Give Your To-Do List to God: Finding Peace with Margaret Agard

David W Ebel: Welcome to another episode of God Says Yes. I'm your host, David Ebel. And after a ministry of over over 50 years, loving people, and particularly those who go through difficult times, whether they're struggling now or they've struggled before, or they have someone in their life that's struggling now and they they're having challenges trying to help them manage the struggling. This is a place for you. We are here to say yes, God is able. Yes, God loves you. Yes, God created you before you were even a twinkle in your parents' eyes. And He created with hope and faith in your spiritual DNA so that when you come to a place where you need that later in your life, the tools are already waiting for you. So you don't have to worry. You have enough faith and you have enough hope. It's there available when you need it. some people get hurt and they struggle with different things, whether they've been wounded or offended or They've failed themselves or they've hurt someone or they've been hurt. And it's easy to pull back and not give your haul your all. Matter of fact, it feels safe. But God really has a better plan than that, and that's why we're here. We'd like you to consider that maybe God has a better answer than the one you've been using so far. And to do that, we we bring different guests from all over the world. And today we're bringing Margaret Margaret Agar. And Margaret is a an incredible woman. She loves God. And she's been investing in people's lives or most of her whole life. And it's great to have someone who's a seasoned believer. Sometimes we bring guests on and they're they're stick they're still discovering as we go, and that's great. But sometimes it's nice to have someone with a little bit of seniority who says, been there and done that a long time, and God's still good, and God still continues to be good. And if He's done it for me, He can do it for you. And that's what I wanted and that's what I prayed for with Margaret. is that she would come on, just be her genuine self. So Margaret, welcome. We're glad you're here.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Thank you for having me come, David. I've been looking forward to this.

 

David W Ebel: Margaret, tell us a little bit about yourself. We don't you talk to strangers, we talk to friends.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Well, where I am right now is I am 76 and Heavenly Father has led me to earn my master's degree in clinical mental health counseling. my mother died just short of her ninety-sixth birthday a few years ago, and I thought I could live twenty more years. So what should I be doing? And the answer was get a master's degree in clinical mental health counseling and work with the people I have worked with in the church for years, people in chronic pain and chronic crisis. And so that's where I am now. And I think the reason I'm on your show is because of a book I wrote about my life years ago when I was in my mid-40s and was overwhelmed as a single mother. a student and a full time person earning money to support. I was a sole financial support for my family and I had eight children. So yeah.

 

David W Ebel: Excellent. Eight kids. That's a you were a busy woman.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: I was a busy woman. Yes, I was.

 

David W Ebel: Yes. Well well I'm glad you're here today. And we you know, it's important that people get to know the real us. You know, in a w in a w world of AI and and and everybody portraying that they're something, it's nice to have the reality of who real people are and what they've lived through. So y you're you're in the right place, and so are our visitors and our guests today. So we have s four simple questions we ask everybody. The first question is: Who were you before you met Jesus?

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: I have to say I was a toddler because I don't ever remember not believing in Jesus. I and I do remember never believing in Santa Claus. So if you have to cover a child's ears, you should do it now. Because I never believed in Santa Claus. I never did not believe in Jesus. But one day I had an experience and I was seven, I was young, where I was in a a a kind of sacred place and I Up to then I had learned a lot about Jesus, but that day I felt like I met him. I just felt this sense of intelligence and love and peace, as if there was a real person standing in front of me. And I have been, I don't want to say running after, but seeking that closeness ever since. And I

 

David W Ebel: Mm-hmm.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: found it when I would read my Bible, in second grade, I had a little Bible. And if I was upset, I'd go to my room and read it and I would feel so much better. And I can remember the first time he he answered a prayer when I was lost riding a bike in fourth grade and I could not find my way home. But I knew if I could find this bridge, that it it went over a stream that would go to my my house and I kept my bike and looking and looking. And finally I remember kneeling down next my bike and saying, I don't know what to do. Help me to get home. And as I stood up, I kind of looked a couple blocks away and I felt this thought. Go there, turn right, you'll see the bridge. And that's what I did. And that was, I'd say that's the first time he answered my prayer. But when my life really changed, I think was in my early twenties. When yeah.

