Young Life Adventures: Deanne Johnson's Story

What happens when you say “yes” to God’s call, even when it leads far beyond your comfort zone? In this episode of Just Talkin’ About Jesus, Deanne Johnson shares her journey from a quiet life in Phoenix to unexpected adventures in Germany and South Africa through Young Life ministry.

Deanne opens up about the joys and challenges of mentoring teens, the power of simple obedience, and the beauty of spiritual motherhood when God whispers, “These are to be your children.” Her story is full of laughter, honesty, and proof that when God goes before us, He writes the best adventures.

If you’ve ever wondered how God can use your “yes” in ways you’d never imagine, this conversation will both inspire and encourage you.

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/dan-phillipson/moments

License code: AWMMVCHCGOXAXQX4

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/andrey-rossi/play-time

License code: XRG3LDIFYTNTXS0P

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/oliver-massa/brighter-days

License code: KTTDO32WFSGDAR5H

Every podcaster loves to hear from their listeners.

It lets us know you're listening and we really do love to know your thoughts.

You can now text me with comments or questions! It's located at the top of the show notes.

How cool is that?

Can't wait to hear from you!

https://www.youtube.com/@JustTalkinAboutJesus

https://jan-johnson.com/

https://justtalkingaboutjesus.com/

https://janjohnsonauthor.substack.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@JustTalkinAboutJesus

Thanks for listening!

If you have a story to tell, check out the form on my website- justtalkingaboutjesus.com.

I'd love to connect with you!

No, really.... hit me up!

Transcript

Jan: Hello, everyone. Welcome. Another episode of Just Talking About Jesus. I have Deanne Johnson, another Johnson with me here today.

Deanne: Not too common of a name, right?

Jan: I know. Welcome. Thanks for being here. So let's talk a little bit. What we want to talk about is your time with Young Life, which was kind of an exciting time, I would think, you know, but tell me where. Where God planted that seed for you to get started in that. Hmm.

Deanne: Wow. So that was when I was a teenager, so that started it with me, with Young Life.

Jan: Was there. Was there a drastic change in who you were at that time? Or was it, you know, or were you just like. I was always a good girl, but this just took it a next level.

Deanne: Kind of like that. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And then when I got in college, I volunteered a little bit, but then it just got a little too much. I had to do studies more, and so. So college a little bit. And then when I got out of college, you'll see, I. I continued. I went to Phoenix, I went to college and Flagstaff, and I worked at a tennis ranch. And so I. I did Young Life, and then I worked at this John Gardner's tennis ranch. It's like a celebrity tennis ranch. It was so cool and interesting and all the girls, I'd go and tell them all about everything, you know, and the Young Life goods. And it's just. It was really a fun time then.  And that started me being a leader. Yeah, I got leadership training and all that kind of stuff that in Phoenix that they did. Yeah. And then forevermore, I always stayed with Young Life and leaders in leadership. Not on staff particularly. I had sort of an associate staff thing a couple times, but. Yeah. What.

Jan: What did you like about leading it?

Deanne: Well, I liked the. The kids. You know, I really like the kids. I don't know how. I don't know what else to say. I loved Young Life and just the way they work with kids and the way they bring kids in and the fun that they provide, good, clean fun. Fun. Fun and laughter. Laughter. Laughter, you know? And so I think that's what I loved about it. It's just a joyful ministry.

Jan: Yeah. And I'm sure, of course, seeing changed lives, I mean, that's motivating right there.

Deanne: Yeah. Oh, boy. The Lord works with kids in those camps especially. But week to week, Young Life clubs, too. Yeah. They don't go into doctrine. They just give the gospel, the gospel of Christ to kids flat out.

Jan: And they can see within yourself something that they want, you know, that. That little bit of encouragement maybe, or that spark of something.

Deanne: Some kids have never gone to church. They've never heard this before. They haven't felt the love of Christ. And that's what leaders do. They just love the kids and they feel that love, you know?

Jan: Yeah. Yeah. So you got started in an interesting way, going to Europe. How did that happen?

