me, I I tried so hard to to be a lot of different kinds of ministers. Because I knew that God had God had changed me. He made me new and he gave me a job. And I would my first job was this, building a relationship between him and me. He wasn't looking for all the do things. He was looking at the at the at the me things. First you fix me. And that was the hardest one in the world for me because I had to sit still. So true. So true. I'm the go do guy. I'm not the sit and wait guy. And I was sitting there going, ⁓ And so finally God said, Well, all right. And he allowed me to do something. ⁓ there was a ch our church had a little coffee house for the hippies. Tells you how old I am. And ⁓ they they gave me the job of filling the coffee pot. It's a great big industrial coffee pot. And ⁓ about the third week they pulled me aside and said, David, you can't do that job anymore. Why? Because the hot the water never gets hot. You keep draining it and filling it again because you want to do something, and so they get cold coffee. And it doesn't work that way. You don't you didn't ask for your job description of how to do it. You just went and did it. And that's not how you serve God. Yeah. Man, you could have knocked me over with a feather. My heart was broken. And eventually through time, I came to realize that my job is to please him and then reflect him to others. So whatever my job description is, this when it's big. This is better. That's right. When I use when I use a soda straw, I can only get that much out of it. But I I've been a fire chaplain. I know how fire hoses are. Big old guys. But see, that's how it is with God. The blessings of God come down, and if we only give him the soda straw, that's how much blessing you get. But when you surrender it, open up. And all his blessings come through, it will c you can't contain how it's going to work out. You just reflect it. You get the good stuff from the from the source to the person who needs it. And in but try to you bend a straw, you stop the leak liquid. Try to stop a fire hose by bending it. Yeah. You can't. A truck can run over and it won't bend. And see, that's the thing we want. We want to get to the point where this is so strong that we don't try to bend what he's trying to do with us. It's just be part of it. It's beautiful and be open to it. And that's exactly what you're talking about. So tell us more. Yeah, it is. Tell us more. Okay. So you you think I learned the lesson, but at that point I took that story and it got published and I became this award-winning author and illustrator and I let that define me. And so it was I was doing that, I was on a book tour, sharing this little story, helped. trying to help kids understand that as they're asked what they're gonna be when they grow up, that the most important thing that they do is be that vessel that God can grow the fruit of the spirit through. And so I'm on this book tour, I'm visiting a school, and during this time the pastor and school board leader of a church came to me and asked me to be the school principal of this little Christian school. And I said, No, I'm on a book tour. I'm an author now. Surely, like this that's not what God wants me to be. ⁓ I've said that. And yeah, exactly. But and you know, it it's interesting because at this point God wasn't dumping me, he was asking me to dump myself. I was literally doing that book talk at a t school and asking the kids what they would be and At the end of the talk, I go around and say, Well, it doesn't matter if you're gonna be a princess or a football player or YouTuber or whatever they would say. I would say it matters that you're a fruit pot too. And ⁓ as I did got to that point in the talk, I couldn't remember all the things the kids had told me. So I just looked around the room and there was a teacher and a principal standing there, and I said, You might be a teacher or you might even have to be a principal. And right as I said it, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and he was like, Yeah, you won't. And I'm like, so I did. I said yes and I became a school principal and I decided that I'm gonna go into this school and help these kids understand what it is to be a fruit pot, to grow the fruit of the spirit. And so we developed this whole curriculum, this little character education program. with the little pot and growing the fruit of the spirit. And I discovered something really dangerous that kids were beginning to seek reward for having fruit, not for showing it to others. And so, you know, I'd walk up and down the school hallways and they'd say, Hey Mrs. Stevens, look at me. I'm being joyful. And they'd smile or I was patient today at the drinking fountain. I was kind to somebody at lunch. And they just, and I was like, ⁓ we're so missing this. They're so self-centered. They're not understanding. Aren't we all? That yeah, that fruit is for others. It's not for ourselves. So I got together with the students and the teachers, and we wrote a second book called The Teapot. And that's a story about pouring into others. So in this book, Little Pot meets this teapot that the potter makes tea inside for the purpose of pouring it out, but the teapot does not want to give up its tea. And so it convinces Little Pot to keep its strawberries. And you know what's gonna happen, right? The strawberries are gonna rot, the tea's gonna grow stale, and they can't serve of the purpose that the potter created them for if they think they have these things. And they're not willing the pot for the potter to take them. So ⁓ we we wrote the teapot and we helped