Miracles & Health Insurance

This is Stu Epperson from the Truth Talk Podcast, connecting current events, pop culture, and theology, and we're so grateful for you that you've chosen the Truth Podcast Network.

It's about to start in just a few seconds. Enjoy it, and please share it around with all your friends. Thanks for listening, and thanks for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network. Kingdom Pursuits, where you hear from ordinary people instilled with an extraordinary passion. Together we explore the stories of men and women who take what they love and let God turn their passion into kingdom pursuits. Now, live from the Truth Booth, your host, Robbie Dilmore. By my count, I think it's Christmas Eve, Eve, Eve, Eve, Eve, Eve, Eve. Which means that we've got a spectacular Christmas show coming up today for you, because I most love this time of year.

And so I have a brand new guest, somebody I just met, and I'm so excited. We have Jill Nelson, and she has a really, really cool thing that she does called Health Insurance Heroes. And so tell us, Jill, how did that come about?

Sure. So it's kind of a long story. So I own my own health insurance agency, and I don't think that anyone on career day in their senior year of high school says, when I grow up, I want to become a health insurance agent. But what ended up happening is it was a kind of an family business that was started.

There was an opportunity there. And we started this right before the Affordable Care Act came to fruition. And so then slowly built this company for the last decade. And I was at home a lot with the kids. And then what ended up happening is I got divorced. And so it was one of those things where I had to choose between collecting child support or working in the business and servicing half these clients. And so I asked for zero dollars and half the business and go and try this out, something that I hadn't done in years. And so I realized that it was a lot of hard work, but it was helping people because health insurance is not I hate the paperwork, but I absolutely love helping others.

I love it. And so I've had several knee surgeries. So I know how important it is to get the right doctor.

And I know how important it is to make sure that you're in network. And so what I found myself just hitting the ground running hard, throwing myself into the work. And so I met so many people with so many amazing, amazing stories. And I have a broadcasting background.

And so I love interviewing people anyway. But what I found is I was still really sad because I didn't have my kids with me every single day, like I was used to because I was a stay at home mom. And so I thought, you know what, I'm going to put more joy out there.

I'm gonna, I'm gonna go online. And I am going to just, if I don't feel that inner joy, because I'm still so sad, then what I'm going to do is I'm going to just hopefully by osmosis, feel other people's joy, tell their stories and put out the good online because you know, social media, all that stuff, news can be negative. But I'm going to try and spread joy. And so I started calling it Jill's Health Insurance Heroes, because these folks I met through my job. And so as an owner of your own company, it's either yours to succeed or yours to fail. But what I also realized is that it's also yours to use and utilize to put out good in the world. And so I started Jill's Health Insurance Heroes because a lot of these folks don't get recognition.

But they truly are heroes in our community. So it's gotten a lot of traction, and it's fun to do. And I absolutely love it. How fun. And so you can see this is one of our many Christmas presents that you're getting here from the Truth Network is you're gonna find out something that's gonna help you a whole lot.

Because one of the things that we all face in the coming stresses of whatever is stuff that has to do with this. But another one of the Christmas presents you're gonna get are my jokes. And I know you've been waiting. So here we go. Oh, yes, yes. How much fun is this?

Really? So, you know, feel free, Jill, to jump in. Well, I was gonna say I'm the queen of cheesy jokes. Okay, here we go. So you may know this one.

I'm starting off with an easy one for most of the listeners, I think. What do you call a broke Santa? Santa's broke.

What do you call him? That's an easy one, right? St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas. Come on. I don't get it. He doesn't have a nickel.

St. Nicholas. I actually have a joke too. Oh, good. Yeah.

Did you want it? Yeah. Okay. What does Santa say to a distracted elf? What does Santa say to a distracted elf?

Oh, what did he say? You must be present. Ah, you need the present. That's true.

Yeah, that's very good. So be careful this year, because, you know, if your pets, you know, eat any of your Christmas decorations, do you know what they get, Rachel? I don't know. What do they get? They get tinselitis. It's normal.

