67. Defying Odds in Life and Health: A Tale of Miracles & Hope with Kelly Asbell

When life throws an insurmountable challenge in your path, how do you respond? 
Kelly, our extraordinary guest, is a beacon of resilience, sharing her journey through cystic fibrosis and motherhood all while under the ticking clock of a terminal diagnosis. Her account, filled with hope and faith, will not just move you; it will offer a glimpse into the incredible milestones she's achieved – including a high-risk pregnancy with twins and her motivation to raise awareness for organ donation and life of the unborn. 

You'll feel the emotional tug of Kelly's life-or-death experiences, especially during the gripping tale of her lung transplant. As her health rapidly declined, and only 24 hours to live, a second chance carried with it not only a new lease on life but also a deep connection to her organ donor. Through the solace of faith, her story is a profound testament to the power of hope and the strength of family, even in the bleakest of times. 

Finally, we venture into the complexities of life post-transplant, where Kelly articulates the bittersweet reality of survival. While navigating the new challenges that come with a new lung, she speaks candidly about the personal transformations that accompany her journey.
 
Kelly's story is not just hers to tell; it's a guiding light for all who seek the courage to face their own battles.

Thank you to our sponsor….
https://generationstogenerations.com/

Join our prayer team:
https://generationstogenerations.com/podcast

https://generationstogenerations.com/podcast

ordinarypeoplestories@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/ordinarypeoplestory

https://www.instagram.com/ordinarypeopleextraordinary/

X: @storiesextra 

Any advice should be confirmed with a qualified professional.
All rights reserved: Ordinary People Extraordinary Things

Stories shared by guests may not always be shared views  of OPET. 
Being a guest does not mean OPET approves of every decision or action in the guests' life. 

We all have a story, all of us, share your story. You don't have to have the perfect answer or the perfect life - share what Jesus is doing in your life. This is an easy, real way to witness & share your testimony.

Transcript

Extraordinary Journey of Hope and Faith

Speaker 1 0:00

Thank you for joining me on Ordinary People , extraordinary Things . I'm your host , nancy , and I get to talk to ordinary people just like you about real stories , stories of faith and hope . I'm sorry about the audio quality on this episode , but it is a fantastic episode . You will hear a couple of bangs in the background . I'm not really sure where those came from and we couldn't get them out , but this is a fantastic episode about Kelly's story . At the very end of the episode , I will have some information about something new going on with Ordinary People , extraordinary Things . So stick around to the very end . Welcome to Ordinary People , extraordinary Things . I'm Nancy and I'm here with Kelly Kelly . Thank you for being on .

Speaker 2 0:53

Thank you so much for having me today .

Speaker 1 0:56

I'm just so excited we are meeting for the first time and we got touched through Bridget , so we're just thankful for that little connection . Absolutely Well , kelly , people don't know you . Could you give three words or phrases to describe yourself ?

Speaker 2 1:15

Well , I would say I'm an encourager , I'm dedicated to what I do professionally as well , and also my mission of sharing my story as well as joyful .

Speaker 1 1:29

That's a good one .

Speaker 2 1:31

Well , I try to be . There's days where I'm not so joyful , but I try to be most of all . That's great . Now , what's your profession ? I work as a vision care territory manager , so I sell contact lenses for Bosch alum .

Speaker 1 1:45

Oh , very good . Yeah it's a fun job , and then your mission is what we're gonna be able to hear about today .

Speaker 2 1:53

Absolutely .

Speaker 1 1:54

Organ donation , yes , can you why don't we just get started ?

Speaker 2 2:00

Okay , it's kind of a long story , but putting it in a short chapter , I was born with a fatal illness called cystic fibrosis , but we didn't know that I had cystic fibrosis until I was 10 years old . So I was a late diagnosis and , unlike many kids who are diagnosed with cystic fibrosis , I knew what life was like before my diagnosis . And then , after my diagnosis , I was thrown into a world of meeting other kids with my same disease , dying of the same disease that I was dying from going into the hospital doing long days of therapy and IV treatments , and basically from the time I was 10 years old to the time I was 40 , I lived on antibiotics and your body was never intended to live 30 , 40 years on antibiotics in it . So you become multi-drug resistant and there's really no other way to help you other than a transplant or , by some miraculous , a new drug , and new drugs weren't coming for me . So every year I was told my life expectancy was either 18 years old , 21 years old , 30 years old , and so we always celebrated those milestones . And then , when I turned 40 which only 3% of the population with cystic fibrosis ever turned 40 I did something that very few people ever get to do .