Deanne: Yeah, I was teaching school at the time. Got home from school one day after teaching and opened up my young life. There was a. They put out a periodical periodically, and I was just reading it, you know, thumbing through it, and on the back page, I saw it says, oh, wanted young life leaders to go to Europe, go to Germany, I think it was Germany. And do start young life clubs and do young life with army kids, American kids whose parents are in the right military, mostly Army. And I was like, oh, interesting. And then all of a sudden, you know, it's hard to explain. Something comes over. Something just came over me. And I heard in my spirit, you're gonna do this. I was like. I mean, I got the shivers right now, talking about everything I want to talk about. When the Lord says something, I can get this. This feeling. And I was like, what? I had no plans on going anywhere, to Europe or anywhere on my own. It was. You know, I tried to get somebody, I think, to be interested as well, but nobody was. And so, I don't know. I can't even tell you how I went from there. A year later, I was in Germany.

Jan: What year was that?

Deanne: Oh, you know, that was in the 70s. Late 70s.

Jan: Yeah. Which at that point, you didn't have the Internet.

Deanne: No. Yeah. No, the Internet, you know, So, I.

Jan: Mean, if you're thinking of traveling someplace, that's like a big deal, you know, to figure out the logistics of how you get there and how to.

Deanne: My mother, she wasn't happy. She wasn't happy about me going like that and by myself and all this stuff. Yeah. And I. I can't believe I did that. But I want to read a verse. Is that all right? Because this verse kind of started there and then sort of has been through my whole life, all the different places I've gone and so on, and the Lord and, oh, this is Moses telling Joshua he's going to be leading the Jews into the promised land or whatever. And the Lord, he's the one who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. Oh, man. That is. That is the comfort right there.

Jan: Then it's kind of like, oh, okay, all right. You said you're gonna be here. I'm gonna take you at your word.

Deanne: It's all kinds of verses, you know, in the Bible like that. But. But the reason I read that one is because I opened this up this morning from my Bible app and for my devotional. That was the one. And that was the one. And I went, okay, I have to read this verse.

Jan: Another confirmation.

Deanne: Yeah.

Jan: So you get to Germany and they housed you.

Deanne: Yeah, they first housed me with the chaplain, and he's the one who wanted me to come over. The chaplains. I can't explain it all. Yeah, different chaplains and different bases were asking for a youth leader from actually Youth for Christ and Young Life. And they put us on these different bases to help get that started. So I started there, and then I couldn't stay with the chaplain, so I got into a German home. German's home. And was in the basement down there. And that was really a neat experience because the German woman who lived there, she could. She loved speaking English and was so happy to have an American to speak English with. So that's where I live.

Jan: And you were happy to have a German speaking English with you?

Deanne: Yeah, yeah. So that's where I started. And then the next place I went in Germany, I was in. See, that was in the basement. Then I was in the attic. And it was a whole different day. I was down in Munich area, outside of Munich. So the first one was Darmstadt, outside of Frankfurt. And the next time I moved, I moved down there to Munich area. Yeah.

Jan: And there were probably some cultural things you had to get used to and even. Probably foods and.

Deanne: Yeah, whatever too. Food. Yeah. I didn't like German food that much, but.

Jan: And calling your mom would have to be long distance.

Deanne: Yeah.

Jan: Which was expensive at the time.

Deanne: Yeah. Yeah. So I didn't. I don't know if I called her, wrote letters. I'm glad we don't have to write letters anymore.

Jan: So when you got the call from God to go, what did you leave behind?

Deanne: A teaching job that I had finally got in a district that I really wanted to be in. My first teaching job was not in a district that I wanted to be in. It was not good. The job wasn't good. I wasn't being trained, it was an hour away. And I literally got let go from that job.

Jan: Boo hoo.

Deanne: You know. But I ended up in the school district that I really, my best friend helped train me there and everything. And that's where I wanted to be but didn't get hired there this time. They hired me because I'd had a year of experience in a self contained classroom of learning disabled kids. So that turned out good. What was the question?

