When Faith Is All You Have: A Missionary’s Story from Ecuador: Susan Peterson

Elizabeth Elliot's books about her husband JIm Elliott

In this podcast episode, Jan Johnson interviews Susan Peterson about her profound experiences as a missionary. 

Susan recounts a pivotal hike in the Ecuadorian jungle that tested her faith more than ever before. 

Despite physical exhaustion and lack of resources, Susan reached a new level of trust in God, realizing the incredible growth that faith can endure under pressure.

 Through struggles and unforeseen challenges, including spiritual warfare and environmental dangers, Susan discovered that relying on God 100% fundamentally changed her life, offering a powerful testimony of resilience and divine guidance.

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Transcript

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[00:02] Jan: Welcome to Just Talking About Jesus. I'm Jan Johnson, a seasoned believer who loves relationships and you know, just talking about Jesus.

[00:12] Susan Peterson: But that moment when I was past E, past reserve, past everything else, and I was crying as I'm hiking through the jungle and it's day two and we have no water, no food,

[00:23] I just thought for the first time in my entire life,

[00:27] I had to trust God 100%.

[00:30] There was no other option.

[00:36] Jan: We are here today with Susan Peterson. Welcome Susan.

[00:40] Susan Peterson: Thank you. So good to be here.

[00:42] Jan: I don't even know where to start with all the things that Susan has done and her adventures and where God's taken her. Like women's ministry,

[00:52] missionary in hard places.

[00:55] Susan Peterson: Short term.

[00:56] Jan: Short term missionary still. Yeah, still there. Mother of three, homeschool. I don't know, Wrote a book.

[01:06] Susan Peterson: Yeah, Lots of fun things.

[01:08] Jan: Lots of fun things.

[01:08] Susan Peterson: I do feel like life has been an adventure. Right. And you talk about that a lot too. But it has been. And all the things, especially as God unfolds things in each different season as well.

[01:18] Jan: Yeah, it's true. Yeah, it's true.

[01:20] So let's see,

[01:22] let's start with the big one. How about the missionaries?

[01:26] Tell me how you got started in that idea or where you got prompted to do that.

[01:32] Susan Peterson: I think going on missions trips is so important. I think going on even short term missions trips and that can be anywhere for a couple days to a couple weeks,

[01:41] whatever it is. But I think it's so important to introduce kids to other cultures, other different ways of living and then to you don't bring Jesus there because Jesus is already there wherever we go.

[01:52] Cause he is.

[01:53] But we have the opportunity to share him in different ways and to learn from them than to build one another up as we are one family in the kingdom of God.

[02:02] That's the joy of it.

[02:04] So we went on our way launch into that part. But so one of the things we got to do in 2007,

[02:13] there's a story in 1956 there was five missionaries killed at the end of a spear, which is the name of a book. It was Nate St. Jim Elliot and three others and profoundly affected the world.

[02:24] And they were young men of the Huaorani tribe. And they killed these five missionary men.

[02:29] And then the women came back. Some of the women came back and reconciled with the men. The men became Christians before that. And God just massively use their story to profoundly change many people.

[02:43] So we had the opportunity to go in 2007 and that was spent three days into the jungle and that is eight hour right.

[02:50] Jan: There is an adventure.

[02:51] Susan Peterson: Such an adventure.

[02:53] I have to tell you, I will tell you this. Like, it was a youth group trip, right?

[02:58] It was started. It was supposed to be a youth group trip. And then all the parents are going. Not a chance. And not letting my kids go into the jungle.

[03:04] And so then I offered. I said, well, can I go?

[03:06] And the youth pastor said, not a youth. You're too old. It's like, well, can I go?

[03:10] Jan: But I act like a youth. I'm young at heart.

[03:14] Susan Peterson: But I said, I'll help out.

[03:16] So all three of my kids decided to go, of course. Cause it's an adventure. It's in the jungle and I've got boys. So that was a natural time, right? Yeah.

[03:23] Jan: I mean.

