Author of The Road to Mercy: A Journey of Secrets, Survival, and Redemption
My latest interview on Youtube’s “Everyday Miracles” Channel, including never before seen photos of the locations where the murder attempts happened.
She Survived Her Uncle’s Attempt to Kill Her — Then Forgave Him
How to Forgive When You Don’t Want To – YouTube
I was recently interviewed on yet another Youtube channel called “Everyday Miracles.” The full episode has yet to be posted, but the host put together a separate special episode on powerful forgiveness stories, and I am blessed to have had my story shared as one of the 7 persons in this story. To God be the Glory! I highly recommend listening to these powerful forgiveness stories of others who have also been through traumatic experiences and eventually forgave.
How to Forgive When You Don’t Want To
At 12, He Nearly Took Her Life. Years Later, She Led Him to Jesus | Mary Therese Hutchinson
I was asked to be interviewed on Youtube by a woman named Tina (who had seen one of my previous interviews) who just started her own Youtube podcast called “The Light Lens,” Her Story, God’s Glory. If you’ve seen my interviews before, it’s just my same story of miraculous survival and transformation.
Do you unknowingly take Satan’s bait? In today’s politically charged atmosphere it’s easy to do if we can’t discern who is baiting us. It’s also easy to do if we don’t keep our emotions under control.
In 1 Peter 5:8, it says, “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” He’s always fishing. Fishing. Fishing.
Shortly before a previous presidential election one of my neighbors stopped her car while I was out on a walk.
“Hi Judy,” I waved. And then she went on and on about all the terrible things she thought were going to happen if her candidate didn’t win. She had no idea I was on the opposite side politically.
“I don’t discuss politics with neighbors,” I replied. But she continued in a highly agitated state about events she assumed would occur if the election didn’t go her way.
“Judy, there’s no sense in getting all worked up about things that you aren’t sure are going to happen. It’s not good for your health,” I told her. “Don’t worry! Be happy!” She calmed down a little, made a few more political statements and drove away. From then on whenever I ran into her, she was still very friendly and seemed calmer, even when making a brief political statement.
One Election Day I was handing out sample ballots at my polling place greeting people outside as they arrived. A young man was doing likewise for the other party about 15-20 feet away.
“Good morning! Would you like a sample ballot?” I’d ask voters. Some said ‘yes,’ others waved ‘no,’ and a few made unpleasant facial expressions. When I wasn’t busy, I chatted cordially with my male compatriot across the way.
Later that morning a senior male exited from the polling place after voting and headed towards me.
“Can I have one of those ballots?” he asked.
“Sure,” I replied puzzled by his request.
He looked it over and said, “How can you support this candidate?”
“Sir, I don’t think there’s any point in us having a conversation,” I responded calmly. He huffed and puffed as he walked away.
I’ve heard too many stories over recent years of family members, friends or neighbors not speaking to one another because of heated political disagreements and some even getting into physical altercations. To me, this has Satan’s M.O. written all over it. John 10:10 says, “He comes to steal, kill and destroy.” And that includes destroying relationships. I refuse to take his bait.
To me the best way for my voice to be heard in the political realm is to pray, vote, volunteer, and/or donate. Those are louder and more effective actions than any shouting match with a political opponent.
Proverbs 26:20 says, “Without wood a fire goes out.”
I try not to provide any wood to start a fire or keep one going. How about you?
According to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, the word ambassador means an authorized representative or messenger. Usually we think of this word in the political realm as someone who is an Ambassador for the U.S. to another country. But, there are also many entities who have ambassadors representing their brand.
Christians are also ambassadors. Whether in our workplace, our communities, our homes, or even on vacation, we are to be Christ’s representatives to those who don’t know Him in addition to those who do.
Is it easy? Not always. Will we fail? For sure.
One such example of my ambassadorship occurred many years ago when I started a new job. One of my female co-workers was “Louise.” She worked on another floor but often delivered documents to another co-worker near my office causing our paths to cross.
I always greeted Louise with a “Good morning” or a “Hi,” with no verbal response and what appeared to be daggers emanating from her eyes directed towards me. This continued for months. One day she entered the copy room while I was there.
“I feel like you don’t like me,” I said to Louise.
“You’re right,” she replied. “I don’t like you.”
“Well did I ever do anything to you? If so, I would like to apologize.”
“No,” she retorted. “I just don’t like you.” I was stunned into silence.
I shared this uneasy encounter with Diane, another co-worker. “Louise had a very rough childhood,” Diane told me before adding a few minor details about Louise’s upbringing. “She’s probably jealous of you.”
“Jealous of me?” I asked. “I had a very traumatic childhood as well.” I went on to tell Diane about my own painful childhood, conversion to Christianity and emotional healing. She was amazed.
I now understood that Louise was carrying the pain of her childhood into her adulthood like I once did. When she saw me, she saw a young woman who appeared whole. I decided to pray for Louise and the situation.
As our paths continued to cross, I greeted her just as I did before our encounter in the copy room. Still no verbal response.
About a year or two later Louise came up to my desk. “Do you have a Bible with you?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Can I borrow it for a few minutes? I want to look something up.”
“Sure,” I responded as I took it out of my desk drawer and handed it to her.
Later that day she returned my bible. “Thanks,” she said.
“You’re welcome,” I replied.