Jan: Well, what you were leaving behind. So it was not so making that decision because sometimes when God asks you to do something, you have a major thing that you have to give up if you're gonna follow what he's got for you.

Deanne: Oh yeah, I had great friendships. I had a lot of. I was involved in basketball team, not me, son's basketball team. I was friends with a couple wives that were married to basketball players and that was so fun and just best friends and Phoenix just has lots of great people and my parents were there and my sisters are there. At least one of them was there. So yeah, I was giving up all that.

Jan: Yeah, yeah. And maybe going to a salary that wasn't even near what you were making before.

Deanne: Oh yeah, no.

Jan: Uh huh.

Deanne: So yeah. But it was okay.

Jan: Well it was kind of a roost moment.

Deanne: Oh yeah.

Jan: You know, Ruth has to leave. Decides, makes the choice to leave everything. Yeah.

Deanne: But because she did.

Jan: Look at all the blessings that she got too.

Deanne: So just like there I ended up there and oh my gosh, my life changed. And it was wonderful actually. You know, it was hard in times, but wonderful in times too. I had a physical issue all the, all this time that I'll talk about maybe later if it comes back up, but other than that. And I met my husband.

Jan: Was that in Germany? Yes, yes.

Deanne: Yeah, that was in Germany. And I was there before him and then he came and I was like, oh, I like him.

Jan: Where God knew how he could put that together for you too. Because it wasn't. You weren't going to meet him in the States.

Deanne: Uh, yeah, but he. And he had been Gone. He had gone to seminary at Fuller. And I can't remember at the time if he was on staff or not with Young Life, but he's. I can't remember. But when he came to Germany, he was on staff and he's been on staff ever since. Yeah, yeah, he's now 70. He's. No, he's not on staff now. Now he volunteers. Yeah.

Jan: So where did you go from Germany?

Deanne: From Germany, we went. We first went for a few months and to talk about a job in Kenya. They were asking us if we would go to Kenya and we ended up with an older couple that was there that needed to leave. And they were in their 60s. They were young Life staff forever and ever as well. And we decided that was. We were not old enough to. To be able to take over that. Take that over. So we. But. But then they were talking about South Africa while we were there in Kenya. And I'm like, I don't want to go to South Africa. And. And George, who was the man that we were visiting, George and Marty, they were like, yeah, I'm worried for our friends in South Africa. It's so violent right now. Not really the 80s then. Now. Now it's coming into the 80s. It was the most violent time in South Africa and I was like, I don't want to go there, you know. So we went back home to the States and we met these two from organizations who both would love to have had a Young Life couple come and help them with their youth groups. One was Scripture Union and one was Bible Band and one was Scripture Union. They kind of work with everybody. Bible Band only was the colored community. When I say the colored community, I hope that doesn't offend anybody. But that's what they call themselves. Like, they're not black and they're not white and they're not Indian. They're colored. With everything all mixture of. That's how they look at it. So with color community. So we talked about that and we talked to the people. There he goes. Won't you come in to South Africa and work with us? We really need somebody. Scripture unions. They're large and they have lots of. We need people. So that sucked us in and so we did. We ended up going there and working with that group. Bible bound.

Jan: And were you safe?

Deanne: Yeah, you know. You know, it was apartheid. We were in our little white area. But if you drive out. My husband used to go and work in the black townships out there. And then they would call him and say, don't come in through this way, come in through that way, because there's a lot of rioting and violence going on that way. So they would warn him. So that kept him safe. And there was carjackings and things like that that you had to look out for. But, yeah, it. Yeah, it could have been. It was a dangerous place. But mostly in the townships, there was Soweto, the black African township, which is the most violent. And then we worked with the colored township, which wasn't as. But had crime and lots of poverty, and that's where we were.

Jan: So when you worked with the youth there, what kind of. I mean, obviously they were facing some turmoil that was going on. Was there other kind of things that. That drew them more to you because of their situational things?