 

David W Ebel: Okay, so so that's that's when you the second question comes in, what happened when you met him? When he became real

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Okay.

 

David W Ebel: real to you.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Yeah. I someone in church had said, you know, something like this. Like I was praying and I know you're supposed to stay on your knees until you hear God answering your prayers. And and I thought, what? Like what is she talking about? I thought you

 

David W Ebel: Yeah.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: just prayed, then you got one about your day and things either happened or they didn't. So I said, I don't think I know how to hear your voice. I don't think I understand that. And I would like to know. And I began to and that week I prayed and that Sunday and I said, Help me know how to hear your voice. I don't know how you're gonna do it if you haven't before now, but and I had three experiences that week and they were all fairly similar. I had a thought, and my first thought was I should invite a couple to dinner. And this was Monday. And I thought, hmm, no, I don't think so, because we just had him to dinner Friday. That would be weird in the middle of the week to invite him to dinner. So I was like, I don't think so. And you know, short while later I was making chili or something, and it was like, Really, invite them to dinner. And I thought, hmm, no, I already know I'm not gonna do that. And then a third thing came and I thought, you know, we have plans tonight as a family. And it's like, invite him to join you in your family and your plans. And I thought, is this God? Because the thought kept coming back. I thought is this God? And so I did it. And when they came to dinner that night, they shared with us that they were out of money and they hadn't been able to buy any food. And they had been praying about it in a church on Sunday. they had been invited to dinner every night that week, except for Monday night.

 

David W Ebel: Ha ha.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Well, so I had about three experiences like that that week, where I would have a thought, I would kind of like, hmm. And then I the thought would come back, and I have learned that is exactly what happens with me. I will get a thought, I will push it away, and it'll come back and it'll push it away. And then the third time, maybe this is God. Now, after decades of this, I've gotten much faster at recognizing it. It doesn't have to keep coming back. I know it's him. it has changed my life because of he uses me to answer other people's prayer and

 

David W Ebel: Mm-hmm.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: I I feel his love for them.

 

David W Ebel: Mm-hmm.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: And because I feel his love for them, I feel his love for me at the same time.

 

David W Ebel: He said, Love each other like I love you.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Right. And often I'm thinking Yeah, because I'm not the best person. Sometimes I'm thinking people deserved what they got. Like they made

 

David W Ebel: Mm-hmm.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: a bad choice. And and apparently God doesn't care because he will still send people out and I'm one of them to you know, answer their prayers.

 

David W Ebel: The the difference in me me and he is a big difference. If I if I look at somebody and I have negative plans or thoughts for my I have learned that the first thing I need to do is stop and go back and say, Okay, God, now I now we know what my flesh thinks. Now what does the Holy Spirit think? Tell me what you

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Yes. Think it's correct.

 

David W Ebel: want to happen. And I learned that young it and I walk in the first five years. And it's worked every time for the rest of my life.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Me too. I often pray, help me to see this person as you do. Help me to love this person as you do. And I did that with the one of my teenage sons the first time I prayed that prayer. He was the most obnoxious 15-year-old you could ever want to meet. and I was saying, you know, I love him because he's my son, but I don't like him much. And

 