Speaker 2 3:24

I turned 40 but going throughout my whole life I've always lived in fast-forward motion , like graduated early from high school . I got married like after a year and a half of knowing my husband . I , we had kids . We were one of six to have biological twins with cystic fibrosis . I was a biological woman giving birth to twins with CF , and a lot of the times we were told to abort one of our children because me and northern would survive . We've gone through the trenches and so my kids were 10 years old , the same age that I was when I was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis , when we thought I was just going to the hospital for a routine clean out of my lungs , which was cystic fibrosis . That's very normal . You go into the hospital for a couple weeks to get IV therapy or you go home with IVs , and so it was . We thought it was just a normal thing .

Speaker 2 4:19

After I turned 40 , my husband and some friends of ours went to Disney World . I came back and I never came out of the hospital . We thought I had a mucus plug and the first time oxygen was introduced . I spent 91 days fighting for my life . I went down from probably 120 to about 99 pounds and I was .

Speaker 2 4:40

I was being told that I'd had a major life decisions . Do I brush my hair or brush my teeth ? Because either one took too much , too much of my energy . I had written goodbye letters to my kids , had bought their birthday gifts to their 18th birthday . I would buy different gifts for them . They basically told us that I was starting to get the death breath and , you know , there wasn't lungs to be had , and so it was a very scary time for us , and I remember always hearing the helicopter come to the hospital and I was right above the helicopter pad and it would break through the quietness of the night and I would be like is this my , is this my neck ? Is this my gift coming ? Is this my gift going to be arriving tonight ? And by the time my gift did arrive , I probably had less than 24 hours to live .

Speaker 1 5:30

Wow , I've heard of cystic fibrosis . I don't really know what it is , could you ?

Speaker 2 5:36

okay . So one in 20 people are on knowing carriers of cystic fibrosis and you have to basically reproduce with somebody that's a carrier for it to be active in create in reproduction . It's a disease that affects every organ of your body , from your lungs producing too much mucus , to your kidneys dysfunctioning , to your ab , to your pancreas not being able to absorb foods . It affects every organ in your body and it makes fighting off bacteria and illnesses very hard because your mucus is so thick and sticky . A normal person can like sneeze out that bacteria or a virus and for us it gets trapped in our lungs and it just mutates okay , okay , do your kids have it ?

Speaker 2 6:23

they are carriers . My husband made sure before we had our kids that he was tested to see if he was a carrier . And he wasn't a carrier . But so they will be carriers , but they will never have CF oh , okay , okay , that's good to know .

Speaker 1 6:38

And then you threw a ton of stuff on there , wow . So I unpacked that a little bit . So when , when did you ? When were you pregnant and what was it like to have being told like you said , I assume , multiple times to choose one of your children ?

Speaker 2 6:59

Right . So Scott and I were married for about three months at that time and we had a very small window where I wasn't too sick and I was at a healthy stage in my diagnosis with CF , where my lung capacity was about 75% . And so they said if you wanna have kids , you better start doing it now because we can't guarantee next year that you're gonna be healthy enough to have kids . We went through IVF and I'm the notes to us both of the embryos that were in place . They told us it was a less than 5% chance that they would both fertilize and they both did . And my husband and I were whisked off into a room and at that point our twins looked like gerbils on a screen and they said which one do you want to selective reduce ? And my husband and I knew that the Lord had put two babies in for a reason .

Speaker 2 7:55

Throughout my whole pregnancy I was reading Dr Seuss books and doing makeup tutorials for babies . I thought I would never get to know , and so I remember during that pregnancy it was all about if I could just hear them cry , if I could just know . Then I knew my husband could be okay and that my parents and him would raise these babies to be wonderful people , but for me it was . I know that God put two in for a reason , and I know that God is going to do something amazing through this journey . And so when the day came that we had a C-section scheduled , I remember nurses coming into our room saying we were having stories about what we would tell the media about the mom that died in labor . No one could believe that I had survived , because at that time oh , oh , my goodness , oh yeah and they had tears in their eyes . And then , at that time , only six women with cystic fibrosis ever gave birth to twins , and four died within the first year of their baby's lives . So we- .