Sounds painful. Yeah. And so you're gonna love this one. What's a sheep's favorite Christmas song? What's a sheep's favorite Christmas song? This isn't too hard. What do you think, Jill? Um, um, ah, I don't know.

This sounds like it. Feliz Navidad. Ah, that's a bad joke. It is, especially the Spanish sheep. They like that. And you know what they say, and you know what they say, if you don't like my jokes, humbug.

And another one of my favorites here. How does Rudolph know when Christmas is coming? Have you ever wondered about that? It's important, right?

He checks his calendar. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And of course, another one of the all-time favorites. I try this one every year, and it still makes me laugh. Why didn't Rudolph get a good report card? It's tough for Rudolph out there. He didn't get to play any reindeer games, and he got a bad report card. You know why? He went down in history.

See, you gotta put these things together. And just if you like the movie, you know, like I do, The Grinch. You know, I'm always like, Where Are You Christmas is one of my favorite songs of all time. So what is The Grinch's least favorite band? Because, you know, music's involved in that.

If you think about it, The Who. I can't believe I didn't get that. My dad would be so disappointed in me. So you knew at the end of those shenanigans, we actually would have a riddle that you could call in and win today. And so many women, many women say, A virgin birth, I believe, but three wise men, that's a tough one. So the question is, How many wise men were there in the Bible?

Magi story. How many wise men were there really? If you know the answer to that, you call us. 866-348-7884 is a number to call in and win. How many wise men were there really, according to Christmas story?

866-34-TRUTH. And if they know that, Rachel, tell them what they'll win. They can win a fabulous Jeff Messick prize pack.

A fabulous Jeff Messick prize pack, which includes, I should point out, we have two of the wall plaques with Jeff Messick's poems on them and a Jeff Messick t-shirt. And so you get all that for just one simple answer. According to the Bible, how many wise men were there? In the Magi story, not how many wise men were there. That might be a harder question, but only the wise can answer. 866.

I'm shocked that the lines aren't lit up. 866-348-7884, 866-34-TRUTH. Come on now.

This is your birthday Christmas present that you need to know. And so getting back to Jill, who recently is married, right? So how fun. No, I'm not recently married. Oh, you're recently back to Nelson. Yeah.

There you go. You were Jill Osborne on the other side. Yep. And now I'm Jill Nelson. And so you were born Jill Nelson. Yeah, I was born Jill Nelson.

Yep. And so you're kids. How many do you have? So I have three kiddos and they are 12, 10, and 7. So we are very busy. I coach their sports teams and volunteer. We just went and volunteered at their Christmas party. I was in charge of as room mom, you know, the decorations, lots of glitter, lots of glitter on those decorations.

So, but you know, being a mom, it's the hardest and most rewarding job. So, so I'm curious. I'm sure a lot of people, what do you coach?

Basketball and soccer. Really? Yeah.

How wonderful. Well, you look like you might've played basketball. She looks kind of tall, but yeah.

Yeah. My son played for UNCG actually. And it's like Stu is a big basketball player. Is that how you met Stu? No, we connected a long time ago through Pastor Rob. And he was just, you know, it's one of those things where you meet Stu, you're a friend for life.

You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build the kingdom and how fun, fun, fun we're having today with Jill Nelson, health insurance heroes. And she's got a place there at Facebook and I'm sure she's going to give you all sorts of stuff you're going to need to know.

Cause I'm sure like me, you're going like, wow, I need help along these lines. That's a really good thing. So we really have some stuff for you. But as long as we have stuff for you, we also have Steven, it looks like. Is it Steven in North Carolina? All right.

You're on the Kingdom Pursuits. Good morning. Did I say your name right? I think it's Sharon. It's Sharon.

That's why you're not answering. You see, I have to look at the screen due to a little, I'm really sorry, Sharon. Sharon, are you with me? We're looking.

Oh yeah. Sharon, are you with us? I am. Can you hear me? I hear you great. I hear you great.

We had a little snafu with, with both of the screen that was too far away, but I appreciate your patience. So Sharon, Sharon, have you considered how many wise men were in the Bible story? Do I, what did you just say again? I said, you know, how many wise men were there in this Bible story?