kids understand that you know you don't have patience. You show it to someone today, tomorrow you gotta grow it again. And so that's the story of teapot. And we wrote that, and then the kids began to understand that their fruit was for others, not for themselves. So that was a great lesson. continued to go on and work at the school and then God said to me, I want these kids to do more than just show others love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. I want them to share their God story with others. And that's what he's telling me to do as well. So we did a third book about a little oil lamp that ⁓ from the time when Jesus was a little boy. It's a little clay oil lamp and it's about how we are shaped to carry the potter's light and shine. You know, we talk a lot to kids and others about shining their light, but it's not our light. It's the potter's light. Only the potter can light us and we can carry that light. But in this story of the oil lamp, the little lamp is so small that it's just fearful of carrying that flame and it continually hides under bowls, just like it talks about in the Bible, where we shouldn't hide our light under a bowl. and so he the only way that the oil lamp becomes brave enough to carry the potter's light is when Teapot and Little Pot share their potter stories with it and it becomes brave. Because when we're brave enough to tell others about what God's done in our life, It helps them become brave enough to do it. So we I wrote the oil lamp and we published that book and we ⁓ so now we had three books and I was pretty happy with still being the principal. At the end of the story of the oil lamp, it gets put up on a pedestal and so it can shine for all the other it's not hiding under bowls anymore. Now it's in leadership, it's up on the pedestal. And you know what happens when you get in leadership? Burnout. And so that's really where I was struggling again. I was just trying to be all to all, teachers and students and parents, and and I was burning out. you've talked a lot about church hurt, and there was a lot of that going on also behind the scenes. So the pastor was my boss, he was also A longtime friend for 25 years. His kids and my kids had grown up together. We had a few other couples that were friends. And at this point, I'm running the school. My husband's one of the deacons working in the church. And he announces that he's had an affair and he's leaving his position. And the woman that he's had an affair with is one of my best friends whose kids were raised with my kids. So Not only was I struggling with burnout, but now I've got a lot of church hurt and I've got to carry the school through this. And so I don't have time to grieve. I'm just doing everything that I can do. I also had the opportunity when I wrote the oil lamp to go to Israel. And so I decided I want an antique oil lamp so I can take it back and show the students. So I went to an antique dealer and I asked him if he had an Oil lamp from the time that Jesus was a little boy. And he said, Yes, I do. He sold it to me and he said, Would you like the set? And I was like, Well, they come in twos. And he said, No, every oil lamp came with a small jar. Yeah. And it was designed so it fit right in the rim of the oil lamp. So when it got a crack, because it always did, the oil could seep through the oil jar and fill the oil lamp. Awesome. So I thought, well, yeah, I'll take them both. Sure. Went back to my students, helping the church get through all of this. We got a new pastor, stayed on, continued the journey, serving with all my heart where God had had me. And then we're right in coming into 2020. The new pastor decided that he really didn't want to have a school as a part of the church. And the school was still struggling from all of the stuff that we'd been through. And so they made the decision right before COVID, ⁓ in February, to close the school for the next year. Ironically, my husband was also kind of in between jobs, and so we decided, well, maybe God wants us to move. And so we began to search for new jobs in different places, and he got a job in another state. And we moved. Well, then COVID hit. So we moved right in the middle of COVID. We it was really hard to find a new church because nobody was going to church. We didn't have any friends. My my daughters had grown up and moved away and they lived in different places. So I was really alone, you know, like you just talked about the vertical with God when He puts you alone. But I began to ask him all over again, right? I knew what it was to be dumped. That was You know, we'd been a little pot many years ago. So I was just like, well, I'm not really being that fruitful. There's nobody in my life that I can show the fruit of the spirit to. Can't really pour into anybody or serve anybody because I'm not doing anything anymore. And it's real I'm not struggling with burnout, like I'm not even have a job, right? I'm not even trying to shine. And as I was unpacking everything from the move and putting it up on my shelf. I pulled out the oil lamp or the little small jar and don't you know it had gotten cracked as we moved. And God said to me, Now it's time to be that small jar. Now it's time for you to use all those things that I've given you that I've taken you on and seep oil or the Holy Spirit into others. And so I wrote the fourth book at that time called The Small Jar. And it's just about not being forgotten by God that He still has purpose for us. I love in the book, all the other vessels ask the potter to fix the crack, right? Like they're like, he can