Speaker 1 8:56

But you had two people who had survived this ever .

Speaker 2 9:00

Yes , and so the odds were against us . Like I said , we were preparing for my husband to bring home two babies , but not me , and for me it was all about if I could just give them life . I know that they'll have a good life if , even if I have to be sacrificed for them to live Wow .

Speaker 1 9:22

I'm just kind of trying to wrap my mind even a tiny tiny bit around this and I kind of feel like I'm listening to the Bible story where it's like oh , joseph was enslaved for this many years , but no worries , cause he became second in charge . But sometimes it's important to sit in that right and the waiting- .

Speaker 2 9:46

And it was grouchating because I wanted to mom so bad these two little human beings . But it was almost like I had to love them enough to be okay , even if I wasn't okay , for them to survive , because if my only purpose in life was to give them life and make them go on through my legacy , they would carry my legacy . I knew that the Lord would take care of me and I remember throughout the pregnancy I was trying so hard not to get attached . Do you know what I'm saying ? Like you tried so hard , like cause . You know the statistics and you know what doctors have said .

Speaker 2 10:28

And it was the biggest hurdle that we ever had to face . I mean , I had to go on IVs at 20 weeks of pregnancy because I was getting infection in my lungs and we were being told if you choose this drug , your babies could have a disease where they don't feel pain , or they could be born deaf . Or in having to make these life altering choices and some of them were in for my best interest , for them to be having the best interest for the kids , and I've done this brand of research on this animal and you will have to share a picture if you can , because your kids are how old ?

Speaker 2 11:03

They are now 16 and driving and they have their own little lives and it's been a miracle . Six years since my transplant .

Speaker 1 11:12

Wow , wow , and they're , they're healthy .

Speaker 2 11:16

They're absolutely healthy . My four pound they were four pound primies . They were born at 34 weeks and they were in the NICU . And my son is now six , two , two , twenty . He's on the football team . My daughter's a dancer for her local team . She's a straight-A student . They're amazing kids and it was a journey in faith for us . I can't .

Speaker 1 11:40

I can't imagine and I'm sure it wasn't just one time they said , hey , pick one of these . Did you ? Did you ever start to wonder am I making the right decision ? Or were you just crystal clear from God on that ?

Speaker 2 11:53

Well , and I'll be honest with you , it was a struggle like no other for me , because I was journaling to them every day and and I was , I was hoping and praying it was . It was through prayer that got all of us through it . My husband was always my stronghold . He was always Adamant that God placed two of these babies in here . For a reason .

Speaker 2 12:14

We don't see the first page last , we don't see the last page first . I'm sorry , but we knew that there was a purpose greater than maybe my life when it came to these babies being born , and so it was the Christmas miracle that year , like I said , doctors were meeting to discuss how they would tell the media that I had passed away . We had nurses coming in . It was a testimony to the nurses that were coming into our room . They were coming with tears streaming down their cheeks , prepared to see a very sick mother or Somebody that was on a vent , or because they had no idea how these babies were gonna even come out , because a lot of the times when CF women had these babies , they were getting embolisms and they were passing away very quickly after .

Speaker 1 12:59

Wow , wow , and I feel like this is you just said you don't see the last page , or however . You said that so eloquently . But now we are right . I mean , the story is not over but , we're , we're seeing like oh okay , well , it all worked out . But oh my goodness , that was wow .

Journey of Faith and Healing

Speaker 2 13:17

It was definitely , I said , a faith journey , but God , the , the fingerprints of Christ , were all over this pregnancy and it was just whenever I felt defeated they would come in , like it when I was hospitalized because my lungs were really I was sacrificing my lungs for that , to give them life , because my body was getting weaker and I was coughing up blood , and I remember my assurance every day was when they would bring the Doppler in , and to hear their heartbeats , and knowing that , even though that these babies were given these medications that could possibly harm them , that God was like I'm protecting them , you guys are gonna be okay . And being able to be able to hear that every day when I was in the hospital Really gave me hope , knowing that we did make the right decision .