Yeah. To be truthful, the Bible does not say a number. It says wise men, but there was three gifts, gold, frankincense, and birth. And for that reason, we have traditionally said three. You are absolutely correct. And so you've got the Jeff Messick prize package coming your way.

How exciting is that? And so we will, on the behalf of men everywhere, we do know it's plural. There are at least two wise men.

That's pretty good. And your understanding of that passage is wonderful. And I do often wonder, you know, that obviously here are these astrologers and they also, right, they were wise enough not to go back and tell Herod where Jesus was. That was some wisdom there, right? Yes, it was, yes. And thank you for sharing that wisdom with us, Sharon.

Yeah. And so I'm hoping that Debbie stayed with us too. So Sharon, thank you so much for calling in today. And we'll go to Debbie is in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Debbie, you're on Kingdom Pursuits.

Good morning. Did you stay with us, Debbie? No, she heard, she thought I had the same answer.

See, I let everybody win and we got all sorts of stuff. So call us back, Debbie. I would love to know what, oh, she might be as we speak. But while we're getting that set up, I'm going to go back to Jill for a moment. And so Jill, from what I understand recently, you've had quite an experience in the last few weeks.

Yep. So I had a little bit of a health scare. So I have been, you know, with health insurance, it's the busy season, right?

It was open enrollment for Medicare, it was open enrollment for those turning under 65. And we can certainly still help folks who are interested. And in fact, starting in January, I'll also be holding turning 65 seminars, because it's just so much information. And it's just an arduous process. And folks are just inundated with information. So we like to go ahead and answer questions.

In fact, we're holding it in a church in Thomasville. But I found myself working really, really, really hard because I wanted to service these, these folks well. And I, I wasn't taking care of myself. And so, which is, you know, quite the conundrum, because here I am selling health insurance so that people can take care of their health, and then all of a sudden, mine completely fails.

So one night, I was talking to a client, and I was trying to help her and she needed to make sure that she had dental insurance before the next day. And I'm like having stomach pain, but I'm trying to help her. And so finally, the stomach pain got so bad that I had to go to the emergency room because it felt like I was having contractions.

And so I go to the emergency room, and they were like, Well, how bad is your pain? And I've had three children. So after that, after you deliver three human beings into this world, everything's relative. And so I said nine. And they were like, Okay, well, let us know when it gets to a 10. It was really at a 10 at that point. But I thought there's no way that this could be as painful as delivering a child.

So finally, I get to the point where I was like, All right, it's a 10. So they go back, they give me a CT scan. They were like, All right, we actually need you to go to the hospital in Winston, we need you to, you're likely going to have laparoscopic surgery, your intestines are twisted. And, and we're concerned about you.

About you. And you could die from this. And what we're going to do is we're going to do a laparoscopic and then if that doesn't work, we're going to have to cut your entire stomach open. And I was like, Well, sounds a little dramatic. Can I just at least go say goodnight to my kids, give them a kiss.

Good night. And they're like, No, ma'am, this is serious. And you need to take an ambulance.

And you need to get there now. And so I was like, Okay, I'm not I'm not taking an ambulance. And they're like, ma'am, you could die from this, you really need to take this more seriously. And I said, Okay, I'm not I'm not going to take an ambulance. My mom can take me but I will go I will go and they're like, please go right away. Like don't make a stop and see your kids just please go right away. And so I was like, Okay, okay, I will.

So I get there. And I'm thinking, I don't I don't want to do this. So I walk into the hospital and my mom drops me off the front and the security guard comes up and he says, I was so at that point, I was like, you know, just if there's if I started I thought to myself, I'm just gonna start asking people to random people to pray for me. Because I really don't want to do this surgery.

And I don't want my kids to have to go through this and worry about me. And so I so I went in there and I saw the security guard I said, Hey, I'm, they say I'm supposed to have surgery. Can you please, you know, I'm hunched over, I can barely walk because it hurts so bad. Because what happened was, is my stomach was literally contracting, which is why it almost felt like pregnancy.