[03:24] Susan Peterson: And so then we came and we were all gonna go.

[03:25] Jan: And there's snakes and there's, you know.

[03:27] Susan Peterson: I don't know, danger.

[03:28] Jan: Vipers and insects and big, creepy crawly things.

[03:32] Susan Peterson: You know, all the gross things in life.

[03:33] Jan: Yeah.

[03:34] Susan Peterson: And I came home and asked my husband, you know, do you want to go? And he said, I don't really think so. It's like, excuse me.

[03:40] And he said, I don't know if I'll be able to sleep. Well. It's like, well, no, you probably won't, because it's in the jungle.

[03:45] So contrary to my natural opinion, I closed my mouth and I didn't say anything until he asked about it. We talked and prayed about it. So three weeks later, he said, well, what do you think?

[03:57] And I said, I'm going to tell you something.

[03:59] I said, if you go, if you do not go, you will miss out on one of the most incredible adventures of our life.

[04:05] And our boys and me will. Will know all these incredible things that God has done.

[04:10] And you won't be a part of it. You'll hear it, but you won't have experienced it. You won't be a part of it.

[04:15] Jan: Yeah.

[04:15] Susan Peterson: So he was on board.

[04:17] So then we came back, and after that trip, he became head of the missions board.

[04:21] That's one of the way God's worked.

[04:23] But. But I will tell you,

[04:25] one of the most profound things in my entire life happened on the second year that we were going into Ecuador. And I'll make a long story short,

[04:32] but we were going in there, and it's a. It's a bus ride and then it's a jungle ride and everything else. On this particular trip, we were supposed to take a small plane into the jungle.

[04:43] Was enough fuel that year.

[04:45] So God had told me beforehand, months beforehand, start working Out.

[04:49] Would you really work out on the treadmill?

[04:51] Okay. So I was on. I just working out. Right. So fast forward. We go into Ecuador. There was a situation at the airport where they would not allow us to come in.

[05:01] Just my family to come into the airport. So we landed there and they pulled us aside.

[05:07] Immigration pulled us aside, and they go, okay, you guys, back on the plane and go back to the United States. It's like, oh, Jesus, no, this is not. You haven't prepared us for all this.

[05:16] For that?

[05:17] Jan: Yeah.

[05:18] Susan Peterson: They said that our passports were bad, which they weren't.

[05:20] I had washed them,

[05:22] but they weren't bad.

[05:23] Just saying.

[05:25] So, series of events.

[05:26] And I will tell you,

[05:28] I'm going to share this part because it's one of my favorite parts. We're sitting at the airport, we got prodded up, back up to the waiting area to wait for the next plane, and we are praying, praying, praying.

[05:39] And we have the embassy on the line. We have all these other things going on. People are knowing it. People are. And you're. You're sitting in the airport and, like, people in the United States,

[05:49] they don't really talk to,

[05:50] but there, everyone's going, why are you here with guards all around you? It's like, well, we're trying to come in as missionary. So people are yelling at the guards and all those kind of stuff.

[05:58] Most important thing that happened to me at that moment was that for the first time, I really understood spiritual warfare. I don't read their Frank Peretti books,

[06:08] you know, so. But when I had read those, like, I got a picture of it, and as I'm sitting there in the airport, I saw the heavens, the air in front of me rent open, and I saw the spiritual warfare going on.

[06:19] And I thought, oh, Jesus,

[06:22] there you are fighting for us and saying, this is gonna happen.

[06:26] So we finally were able to get through. So another series of events. Too long to get into right now.

[06:31] And we got there and,

[06:33] well, we were supposed to go for a walk, a hike. You know when you say a hike.

[06:37] Jan: Yeah.

[06:38] Susan Peterson: So it turned out to be two days.

[06:41] I fondly refer to it as a hike of death because we had to go through the waters. We had to go through a river that was waist high.

[06:48] We had to. We didn't have all the food with us because we weren't planning on doing that. So we were hungry and thirsty,

[06:54] and we were hiking through the jungles of Ecuador to try to get to this village that we had been to the year before.