Speaker 1 14:05

Hmm , so good , yeah , and I can't imagine what your husband was going through , oh wow .

Speaker 2 14:13

Like I said , he's the strong that he's . He's a hero in he's . His cape is hidden , like he's . He's amazing Wow .

Speaker 1 14:21

Yeah Well , we might have to hear his story someday , but we'll focus on so . And then you said you were about 24 hours From death when , when your transplant came in I bet that was I Mean so someone had to pass right to give right .

Speaker 2 14:44

Well , and that was a thing I was in the hospital for 91 days . I was slowly seeing my weight deteriorate , had to get a feeding tube put in . They almost lost me , they said when they put my feeding tube in because my heart rate went so low . And just you know , again you're . You're praying , lord . Instead of let me hear their first cries , lord , if I have to go , please let them remember me . Let let these children , who are now 10 years old , not be traumatized for the rest of their life because of this . And so it was a faith journey for us , because what 45 year olds should be planning their funeral , telling your spouse what music you want played at your funeral , who you want to pass or over your funeral ? I mean , we had to make every decision because we weren't guaranteed that lungs were gonna happen for me , and so I was on like 12 liters of oxygen . My body was turning ashy gray , I was literally having the death breath , and I remember , looking back on that moment . I never felt more closer to God and all my life than the moment I needed God the most . And I remember , even after getting my lungs I would tell my husband I miss that piece that I felt , that assurance that you know , here I am on my deathbed and not very many people get off their deathbed and get a second chance . But the piece that I had . I couldn't even talk . My talking was through my eyes because I was so weak . But I had the assurance that either if I woke up in the arms of Jesus or if I woke up to the ones that love me the most here on earth , either way I won . Either way I won . And so we were kind of getting prepared that lungs weren't gonna come . And it was 13 days after I got listed . The phone call came and they said we have lungs available and so you have to call everybody in . It could be just that it's a rough run and the lungs are no good , but we had to wait around to see if the lungs were good . I remember waking up on the ventilator and my husband was there and he missed out on them taking the tube out . But we'll never forget . I kept telling my husband she was black and she was murdered .

Speaker 2 17:07

And why did you play Frank Sinatra music in the surgery room ? And the doctors all around us kept saying you know , we didn't play Frank Sinatra music . What are you talking about ? And I'd say it was a good eight months where I would be awoken in the middle of the night by a song I had never heard of . I knew it was Frank Sinatra , but I didn't know the song . And I typed in what I was hearing and it was called Fly Me to the Moon by Frank Sinatra . It's a 1940s old song . I just knew his voice , I didn't know the song . And so , eight months goes by , they're charting that I'm still hearing this music . They wanna give me , like these medications that helped me with stress and you know , they wanna give me these medications to medicate me , not realizing that this came from my donor , eight months after my transplant .

Speaker 1 17:55

Well , they thought I was like psychotic or something Right and I was feeling like I was going crazy .

Speaker 2 18:00

Right and eight months after my transplant I get the letter that every transplant patient dreams about and it's the letter of finding out who's living in your chest . And I opened up the letter . There's a beautiful picture of Tracy . She's a black 28 year old mom . Pictures of her daughter . The story went two blocks from my hospital room . You could see the park . She took her five year old little girl . Rival gangs were shooting at each other and she saw a bullet go right toward her five year old little girl . She fell on top of her , doing what any mom would do or any parent saving her life , my life and 16 others . That day .

Speaker 2 18:43

My husband was the one that noticed in the memorial page . On the back of it it said every night before bed she would sing that song to her little girl fly me to the moon . And so a year goes by and we had people praying all throughout our churches and we just walked in faith that God was never . He was always a just in time God . He was never too soon and never too late . He was going to be a just in time God . And I later found out that my donor was a third generation Jehovah Witness . They never donate organs or anything . It is against their religion , I believe . They don't donate blood . And she told me , the mom told me in the last conversation I wasn't the only one to hear the music . The man that got her heart and the four year little boy kept hearing that same Frank Snotcher song . I did , wow , yeah , talk about God knows every detail and we all received ourselves and it carried that memory to us , god knows .