David W Ebel: Yeah.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: I want you to pray to see him like I do. So I did. And had this most amazing experience where We've got a minute for this. This is back when there were magazines, right? Women's magazines. I go to my mom's house, she has a stack by her by her couch, and I start flipping through one. And I, I saw a story about a young boy who had been bullied in high school because he had accused a favorite coach of abusing him. And I thought, something like that happened in our school recently, so maybe a year or two before. So I'm flipping through, I'm reading the article. And as I read it, I thought, that this is our school. And this was the school my son, his name is Dan, was going to at the time. And as I read it, it said he had been so pilloried because the kids loved this coach. I mean, there were signs all over town raising money for the coaches, legal defense, and that he had it was suicidal, basically, this young boy. And the only thing that kept him going is that it was He had framed next to him a petition with only a few names on it that said, We believe you we're here for you. And I knew whose name was at the top of the list because I remembered the day I had taken Dan to school and he and my and Dan is like six four, he may he lettered in three sports, he's good looking. And so he's the opposite of this boy. And he said, I don't like how they're treating them, him at school, and I'm gonna pass this petition around and have kids sign it. And then when I picked him up that afternoon, I said, Well, how'd it go? And he said he was mad. So they wouldn't let me. They said they didn't want to be talked about at school anymore. This was a legal case, and so I wasn't allowed to pass around the petition. So he said, I just got a few of my friends to sign it and we gave it to him. And so as soon as I read this magazine article, I thought, this is who God sees. God sees this young man who saw someone else struggling and took care of him. And that is still who Dan is. Dan's in his 40s now. And Dan, when COVID started, he was concerned because they're shutting, you know, like they're shutting parks and they're shutting libraries and they're shutting public restrooms. And his thought was, what's going to happen to the homeless people? Where are they going to go? And so he worked with the city and he met some homeless people and he helped to get some places opened and he made sure that they had some food. So he he is still looking to see who needs support and supporting them. And that's been my experience

 

David W Ebel: So the fifteen

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: all along.

 

David W Ebel: so the fifteen year old went from from struggling to to now he struggles to help others.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Yeah, he does. He's and he could still be obnoxious, but I knew underneath it who he really was. He was just fifteen, you know, that's kinda how they get sometimes.

 

David W Ebel: yeah, a lot of teens go through a stage where they're they're unlovable. We love them, but it's it's work.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: It's work. Yeah.

 

David W Ebel: Yeah, but if God loves them we do too. So it w nobody gets no nobody gets fired from being being loved.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: I can remember recently praying because a lot of the people I work with are chronic. Chronically in trouble, another way to put it. And a lot of them come from backgrounds where they were abused or their parents were alcoholic and they just don't seem to be able to break that cycle themselves. And I can remember sitting, it was crazy. I was just sitting in my car outside the post office, getting ready to go and do something and about one woman, like we'll call her Mary, and I'm thinking how broken Mary is. And I felt the spirit say to me, Margaret. None of my children are broken. I know that's a very popular word to use today. And he said, they are wounded. Many are deeply wounded, but they are not broken. And I can heal wounds. That is what I do. I heal the wounded. And what I want every child who loves me is given a gift. And what I want you to do is to look for their gift. and hold it up to them so they remember who they are and what they're capable of doing.

 

David W Ebel: Well done.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Yeah.

 

David W Ebel: I love that. That's that's phenomenal. Now so you now the rest of your life because of Jesus is is doing what you're you're sharing with us over and over and over again beautifully.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: It is. And the the one of the new other changes came in my forties. And that is at that point I was a single mom. I had eight children still at home. I was the sole financial support of the nine of us. And I was working in the high tech industry, but I was a a couple semesters short of a degree. And I wanted to have that degree because if you're gonna be on the executive level, people like to say, Here's our executives, and here's, their background. And so I went to get this degree. And so this is what I'm doing. I'm going to school full-time. I'm working full-time to support a family of nine. And I'm the mother of eight children, and which is a basically a full-time job. And I was constantly overwhelmed. I was getting about four hours of sleep a night. I would wake up in the middle of the night in a panic, thinking, what haven't I, what have I left undone? What have I forgotten? kept a little pad beside my bed where I wrote down what I had to do. I was an executive. I knew all about, you know, how to put things in the A quadrant and the B quadrant and focus on the first, the most important things. I knew how to do that. And I was doing that, but it was all in the A quadrant most of the time. And it seemed like I would go do something, like study for a test. And this is before it was online and you could just go when you wanted. You had to actually show up, take the test.