[07:02] And very few white people had ever been that Way I understand.

[07:05] Jan: Why do you have a map? You have just a guide?

[07:08] Susan Peterson: We had a guide.

[07:08] Jan: Do you have a nose that you're following or a lot of prayer?

[07:12] Susan Peterson: A lot of prayer.

[07:14] But a really another defining moment for me in my entire life.

[07:19] And I had been a Christian for a long time at this point. But we had gotten there. The Huadani had come out, come out to greet us from the village that we'd been.

[07:27] They said, oh, it's just around the corner, just over the hill.

[07:30] Three hours later, it's still not around the hill. We've gone through a lot of hills,

[07:34] but I'm tired.

[07:37] Jan: When are we gonna get there exactly?

[07:39] Susan Peterson: The most important thing for me, what had happened is that some of the tribe had come out to take our backpacks off of us. Cause we had been trudging for two days.

[07:47] We had stopped at a place and trudged for two days,

[07:49] got in there, and I just thought, you know, when you reach the end of yourself and you think, I've got no more left. And, like. Like on a car in a gas gauge,

[07:58] it shows on E, Right? That's where I was. But, you know, you also have some reserve, usually a little bit. I thought, okay, had the reserve, went through that, and I'm still trudging and walking.

[08:07] And by this time, I had kept my own backpack because of my own pride. I thought, no, no, I got this.

[08:12] I don't got this.

[08:14] So I had kept it. And so now I'm by myself. Because everyone walks at a different pace. There's pretty much one trail, but walk. And I am crying,

[08:22] and I am past empty. I'm past my reserve. I'm past anything that I ever might have had.

[08:26] Jan: Your husband was not on this trip.

[08:28] Susan Peterson: He was on this trip. He was at a different walking pace than I was.

[08:32] His story is also really difficult.

[08:35] At one point, I will tell you, the day before, he just said, I need to stop because he hurt. And he goes, can you just cover me with, like, a mosquito net?

[08:42] Just come get me in the morning.

[08:44] Actually can't do that.

[08:46] So everyone has their own journey, right? God uses each thing.

[08:50] So at that moment, when I'm not.

[08:52] Jan: Sure I can find you.

[08:53] Susan Peterson: I know, right? Yeah.

[08:54] Jan: I don't have a tracker on my phone. You're in the jungle, just not picking up the wifi.

[09:00] Susan Peterson: But that moment when I was past E, past reserve, past everything else, and I was crying as I'm hiking through the jungle and it's day two, and we have no water, no food,

[09:10] I just thought for the first time in my entire life, I had to trust God a hundred percent.

[09:17] There was no other option.

[09:19] And,

[09:20] like, we hate to come to that point. And it was awesome because my life changed. Honestly, my life changed from then on because I just. I just trust God with everything that goes on.

[09:29] Still struggle, all the stuff you do normally go through. But I just think if God's got me in the jungle where nobody else even knows where we are or anything else that's going on,

[09:37] and there's wild animals and snakes and darkness fell, and no water, you know, I mean, no light, no water. Canopy of the jungle.

[09:44] But God is an amazing God. He sees beyond. Yeah, but God.

[09:50] Jan: But God.

[09:51] Susan Peterson: And I just. I just trust him 100%.

[09:54] Jan: But then it's just like. Because every where do you get close to God?

[11:08] So all of these other things added to that. We also had a guy with us on that trip who weighed over 300 pounds,

[11:16] really hard for him to walk.

[11:19] And part of his story,

[11:20] and I'll share it just briefly, is that he just could not physically go any further.

[11:25] And he said, God, you have to move me. And he saw his foot lift, lift up.

[11:29] And his other foot, he goes, God, you have to keep walking with me. You have to lift my feet. He just saw God lift his foot. One foot in front of the other, in front of the other.

[11:37] And God just walked him on through until we got to the village that we had been the year before that and they had cleared steps for us, which they don't need, but they did it for us, knowing that we were coming in and they were so excited to see us.

