Do you really believe that God is good? I mean, that He has your best interest in mind? I mean, even when circumstances and relationships are really, really hard, well, Stay with me, you won't want to miss today's message. Welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Our mission is to inspire Christians to be genuine followers of Jesus and to empower them to be active disciple makers on our world.
Well, have you ever found yourself wrestling with a challenging question Chip posed? Perhaps you've faced a painful experience in the past or are enduring one right now which has caused you to ask, God, why me? Or where are you?
Well, if you've been there, this broadcast will encourage you. Today, we're featuring Chip's wife, Teresa Ingram,'s powerful testimony.
Now, some of you may have heard bits and pieces of her story before, but this program is different. A few years ago, she sat down with her son, Ryan Ingram, at his church in San Jose, California, and shared her entire testimony in a genuine and vulnerable way.
So, I really think what you're about to hear will deeply inspire your soul.
So, without any further delay, let's dive into today's program, Beauty from Ashes. You know, um As I was studying and wrestling with the goodness of God, I was talking to a friend and she said, you know, yes, God is good, even when all evidence points to the contrary. A.W. Tozer, in his classic knowledge of the holy, we've been traveling through that, writes this: The goodness of God is that which disposes him to be kind. cordial, benevolent, and full of good will toward men.
He is tender-hearted and of quick sympathy. By his nature, he is inclined to bestow blessedness and he takes holy pleasure in the happiness. of his people. I asked my mom to join me, which is really fun. And mom, why don't you come on out today?
This is the first time we've ever gotten to share a stage. Thank you for welcoming her. I have this. You can go ahead and grab a A major reason was as I thought about the goodness of God. While all evidence points to the contrary, You can look back at your life right now and go, wow.
God has been so good. Four amazing kids, I might add, that you had, all married. One in particular is really great, Annie, the daughter. Yeah. You have 12 grain kids.
God's using your life. You just wrote a book as well, Precious Innisight. And yet, The beginning of your story. I would say all evidence pointed to the contrary. Yes.
And I would love just for you to share your story. How did you come to know Jesus? What was a little bit of your background?
Well, my life has been really interesting, and it certainly is a lot different than I thought it would be. I grew up in a very small rural area in West Virginia. Yeah. I can hardly explain it to you because most of you wouldn't be able to relate. It's in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains.
It's A lot of the people in my town, which was very, very small. lived up what we called hullers. And there were a lot of poor people, and just people that were struggling a lot. And I just. That was my environment for 12 or more years growing up, going to school.
So It was a lonely life for me. My mother didn't drive, so we were stuck at home all the time, and she was a fearful person. She was very quiet, she didn't talk very much, and she was afraid to go out and do things. In fact, she would send me when I was old enough to go and do some of the things that she didn't want to do.
So she was, she's a sweet, a sweet mom, and I love her dearly, but she really never expressed us. outwardly in in her words or with her, with hugs, that she loved us. And I'm not sure why, because I knew that she did because of the way she took care of us. And my dad was a totally different. story.
My dad was an alcoholic. I would see him drinking as soon as he got up in the morning. Every morning he had to have a drink to start the day. He Was very strict with all of us. There were three girls in our family, and he was very strict.
We had to stay home almost all the time. We lived away from people.
So, we didn't have a lot of interaction and a lot of opportunities. And I hear about all the opportunities that young people have today. And I just feel like, oh my gosh, what would I have been if I had had those opportunities? But the thing is, I was right where God wanted me to be. That's where he brought me into this life.
And I learned and I grew. I learned to work hard. And my best friends were my dog and the animals. We had farm animals and I love books. That's how I spent my summers was waiting on the bookmobile to come through so I could get books to read.
And I would read and I loved music. and just things that I could do alone. And it was all those things that really soothed me. During those times.
Well, as I went through high school and under such a strict Father, who I was terribly afraid of because he would punish us over the least little thing we did wrong. We felt like we had to be perfect all the time. And I couldn't be. No one can be. And so when I graduated from high school, the first thing that I wanted to do was get away from there.
I really rebelled in my heart. I wanted more. And I knew that there was more out there for me, but I couldn't find it where I was. I fought with my dad that he would allow me to go to college. And so I won, and I got to go to Fairmont State College.
And while I was there, I started dating a young man. Who? loved me, or I thought who loved me. And he um He was what I built my whole life upon that at that time. He was going to college, and I went two years, and then I took a job at the college so I could support him and put him the rest of the way through school.
And I had all these dreams of what. life was going to be like. That I was going to be married, I was going to have a home, I was going to have children, life was going to be wonderful, and I was going to just be so happy. And so those are the dreams I had. But I didn't know the Lord.
I didn't grow up in a Christian home. We went to church, but it was just a place to go. I never heard the scriptures during all that time. But After we got married, I worked and he finished college. He finished college and he got a job right away.