Because it was trying to untwist my intestines. And so the security guard sits me down and he puts his hand on my head. And he he he gives me a blessing. And he said, you know, help heal this girl, help be with her.

And, and, you know, prevent her from having surgery. And I'm tearing up, my mom's tearing up. And then and then after that, we, you know, we will, he says, let me know if this works. I've done this for people before.

And I like to know when miracles happen. And I'm thinking, it's really nice of you, buddy. But like, I saw the CT scan results, and you know, my stomach's pretty inflamed.

And, and so it was just, I looked at it, and I was like, well, what a nice guy, you know, so. So then what happened after that is we go upstairs, and they're talking about surgery and all this stuff. And, and they need to wait till the morning to get the surgeons in and all that stuff. And so what I finally decided to do is they didn't know if it was scar tissue that was twisting it.

And so I just thought, you know, I I'm not doing this, I am not gonna have surgery. So I'm gonna will myself to untwist these intestines on my own. So I, I did all these stretches and twists and turns all night long, these, you know, my yoga poses. And I thought about the stuff that they teach us, like, when you know, you have babies to, like, stretch their stomach and turn it around.

And so all night long, I'm doing this right. So the doctors keep coming in, they're like, how are you doing? And I keep telling them, I'm feeling better. And then they're like, in the next, you know, okay, well, we don't want you to get excited, because you're probably going to still, you know, have to have surgery.

And so then eventually, you know, this keeps happening, keeps happening, keeps happening. By 10 o'clock, they're like, we can't believe we're saying this, they do another CT scan, they're like, you're good to go, you can leave, everything's untwisted, and you are fine. But call us immediately, if something happens, because you could die. And we are concerned to send you home, but we have no reason to keep you now at this point. So I go downstairs.

And I find, I'm looking for the security guard, he's not there. And so, you know, I tell his buddy, I was like, hey, can you tell Jeff, that I am walking out? And I really believe it's because of his blessing. And, and I defied all, all these doctors were telling me that was not possible. And, and he was like, Yeah, and I said, so tell him what he did was, it was a miracle.

And he said, um, yeah, I'll tell him, you're not the first to say that, I'll definitely tell him. And so... Well, I gotta share a story with you. All right, so I had 1996, I had lymphoma. And I didn't just have lymphoma, I had what was called killer cell lymphoma. And I had these tumors that had popped up all over my skin. And they went and did a biopsy, and they sent the biopsy off. And they were, you know, like, wow, this is really, really serious. And my sister, who works for University of Michigan Hospital, calls me and says, Robbie, this is really bad, because, you know, there's only been two people who've had this kind of lymphoma in the country, and both of them didn't live two months.

And so, you know, it looks bad. And so these tumors just kept popping up in my skin everywhere, like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And so within a week or two, I was covered in them. And I no longer, I was working, but I didn't want to be in the public, because I was covered in tumors.

It looked weird. So a pastor by the name of Richard Little, who happened to be the pastor of Rinaldo Besperinarian in Winston, is driving by the dealership where I work, and he says the Lord told him that somebody was there that needed to be healed. Now, at this point in time, it's 1991, 1996, I've been in Christ about five years, had no understanding of healing, and certainly had no understanding of being anointed with oil or somebody laying their hands on me. And so Pastor Little comes in, tells my finance manager that somebody's there that needs to be healed, and he says, oh, that's got to be Robbie. He's covered in tumors back there in his office, right? And so here comes Pastor Little, and he tells me what he wants to do, and I didn't have a lot of faith to be healed, honestly, Jill.

And I remember thinking, this dude's weird. So this is a perfect cliffhanger to have you tune in. If you've not heard this story, it's miraculous like Jill's, but God is big time in the miracle business. So stay tuned. We've got so much more Kingdom Pursuits coming back.

Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build the kingdom. And today, how fun, really fun. I have a chance to spend some time with a fellow broadcaster, Jill Nelson. You can hear her amazing gifts, and we are hoping that we can entice her to do some with us here on the Truth Network.