[11:52] And it was, it was a glorious homecoming.

[11:54] Jan: Yeah.

[11:55] Susan Peterson: Life changing.

[11:56] Jan: You know, it makes you think about how many stories are that we don't know about of the Israelites.

[12:01] Susan Peterson: Yes, yes.

[12:03] Jan: Going on those walks, you know.

[12:06] Susan Peterson: Yes.

[12:06] Jan: Really.

[12:07] Susan Peterson: And can you imagine when we get to heaven, we get, we have all of eternity to listen, to hear their stories,

[12:13] to get to know them on a personal level. That's so exciting.

[12:16] Jan: I know, I know. I have to take my mic.

[12:20] Susan Peterson: I love it.

[12:21] Jan: So once you got there,

[12:23] then what kind of ministry did you do? What was that? I mean, they obviously knew you and were waiting for you to come back.

[12:29] Susan Peterson: And we heard they. One of the things they said is because we had been there the year before and they said, we've been praying for you every Saturday. And I thought, oh my gosh, of course they did.

[12:40] We haven't been praying for you.

[12:42] Do you know what I mean? You life gets busy and you're doing things. We prayed for them,

[12:47] but every week, faithfully.

[12:49] That blew us away. Absolutely blew us away. And you know, like I said, we're deep into the jungle.

[12:54] Our ministry, I thought we would do ministry the next day, being with them, sharing our stories, listening, maybe doing some teaching about being there.

[13:01] But the next day, because it was Sunday, they wanted us just to rest.

[13:05] And the greatest thing is to see my best picture. My 14 year old, there's a massive. Because you're in the rainforest, massive mud puddle pond.

[13:14] And he and all of these little boys are just running scary diving on them.

[13:21] And our missionary looked at us and goes, that is ministry.

[13:25] And I thought, oh, that changes my understanding of what ministry is because we think of ministry as doing things or serving. But you're right, it is the connecting, the being, the we are.

[13:35] We are really truly bonded together as a family.

[13:38] Jan: Yeah.

[13:39] Susan Peterson: So cool.

[13:40] Jan: Wow. Wow.

[13:41] My husband is addicted to sponsored kids.

[13:45] I say he has 40 of them.

[13:50] And it's with unbound that also does elderly and college students and whatever too. So now he's taken to kind of the older ones, but we've had families at any rate,

[14:00] they write letters six times a year, which he answers all of my word, but every single one of them says, we're praying for you, we're praying for you.

[14:13] Susan Peterson: So we kept going back to Ecuador. We've gone there for the last 17 years.

[14:16] Jan:  I'll get to tell you my Ecuador story.

[14:19] Because the listeners haven't heard that either.

[14:22] We're in Guatemala, and one of the social workers is walking along with us and says,

[14:28] such and such, kid. Their house is, like, really, really, really bad. Do you think you could help with a house that's like $5,000? You know, build house.

[14:38] Cinder block house. Right? So I guess, yeah. Yeah, sure. So we get home.

[14:43] Ed has another new kid from Ecuador.

[14:45] He gets the first letter from this kid, and he says,

[14:50] thank you for sponsoring me and thank you so much for. You're going to build us a house.

[14:55] And Ed's going,

[14:56] that's not the right kid.

[14:57] Susan Peterson: Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no.

[15:01] Jan: Okay, well, I guess I'm doing two houses. Because if God set this up, he's.

[15:07] Susan Peterson: Gonna figure it out, right? You can't say something and then not do it. Right? I mean, even though it got.

[15:12] Jan: The wires got crossed there and something happened.

[15:16] So a few years later, we end up going down to Ecuador. We get to see.

[15:21] See this kid and his family.

[15:23] The dad is. It's a dad and Hamilton and his sister and mom.

[15:29] So he actually was a bricklayer, which worked out great.

[15:33] But he said,

[15:34] here's what happened.

[15:36] I was down to no job,

[15:39] nothing.

[15:40] Everything had stopped and whatever. And I just was like, how am I gonna feed my family? What am I gonna do?