Deanne: You know, I don't know. When we first started working with the kids down in that community, the girls would sit as far away in the room from me as possible. I didn't know how to approach them. They spoke a different language as well. They could speak English, but mostly Afrikaans. In the colored community, they go like this. They'd see me come in and they look at me through their fingers, and I was like, oh, my gosh. What? I don't know how to reach them.

Jan: Yeah, how do you.

Deanne: And then there was lots of poverty and some abusive things with parents, with kids. They weren't, you know, mean and, you know, I don't know, all kinds of things. And that's where my story comes in, where Jonah comes in.

Jan: Yeah. Yeah. So share that with us. Yeah.

Deanne: Well, I don't want to do this, you know? Yeah. Lord.

Jan: Yeah.

Deanne: I don't know. I don't want to do this because.

Jan: It didn't feel comfortable, did it? I mean, it would be a little intimidating to go beyond. And.

Deanne: And I didn't understand them, and. And, I mean, their culture was different. Their eating. Their food was boiling hot. They're eating their food, the spicy, spicy, you know. Oh, like Indian food and all that. So it was really different. But I. But so then I. I didn't say this part, but Jeff and I, we never really. We discussed having kids, and we. Neither of us wanted children, and we didn't have a desire for children, but this was getting more intense. And the way I think. I never thought of it consciously, but when looking back on it, as we're looking through this, that was my way of trying to get away and escaping it. And I was escaping what God had put. Had placed me, had Put me in. But I was. So what happened was I started wanting my own children. Not conscious of. I was in a conflict. I was like, these kids are. Or maybe I should just have my own kids. I'll stay in South Africa. But if I had my own kids.

Jan: It would be better.

Deanne: It would be better.

Jan: It would fix things for me.

Deanne: Yeah. And I would make friends. Well, I already had. I had friends, but still would be different producers. And I was really, really in a conflict. And I started dreaming about babies and children. And then I'd see mothers with their prams. I'd be like, oh, this. In the gut, in my stomach, you know, and just all of a sudden I had this longing. And I think it's a maternal instinct is what I think. And it was about my mid-30s. I think that's about when it happens. It hits you. So I also had this physical problem, and it was very painful. And I'd had it for, like 12 years by the time it was over with. And that doesn't feature into this part of the story at all yet, but it will. So where am I? Oh, yeah. I had this longing and this conflict, and it was getting more intense, you know, more confusing. So one night we're at church and we went to this awesome church. It was like a charismatic Anglican church. England, you know, in South Africa is very English. And. And we were just finished with worship. And the one worship guy's up there, and. And as it stops and it's ending, we were sitting toward the front. He says, there's somebody here who is in a conflict, who's really conflicted. And the minute he said that, I don't know what else he said, I. He might have said something God wants to deal with or something. Something like that, but I didn't really even hear. I just weeping came over me. Just weeping. And I was like this, you know, I couldn't stop. I couldn't, you know, I couldn't stop. Stop weeping. But the. The priest. The Anglican priest was sitting right up there in his chair, up. And he saw me. And right when it was over, he came beeline right over to me. He said, are you okay? I said, that was for me.

Jan: I'm not okay. No, I am not okay.

Deanne: That conflict he was talking about, that was me. That, that, that, you know, and he goes, okay. He sat beside me on the pew. Jeff sat on this side over here. Probably thinking, Jeff's probably going, what am I going to do with her?

Jan: Oh, my God, what is happening here? Yeah, yeah.

Deanne: So he said, you know, I'm gonna sit right. Right here. I'm gonna pray. I'm gonna pray for you. Well, I don't think he ever said any prayer out loud, but he just silent, just thought, just silent. Then he lifted his head. He said, okay, I have two words in my mind. And you. You tell me if these are from the Lord or not, because I don't know what they mean. And I didn't even know he knew my name, really. But he said, here are the words. The first one is Deanne. These are to be your children. And the second word is only one word, and it's joy. He said, do you know what those words mean? And I immediately knew. I said, yes. He said, do you want to share with me what that means? I said, the Lord is telling me that the children that he's put me with, these are to be my children. And as I go on in life, I will find joy in that, and I will find joy in it now, but joy. And he goes, yeah, that's what I think. That's what that means, too. That sounds right. And I just felt this peace come over me, and I just. When we left church, I walked out those church doors, that conflict was over. Peace came to me, and it was wonderful.