 

David W Ebel: Mm.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: And if the professor wasn't there, he would cancel the test. And so I had studied for a test, showed up, it was canceled till the next week. And I thought, well, if I'd known that, I would have worked on a different important project, right? Or I showed up at a client's site and put had put together a proposal and they said, you know, you just met. We want to do it completely differently, so throw that proposal away. Let's do this new one. And I thought, if I had known, I wouldn't have spent hours putting this proposal together. And then I thought, if I just knew the future, then I would not have done these things that I did. I would have done something else. And then I thought, you know what? I know who does know the future. And so that is when I started taking my to-do list every night. And saying, What do I have to do? because I learned how to feel this, his voice. And I would just look at my list and I would cross things off. And even if I thought, that's a mistake, I would cross it off. I would only do what he had on the list. And type A's, we think if we're gonna have extra time, we'll start adding stuff. I didn't add stuff. And so now

 

David W Ebel: Yeah.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: it's finished every night by eight. I would get a full night's sleep because I'd already gone over my to do list. There was no waking in panic. what have I forgotten? And that had took about three days before that happened. And that is how it just went from then on. If I just did what he gave me to do, everything worked out. If and it got to where I could be in backed up in traffic, I didn't even worry about it because I well he knew this was gonna happen and this is when I left, so probably something's gonna happen on the other end that they're gonna be late or something. will make it okay and it always did. And so that's when I say I I gave my to-do list to God and I got more done, more sleep, less stress. And

 

David W Ebel: Yeah. Yeah.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: yeah. And then I gave that up because I felt like I was asking too much of God. Like I'm asking him to micromanage me. You know, like I shouldn't have to be commanded in all things. I should figure things out for myself. And so I took it back.

 

David W Ebel: How'd that work out for ya?

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Not well. And so after yeah, after a few years I was right back in the same spot, only worse. And I started again. But this time I thought, is this biblical? Like should I really be doing this? And I changed my question, especially after I read in the Bible. I was I remember reading John 8.29, where Christ said, You know, I'm never alone. The Father's always with me because I do always those things that please him. I thought, well, how do you know that? then he would I remember all those times he went off at night and prayed. Then he'd come back and be like, What we're going to Capernaum. it was I thought, well, this is probably what he's doing. And and then I read in the Lord's Prayer where he said, Thy will be done on earth the way it is in heaven. And at the time I thought, what do I think is happening in heaven? Do I think the angels are saying, I'm real busy with this project here, God? Do you think you could help me? I'm stuck? Or do you think they're saying, We're committed to what you're committed to? What do you want me to do today? And that was how my prayer changed. I would look at my list and instead of saying, What do I have to do? I began to pray, What do you want me to do today? And often it get the laundry done. But you know what I mean? But like, but be kind when you do it. I mean,

 

David W Ebel: Mm-hmm.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: he knows we have to do what we have to do down here. But

 

David W Ebel: Yes.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: often he would give me a person to call.

 

David W Ebel: So so now you're back in school, getting ready to ev make even more impact and even more lives.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: I I do hope so. And he said, because I'm, I'm a beginner. I look like I should have been being a clinical mental health counselor for 40 years because of my age. And they're getting someone who's been doing it for four months. And

 

David W Ebel: Ha ha.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: but I do pray and I have felt very strongly that he will send me the people that I can help.

 

David W Ebel: Th those people that she's going to send are divine appointments. Those are set up by God. So you he's already given you to the tool before he gives you the job. He prepares you before. So as a as a as a layman serving as a servant in that capacity, you've got enough for now when you prepare for more. Or God wouldn't put them in your path.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: I thank you, David. That's what I keep telling myself. I don't a hundred percent believe it yet. I know I should. But when I'm sitting in front of someone, I'm like, you poor people. But

 

David W Ebel: Well that that's where you you you and the in the mirror need to have a conversation. God says, I believe that settles. Feelings don't if feelings aren't his

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Okay. God said I could do this. He's sending me someone.

 

David W Ebel: feelings they don't count.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Okay, thank you.

 

David W Ebel: Because no if if of all the things I've done in my life, if my feelings were in control, I'd have done like eighteen percent of them.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Yeah.

 

David W Ebel: but God said it, I believe it, that settles it. And I would encourage you while you're encouraging them, because none of us are done yet. We're s it's a it's a lifetime experience. And we discover along the way, as you're doing now, that in this chapter in the book of your life, y it's a new chapter. But he already prepared you in the earlier chapters, so this chapter has already got a foundation.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: One thing I know is I will listen to him, that's for sure. So often I'm sitting here praying,

 

David W Ebel: And that's why you're valuable to the kingdom.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Yeah, what do I say now? And it comes. Yeah. Yeah.