Speaker 1 19:51

Well , it's hooked up , yeah .

Speaker 3 19:56

In a world filled with fleeting moments , there's something truly magical about preserving them in a beautiful , crafted photo album . At Generations to Generations , we don't just create albums we capture the heart beats of your life . Our dedicated team understands the significance of every photograph the joy , the laughter and the love we pour our hearts into curating albums that reflect the essence of your unique journey . From meticulously selecting the finest materials to ensuring every detail is perfect , our commitment to craftsmanship is unwavering . Your story is our inspiration . We take pride in turning it into a tangible , cherishable keepsake . Discover the joy of reliving your precious memories . Visit us at Generations to Generations Generationstogenerationscom , where every frame tells a story .

Speaker 2 20:52

What's more ironic , this is how God works , and you know , I'm just so amazed at how God works everything out . So I always lived in hospitals my whole life and I knew , when I got these lungs I missed . The only world I ever knew was hospitals and doctors . They became my family and so I started the journey of getting off a disability and proving to myself that I can make something of a career . And I always would see these reps come through with bags and I would always pray that they would have my cure in their bag . And now I carry the bag .

Speaker 2 21:28

I'm in pharmaceutical sales and the one thing about meeting my boss I broke every cardinal rule . I told her . I said I can't guarantee you five years that I'm going to be here . I've had a lung transplant , I have diabetes , I have CF , I have every cardinal rule . And she has tears streaming down her cheeks and she said we donated my mom's organs three years ago but I never realized where my mom's lungs went . She hires me the next day , two weeks later . Her mom had died three years before I had my transplant . We found out the day that she was donating her mother's lungs away . She donated them to the Cystic Vibrosis Foundation and her mom ended up saving my life by going into a trial called Kaleidiko , which was a clinical trial to help me sustain my lungs to transplant . At the same time she was signing off her mom's lungs . I signed off my lungs for the same trial . She ends up hiring me and she says I feel like you're going to help me heal from my mom's passing , and so everything has been orchestrated by God . He knew that I was supposed to work here and to help , so I just I love that story in the Bible I think it's in Matthew 7 that talks about building your house upon the rock and where your foundation is .

Speaker 2 22:48

And it talks about two different people the one that built their house on the sand , and the winds and the rain came and the house was demolished . But the one that built their house on the rock . They stood firm and the house wasn't destroyed . And it's not that the rains and the waves didn't come , it's just the foundation that set them apart . And I hope that my story is that my foundation was always centered on Christ . And the rains and the waves came and the torrential rains kept coming , but God was still sovereign , and sovereign and good and he kept his promise to me to never forsake me or abandon me , even through transplant .

Speaker 1 23:31

Wow , I mean , you can't even make these things up as far as like , right , Honestly , honestly , when you get to heaven , God will be like but I did this too and you didn't see this Right .

Speaker 2 23:44

It was kind of moving and all it was so weird too . With my first job I worked in OBGYN sales , so I was like selling birth control and stuff to doctors to try to get them to prescribe it for their patients . And it would be odd because I would walk in at these times where I would hear the doctors telling their nurses well , go tell them that they can always have another baby . Those babies have no quality of life . They were talking about babies like me , babies who would be diagnosed with cystic fibrosis in utero , and they were telling them to abort these babies . And God used me living in hospitals to basically let them know it's not just a textbook . I am that baby and it may not be the world you want for your child , but I've had a life and , as a result , seven babies were born because my donor decided to be an organ donor and I in turn used her gift to help these doctors be educated that babies have quality of life with CF .

Speaker 1 24:44

Oh my gosh .

Speaker 2 24:45

Wow , so good . God is faithful , right .

Speaker 1 24:52

Wow , so have you always had this faith .

Speaker 2 24:56

I remember my mom always read to me like Bible stories and stuff . But my faith didn't become really real to me until I was in the nine West . I was on the floor called nine West at Children's Hospital and I remember we were there's like five of us that would always go into the hospital together and every year I'd go back to the hospital . I would lose another friend and I so happened to be in the hospital and my friend , david , was cystic fibrosis , was losing his battle , and I got to hear the code over the speaker and I knew it was his room .