Jan: So peace surpasses understanding because you wouldn't understand.

Deanne: That's right.

Jan: Yeah. From the outside.

Deanne: Yeah. So I had this physical issue still. Every other month, I would have intense pain and no doctors. When I went back to the States or when I lived in Germany or anything, no doctors knew what it was or could figure it out. So in South Africa, it got a little bit. It eased off a bit, but it was still there. So I did go to a. Just a checkup from my doctor. No, nothing. Nothing. Not to do anything. But she felt something. She said, I feel something. I'm going to send you to, you know, this other doctor. And he took dexteries and stuff, and it was a tumor. And he says to me, all right, I can take this tumor out, or I can give you a whole hysterectomy. You have to, you know, you can choose. And I. And he said, but you remember, you will never have children. I do the hysterectomy. And immediately I said, I thought to myself, God already told me that. Yeah, God not only told me you. You know, but he told me this. I didn't know he told me this, but I knew it right then. He was warrant telling me, have your children because of this. So I had the hysterectomy. And this is the kind of the last part of the story, I was in the hospital recovering and they put me in the maternity ward, but I had my own room, so yay, I had my own room. I didn't have to share a room or anything. And I'm walking down the hallway with the, you know, the drip, you know, you're walking.

Jan: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Deanne: And I look over in this doorway right here and there's a nurse and she's holding a baby, newborn baby or rocking or something. And I looked over there and all of a sudden weeping started. And I got back to my room as fast. It was at the end of the hall, got back to the room as fast as I could and I just started crying and I started crying, crying, crying. I'm like, I'm so surprised about that because I hadn't cried like that at all about the news or, you know, anything. And the Lord said, you're, you're grieving, Deanne. Go ahead and grieve. You are grieving for the children you will never have. And it's okay to grieve. Yeah, it's good to grieve. And I was like, oh, yeah. So.

Jan: And that says. Yeah. And that is the grief of unmet dreams, you know, like that. And that is a real thing.

Deanne: Yeah, yeah. I just, I could cry thinking about it, but oh, the Lord was so good. And he. I opened up the Bible and he just gave me scriptures like this, you know, like I opened this this morning and I was right. And he just gave me these most comforting, wonderful scriptures. The word of God is that two-edged sword and it pierces through to your heart and separates the false from the truth and brings that truth and comfort.

Jan: Yes, yeah, yes. And there's all of those lamentations, you know, that just speak to your heart and how many psalms that speak to your heart with grief?

Deanne: Yeah, yeah. So I did grieve right there, but it was over with. I wiped out my eyes and, you know, he's just so good. And the joy there. Oh, you know, I didn't say this, that afterwards, after the whole word to me that these are to be your children, I was asked if I would volunteer in the children's home that was right down the street from me, actually. And it was a colored children's home and it was in a white area, but it had been grandfathered in because it had already been there. It was a church, it was an Anglican thing. And so I volunteered. I was teaching a little bit of art to these girls and I got picked. I had six little girls that just brought me joy. And we did things together and I brought them to my house and we do things at my house and just little things. I took them to the mall, you know, a little bit. And. And then there's another whole story that comes out of that group.

Jan: But, well, and so. So when you look at things, you know, first of all, when you. You hit that longing for kids and whatever, and you were just like, no, not. Not these guys. I just want my own whatever. But then after God gives you that peace and then invites you in, he didn't have that volunteer position ready for you prior to that, when you weren't ready.

Deanne: Right, right.

Jan: He opened that door when you were ready.

Deanne: That's true.

Jan: For that opportunity.

Deanne: I never thought of that. Really?

Jan: Yeah.

Deanne: Like that.

Jan: Yeah. Because his timing is so perfect.

Deanne: Yeah, it is.