 

David W Ebel: smart. That's what everyone needs to do, really. And I try to do that every day, but there are days when at the end of the day I have to say, Father, as you already know, this was not my best day. I am sorry for that. Would you would you fix me so I can bless them?

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Mm yeah.

 

David W Ebel: So that the next day I can trust that he'll help me do a better job.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: So if I were gonna share, the best thing about doing this is how often I feel such joy and delight that he used me to help someone and someone I didn't know, or you know, I'll be sometimes like once it was my husband and I started doing vegan because of his heart. I wasn't real fond of it, and I wanted some ice cream and I also wanted a hamburger. So I he wasn't with me, and so I went to Wendy's and I got and they had like ice cream for a dollar or something. I got it. And I went and it was a long line because it was near lunch. And as I left the line and pulled through, I felt the spirit, and I was going to stop and get a watermelon on the way home because sometimes people are selling them by the side of the road. And I felt the spirit say, you give that ice cream to the person selling watermelon. And I thought, well if I'd known I was going to do that, I'd have gotten two.

 

David W Ebel: Ha ha ha.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Because I want it. And I fortunately it wasn't that far down the road. And they were out of cones, so they put it in a cup. And so I was like, okay, fine. And when I got there, the poor watermelon guy, he was just dripping with sweat. It was so hot. And he was under a tree. And when I got out and I was like, here I brought you this ice cream, you could see his face. And was just so relieved. And I thought, you know. Thank you for having do that.

 

David W Ebel: And you'll have ice cream again, but you bless somebody today.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Yes. Yeah. Well we don't get it very often. But I don't regret it. That's what I mean. I don't think yeah.

 

David W Ebel: Exactly, exactly. That's the point. Is sometimes denying yourself that another's needs be met before your own is called biblical love.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Biblical wealth, yes. Hmm.

 

David W Ebel: Biblical love is when you take care of them before you think about you, because they have needs.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Well, I still thought about me, David. But I did do it. That's what I'd like to say. Yes.

 

David W Ebel: Well but that no that's we're under construction. But that is that's our target, is to to learn to love like Jesus dove. Every disrespect that could be given to any living being. And then he then he allowed himself to be crucified and shed his blood, so that by the shedding of his innocent blood our sins can be washed away.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: It's true.

 

David W Ebel: And when God sees us, He doesn't see our failures. He sees His Son. And because of that Son, we have a relationship with God that allows our heart to be clean and pure and changed and rebuilt and renewed and restored. And that's the the hope of all of this is the underlying piece is you were created to love. You've always

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Mm-hmm.

 

David W Ebel: been loved. You can't even fire God from His love. You can't do anything wrong enough to lose His love. I remember being in death row and I led a guy to the Lord who re came to the realization that he has screwed up his life so bad, he deserved the chair, but he still wanted to apologize to God. He knew it wasn't going to change anything in this world, but he didn't want to leave this world with it as messed up as he had, now that he knew better. So I led

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Yes.

 

David W Ebel: him in a prayer. This in it, you know, some people say, well, it's last minute. Well God is not an any minute God. God doesn't even own a watch. He is time. So he met him

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: That's true.

 

David W Ebel: and his point of need. And when we were done praying, that guy sobbed like a baby. I have never seen any adult male cry that hard. And I said, Are you all right? He said, I will be. I don't feel angry for the first time since I was 15.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Well.

 

David W Ebel: I didn't know to even have that conversation.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Right.

 

David W Ebel: And he said, Yeah, I d what I need to do tomorrow, because two weeks from now is when I get the chair. Tomorrow I need to sit down with the warden and tell him the rest of the things I've done wrong. That they've never been able to pin to anyone.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Mm.

 

David W Ebel: Because I can't leave this world lying.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Lying, yes. And you

 

David W Ebel: In hiding it is lying.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: you you make a point that I think is important that people think there's a balance like like this, right? This is how much good I did, this is how much bad I did, and that's how God looks at it. And and it's almost like what you said is like it's last minute, but what God looks at is where our heart is at the at the moment. And so as long as our heart has been changed, that's what counts, right?