Speaker 2 25:30

I saw them take him out on the white gurney and I remember that day I didn't know how to pray . I just bowed my head and I said , lord , if you allow me to live long enough to do all the things I want to do in life , I promise you that I will share your goodness with everybody and it kind of . You go through peaks and valleys in your walk , but I can honestly say I've never felt more closer to the Lord than when the Lord was all I had in those hospital rooms , seeing these kids dying from the same disease I was fighting every day to live with and the transplant journey and having my babies . It was always after . I look back on it . I always seen the fingerprints of Christ on my life and on the story that he gave me .

Speaker 1 26:24

Well , I'm so glad that you're sharing that with us . Thank you .

Life After Transplant

Speaker 2 26:29

You had a lung transplant six years ago .

Speaker 1 26:31

I'm sure that life isn't just like perfect with with no .

Speaker 2 26:39

And everybody . I think that's the misunderstanding about transplant is that everybody thinks you get these new lungs and then it's almost like the proverbial bus ticket the doctors give you these lungs . You've been your whole , your whole life . You were told that you're going to die , so you prepare yourself that you're dying , but no one teaches you how to live . You're trading in one disease and for another .

Speaker 2 27:01

So I may not have disease lungs anymore , but I treated it in for diabetes . So now I'm a diabetic . Now I'm more prone to skin cancers . Now I'm more prone to cancer in general because I'm prone to anti . I'm prone to having to possibly go through rejection of these lungs . I have to take anti rejection meds for the rest of my life that are affecting my kidneys . Now my my kidneys and my liver suffer because of the side effects of the medications that I take , and then my blood sugar suffer because of the prednisone that keeps me alive . Wow , so it's . It is trading in one disease and for another .

Speaker 2 27:39

But I'm just . I'm more no-transcript aware of life than I've ever been before . Like I walk around and I'm like why are people not looking down at their chest and watching it fall and rise ? And for me , I was never able to take a deep breath in without gasping for air or like coughing jags or coughing up blood and I'm like why are people not excited about living ? Why are people like it takes hundreds of different functions for your organs to go through to actually live 24 hours . Why are people just walking around like this is nothing ? This is a huge deal that we all get to live .

Speaker 1 28:19

Yeah that's really .

Speaker 2 28:20

And so there's times where it's very isolating and sometimes you feel alone and it's like the survivor guilt gets you . Why did my kids get to have a mom that is still with them , while this little girl lost her mom , who saved her life to save my life , and that's another thing that you struggle with is the survivor guilt .

Speaker 1 28:44

What would you say to yourself for that ?

Speaker 2 28:47

Well , I say that Tracy didn't die for me and she was going to die . She was brain dead . There was no way of fixing what happened to her , but in her death she decided to live and , as a result of the gift that she gave , others are being saved those seven babies with cystic fibrosis whose moms heard my story and their moms decided that they were not going to abort them . I did a speaking engagement and a man came up to me and a man said to me your donor didn't just save your life , she just saved mine . And I said what do you mean ? And he said before I volunteered my time here tonight , I wrote my suicide letter . I was going to commit suicide tonight . I was going to volunteer one last time , but after seeing what your donor did for you , I want to live . Just like your donor gave you a gift to live , she's also saved my life and she gave me a gift to live . Wow .

Speaker 1 29:55

Wow , Wow , this is so amazing . I again want to say thank you for sharing your story and this reminds me and I want to say this because you have such an incredible story but I want people to hear this , to A be inspired , to be encouraged to do something . Maybe they want to donate their organs and have that ready . But also , don't think I don't have a story like Kelly , so I don't have to share mine , and I'm just so passionate that everyone has a story and you don't know how your story is going to impact somebody , and so I just do want to say that , because your story is so incredible , Right , Don't be , don't think that you're . If you're listening , don't think your story's not incredible .