Jan: Because he knows, you know, intimately and what you needed. Yeah. So you did have a girl that you followed along and had an impact on. Tell us about that.

Deanne: Her name is Liana. I think I met her when she was nine years old, and then she was part of that group. I knew her until she was like a young teenager. But this girl, I don't know how to explain all that, but I took a special. I just loved her. She told me one time that one of the nurses. Not nurse, you know, the caregiver, they call them nurses, you know, in these homes, had witnessed to her about Jesus, and she gave her life to Jesus. When she was younger, there was something special about her, and that's what it was. I think she was smart, she was cute as a button, she was funny. She just had a great personality. And I was. We were all just drawn to her and the other kids, too. So not that I didn't. Wasn't that she was special, but there's.

Jan: Always Seems to be. Even when you were teaching, you probably always had somebody you were just, you know, for sure. When I taught the same thing.

Deanne: Yeah. Yeah. So when we left, it was really heartache, heartbreaking to leave those girls. Oh, my gosh. And Leanna. But we happen. Oh. And I don't know how to explain this, but she. When she gets to be a certain age, then they leave the home and then they go to these other homes that are more for 18 years old, 18 year older. And colored kids have a hard time graduating from high school. And I said to Leanna, leanna, if you graduate. And she was really smart. If you graduate, Jeff and I will bring you to America. Because we were leaving to go home and you can come and stay with Us and visit us, you know. So we had some young life. Two women that went over for. They were young life staff. They went over to South Africa. And I said, oh, you've got to watch over this girl, Liana. And we went over two years later and she was doing well. She was okay. She moved from different places. She had kind of reconciled a little bit with her mother. Her mother was a seamstress and she used to sew close for her and bring it to the home and drop it off, but not have much more to do with her.

Jan: Yeah, it was all the love that she could give at that time. At that time.

Deanne: Yeah, things have changed. But I forget. I don't know what I should. Liana was a colored girl, so she had lighter complexion than all her relatives who were black, African, and spoke through that language. And when she first came to the home, she spoke that black language. I can't remember. There's. There's 13 of them, so I can't remember. And then she quickly learned Afrikaans, the language of the home that she was in. And then she had to learn English. And then. And the teacher told. They went to regular school and they said, this little girl is smart. She's learning really fast how to speak these languages and stuff like that. So that's backward.

Jan: Okay.

Deanne: So she graduated and I knew she would. She's just smart kid and hardworking. So those two young Life staff people, they kept an eye on her and they made. One of them especially befriended her. And that was good. That was really a good thing. I could see what was going on with her and stuff. We brought her over. She spent nine months with us. She's supposed to be there a year, but her boyfriend, she was 19 now. She's 19 now. Her boyfriend wanted her back and just kept bugging her about it. Bugging about it. So she went back early and of course then they get married and then they had two kids and then he left her. But meanwhile she got a job at the civil aviation or agency.

Jan: So was. She was still in the state center. She'd gone. No, she had.

Deanne: She'd gone back all in South Africa.

Jan: Okay.

Deanne: She was gone. And she learned a lot when she was in the States, like even to type and things like that. It was really great for her to be here for that while. And so. All right, so then her husband leaves her. Now she has two kids, but she's working at this civil aviation department or something. And they must have seen something in her too. They sent her to school to be an accountant. Oh, to Be their accountant. So she did that and she did well and she went. We. And we helped her pay for her to go to further schooling to be. I don't know what an upper accountant. I don't know. Further on. Yeah, further on. To be a better accountant. Accountant. And so she did that and she did really well at work and all. And now she's ended up. And I don't know how, but pilots would come in and they'd say, oh, you ought to take flying lessons. You, you, you should fly a helicopter or you should fly Libby Tease in her.

Jan: She's going, oh, okay. She's like, well, maybe. Yeah, yeah.

Deanne: She was kind of like that. Oh, maybe I should try. Well, I don't think she ever really did, but I don't know. I'm not sure. I don't think so. But she got the idea of a flight school because there weren't flight schools around there. Very many.