 

David W Ebel: Exactly.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: And you think, well, so if I did good all my life and I did one bad thing at the end, I'm like condemned or that I didn't repent of. And I know that's not really how it works when I'm thinking how people talk. Or if I did all bad my whole life and then at the end I started doing good, how fair is that? And you're like, Well, what kind of heart did you have that you would do that at the end of your life? Whatever it was. Were you doing it because you're of from your heart, or you were just Checking off boxes and the rules, right? And the same way with

 

David W Ebel: Yeah.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: your man on death row, you know, h from what he said, his heart was changed. And that's what God wants for us, that our hearts be changed to become like his.

 

David W Ebel: Yeah. God wasn't willish that one should perish, but all should have eternal life. That that

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Yes.

 

David W Ebel: pretty much means we're all na in the boat, not out of the boat. We

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Right.

 

David W Ebel: have to jump out of the boat because God w doesn't

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Right.

 

David W Ebel: want anyone to to not have all the love he has and healing and deliverance and all that. And that's why this podcast is so important, is many times we will be so beat up by life that we don't think we're worthy. Or we we we feel that why would God want me? I know before I gave my life to Christ, that's how I felt. I didn't think he was getting a deal. My prayer while I was on my knees asking for forgiveness is, God, you know how messed up I am. I have nothing to offer. I have nothing to offer you at all. I can't even promise to be good. I can have nothing to give you. But I'll give you me. Obviously, you see something I don't think I even see. But here I am.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: True.

 

David W Ebel: And and and so everybody's at a different part on that pendulum swing, from people like you who grew up doing good, and God kept you from pain and kept you through everything, to guys like me who've been through everything, physically that's yeah, my my testimony is totally different from yours. But yet at the end of this, the same God who loved you and kept you from was the emergen he was like drowning. And someone throws you a life ring. You don't say, No, no, I want the pink one. You just take the ring and let them pull you in. And that's who Jesus was to me. He was my He was my life preserver because I had given up and given up and given up till there was no more giving. So when I gave my heart to Jesus and I discovered somebody already thought I was worth pulling in, I gladly gave my heart to him. And that's what I want for everyone. No matter, even if you've been a Christian and you've done well. And then you fell away and not so well. God doesn't look at that and say, Well never have you're not you're not my son anymore. You don't ca you don't matter to me. He

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Right.

 

David W Ebel: just loves you the way you are.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Yes he does. Yes he does. And he made us that way.

 

David W Ebel: What you that's pretty money. Yeah.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Yeah. Because I, I have a degree in math and I I don't think like a

 

David W Ebel: That's part of it. Yeah.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: lot of women. Are we okay? And so I for a long time I thought God had made a mistake. Like maybe he put me in the wrong body, not like it was transgender, but I was just like, I don't get it, 'cause I don't think like that. And I was reading, you know, Paul lists the gifts of the spirits, right? And I was reading them once and Heavenly Father's like, Do you notice something about these? And I was like, Well, it's a list of the gifts. And he said, Well, have you noticed they aren't broken out by gender? I thought, that answered my question. I I get to be who I am. Yeah.

 

David W Ebel: And just be a good one.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: And this would be a good one to read.

 

David W Ebel: Now, we we've come to who who we are, what's how our lives have changed. So what hope would you give to a a a viewer who or listener who is going through a difficult time and they've almost pulled back? I my my word picture usually is they're sitting on the side of the curb of life, watching life go by and they need to get up off that curb and get back into things. How would you address that to encourage those that are viewing?

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Well, I my message, I feel like God gave me one note to sing, is there is a plan for you. And often we are sitting on the curb because we don't think we're of any value. And my answer is you are of value. And if you start asking God, what do you want me to do? And I don't care how simple it is, and do it, that's when your life begins to change. And you walk down that path.

 

David W Ebel: That'll work. That'll work. Now, and we always invite our guests to to leave us a golden nugget. That's something that even after the podcast is gone, in the weeks to come, they can mull over it, they can cons consider it, they could pray over it, contemplate, however they process things. What would you leave for them to consider in the weeks to come?