Speaker 2 30:45

Absolutely . God calls the equipped . He doesn't equip the called . The story that you're given he's going to use , if you just say , just allow me to be used for your glory . You know , my best friend has stage four cancer and she found out someone down the road who has stage four cancer and I told her Greta , you know , god isn't sending me stage four cancer patients , he sends me people whose kids have CF and I minister to their families . Your ministry is through the cancer and God uses every bit and he shatters that alabaster box to allow us to pour onto others , even our hard times and our hardships . We are the . Our testimony is the most glorified if we share with others . Everybody has a story .

Speaker 1 31:34

Yes , yes , well , this has been so amazing . We're kind of wrapping up . I don't want to , but yes , what is your favorite Bible verse or story ?

Speaker 2 31:47

I seriously think the Matthew seven verse 24 and 27, . The building the house upon the sand , the terrible . I think that's my favorite story and my favorite Bible verse would have to be Philippians 4 , 13 . I can do all things through Christ . That gives me strength . That is the foundation of what I've had to live on my whole life .

Speaker 1 32:06

Yeah .

Speaker 2 32:07

God's strength and my weakness he has made stronger .

Speaker 1 32:11

Yeah , I see that all over your story and I also see how I think it was Paul said to live is to die is gain , but to live is oh darn it . It's such a Right , it's just a nice passage . But you kind of said the same as far as like if I wake up in heaven , I win , and if I stay here , I win . And sometimes those Bible verses you're like I don't understand that . But then you hear someone who's actually gone through it and it's like , oh right , it's real .

Speaker 2 32:43

Right , yeah , and not all of us have a Paul the saw moment , but God uses our weakness so that he's made stronger . I mean , it's all about sharing our story , and Romans five says that our sufferings breed perseverance . Perseverance breeds hope , and our hope lies in Christ , and I feel like everyone has a story to share , and it may be something as small or it could be something as big , but God's going to send those people that need to hear your story when they need it . Right , it's just . Are we going to use our story to help those ? And I think , hopefully , I've encouraged someone to share their story .

Speaker 1 33:21

Yes , yeah , what are you grateful for ?

Speaker 2 33:27

Every breath for the ones that hurt in the moments that take your breath away , to just the hard moments . Every breath is a gift and my fear is I'm not using these breaths to the best of my ability . I'm thankful just for the breath of my lungs and the ability to share my faith and my story and to see God's goodness and fingerprints . I'm now looking through the rear view mirror of what he's done and I'm a testament that he's still a God of miracles . He's still a God that performs miracles , and I'm a living example of that .

Impactful Stories

Speaker 1 34:09

And when you were talking about am I doing enough ? I feel like that's such a good reminder for everybody and for me as well , and it's so easy to get caught up in just kind of life and things that really don't matter , things that are not eternal , and think that they are , and I feel like that's a good reminder .

Speaker 2 34:36

Absolutely .

Speaker 1 34:38

I was thinking last yesterday was a Super Bowl and we were watching and my son was , he's 10 and he was like I'm so mad that the Holy Nine didn't win . And I was like , yeah , I don't know , like fun worker , and you know , I was like kind of letting him be in it , but I was like , but also like it doesn't matter , like I need to say that for everyone who like gives their all to it .

Speaker 1 35:05

But it's like oh , you know if we could care this much you know , rooting , cheering , and like having so much investment in a game as we do in sharing Jesus with others , telling your story , doing something that's going to show kindness to someone and make a difference , maybe with a world we change .

Speaker 2 35:28

Absolutely One story at a time , right .

Speaker 1 35:31

Yeah Well , thank you , I had an amazing time chatting with you and . You too . Thank you so much , tori . It hit me very hard , so thank you for sharing .

Speaker 2 35:43

You're so welcome . Have a great night .

Speaker 1 35:45

You too . I hope Kelly's story was as impactful for you as it was for me . Don't forget to share it . Share it with your friends and family via text or email , Give it a like on social media and share it and give us a review on any platform that you listen to . Ordinary people extraordinary things . We have a brand new team for ordinary people extraordinary things is our prayer team . If you would like to be a part of praying for ordinary people extraordinary things , please go to our website . It's generations to generationscom . Under the podcast tab , you will find a box to put in your name and email address to join our prayer team . You'll get a weekly email from us on how you can be praying with the other team to pray for ordinary people extraordinary things and what God is doing in our communities , sharing faith and hope through ordinary people stories just like yours .