Jan: Yeah.

Deanne: Especially for black kids.

Jan: Yeah.

Deanne: Black, you know. And she decided with some. A partner that a friend, you know, the two of them, they started up a flight school and now they have a couple flight schools. And then they started up businesses or repair shops. Oh. For planes and for the planes.

Jan: Oh, my God.

Deanne: Oh, yeah. She's got like three of those, I think.

Jan: And meanwhile, she's must be grabbing employees to be able to teach at it and repair and to do. So she's a networker and a. Yeah.

Deanne: Employing people. So they have jobs. She had some pilots, you know, that she hired to work doing flight training.

Jan: Wow.

Deanne: And so now she ended up with this really great guy from India. Well, he's South Africa, but he's Indian. Or maybe not. Anyway, she's at. She married this guy, really good Christian guy. She says he's a good Christian guy. And she's a Christian. Yeah. She hung in there with her face.

Jan: Yeah.

Deanne: And amazing. She's just amazing to me, this whole thing. Now she. She has a house that she was building on a golf course. She's like. I'm like, wow. She came from a little orphanage living.

Jan: A life of favor.

Deanne: And she had enough to send her kids to good schools, like good private schools. Her boy needed a good private school that had a lot of outdoor activities, and she got him into that and was able to pay for those schools. Wow. And give them a good education.

Jan: What a story. That's just, you know. But doesn't it just when you look over all of that whatever. And you see where God was in his hand in helping you be the one. But don't you kind of feel a privilege that he chose you to be in her life.

Deanne: Yeah, you know, I guess sort of all just happened.

Jan: It just happens. But still, at some point, you know, when you really think about the impact that you and your husband had on her and whatever, it's. It's just. It's a privilege that God chooses us to do these things, you know, that we never would have anticipated.

Deanne: Yeah. I mustn't forget my husband, too. He's a big deal in this story.

Jan: Yeah, for sure.

Deanne: Yeah. He's an amazing person. He still is.

Jan: Yeah.

Deanne: Where he is here.

Jan: Wow.

Deanne: Yeah. He's got the gift of helps and service and discernment and stuff like that. And God really puts to good use, you know? Yeah. Yeah.

Jan: So I'd see this as an overarching kind of journey of your life and just how God's in each part of it that you don't always see at the time, but in retrospect, you can see where he might have been. And put it all together. What would be a final thing you'd want to tell our listeners about God being there for you, or.

Deanne: Yeah, I think you just said it, and I think this verse says it really well that he. I'll read it again and that'll be my. Okay. And the Lord. The Lord, he is the one who goes before you. So when he called you to do something, he's the one that goes before you, and he always did. He will be with you. You know, in Germany, I used to have to walk from the train late at night after youth club, in the pitch dark, on a highway and through a park. It was scary, but, you know, I wasn't. I don't know. God took the scary out of me. Or maybe I was just stupid.

Jan: I don't know.

Deanne: But he was the one who was with me. I will be with you, he said. He will not leave you nor forsake you, even though you don't want to go live in Africa. My priest even said that one time. You know, Deanne, God lives over here, too, one time. And I was having something. I don't know why he said that, but I must have been. Yeah, yeah. And he will not leave you, nor forsake you. And do not fear or be dismayed. I mean, that was for Israel as they were going in the promised land.

Jan: Right.

Deanne: I just think that's God that's just for me.

Jan: That's Scott's character.

Deanne: Yeah. That's God's character. And that's what he proved my whole life. He's been. That's the verse. One of those verses.

Jan: One of those foundations clinging on to. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, deanne, thank you so much.

Deanne: You're welcome.

Jan: It's really been a pleasure.

Deanne: Thank you for having me. Inviting me. I was kind of surprised. Me?

Jan: Yes. Because you have a story to tell.

Deanne: Thank you. Dan. Thank you for the Bible study you've been doing. It's really kind of. I think all of us have sort of woken up to things in our life that we haven't looked at for a long time or realized. So thank you. Thank you, too.