do it. He made the small jar. We know he could fix him. He could heal him, but the potter doesn't do it. He doesn't fix the crack. And you know why, David? Because it was the crack that he needed. And so God was just saying to me, all those wounds that you've experienced, even the church hurt, all that stuff is for the purpose of giving my Holy Spirit to others. So I'm not gonna undo it. I'm not gonna let you forget it. but I'm gonna use it so that others can experience who I am. So that's the story of the small jar. And that's what I'm still doing today. I took over a publishing company from a friend. And I try to help other authors share their stories. That's amazing. And ⁓ so so is it what do you do now? What how how are you doing that now? How how how are you how how you're fulfilling it, but how are you fulfilling it? You've got my care ⁓ curiosity going here. Well, I'm doing it however God tells me to. So it's ⁓ yeah, it's It's called EA Books Publishing. And I met this girl ⁓ who had founded the publishing company and started it while I was a principal. We didn't know each other. And we ⁓ w got together at ASA, which is a organization for women writers and speakers. And we met, had dinner, and she began to talk about what she'd been praying for, somebody to carry on the publishing company because she knew that God was moving her. And I was desperately praying for God to show me, I knew that He wanted me to do my books full time, to speak and full time. But if any of your listeners have ever done that, it's hard. Like there's no money. You know, writing books is more of a hobby than it is a career because there's just not a lot of money in it. And you spend more than you actually make. So I told God, yes, I'll do this, but I don't understand how I'll ever survive. Like I'm not old enough to retire. I still need to make a living. You need to show me how. So I was went to that conference asking him to show me how I could afford it. She went looking for someone to take over the publishing company. And as we talked, we kind of knew that we might be the answer to each other's prayers. ⁓ she talked to me about how her publishing company was a little bit different because it sets authors up to make a lot of money, where most publishing company they'll take money from authors and then they'll also sell the author back their books. So they're the ones benefiting from the author's story. And I didn't want to do that. I truly wanted to be in a position where I was serving the author and providing the services to the author. So when she explained to me the model, I republished all my books with her because that was a no-brainer. And then I just began to use my principal skills, my administration skills to kind of help revamp their systems, ⁓ manage their employees. And then as of January, she turned over the whole company to me. So That's what I do most days. I don't get to create as much as I like, but ⁓ I'm on the phone with authors, helping them publish books, and it's such a blessing because I get to hear like you do their stories and what God is doing in their life and help them put it into a published book. So the creator is creating through you so creators can create. There you go. You might have to write that one down. I might, yes, absolutely. But ⁓ you know, th this is amazing stuff, and I'm so grateful that you came on and shared it with us. ⁓ we need to talk a after after this. I have an idea. But ⁓ Okay. But ⁓ right now, the golden nugget. Every time a guest comes on, we invite them to tell us what special thing can we you you give us that we can pray over, mold over, meditate about. for the a week or so so we can take it with us so that it doesn't end when the podcast ends. It begins in anew and afresh in our lives as we we consider it. So what would your golden nugget be? I think I want the listeners to consider what vessel they are. ⁓ you know you can look at the four vessels that I kind of talked about. They might be the little pot defining themselves by what God's giving them to hold or holding on to something too tightly. Or maybe God's emptied them and now they don't know who they are or what they are. So they might be little pot and they need to just let the potter grow his fruit through them. They might be teapot because God's asking them to serve in a way that they're not willing to pour out into others. And they might be oil lamb because he may be asking them to get bold enough to tell somebody about him and they're shying away from that. Or they may have been wounded, wondering if God is done with them, or wondering why God won't heal them. And they might God may want to use their scars and their wounds to give, you know, ⁓ his Holy Spirit to someone. So I think I think the thing I'd want them to consider is what vessel are they? and know that their potter, their creator, made them with so much love and has such purpose for them. they're not forgotten. I love it. Now ⁓ now's the time we get to talk about websites and books. Okay. I kinda already slipped those in there a little bit. Yeah, but can you tell us your website address nice and slow so the listening audience can have time to write it down? Sure. It's Dawn Stevens. So my name is with a P H. It's D-A-W-N-S-T-E-P-H-E-N-S and the word books, B-O-O-K-S dot com. ⁓ so no spaces. Just dawnstevensbooks.com. And you can learn more about me there. You can watch ⁓ contact me to be a speaker, get copies of the books. If there's a tab at the top for publishing, if they're interested in ⁓ getting information about publishing their story, I can help them with