No comments. No questions.
I don’t know how Louise knew I had a Bible. I can only assume that at some point Diane or one of my other co-workers told Louise I was a Christian and may even have shared my testimony with her.
I only worked in that office for about five years and never saw Louise again.
In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Paul says: “We therefore are Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us.”
So wherever we go, whoever we meet, let’s allow God to make His appeal to others through us. We just might be the only Bible they ever read.
Recently a wicked winter storm of snow, sleet and freezing rain pummeled the South.
Ordinarily, this part of Virginia receives a few inches of snow several times a year followed by rising temperatures above 40 degrees melting it from streets and driveways. Not this time.
The streets and driveways in our neighborhood morphed into a gigantic ice rink. No mail or Amazon deliveries. No trash pickup. As seniors, we were homebound with below freezing temperatures forecasted for the next 10 days. Even the snowplows encountered problems removing the ice and never arrived in most neighborhoods.
After four days of being iced in, my senior next-door neighbor, Kim, texted me looking to hire someone to clear 100 feet of her sloped driveway, similar to ours.
“I don’t know of anyone,” I responded.
She soon noticed the driveway of a young couple across the street was cleared. She texted them to see who cleared it and found out it was the husband, Mark. He offered to help her later that day but refused payment. Kim texted me the good news.
In the meantime, my husband and I were just outside the back door to our garage with hot water and a shovel to break up a small area of ice so he could get the dog out without falling. As we were hammering away, I saw Mark in Kim’s driveway.
“Are you going to do that whole driveway yourself?” I asked. It seemed like a herculean task. He said he was, and that he could do ours after he finished Kim’s if we wanted.
“We sure do!” I said.
That afternoon he broke up the thick ice in large chunks with a shovel and pushed or tossed them aside. Kim’s driveway was cleared in less than two hours, and she slipped an envelope with cash into his pocket. That evening he shoveled ours with some help from my husband. Afterwards we decided to reward Mark with a gift certificate to a nice restaurant.
“I learned a little about Mark,” my husband said. “He served in the Marines for eight years.”
“No wonder he could shovel our driveways,” I responded.
I knew about the rigorous basic training for the Marines. It made sense that this young man was prepared to take on such a grueling task, all with a smile on his face. The next afternoon I saw Mark shoveling another senior neighbor’s driveway who had attempted to do it himself.
Galatians 6:9-10 (“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people….)” reminds me of the Marine Corps motto, Semper Fidelis, which means “always faithful to those on our left and right, from the fellow Marines we fight alongside, to those in our communities for which we fight.”
I know at least three neighbors who are extremely grateful for the ‘more than good’ acts of this faithful former Marine. Semper Fi!
For years I had emotional pain from childhood abuse/traumas. Once I became a Christian, Jesus began to heal me, little by little, layer by layer. If He can help me, He can help anyone. Our healing journeys may be different, but the ultimate result will be the same—freedom.
I’m not a professional counselor, but I wanted to share the steps Jesus used to heal me:
I hope you are encouraged to know you don’t have to stay stuck in the pain of your past. John 8:36 says, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
I was in our kitchen when the phone rang. Though the number was unfamiliar, I picked it up.
“Mommm,” cried the young adult male voice at the other end of the line.
I had seen segments on the news where swindlers would call unsuspecting persons, pretending to be a family member who is kidnapped and held for ransom. So often they would be scammed out of thousands of dollars. As someone who has never born a child, I suspected it was a scam rather than a wrong number.
“What’s wrong?” I asked with sincerity.
“I’ve been in an accident.”
“Oh no, are you hurt? Are you in the hospital?” I asked with great concern.
“No, but I’m in trouble.”
He went on to tell me he had been arrested and needed money for bail. My thoughts raced trying to come up with the right response that could have a positive impact on him.
“I’m so sorry,” he whined.
“That’s okay,” I replied sympathetically. “As long as you’re not hurt.”
He gave me the phone number of a lawyer and an account number for wiring the funds.
“Do you know Jesus?” were the only words that came out of my mouth.
“Everybody does,” he responded. Click!
I was expecting him to hang up, but not his verbal response. How sad he didn’t use his talent for good instead of evil.
There are so many people who fall for these fake callers. I’m surprised that some don’t recognize the voice isn’t that of their supposed family member. Perhaps they’re hard of hearing? Or perhaps they’re caught by the element of surprise? Or maybe they’re just naive?
It made me wonder how many of us recognize God’s voice when He speaks to us? I definitely know He’s spoken to me on several occasions.
One particular time was a few years after I became a Christian. I was watching “The 700 Club” tv show, and the guest speaker was sharing her testimony and a book she had written. At that moment, I thought, One day I’m going to be on this show, and I’m going to write a book. I was puzzled as to why I would think such a thing. I knew the thought had to come from God, even though it appeared to be from me. I had learned that our thoughts can sometimes come from God, or even from Satan, though they seem like our own.
About 16 years later I shared my testimony on “The 700 Club,” and 18 years after that I wrote my memoir, “The Road to Mercy.”
John 10:27 says, “My sheep hear my voice; and I know them, and they follow me.”
We would all do well to learn to recognize when God is putting a thought into our mind. When He speaks to us, He won’t be trying to swindle us, like that phone scammer. Quite the contrary. When He speaks to us, it will only be for our good.