[15:46] And so he's praying about it, and he says on that day, I get the letter, that Hamilton's gonna be sponsored. Right.

[15:54] Wow. And that you're going to build a house.

[15:57] Susan Peterson: How powerful is that?

[15:59] Jan: So we got to see them inside of their house, and it's beautiful, and it's just, you know,

[16:04] like.

[16:04] Absolutely. And I think the thing that constantly. Just like your people,

[16:09] the thing that just hits me all the time is from all the way down there, somebody prays for something and zaps it up to God. And he says, yep, you're the guys that are going to take care of that you're going to do, you know?

[16:19] Susan Peterson: Yeah, Just like.

[16:21] Jan: Yeah.

[16:23] Susan Peterson: The first year that we were in Ecuador,

[16:25] we were, like I said, deep into the jungle. And we're in there, and one of the Huaorani men, who was actually one of the killers, which is what they call themselves, so it's not like I'm slandering them, but one of the killers had.

[16:35] His name was Dewey, and he stood up in the church, and it's got a tin roof, no walls on it, and he starts preaching in Huaorani. Now is a very nasal.

[16:44] It's a very nasal language.

[16:46] I don't speak well. I don't. I don't even speak Spanish.

[16:49] I have no idea what he's saying. But as he was preaching,

[16:53] I knew that he was teaching the word of God. And our translator was telling us that he was talking about heaven and how we'll all meet each other again in heaven.

[17:00] And it's like again, one of those heart,

[17:02] heart zings where you think, Jesus,

[17:05] you are. You are truly everywhere and the same Jesus everywhere. One God, one Father, one family.

[17:12] And it's so powerful when you realize that because nobody is better or worse, in fear or anything else superior,

[17:21] you are one family in Christ,

[17:24] and we're all going to be together.

[17:26] And when we're together in heaven, I won't have to know Spanish or. Why not? We'll all know it. I don't know how that works, but I'm so excited I'll be able to actually understand them.

[17:34] But it is so powerful then, to connect and how God does that.

[17:39] It's a beautiful network.

[17:41] Jan: Yeah, it really is. It's just amazing.

[17:44] It's amazing. Those little tiny things, you know, that just kind of do that.  I had the same thing happen on a mission trip, too.

[17:51] Where was it that was.

[17:53] Oh, it was in Peru.

[17:56] And somebody came up and said that they'd been praying for a certain thing, and here we were with the answer to whatever that prayer was. It's kind of like that you would use me.

[18:08] Susan Peterson:  That we get to be allowed to partner, to be a part. Yeah. We've been going to Cuba the last couple years. My husband and I went there in August. We just came back in February, and we're going again in June,

[18:20] which is communist country. Very different, Very different feel. And they're so isolated, you know, being on an island. Everything has to be shipped in. And it is such a depth of poverty to go there and such an incredible blessing.

[18:32] And when we went the last time, we got to teach to women's group. That's my heart. It's like I get to teach with the women and not bring Jesus, but.

[18:39] But teach differently. And then we get to talk and we build relationships. And that's like the best, I think, ever.

[18:44] Jan: The best.

[18:45] Susan Peterson: So we went there and. But again, you. Poverty. It is an amazing poverty.

[18:50] They earn $14 a month.

[18:55] That is their average income.

[18:57] And they're given some by the government, but not enough. And they've had blackouts.

[19:00] Jan: I mean, we go out to lunch exactly. Sandwiches, $14. Starbucks.

[19:05] Susan Peterson: You know how many Starbucks?

[19:06] And I think none of that is to When I Came Home. And it weighs really heavily on your mind.

[19:12] I don't think that is to condemn us. I think that is to motivate and to move us. You know, we are blessed. We're. We have clothes, which is good, but, you know, we have cars, we have all this kind of stuff.

[19:23] With that,

[19:24] with what God has given us, then we are to give others.

[19:28] If I were to write a book.

[19:31] Jan: Another one.