any of that. That's awesome. And so so now ⁓ name name the books. And the books will ⁓ a a lit the illustration of them will come up over your shoulder so that people can see what those books look like. Right. So the first one is called the Little Pot. Second one is called the Teapot, then there's the oil lamp, and then the small jar. They're all available on Amazon. Or wherever books are sold as well. I love it. This is fantastic. And ⁓ I'm so grateful. I'm incredibly grateful that you came on. Your story is unique, not like anybody else's, and that's what makes it special. My story is unique, not like anybody else's, that's what makes it special. And you know, if people would just realize your story is unique because it's you. You don't have to be somebody else. You're not competing with anybody else, you're not compared to anybody else. It's just you and Jesus have a personal relationship and you get to share it. And that's amazing. So what I'm going to challenge you to do is to don't sit on the curb. Give God a try. It you know, when I gave my heart to Jesus, I told I my prayer was, Jesus, if you're real, I give you six months to prove yourself. I didn't have enough Bible to to to affect anybody. I didn't even know how to pray. But that's how I prayed. It's that was 2007. No, that was that was s n nineteen seventy three when that happened. I'm seventy four years old and he's still proving himself every day. I can't tell you how amazing God can make your life. I mean, I'm a guy that before Jesus I didn't have any talents at all. Now I'm an award winning photographer, I'm an author, ⁓ I've planted some several churches and rebuilt other ones. I've been an evangelist and ministered in forty nine states and twenty countries. What does that mean? That means that that fire hose, a blessing, is is open and wide. And I'm willing to to share that, spread that, let the oil come through of the Holy Spirit to love people. And that's why we're here. So I want to challenge you. Don't get stuck. If you are stuck, ask God to come in and and God heal you and restore you and rebuild you and renew you. Make your life worth living. You see, if I tried that, it didn't work. Try again. Don't look at the people. Don't look at the building. Don't look at the the pastors or ⁓ anybody in leadership. Look to the to Jesus. Look at the cross. The pastors and leaders and and other authorities, they didn't die on the cross for you. And when we look at them, we get they're they're human, they're going to fail. But when we look to God through Jesus, that's the perfect one. Never failed. And he'd never fail you as well. You were custom made in his image from the inside out. He built you with hope. And faith wired into your DNA before you were a twinkle in anyone's eye. He's waiting eagerly to manifest that in your life today. And to in if you give him some time to manifest it in your life forever. So let's I want to pray for all of you. And I'm and I hope that you'll then listen for the challenge. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I'm just grateful for the privilege we have. to be to be your kids, that you created us to love as the perfect Father would. You you allowed us to be here, and in spite of our frailties of the in the battles of this world, and you know, when we know what right is we do the wrong thing, we sin. The Bible tells us without the shedding of blood there's no forgiveness for sin. Innocent blood must be shed. So Jesus shed his innocent blood so that we could have our sins washed away, so that his loving Holy Spirit could dwell in our hearts. And lead us and guide us into all truth. Father, reveal yourself to those that are viewing and listening. Give them the chance to not look at the the reasons why they are wounded, but to look to Jesus the healer. Lord, please reveal yourself and love them. Manifest your love in such a way as they can recognize it. They can sense your love. And then forgive them and heal them and make new lives out of them as you have done for me. If you've done it for me, you'll do it for them. So, Lord, bless each of these that are listening and viewing. Bless Dawn and her family as they continue in their journey. But Lord, make a difference in the lives of each of us as you lovingly work in our lives daily for the rest of our lives and throughout eternity. In Jesus' name. Amen. Here's the challenge. You want to know God? Seek Him. If you seek God, you want to know more? Jesus said He was the way to God. So ask Jesus. To become your fire host. Let him be your conduit. Let him reveal Jesus' power in your life. And if you will, God will do phenomenal things that no one ever dreamed of. And he'll do it through you. Not so you can say, look at me. But you can say, no, no, look at him. Look at him, because that's what the power is. Don't look at the host. Look to the provider who gives the blessing through the host. I just want to be the host. That's all I've ever wanted to be. And God is the one who does that. I found I don't I'm not a pot and I'm not a all the other things, but I am the open hose that God can bless through. And I'm thrilled to have that privilege that God the Creator would do something with little old me. So I challenge you, seek after God, he will be found. Want to know him better? Seek Jesus. Jesus said he was the way to God, and we want him to be the way for you. Seek him today. This has been the God Says Yes Podcast with David Ebel. Connect with David, email him at God Says Yes Podcast Gmail. You can get his latest book, When the Doctors Say No, God Says Yes, at Amazon.com.