And she has her own program, Health Insurance Heroes, which is on Facebook. And when we left our hero, Robbie, I was covered in tumors as Pastor Little had come to my office there. It was at the time— Okay, I'm going to stop you for a second. Now it's my turn to interview you.

All right, so let me set it up. So you have a pastor come in. He's asking, hey, who do I need to heal?

Someone's like, go see Robbie. So then the pastor comes to the back, and he gives you this. Did he put his hands on your head? Oh yeah.

The whole gift. And he put oil on there. Did he really?

Oh yeah, he had oil. Do you remember what it smells like? Yeah. Yeah, I don't know why. That's like a thing that sticks with people. So okay, so he puts it—what were you thinking at that point when he gave it to you?

Did you feel the power of the Spirit, or did you just feel nothing? Well, at first I thought, this guy's a nut. Yeah. But I'm not referring—you know, I'm in a bad way here.

You know, I'm ready to try anything. Yeah. However, I will say, as he prayed, and he is a very sincere, wonderful man. I've come to know him—well, he's with the Lord now, but I came to know him very much after that this happened. But he was very, very sincere in that prayer, and oh yeah, I felt something.

Yeah. I don't know what it was, but it was like you're talking about, you had that blessing when the guy touched your head, and you know it was a blessing that this is coming from God, which is the end of the story. I mean, you just know that there was something that happened, right? It's not the end of the story. I feel like it's the beginning of the story.

How did it change you? Yeah. Well, oh my goodness.

Because that's when your life starts. It does. It did, because that particular Robbie was dying. Right. And then a new one was coming out of the cocoon on Monday that had a different set of faith, right? That now, like, whoa.

Like, I woke up Monday morning—now, you know, it's one thing that, you know, I guess it's like you. They were looking at a CT scan. Well, anybody could look at my skin and go, wait a minute.

This guy's not doing well. He was covered in tumors. Like, they had pictures, you know.

It was well documented. I was covered in them, and they had all the biopsy and all that stuff, you know, and I didn't have a tumor one, not one, nothing. Clean as a bell Monday morning before I was going on my way to chemotherapy to get this, and there they were. And the Baptist hospital was just—which was Baptist, same hospital, and they were freaking out. Like, what in the heck? And so they immediately did another biopsy of the sites where they knew the tumors had been, and they said, wow, your cancer turned on itself and ate itself.

Yeah. So how did it change your point of—how did you start living differently? Yeah, well, there's no doubt that what happened for me—and this was not a lesson that came easy—I had no sense that anybody really loved me. And so since I didn't have a sense that anybody really loved me, I didn't feel like God really loved me.

Right? And when this happened, so many people—so I don't think it was just an accident that God sent Pastor Little to heal me, because he wanted me to be loved on somebody that knew how to love, that I didn't know. Like, where does this guy come from that doesn't know me that comes to heal me? Like, well, who does that?

And who is that bold? And so in so many different ways, it was the beginning of a very long story. Like you said, it's the very beginning of the story, because after that, when we rejoiced, we got—that's when I got crushed by the Jeep, and there's lots of stuff that happened. But the whole long story was that there was a season where what I needed, apparently, what God was showing me and teaching me through this, was that not only did he love me, but there were all sorts of people, number one being, in my case, my wife. I mean, she stuck—because we went through some serious shenanigans. I was in a wheelchair for two years. Shortly after there, you know, the way that she took care of me through all that, you know, I did not see all that coming.

And it was, you know, there was really, really some difficult time. But the first person that I needed to know loved me after God was my wife. It's fascinating you say that, because I, so I am actually in a serious relationship, and the guy that I'm with, he actually is going to become a Superior Court judge in January, and he will be one of the youngest elected in the state. But that's not why I love him.

I love him because of who he is as a person and his deep faith. And he is—I've known him since I was eight, and we—our circles have intertwined for years and years and years. And we both believe that certainly is a God thing, and that we're supposed to rear our four children together. But I was, I just, I felt a lot of guilt. I felt like I should just be a single mom and just focus on that.