[19:31] Susan Peterson: Another one. If I were to write another book, I would call it so that.

[19:36] Because I believe that God has given us these things so that nothing is to stay here and land here,

[19:42] but it is given to us specifically so that we are to love one another,

[19:46] do that outwardly. And I just think that's so powerful. 

[19:50] Jan: If you have the title, that means.

[19:51] Susan Peterson: Yeah, I mean, I gotta do it, right? No,

[19:55] you're good at the titles and your first chapter is kind of ready on your next one. You're kind of rolling with it.

[20:03] Jan: I mean, he might be telling you, it Doesn't have to be, you know, it can be a novella that's only

[20:10] 660,000 words instead of 120.

[20:14] Susan Peterson: We're working on that. I'm still working on the story of Ecuador of that trip, because so many things happen.

[20:19] We had probably like 14 miracles happen in that short Amanda span, which also, like I said, it transformed my youngest son who was thinking, no, no. Is Jesus really the only son of God?

[20:30] Is there that. And he came back. His faith is rock solid. I mean, boom, he is.

[20:35] He is sold out for the Lord. He knows. Exactly.

[20:38] Jan: Wow.

[20:38] Susan Peterson: But that works with his job because he is a human trafficking victims advocate supervisor. So he works with victims of human trafficking. And he can do that and face that kind of evil because his faith is solid and his trust is solid.

[20:54] So,

[20:55] yeah.

[20:56] Jan: Yeah, he's got the armor.

[20:57] Susan Peterson: Yeah, he does, you know.

[20:58] Jan: Yeah. To do that. So you're a woman's speaker.

[21:02] Susan Peterson: Yes.

[21:02] Jan: What do you do?

[21:04] Susan Peterson: I. Well, speak on whatever God says to speak on. Right. That's a given. But it's also entirely true because with each different group, you go before and hopefully you've got some time to plan.

[21:15] It's like, Jesus, what do you want me to say to this group? And I look at it as a.

[21:21] As like a pipeline, you know, and. And the pipeline can get really clogged and rusty if we don't take care of it. But all I want to be is a conduit for Christ that he would speak through me to the women.

[21:31] So that, that's, that's the only reason I really want to do that.

[21:34] So just different things. I'm involved with cbs which is community Bible study and I have been for 28 years attending.

[21:41] Jan: Describe that.

[21:42] Susan Peterson: Community Bible study has been around. Well, it's been around for 50 years now. It's very similar to Bible study fellowship.

[21:49] It's in 75 different countries and we meet together once a week. And the thing that I love about it, it's a Bible study. So, so we're not reading somebody else's book,

[21:57] we're reading the Bible and studying it and getting, digging deep into it. And then you break up into your core groups and there's a fellowship. And I, I even like the rules.

[22:08] I am not usually a rule follower, a rule enjoyer. I don't know how you want to phrase that, but I like it because you don't talk about politics, your family, what else you, you kind of do what you do job wise.

[22:18] You talk about what you just read and you're sharing your different insights. That is so precious to hear what other people get you. You hear them. Sure. And you think, I would have never have thought about that.

[22:27] So. And then I teach too there and I love doing that because when you teach, as you know,

[22:32] you have to dig a lot deeper, dig deep and.

[22:34] Jan: You get to know the.

[22:35] Susan Peterson: It does. Yeah, but, and I know you know this too, but it's like for every half hour that I speak,

[22:40] it's like 15 to 20 hours of prep work, research, praying,

[22:45] and then you only get to share half hour. But I think the rest of it, God goes, I know, but there's a lot you need,

[22:50] you need to hear. You need to be changed. I know you were singing for,

[22:53] but you're the one that needs to be changed. So it's such a joy and such a pleasure of mine to be able to do that. So.

[22:59] Jan: Yeah. And what's better than spending all this time in the Word?

[23:03] Susan Peterson: Yes.

[23:04] And it's funny, one of my daughter in laws had said the other day, she said, you know the people in our church, the little old ladies, she goes, they kind of, they might not go to a lot of other things, but they never miss their Bible study.