And I had gotten pregnant. And about three months after he graduated from college, we had twin boys. And I was shocked because at that time they didn't do sonograms and I didn't know I was having twins until they were born.
So it was a real shock. But they were just the sweetest little babies, and I'm so thankful for them. But my husband just was so self-centered. He was so into his life, what he wanted, what would make him happy. And he became very involved in Alcohol, just like my dad, and he became involved in some drugs.
And partying a lot, and he started going out at night and partying and with friends. And I didn't feel. I didn't feel like he really was taking care of us or that he cared about us. But I my dreams were still, oh, this is, you know, this is going to change. We just we're just in this new season and it's going to change and everything's going to be great.
Well, I found out that it wasn't going to be great. When my little boys were about six months old, he packed his bags, took everything out of his closet, and he left us. He He had gotten involved with another woman. And I found out he'd been lying to me and I found out and... And I confronted him with it and he just laughed.
And I didn't have any support. I lived in a little apartment with a broken down car. And I had to quit my job because I had two babies instead of one, and I wasn't able to take care of them when I worked. And so I felt like I was left with nothing. There was nothing.
And I didn't know the Lord. I didn't have the help of Jesus in my life.
So he left at first and he moved down the street with this lady.
So I had to drive past that place every time I went out because it was a one-way street. Yeah. And it was just really difficult. I was devastated. I my heart was broken.
And I just I felt like My life was over. I don't have a life anymore. And I became really, really depressed. Very discouraged. But I look back now and I see God was at work.
And he was searching for me and calling me all that time.
So I went back up to the college. And they had a job opening, and I took it, and I was able to find child care for my little boys because I had to work, I had no money. I didn't have family that could help me in that way. And so I went back and I ended up working with the director of admissions at this college. And he was a godly man.
He loved the Lord. and I knew nothing about. I knew the little stories about Jesus From going to Sunday school, but I'd never read the Bible. I knew nothing about the Lord. I didn't even know what being saved meant.
And so I would go in his office. We would work together on sending out letters to the students. And so I would be in his office every day for a little while. And I went to work and I wanted to be strong and I didn't share anything to anyone about what was going on in my life. Because I I guess I was too proud.
I just, I didn't want people to know that my life was falling apart.
So I would go in his office, and one day he asked me how I was doing, and I just started crying right in front of him. I thought, this is terrible, just boo-hooing right in front of your boss. And he was so So loving. And um Every day after that when I would go in, You would tell me about the love of God. And um And I heard it.
over and over. But I didn't know him. I didn't know the Lord. And so I was thinking about this for For weeks, actually, and he kept telling me that God would take care of me, that he would take care of my children. I'm so sorry, Ryan.
I can't keep from crying. No, you're great. Yeah so After hearing this for a while, I thought, well, I know, you know, if my friend who had become my friend says that God is real and he's a. He's a Educated man, I mean, this this mut there must be something to it. And so he invited me to church.
to go with him one night to this little church in the country. He was a lay preacher sometimes at a Free Methodist church, and he would go around to some of these little churches when they needed a pastor, and he would preach. And he was preaching at this little church. Out in the country, and he asked me, he and his wife asked me if I would go, would go with them.
So I started thinking because I didn't know. I didn't know where God was. I didn't know how to find him. And in my mind, I was thinking, well, If there really is a God, he must be at church. He's got to be at church.
And so I went with them and I really was expecting something to happen. And my sister, my younger sister came and she was helping me with the boys. And so we went to church and I sat through this church service. It was just a typical Free Methodist church service. And my friend gave the message, they sang hymns, they prayed, and nothing happened.
Mm-hmm. And I was distraught. I just remember walking out of that building thinking, this isn't real. There really isn't a God. And as I was out getting in the car, Putting the boys in their in the car seats, and a little old lady.
Out in the parking lot, and I didn't know any of these people. She came up to me and just said, Do you want to be saved? And I didn't know what saved meant, but I said yes. And it was it was to me it's a miracle. She didn't know what was going on in my life and God just led her to do that.
And so I went back into the church and everybody in the parking lot. Got out of their cars and went back in the church and went to the altar with me, and we prayed, and I came to know Jesus. that night as my savior. And when I went home. I didn't know scripture.
And the only verse that I knew was Psalm 23, which I had memorized in Sunday school, and that's the Lord is my shepherd. And so I just remember. The next morning, getting ready for work, and I was having such a battle in my mind, and I just kept saying Psalm 23 over and over, and I wasn't aware of spiritual. Battle at that time, and I think I was really having a spiritual battle for my soul. And I kept saying Psalm 23 over and over and over, and then I Um I started to get involved with, or I want to say, I didn't start getting involved, people got involved in my life.