But you know, what God really told me is, you know, you two are supposed to do this together. And it's fascinating that your situation, and because I think, you know, as a divorced woman, people look at you differently than they do a man. Like a man gets remarried fast. It's like, whatever, then a woman does it.

And they're like, what is wrong with you? But, and, and it's, and I haven't, I certainly haven't gotten remarried or remarried fast, because I'm not. But, but it was, it was eye opening to me, how good of a role model and father figure he will be to my children. And that was one of the things that came to me as well. And it sounds like it was, it was something that came to you too. And, and, and it also influenced my work too, right? I mean, like I said, no one wants to be a health insurance agent.

But I realized the importance of it. And what my job is, I'm my job isn't just to sell you a policy. My job is to help you stay alive. And so I really, really believe in what I'm doing.

And Yeah, and to speak to that for a minute, because you don't know this, but I actually do a show about the very subject that you're talking about. So with Medicare, you know, so with Medicare, a lot of people right now are getting bomb bazzled by, you know, Medicare Advantage being sold by people that are clearly just wanting you to hook up for Medicare Advantage, where that may not be and people are making decisions on their health care, based on whether or not they get free dental and all sorts of crazy little gimmicks, rather than like you said that this stuff can save your life if you've got the right insurance coverage, right. And that's why I get contracted with every carrier, because if you just are with one carrier, there's certain perks as an agent, but and it's a it's a lot of paperwork, and it's a lot of extra, you know, work to go through to make sure that I'm contracted with every carrier. But at the end of the day, if you need Blue Cross, I'll sell you Blue Cross. If your wife needs Humana, because that's what's best for her health and her needs, or Aetna or Cigna, or United Healthcare, I will provide all of that, because I want to make sure that you are on the right plan for you, not the right plan for me. Right, it's so important. And because again, a lot of people are not looking at the insurance based on cost, whatever.

But at the end of the day, if you get sick, that's why you have the insurance, right? And you obviously had a chance to experience some of that. And so you see that. It's beautiful that you have an opportunity to do that. So I know people are wondering, how do I get that?

How do I get up with with? So, you know, give them some information on your Yeah, absolutely. So you guys, if you are interested in contacting me, you can call me at 336-608-0008. That is a real number. My joke following that since you're a big joke, joker, jokester is 336-608-0008-007.

Just kidding. But that that is my number. You can you can reach me there and call me. Of course, you know, I can give out email. What's the name of your agency? Is it?

It's Jill premier. I prefer I prefer to talk on the phone. I prefer to talk to folks. So but anyway, yeah, so if you guys want to just call me, give me give me a text. Give me a call.

I love meeting in person. So you just you let me know. Give me the number one more time.

336-608-0008. And fun fact, you can actually change your plan. Yeah, after Yeah, you still have time to change if you're not happy. So again, we got so much more King of pursuits coming up. So stay tuned. How wonderful and we'll get that phone number up at King of pursuits calm before I leave this afternoon.

So people can reach reach it there, too, if you prefer the Internet. So we'll be right back with a whole lot more of Jill Nelson. I'm excited.

You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. Welcome back to King of pursuits, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build the kingdom. And as always, I want to remind you that the reason that Stu Epperson, my boss and my hero originally, he and I thought about how to create the show and the fact that this has been almost 15.

It's been longer than 15 years now we've been doing this. It kind of blows my mind. But the idea was that people would hear somebody that God's given him a passion and and then taking the ball and run with it. And so if you felt called to write a book, or you felt called to insurance, or you felt called to teach canoeing it at a camp, you know, once you do that, and you agree to what God's asked you to do, like, man, he will take you on adventures that are unbelievable. And so it's our hope that if you know somebody like that, that you would contact me and then come on a show right so that you can encourage other people that that have a similar calling like, man, oh, I'm an insurance agent, you can be an amazing insurance agent for God.

If your heart's broken to help people, you can be a car salesman. I know it makes no sense. But that's pretty well, that's pretty well how I got into this. The Christian car guy is the ultimate oxymoron.