[23:15] And at first I was thinking, well, kind of one of those little old ladies. But then I thought that's because they know what's,

[23:21] what's true, what's real. Because after all is Said and done. We have this much time left on earth.

[23:26] Jan: Yeah.

[23:26] Susan Peterson: And they are studying the word of God to know and to be Christians and to spread Jesus's light. And I thought that's because they know. It's good. They know the real stuff at this point.

[23:36] Jan: Yeah. And, you know, there's community.

[23:38] Susan Peterson: Yes.

[23:39] Jan: You know, you're ending up with relationships that are deep relationships, and that's. And where do you have that? And it's just inspiring to have God talk.

[23:47] Susan Peterson: Yes.

[23:48] Jan: You know, because you can go to church I don't know how many times, and maybe you don't really even think about what God did with you. This is what happened, but not necessarily where God was or, you know.

[23:59] Susan Peterson: Yes.

[24:00] I sat on it. We just flew out here to Oregon on Friday from la, and I sat next to a woman on a plane, and we started talking. She's a grandmother, so we were talking, and she lives around the same area, and we had a lot in common.

[24:11] And, you know, then the plane takes off and you kind of start to do your own thing. So I'm pulling out my Bible studies on Ephesians,

[24:17] and one of the things it says is, make the most of every opportunity. And I start laughing. It's like, so I can read about it or I can put this down and talk to her more.

[24:27] And so we did. And I said, you know, do you go to church? Where is it? She goes, no. And she said the same thing you just did. She goes, I really want to find community.

[24:35] And I think I really need to go to church. And I'm thinking, well, yeah, of course you do. I said it gently, but so we started talking about where she could go to church.

[24:43] And then I told her about cbs, the Bible study, and she said, again, I need to read the word of God, and I need community. And I thought, yeah,

[24:49] because we women,

[24:50] we need community.

[24:52] Guys seem to be okay without it as much as we do, but we crave it.

[24:58] Jan: I think we're made for that.

[24:59] Susan Peterson: Yeah.

[25:00] Jan: Just. Yeah. It's in our nature.

[25:02] Susan Peterson: It is the way God designed us.

[25:04] Jan: Yeah. All of those things. All right, well, you homeschooled your boys. We're all alive in a time not so. Not everything so accessible.

[25:17] Susan Peterson: Right.

[25:17] Jan: Either.

[25:18] Susan Peterson: Not as popular.

[25:18] Jan: Not as popular, not as accessible.

[25:20] Susan Peterson: It was.

[25:21] Jan: Yeah. Why did you choose to do that?

[25:23] Susan Peterson: I.

[25:24] I don't know if I chose to do it.

[25:27] There was another family at our church who was homeschooling their kids, and I thought, that is so cool. Their kids were great. I wonder if they would raise my Kids, they said, no.

[25:35] It's like, dang.

[25:37] Jan: Maybe if they were girls, I might consider it.

[25:40] Susan Peterson: But maybe.

[25:42] But God was actually really clear. I have heard God's voice a couple times in my life, and I. And I know that he's done that for me because that way, there is no out, there's no questioning.

[25:52] Like, I don't know if it was really God. It was adamantly God. And he said to homeschool. So that first year before, we actually launched into it, because he had told me that as school was starting, I spent the time praying and studying and reading every book.

[26:05] First day of school, I did it just like school. I had desks, I had the kids that I had. Everything. All I read. I mean, I. I wrote out everything I was going to say.

[26:13] And then, like, 20 minutes, I just tossed all this. This is not. It's not gonna work like this.

[26:18] But each of my kids is different. Right.

[26:20] And so each of them learn differently. My middle1 has ADHD and ADD and dyslexia, minor Tourette's. And you would never know that now looking at him. But I'm glad I was able to homeschool him so we could address those things and teach him the way he needed to be taught.