And helped me and supported me and helped me to grow during that time. I'm just, to me, it's just a miracle. Of the Lord that He would choose me and And it's even more of a miracle than I'm up here on the stage, and my son is sitting right here. But that's that's what what my Early days were like. And I was 25 when I came to Christ.
Well, thank you for sharing. And this is fun to get to be on the stage together. Hopefully, many more times ahead. We'll see. We'll see.
I have to pass the test first. Oh, he already passed it. He already passed it. You know, one of the psalms as we're talking about the goodness of God is: taste and see that the Lord is good. Psalm 34:8, blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
And so now you're a single mom with twin babies, which are my brothers, by the way.
So if you're wondering, oh, is Ryan a twin? No. Those are my older brothers. Chip adopted the boys after we got married, so we are a family. Absolutely.
And so, how in those early days and early years did you begin to taste and see that the Lord is good? You know, we're going to sing a song after this that says you keep on getting better. And it's not that God's getting better. We've talked about this, but the more you get to know God and his goodness, the better he becomes to you because you're experiencing more fully who he is. How did you begin to taste and see his goodness?
Through those negative.
Well, I have to say it's a slow process, but also for some, it's a fast process. And I began real slowly, but when I really grasp uh who God is, then That was all I needed. I really grew spiritually during that time, but I have to say, it was people. in my life that helped me. It was my friends who helped lead me to Christ, who encouraged me to go to church.
They encouraged me to get in the word. And um They Helped me, they brought things that I needed, brought food, took care of. Help me with my kids. It was people. It was the body of Christ who really loved me.
that got me off. in a good in a good way. And just having that reminder, even when I didn't want to go to church. uh having that reminder of someone calling and saying, you know, We'll pick you up. Will help you, but we just want you to be there.
And so that I would say that was number one. And then I learned to get in the Word of God, which was you know, God says that that his word is A refuge, that he is a refuge, and his word is gives us strength, and his word gives us hope, and gives us direction. And as I beget in get in the word of God, It's was like A light went on. I was, you know, when you're when you come to Christ and you're saved, you. have the Holy Spirit.
We have Christ living in us. And it was like my eyes were opened. And when I read the Bible, that it would just jump off the page. And God would speak to me. And it was such a precious time for me, especially in those years of being a single mom and just feeling alone and feeling desperate.
God's word. was my delight. And I'm very thankful that I learned even the people that. Helped me just to get going in my Christian life, helped me to get in the Word. And they spent time with me and they taught me.
And I'm very grateful for that. And I learned how to pray, the same people. I went through a prayer class early on, very early in my Christian life, with a group of five ladies in the basement of a Free Methodist church. And What's amazing to me, you kind of think in those little obscure places that God God's surely not working there. And you know, that there's not godly people there, but I'm telling you, there are godly people.
God has people everywhere. And these five ladies taught me to pray. And I learned to pray my first out loud prayer with them. And I learned to believe. As I watched them pray, and I shared my very first prayer request.
These ladies believed, they believed that when you pray, God is going to answer. And he did. And so that was my first introduction to prayer, which has carried me through my whole life. Another thing is that really helped me was. Was it God just kept showing up?
You know, as I was in the word, as I would cry out to him, he just kept showing up. all over the place. I'm I just remember a time that I had a car that broke down all the time and I was driving along and I had the boys in the back seat and my car broke down and I never knew what to do. And there just happened to be a mechanic right behind me. And he got out of his car and helped fix my car and get me back on the road.
And another time, I was so lonely on the weekends. Just, I had too much time to myself, and I liked being busy. I could get through the weeks, but the weekends were really hard. And I was sitting on the floor in the living room one time after it was after the Boys went to value everything after the boys go to bed. But I was praying.
I said, Lord, I am so lonely. Will you please? Send someone to my door. And It was the most amazing thing. there was a knock at the door a few minutes later.
and it wasn't my knight in shining armour. It was my friend Edith who was next door. and she was just a lovely older lady. And she came to the door, and we sat, and we became the best of friends. And I had the opportunity later on to lead her to Christ.
And so God just showed up in just amazing ways. I was praying for a husband, and my friends were praying that God would give me a husband. And I wanted my kids to have a dad. And so as I prayed, I. My friend suggested that we go to this navigator meeting, which was a college ministry meeting that was hosted by this navigator group.
And Chip, my now husband, was leading that group. And so it was a Bible study, it was singing and worship, and it was just for college kids. But I went and I went. Just to meet him because my friend was telling me about him. And so I went to meet him.
And I did. I saw him, and I was really, really attracted to him, and I thought, oh. Maybe he's the one. Maybe he's the one God has sent here for me because I haven't met anyone else. And so the next one.
Literally the only one. The only one. And so the next week, I thought, well, I'm going to go back. Because who knows what God is doing? And I really believed in the power of prayer.