And we've used it for years. You know, God took that original passion and created that show. And from that birth, Kingdom Pursuits, if you often wondered, why is it that Kingdom Pursuits comes right after Christian car guy? Well, you see, it's always been my heart that people would see that, man, God asked me, could you believe this? You went from broadcasting into insurance, I went from being a car salesman for 40 years into broadcasting, right? And God calls me in the middle of the night and says, Robbie, I want you to go on the air and talk about what breaks your heart every day. I was like, God, do you have the wrong person? Have you heard my voice?

Like, they go to school to learn how to talk on the radio. I don't know anything about that. I was nervous, all this stuff. But I felt, God, tell me you got to do this. So I went to call Stu on the phone, because he was a friend of mine, and said, Stu, I know you're not going to believe this, but I feel God's calling me to be on the air talking about cars. He says I'm supposed to do something called the Christian car guy show. He gave me the name in the middle of the night, and said, I want you to call it the Christian car guy.

Here's the logo. Actually, I was very much hoping Stu would say that's the craziest thing I've ever heard, because then I knew I wasn't called, because God didn't give me a radio show. And said, Stu says, as you might imagine, that's the best thing I've ever heard in my life. You ought to be on this weekend. And so, like, Saturday, he put me in here, right?

The best part of the story, always to me, is you would expect Stu would be here, right? No, no, no. Baptism by fire. In my first show, there was just me and a producer.

Sink or swim. And this producer says, man, you must, like, really like to talk on the radio. And I said, why?

And he said, we got an hour show. And I said, well, it's a call-in show. All these people are calling. Nobody's going to call you. Nobody ever heard of you. You better be ready to talk, because there can't be no dead air.

But isn't that amazing? Well, you know, Maya Angelou said that the most important characteristic that you need to have in life is courage, because there's so many things that God will tell you to do. And there's so many times that people don't listen. And there are doors that open, open wide, and people just won't walk through them because they don't have courage. So when you said you were nervous, you know, I think that's half the battle is, and I just did a Facebook live on this, is just showing up. Because it's so hard, but you have to have that courage. And good for you, because now you're not nervous at all.

You're over there telling your cheesy jokes, and you're just rolling with them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can't even believe the journey that God took me on. To go from, you know, I was in the car business.

If I ever dreamed in a million years, I'd be anything but a car salesman. And I loved it. You know, I didn't, you know, but boy, what I got a chance, you know, the people that I've met and the amazing things that God has done since I've worked with Stu and had a chance to do all that I've done here, it blows my mind. What I would have missed out on had I not had the courage, which again, it's just a matter of, like, did I really hear? Like, was I really healed?

Did that really happen? Well, and there were so many times too, where, you know, folks had said to me, oh, you need to, you're the mom, you need to collect child support, you know, and you shouldn't be working, you should just be focused on the kids, you can't own your own company. You, and I'm thinking, are we living in the 1950s here? And, and really, I really wanted to show my children that, you know, it's okay to be a woman who is a business owner, and also a loving mom, you can be both, and you can be independent. And, you know, my family, my mom and dad, and my sister and my brother in law, they are just such a tremendous support system. And, you know, I look at at their marriages, and I'm so grateful that my kids can see that. And I'm grateful that, and then also, with the gentleman that I'm dating, I see him, his stepmom, and his dad have a tremendous relationship. And I'm glad to, you know, provide that example for my children as well. It's hugely important, because a lot of Christian leaders will never talk about the fact that they're divorced. Let me point out, I'm on my third marriage, okay?

And my current wife, we've been married now for 35 years. And so it's amazing, you know, what God did with the mess that I had made. And so just be encouraged, right? I know a lot of single folks out there that God has— Especially at Christmas. Yeah, especially. So well, thank you so much, Jill.

What a delight it has been having you on today. Again, her phone number, 336-608-0008, 0008-608-0008. Call her. She would love to talk to you. Thanks so much for listening to our Encouraging Prayers coming up with James Banks' Christmas special. You're going to love it. Stay tuned.