[26:35] My middle son just blitzed through everything. He just. He wanted to. Graduated at 16, college at 20, PhD at 25. Great. You want to do that, do that. And Kellen,

[26:44] phenomenally smart and a traditional learner. So we were able to do all of those different learning styles by homeschooling. And the best thing is that we did Bible every single day.

[26:55] And there's Bible in English, there's Bible and math, but we also studied the Bible every day.

[26:59] And honestly, I attribute that we've gone to church always. You know, we've gone to cbs, and the kids went to CBS as well. But I attribute being able to teach them, really teach them Bible every day as to their strong faith in the Lord right now as young men.

[27:14] Jan: Yeah.

[27:14] Susan Peterson: Or older men, whatever they are right now, after meth. So it's all good.

[27:19] Jan: That's all good. Yeah. Oh, wow.

[27:22] Susan Peterson: And we struggled. Homeschooling was not.

[27:24] Jan: No, it's not always.

[27:25] Susan Peterson: It's not easy.

[27:26] Jan: I mean, I was a teacher and just can't even imagine I just homeschooling my kids.

[27:30] Susan Peterson: Yeah. There was neither.

[27:33] Jan: Some of them, I couldn't. But, you know, it's like, you don't know anything. You're not the teacher. Yeah, I actually am, but I do know a little bit.

[27:40] Susan Peterson: Continued on. If God also hadn't even said halfway when I asked him so desperately,

[27:45] please, are you sure you want me? Cause military school, I was thinking, that's a great option. I thought all these different things.

[27:51] Jan: That thought crossed our mind.

[27:52] Susan Peterson: Exactly right. Because it was. There was parts of it. It was just hard and not fun, and there were parts that were wonderfully fun. But God again spoke to me in the middle of doing that and said, you are to continue on.

[28:03] And that's all he said. It's like, I guess that's all I need to know.

[28:07] Yeah.

[28:08] Yay, God. Thank you, Jesus.

[28:10] Jan: So not the answer I was looking for.

[28:13] Susan Peterson: Yeah,

[28:14] but it was good. And through all of that, you know, my boys are really good friends with each other. They've had to go at it with. We've had to go at it, but we talked about everything.

[28:23] We laid things on the table. There were things that we obviously don't agree with, but I find that still, now that my. My boys are men,

[28:30] we still have a very tight relationship and are able to talk about anything and everything. And I am so thankful for that.

[28:37] Lay things out on the table, find out,

[28:40] where are you at? And you know what? I also find out that even in their maturity, we can still speak, my husband. I can still speak truth to them in love.

[28:48] But say honestly, have you thought about. I've noticed this and I love you deeply. All the good things. So, yeah, it's been a good journey.

[28:57] Jan: Yeah. Well, this has been a good talk.

[28:59] Susan Peterson: I so appreciate being on here, so thank you so much for asking me. I just love it. I love. I love talking, but really, I just love sharing what God is doing because he is always active.

[29:09] And in this season, in my life, as we're older and like, that part isn't a part anymore. You think, grandkids, I'll pour it into you, my husband. I'll pour it into you.

[29:18] And where else, Jesus? Right?

[29:20] You with your books and you with everything else going on. It's exciting.

[29:23] Jan: Yeah. Anything else you want to leave with our listeners Watchers?

[29:27] Susan Peterson: I just think it just. If I were to pare down the Bible,

[29:32] and I know we're not supposed to so long, but if I were,

[29:35] I would just say the most important things that I am learning from it right now is love God and love one another.

[29:41] And those are the things that, you know, wake up in the morning And I, Romans 12, offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God. But I want to do those things because.

[29:50] And this is the last thing I'll say, I have this much time left. Why don't it be this much time? Might be this much, but I have that much time.

[29:57] What can we do? In the name of Christ, For Christ through him, for him to honor him and glorify this side of heaven. Because there's a lot to look forward to in eternity and all of heaven.

[30:07] Jan: Yeah. Yeah.

[30:08] Susan Peterson: Exciting.

[30:09] Jan: Yeah. All right. Thank you, Susan.

[30:12] Susan Peterson: Thank you.