And so I took my little boys with me.
So they were babies. They were like two years old. And I took them in their little pajamas with feet on. And I mean, with, you know, that have the feet. And so we walk into this rally with all these college kids.
And I just sat down and act like I'm a part of it and had these two little boys, and because I I thought if he's the one that God has for me, he needs to know I have kids. And so then he didn't pay much attention to me. I think he might have. you know, said hi or something, but he didn't particularly notice me. And so I went home that night and I was so distraught again.
And I thought this. I'm not going back there. And that was the first time in my life I surrendered.
Something to God. And I remember sitting on my bed that night, and I just put out my hands and I said, Lord, I'm not going back there. And if he's the one you've brought here for me, and see, I still was thinking that, then you bring him to me. I'm not going to do anything if you want. Him to come to me, you bring him to me.
And so, you know, a few weeks went by and Nothing happened and I Just thought, well. you know, nothing is going to happen. But then one night, Chip called me. Yeah. And he had been thinking about me this whole time.
And he went through the pages of the they had a roster where people that would come would put their names and their telephone numbers just so they could keep track of who was coming. And he flipped through the pages until he found my name. And he called me. And that was the beginning. I was in shock.
And that was the beginning of a relationship that. that grew into um just what we've shared for the last forty three years. And then he became the father of my children, and then we had two more children. And that was just one of the most amazing answers to prayer that I ever had. You s you're speaking about Prayer, and I just can tell you that my mom is a prayer warrior.
Um And one of my fond memories growing up as a kid is, I would wake up in the early mornings, you know, to go use the bathroom. She would always be up. And she'd be on the couch and the lamp would be on, and she'd have a hot cup of coffee, and she'd just spend hours in the morning with Jesus. And, you know, it's been said that God doesn't have favorites, but He has intimates. And you are an intimate.
And I I think that model For me, it was always so powerful in a picture.
Sorry, I don't mean to make you cry. And I love the Psalm, Psalm 73, where it says, But as for me, the nearness of God is my good. And then, when it's talking about the goodness of God, you see this repeated: is that when you really believe that God is good, you make Him your refuge. You make him, he is the true safe harbor. And so instead of trying to navigate on your own, You run to him.
And I think that's the story that I've seen over and over. Is that the nearness of God is your good, and you've made him your refuge? Just because you've learned that intimacy with Jesus. How did that foster? How did that develop?
Um I think I think it happened because I was desperate. And I needed God. at a time when I felt like I had nothing. to give. that he came to me.
And um And I learned that I could pour out my heart to him. And he's carried me through all kinds of trials of life and we all have those. Um But he's with us all the time. And he cares. And I've learned that he listens.
He cares about what we say. He cares about what we think. And he wants to hear us. He wants us to talk with him and he wants to speak to us through his word and through nature and through people. And he speaks to us in many ways to give us hope and encouragement.
And so I think I was really blessed that it was through difficulty that I came to know the Lord because I realized that He was all that I needed. And one thing I've always thought about is when When you realize that God is all you have. Then you realize that he's all you need. in whatever situation that you're going through.
So that's how it all started. And then the hunger, you know, for God's word, as we're in His Word, that hunger develops and you develop a relationship with Him. And it's a treasure. Those treasured times to be able to spend in God's word and prayer. And when I was a single mom and I was hurting so badly and I was learning to pray, when I would come home from work, the first thing I would do, because I was hurting so much, And I had read in the Bible that well, you don't have to do this, but I thought you did, that you go into your closet and pray.
I took it all literally. And so I would run into my little closet. There was hardly room for me to get in it. It was so tiny. But I ran in there and I'd get on my knees and I'd just pour out my heart to God.
And he met me. And I've spent my life Fortunately, with a wonderful husband, to be able to express to other people that. God has the same for you. that when you cry out to him, he will meet you. and your need.
Does it mean everything will change? But he's with you and he gives you all that you need in that moment.
So I think for me, God became so real that um He was like He was my friend walking beside me. And uh I just, as we're talking about the goodness of God, that verse that most of us know is that all things work together for good. to those who love him and I can verify that. that we may not see it all in this life. But whatever we go through.
that God is working for good in our lives. Oh. An insightful end to this Edition of Living on the Edge. Our guests today were Ryan Ingram and his mom, Teresa. If you'd like to learn more about Teresa's resources that were mentioned today, go to livingonthege.org and search for Precious in His Site.
You'll find her book, the broadcast series she taught, and her affirmation cards, which is a helpful tool packed with daily biblical encouragement. Learn more about these resources when you go to livingontheedge.org and search for Precious in His Site.
Well, from all of us here, I'm Dave Druy, thanking you for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge, and I hope you'll join us again next time.