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: I have noticed, and I was doing this, that people are often running very hard down the wrong path. And so to pause for a minute, and again, I have one note. Start to ask God, what do you want me to do today? He will put you on the right path. And especially type A people. Like if you have a list and you have these goals and this is where you think God wants you, pause. and start to ask him, what do you really want me to do today? And then do that.

 

David W Ebel: That's a great that's a great thing to close with. no matter how far you run, no matter where you go, God is always at the end of where you're running to. So you might as well just stop and say, help me, direct me, correct my my help my spiritual GPS, direct me in the path I'm supposed to go in so that I can I can enjoy this life with you, and I can be a blessing to somebody else because I'm enjoying this life with you. So with that in mind, let me you you got a book I hear. you wanna talk about it?

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: I do. I have a website in his footsteps.com. There are two books up. And the first one, the one that most people read and enjoy is I gave my to-do list to God. Got more done, more sleep, and less stress. And so that is the one that I recommend people read. I did write a follow-up one when we were serving missions, and it just kind of extends that.

 

David W Ebel: Mm-hmm.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Because then every day we got up as a couple and said, what do you want us to do? As you know, David, being in ministry. And so there's a place where you can sign up for my newsletter and and it has links to my social media accounts as well. So and I

 

David W Ebel: Mm-hmm.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: do not spam because I'm too lazy to spam. So yeah,

 

David W Ebel: Ha ha ha.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: you're lucky if you get the newsletter. So there you go. So innusfootsteps dot com is where my books are. Thank you.

 

David W Ebel: Say now say the for the listening ones who have to grab a pencil, say the name of your website slower.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Okay, in his footsteps dot com Yeah.

 

David W Ebel: That's great. Now we're going to pray and ask God to bless what's happened. And then we're going to I'll challenge everybody and then I'll challenge them to Get off the curb and get busy with life. So let's pray. Heavenly Father, we praise you and thank you for the goodness that you've given to us. It started when you created us. It continued when we were absolutely stuck doing wrong and we don't didn't even know how to get out of it. That when we know what right is and we do the wrong thing, that's a sin, and boy, we know how to sin very well. Lord God, we We we pray that you will work in the hearts of everyone, because Jesus came and lived a life without sin, and then took our sin unto himself and allowed himself to be tortured and crucified. The electric chair of the day. He was he was abused even up to death. But out of the out of the beating on his back did we have healing? Out of the blood that he shed we have forgiveness. Out of the Holy Spirit that that is part of him, we have we have hope. lead we have leading, we have guiding, we have understanding. We have a future. And we pray, God, that you will reveal yourself fresh and anew to everyone. If they started in that journey and they've got stuck, we pray, Lord, that you'll unstick them, that you'll start fresh with them and start their life over again. I'm grateful that your relationship isn't like Monopoly where I have to go back and start again. I can I can come to you where I am. You'll accept me and forgive me. Allow me to forgive myself, and then you'll move me forward on that walk that's always been there. Lord, for those that haven't met you yet, I pray that you they'll they'll be interested enough, they'll be hungry enough to say, God, reveal yourself to me. I pray, Lord, that you'll call you'll call them gently through your Holy Spirit so that when they do ask for you, they'll feel your love. They'll they'll recognize the difference in their lives, that you love us where we we are. You accept us as we are, and you heal us from where we are. Lord bless them and draw them close to you. Give them hope during their struggles. Give them hope as they help others who struggle. Bless them and give them hope in their lives in Jesus' name. And together we say amen.

 

Margaret Agard: In His Footste: Amen.

 

David W Ebel: And the the closing con challenge is always the same. You want to know God, seek after him. You really want to know him, seek Jesus. Jesus said he was the way to God. You want the way, the truth, and the life, you've got it. But if you sit on the side of the curb of life, it's gonna you're gonna watch it go by. And God wasn't willing that one of us should not have a relationship with him. That's why I sent Jesus. Give Jesus a job. Give him your life to work on and watch what he does in your life because you did it, you trusted him, and he has a plan for you.